Published on March 8th, 2013 | by Anusuya Suresh
How well you enjoy a holiday often depends to a large extent on where you stay, so make sure you find good hotels. If you have the misfortune of setting up camp at discount hotels that happen to sorely lack in amenities or service, it could make a mess of your entire trip, regardless of how exotic the destination. Sometimes, you may get carried away with what some hotels promise and end up unnecessarily splurging on accommodation or amenities you don?t actually need. So, make sure to keep these few points in mind to help you find good hotels.
1. Consider your Preferences
Most of us tend to get swayed by what people we know have to say about a particular place. But each individual and his or her requirements are different. Perhaps your friends at office gave rave reviews about a tree-house they rented on their holiday; but will it really be right for you if you are traveling with a toddler in tow?
A luxury hotel may provide you the best amenities but is the expense really necessary if you are on a tight budget and planning to spend most of the time exploring the outdoors? You are planning a honeymoon vacation which ? probably and hopefully ? is a once-in-a-lifetime event; should you really be looking at cutting costs or for an ambiance that creates memories for a lifetime? Think of your specific requirements and constraints before booking a hotel.
2. Stay Close to Where you Want to Go
Whether on a business trip or a pleasure holiday, make sure you stay close to the places you need to visit. With such hotel bookings, you get to make the greatest use of the time and money you have without getting caught in traffic or lost in an unknown city or splurging on transport.
Check the hotel?s location through Google Maps, or visit the hotel?s website for a road map to the place to help you ascertain how close it is to your destination. Better still, if you know someone who resides at your destination, ask for their opinion on which hotel is closest to where you want to go.
3. Be Alert to Ground Realities
Most travel and resort or hotel websites put up glossy, inviting photographs to get people interested; they may not present the entire picture, though. Guest pictures from TripAdvisor are probably more reliable. Don?t get carried away by how beautiful a hotel looks or the promises of amenities on its websites.
Read a few online reviews about these places and you may stumble upon people talking of how the service did not match the promise. To make sure you don?t get taken on a ride, get opinions from someone who knows the place or has stayed there before ? tap into your Facebook and Twitter connects, ask relatives and friends who have been to that place or live there and read guest reviews at websites such as TripAdvisor or HolidayIQ to get the real picture.
4. Get the Best Deal on Discount Hotels
Use hotel meta search engines such as hoteldepot.in, kayak.co.in and ixigo.com to compare rates across hotels. Look out for places that come with best price guarantee tags because if you book one that has this and later find another website offering the same at lower prices, you can claim the difference. Several sites offer coupons for discount hotel bookings; check and use these coupons to book your stay through a travel site. Such use of coupons is permitted because often, the travel sites themselves advertise the availability of the coupons as part of their promotional campaign.
5. Browse Travel Websites Thoroughly
Check to see if the travel website allows you to use a filter to find good hotels by discounts they offer. This can get you some really great deals that you would have otherwise missed.
Some travel websites also carry a feature called Super Saver Hotels or Top Secret Hotels ? these are actually luxury hotels that provide 5-star accommodation at very low prices, but do not want to highlight this to the entire world.
6. Keep your dates flexible
Always wanted to stay in that super luxury hotel in Goa but could not afford to? ?Try the same hotel in the monsoon season ? you could get that in half of what you might have coughed up in the peak season! Hotel rates are very dynamic in nature; with lots of pricing algorithm based on season, day of week, duration of your stay, competitor pricing, popular conference schedules and festivals, etc. So try to change your dates of your travel and check the rates, you could be amazed by the difference in the price of your room!
You could also avail Early Bird discounts that most hoteliers offer by planning your travel/vacation well in advance.
7. Read Between the Lines
Never go completely by what the travel website or the hotel website says ? check and clarify things with the hotels you have shortlisted. A telephone call or an email to the concerned hotel should get you more reliable information. For example, many hotel websites will say they offer Wi-Fi facility; only when you study your bill will you realize they have charged you (sometimes as high as INR 500) for using it. If you plan on using this facility, ask beforehand if it is provided free or charged.
As there is always a possibility of changes in travel plan, ensure that you understand the room cancellation/refund, modification policies. Avoid booking non refundable hotels or with steep cancellation charges.
Especially for those traveling on a budget, the words ?Cheap Hotel Deals? appear to jump out of any webpage they view. And for those who are fortunate enough to not have to worry about budget, the most attractive words are probably ?Luxury Hotels.? A word of caution to travelers in both categories ? cheap need not mean just inexpensive, it could also mean inferior; and luxury does not always imply good amenities and service, it could just mean high-priced, too. So look before you leap.
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Spend a little time to research your holiday accommodation thoroughly by using a handy website such as hoteldepot.in. We also provide a very useful tag and notes option ? all you need to do is login to hoteldepot.in and when you find a good hotel, just tag it and maybe write up a note that only you can see about that place. These notes will surely come in handy when you need to find good hotel accommodation for your holiday to ensure you have a pleasant stay.
Would you like to share your tips on finding good hotels? Do comment below!
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About the Author
Anusuya Suresh : A postgraduate in Pharmacy, Anusuya Suresh has over 12 years of experience in teaching. She currently teaches at Bangalore and has authored a textbook that deals with the subject of plant-based medicines and Indian systems of medicine. Armed with a working knowledge of graphology (handwriting analysis) and trained as a life skills educator, she works on her own initiative to develop innovative workshops on personality development for her students. She is an articulate and entertaining speaker on topics such as Herbal Medicines, Personality Development, Stress Management, Spiritual Practice and Emotional Intelligence. She is also a freelance writer on topics ranging from health, travel and parenting to relationships, self-improvement and spirituality.
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