Travel: 6 things to consider when booking cheaper hotel rooms

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,

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.

Photo Location: Frankfurt, Germany

4. Size of the room

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.

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.

Travel: Switzerland and Snow

It has been just over 1 year since I started the blog and since then I have been to a number of European countries. Even though my blog description states that I write about travel too, I have not posted a single travel post yet. Writing about my Switzerland experience is the perfect way to kick start travel posts.

Living in UAE for nearly all my life, I have never had the chance to experience snow and it has been my dream to roam around in the snow covered mountains in Switzerland. My dream finally came true in December last year when me and a friend planned a Euro trip which included 2 days in Switzerland.

Even though Euros are accepted all around Switzerland, it is a good idea to carry a few Swiss Francs. I would suggest exchanging money in the country where you reside since you can get better rates from currency exchange houses. One good example is TravelexAE who provide a very exchange rate. For details visit their website: http://www.travelexae.com/ (for UAE residents).

Our journey to Switzerland commenced with a road trip from Frankfurt in Germany to Zurich. We reached Zurich in the afternoon and parked the car in a parking lot. It was time to explore the market and grab something to eat. As we walked around the streets of Zurich, snow was visible at the side of the roads indicating that it had snowed recently.

Shot from the Zurich Marketplace

The market was lively with a number of cheerful people going around the market. Christmas celebrations were visible with decorated Christmas Trees outside shops. As we went ahead, we came across trams on the road. A few banks could be seen in the distance (hard to imagine Zurich without sighting a few banks).

After buying a few souvenirs from a shop, we walked near the sea and enjoyed the view. We could see a few ducks swimming in the cold water. It wasn't long before I felt something cold on my nose. As I touched to see what it was, it started snowing heavily and we started running back to the parking lot without visiting the nearby Christmas market. On the way back, I grabbed a burger from McDonalds and ate it in the car itself.

We left the parking lot and moved on the roads making our way out of the busy market. The signals in the market are very short and there are a number of radars. One needs to be pretty careful while driving here since the fines are pretty hefty as well. Once out of Zurich, we made our way to our hotel in Luzern. The drive was not a long one which was a good thing since we were pretty tired after the long day. It was already dark as we began our search for the hotel. 

Railway Tracks behind the Hotel

It wasn't long before we found our hotel. To cut down on costs, we had booked a 2 night stay at the Ibis Budget Hotel, Luzern. We got a decent room at a good rate and an underground parking space for the rented car at a minimal charge. Too tired to do anything more, my friend grabbed a pizza from a nearby eatery. After gobbling down the pizza, we dozed off so that we could explore in the morning.

A quick breakfast (which included Swiss cheese and Swiss chocolate) ensured that we had enough time to explore the city. We drove a few kilometers towards Interlaken to check out the scenic beauty of Switzerland and I was completely impressed by it. The photograph below shows a glimpse of what we witnessed. I was already in love with Switzerland by now. 

On our way to Interlaken

Since we had a tight schedule, we could not explore further and headed straight to Engelberg to visit the beautiful Mt. Titlis. It wasn't difficult to find Mt. Titlis thanks to the GPS in our car. As we drove to the foot on the mountain, I was awed by the beauty of Switzerland. There was plenty of paid parking available. 

Getting out of the car was not an easy task since the temperature read at -9 degree Celsius. We changed into our snow shoes and walked up to the entrance. Forgetting my muffler was one of the biggest mistakes I made; luckily a store at the entrance offered one and I purchased it without hesitating a bit. I suggest that you bring along all your warm clothes since the cost of items at Mt. Titlis is pretty high.

Photo Studio at Mt. Titlis

After purchasing our tickets we started walking towards the cable cars which took us a bit higher and then to the next one till we reached near the top. From photo studios (photograph above) to restaurants, each floor has something different to offer.

Not wasting more time we headed to the top of Mt. Titlis. The weather was pleasant with the sun shining but it was still pretty cold. 

At the Top of Mt. Titlis

At 10,000 feet above the ground, the view was spectacular and mesmerizing. I had never experienced anything like this ever. It didn't matter that the temperature was atleast 15 degrees below freezing point. What mattered was that the beautiful view from the top. 

I took a good view of the snowcapped peaks all around me as my eyes tried to absorb the beauty around me. I highly recommend anyone travelling to Switzerland to visit Mt. Titlis.

A view from the top

Before making our way back down, we visited the watch showroom on the top floor (who doesn't like Swiss watches?) and then went to the restaurant in order to have a warm beverage to beat the cold weather.

On the way down, we got the chance to experience the Rotair once again. Rotair, is a cable car with turning interiors. The interior of the cable car moves in a circle offering different views without having to move around yourself. The other cable cars also have to offer amazing views.

View from a cable car

Tired but happy after having a great time at Mt. Titlis, we drove back to our hotel to crash for a bit before we drove back to Frankfurt to catch our flight to Milan.

We woke up early in the morning and after taking a shower, we packed and checked out of the hotel. Driving our way out of Luzern and Switzerland we had smiles on our faces and memories to cherish for the rest of our lives.

Travel Tips:
- Since hotels in Switzerland are expensive, choose a budget hotel so that you can save money and spend it on something more useful like buying souvenirs.
- Carry snow shoes and warm clothes including mufflers if travelling during winters as it can get pretty cold.
- Wake up early to check out the city and marketplace since shops close earlier in European countries.
- Carry a good amount of currency. Exchange it in the country you reside in (you save quite a bit).
- Check out offers at tourist spots. We missed out the discount at Mt. Titlis since we had no idea that rates for entry post 12 p.m. were lower.
- Plan your trip in advance and keep the trip long enough to travel all the good places (something we missed out on).
- Don't miss to try Swiss Cheese and Swiss Chocolate. 

- Do buy a souvenir to take back home.
- Click loads of photographs and have a fun time.