Selecting your Hotel from a Practical Traveler
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 A
Practical Traveler reveals the
secret to booking your hotel, and don't let that hotel star-rating system
fool you in determining the the quality of your stay.
First off, what is within your comfort zone in terms of cost per night. Do you
have to be at a certain location because you do not have transportation or do
you have access to a car that lets you choose from a wider selection of hotels?
Hotel prices are determined by many things, supply and demand - if the Hotel is
anticipating low occupancy they drop their rates, if there is an event going on
up they go.
Location - is it right downtown in a high tax area, or is it a short drive out
of town.
Amenities - does it have more than you need and will you use them? how do they
maintain them if they don't charge for them ?
Parking - Is there a cost for parking?
Breakfast - Is it included is it a full breakfast or a continental one ?
What Do You Look For in a Hotel and what makes you book ?
With the popularity of the internet
guest reviews have become one of the most essential tools for travelers,
they can make or break a hotel, so if you have some
travel advice about somewhere you have stayed make sure and share it. It is
tools like these that keep Hoteliers on their toes and customers happy.
A rule of thumb is the sooner you book the better the rate. Why? 3 months out
many Hotel know whether they will be busy or not so if there is demand the rates
stay high if they are showing little occupancy they need to entice sales to
drive demand, as the demand grows so do the rates. The opposite of this holds
true as well
"last minute deals" but chances are it is not what or were you want to be.
The Importance of Knowing What You Need
My favoured hotel is clean, conveniently located, in a safe neighborhood, offers
free wireless internet access, has a good shower and is light on my wallet, and
as a real bonus includes some sort of breakfast items in the morning. In
essence, it meets my needs. And I'll be honest with you: I'm simply not willing
to pay a premium for charm or a valet or a concierge. If the cost is about the
same, then so be it, but charm itself doesn't rank very high on my list.
Others might place more stock in having a down comforter, a large and luxurious
bathroom, a full-service concierge, and everything else you can get for over
$400 a night .
I love good service, cushy beds, a roomy room, a separate shower and tub, and
all the accoutrements of a luxury hotel room. Who wouldn't? The trouble is that
I don't crave these amenities so badly that I am willing to pay for them.
So while I value location and price, others place a higher premium on amenities
and service. While I prefer a place to sleep where I won't be bothered, others
want to be noticed and coddled. None of these choices is wrong, however. My
point is that the first secret to being a satisfied traveler is knowing how to
identify what you need, so that you can separate it from what you merely want.
Choose a Hotel, Forget the Stars
"But we specifically chose a 4-star hotel!" The disappointed traveler makes the
easiest mistake in the book by thinking that so-called "stars" have some
relation to quality. Do you want to know the truth? Stars, diamonds, golden
apples: They all add up to the same thing, and that has little if any relation
to the quality of your stay.
Stars denote only one thing—the kinds of services and amenities you can expect
to find in a destination's hotels (and in some countries, such as the U.S.,
there are no coherent standards even for that). What they don't tell you is
whether those services and amenities are delivered well, whether they are worth
the cost, and whether they will make you happy. The difference between a 3-star
hotel and a 2-star hotel is often whether the hotel has a restaurant, not
whether you might actually want to eat at the restaurant. The difference between
a 4-star hotel and a 3-star hotel is often whether the hotel has a full-service
business center or just a computer connected to the Internet. The difference
between a 5-star hotel and a 4-star hotel may be whether someone found a piece
of lint on the bathroom floor. The stars can't tell you whether the hotel will
meet your needs.
Ironically, the economic downturn may be a boon for those who can still afford
to travel. There are some great deals now, particularly in expensive cities.
Prices are already much more down to earth; you can get a decent hotel for two
thirds right now that would have cost over $200 last winter.
So what are you experiences in the hotel world? Have you found a modest hotel
that fit your needs better than a luxury grand-dame? Do you choose your hotel by
the star-rating? Has the weakened economy opened up any doors for you this year
that were slammed firmly shut last year?
Now is a great time to travel. |
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