There’s one thing I’ve been meaning to ask you. How do you decide what accommodation to choose?
What contributing factors determine whether you stay at the best luxury hotels on your trips or make an effort to find the most affordable places in town?
Are you into bed and breakfasts, guest houses and hostels or would you prefer design hotels, boutique hotels and luxury all the way? Or both?
To me, it’s all about what I want out of a trip. As you may know, I like variety. And while I can’t deny that I enjoy luxury hotels, I wouldn’t want to stay in them all the time. To see things from a different perspective and get the most out of life, diversity is a necessity.
When staying in a five-star hotel, the hotel is a travel experience in itself. More than just a place to sleep. That’s obviously not always the case. Every time I’ve stayed in a hostel dorm room (like the one pictured to the left), my focus was on the destination, meeting other travelers and saving money. Who I traveled with mattered more than where I stayed. Other times I felt that comfort, great service and deluxe amenities were more important.
Choosing the best accommodation all comes down to my reasons for visiting a certain destination. Business or pleasure? Weekend get-away, stop-over or a longer stay? If I want some me-time or having people around 24/7. At the same time I (have learnt to) take into account my budget and what I can afford, personal tips in articles and blog posts and suggestions from other travelers.
What are your main ways for finding the right place to stay?
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I spend a lot of time consider the hotel I want to stay in. Budget and location factor into the choice a lot, of course, but even more than that I look for a hotel that’s superlative in same way — that’s especially unusual, or especially well-located, or especially cheap, or especially interesting, or especially . . . whatever. Just so long as it isn’t ordinary.
How do I choose accommodation? Cheap, central, safe. Comfort isn’t as high on my list as it should be
But that’s a great point: where we stay often determines who we bump into, what experiences we have, and those often form a more lasting imprint than the beds and rooms we stayed in.
Back to practicalities: Internet, research, a mix of the hostel websites, google, et.al.; but I depend on word-of-mouth; all travelers love to talk about where they have staying in various places, just be sure to understand the person to get a good read on their recommendations.
How do you choose a place to stay?
@Spot Cool Stuff, That’s a great way to see it, Will. In that way there’s probably no risk for disappointment because you’ve made the necessary research/planning to make sure the hotel is special in some way. And, as I’ve seen on your website, that often makes for very interesting blog posts and articles as well.
@Taylor, In the past, mostly through different hostel and hotel websites. For example, when I lived in Switzerland and traveled around Europe I booked almost all hotel stays through venere.com I like their maps because you can easily see where in a city a hotel is located and their search function lets you sort the results by price, popularity and ratings. I love that site. Other times, it’s been spontaneously/impulsively. Like, when I was walking around in a city and just chose the first hotel that looked nice (and not too expensive). But for the most part online resources. Eventually I learnt to consider other people’s recommendations as well. Like you said, travelers do love to talk about their experiences.
I look for the nicest hotel in the best location . . . that comes in under budget. These days I pretty much rely exclusively on the internet but of course it’s all my criteria – reason for trip, who I’m with etc.
Best word of mouth experiences I have had was when backpacking round Australia, staying in hostels it was so easy to have a chat about which hostels were the best.
Nowadays I like those sites where you search multiple sites at once, at the moment my favourite is roomwizard.co.uk because it’s fast and easy to filter on feature e.g. swimming pool or whatever.
Seeing your ad there for mr&mrs smith has reminded me what a good site that is though, really well written reviews.
@Rob Barham, I can understand you had your best word of mouth experiences when backpacking. I’ve also found it very easy to get suggestions from other people in hostels. Most of the people I met had traveled around a lot and could share their views about the pros and cons in each place.
Thanks for mentioning roomwizard. Hadn’t heard about that site before.
And yes, Mr&Mrs Smith is terrific. One of my favorite sites, partly because of their clever reviews.
Hi Erica,
Yes…same here! It all depends of my mood, goals, expectations about the trip…as well as current budget.
Thanks for stopping by. I write about current and previous travels. I was in Israel the first 2 weeks in March. Perfect weather that time of the year, and definitely should be on your must-go-to list!
Love the new look of your blog!!!
jen laceda’s last blog post..Hallucinations and Le Shopping in Le Souk
I love Mr and Mrs Smith, Splendia, Kiwi Collection, Venere…all services I have used to book hotels, from budget to mid-range to luxury (well, kind of…at least, luxury for my budget).
jen laceda’s last blog post..Hallucinations and Le Shopping in Le Souk
@jen laceda, Hi Jen! Yes, definitely Israel for me too some time. And thanks for the compliment about the new look.
As for hotel websites, I just love the design of Kiwi Collection’s site. Thanks for mentioning Splendia. Looks/sounds like a great online booking company.
I’m loving your website! Love the new look of it!
Personally, where I stay during a travel doesn’t matter all that much, so long as the rooms are clean. No bedmites, roaches on the floor or rats is something I really appreciate *LOL*
But there are times when the hotel experience in itself contributes to my overal impressions of the eplace and travel experience of it – this happened to me in Cannes, south of France, and that was truly unforgettable!
Cheryl
Thanks, Cheryl!
Clean rooms are surely an advantage
As long as it’s clean, I wouldn’t mind staying in a $2 a night room with no windows, no air-conditioning, and no furniture except for a small bed. (Just not too long.)
But I do prefer when, like you said, a trip becomes unforgettable because the hotel stay itself adds to the overall experience.
Am just curious, where in Cannes did you stay?
Very useful tips and tactitics. Thanks for putting this Selecting the Right Accommodation | Travel Blissful blog together.