Being a budget
traveler, I always look for cheaper options when it comes to hotels but I keep
other things in mind as well. Over the years, I have made some mistakes when
booking hotel rooms and have learnt it the hard way. When I say cheaper
options, let me tell you that I mean 2 or 3 star hotels as compared to a 4 star
or a 5 star which offer you quite a luxurious experience.
The main
reason for me writing this post is to share my personal experiences and
thoughts on the topic. If I can help a few of you out there, then why not.
1. Distance of
the hotel from landmarks
This is the
biggest mistake one can make when booking a hotel room. It is well known that
hotels around the city center are usually more expensive than their
counterparts in other areas. When booking a cheaper hotel room, do check the
distance from important landmarks and places that you wish to visit.
It isn't fun
if you have to travel for say 1-2 hours everyday to get to one place of
interest. Once or twice would still be okay but doing this on a daily basis can
be hectic and you lose time you could have spent discover other places. In
addition to this, not every country or city has a good transport system that is
metro, rail, buses etc. Therefore you end up travelling by a taxi and pay a lot
for it. If you add up the transportation costs, you would realize that the
savings you had from the hotel room booking have been used up. Research about
all these factors before booking a hotel room,
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| Photo location - Las Vegas, USA |
2. Area where
the hotel is located
Another common
mistake is not researching about the locality and the area where the Hotel is
located. This point is always on the top of my list since things can get
difficult at times and may affect your travelling plans. One should be aware of
the area they are going to stay in. You wouldn't want to be in an area where
gang fights, shootings, theft etc. are common.
During one of
my early travels, I had booked a really cheap hotel and was happy about it. It
was only later that I realized that the hotel did not have any staff after 11
p.m. The owner would lock the door and leave and anyone could enter through
another door which was never locked. To add to my horror, there was a Eros
centre in the next building (something like what a red light district would
have). Just thinking about what kind of people could show up at the door step
gave me chills. Since then, I have never ever book my hotel room without
researching about the area where the hotel is located.
3. Spooky happenings in the hotel premises
Yes, this may sound a bit ridiculous, but
for me it is as important as other points on the list. Some people think of
spooky stuff as fun and adventure. For me it is just something I would like to
stay away from. On one of my recent visits to Las Vegas, we just cancelled our
stay at one hotel due to the fact that some rooms of the hotel were haunted.
The hotel rooms were much cheaper than other hotels but we learnt the reason
and immediately booked another option.
If you are like me and want to stay away
from such things (even though it might just be a rumor), you can look for other
options.
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| Photo Location: Frankfurt, Germany |
One of the key things to consider is the
size of the room. Most booking websites mention the size of the room in sq. meters.
During my travel to Frankfurt, I had booked a cheap hotel room only to realize it
was really small. We barely had space to keep our stuff and there was no
connected bathroom (yes, I am fussy about shared bathrooms).
However, in certain cities, even though
the hotel room prices are not too low, the size of the rooms is still small
(for example San Francisco). The price might be less in comparison to other
hotel rooms in the same city but still high as compared to other cities. The
reason for this is the high standard of living in the city. So when you book
the cheaper options do check out the room size.
While in San Francisco, I booked a room
which was all crammed up and was facing the street. I could hear people at
night and woke up in the middle of the night due to some people talking loudly.
So next time you hit that button to book
the room, make sure you have checked the size of the room.
5. Food options and basic supplies in the hotel
and around the hotel
Midnight hungers? Water requirements?
Basic stuff like food, water, soap etc. is something everyone needs. In the excitement
of saving some money, we forget to check if the hotel offers any of these.
I have stayed at hotels where there were
no food options whatsoever. In some cases carrying some snacks would be a good
idea but what if you just want to have a good meal? Roaming the streets at
night looking for restaurants might not be the best idea. Just check if there
are basic supplies in the hotel – mainly food and water.
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| Photo Location: San Francisco, USA |
6. Reading the guest reviews
Reviews more often than not come in handy.
A hotel may just be renting out rooms at a cheaper rate due to various reasons
like cleanliness issues, maintenance issues and worst case scenario a bed bugs
issue. Read the comments and reviews and see what common problems did the guests
have had in the recent past. Reviews from 2-3 years back won’t help so check
recent reviews. In addition to this check for reviews relevant for you. What I
mean is that if you are travelling solo, a review from an old couple might not
be of use to you.
I have been learning as I travel more and
more. If there is anything that comes up in the near future, I will add it to
the list here. For the time being, these are the top 6 things that come to my
mind.
All these things, can be taken care of at
the planning stage of the trip itself and you can avoid unnecessary stress when
you travel. Travel can be tiring but it is always fun. Let us try and keep it
that way.
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