TTF: Travel Tip Friday - Tips for Selecting Lodging - Part One

So, you’ve decided you want to “get out of town.” What next?

One question I have been asked fairly frequently is, “How do you find and select good lodging when you travel?” As we all know, lodging can either make or break a trip. A fabulous place to stay may even make up for less than ideal weather or a delayed flight. I’d like to give you a few tips that I use to book lodging of all types, whether locally, in the U.S. or internationally.

The first thing I look at is if someone I know has already been there and recommends a lodging option. A travel agent is an excellent person to reach out to in this regard, particularly if you do not have time to research lodging options thoroughly yourself. Sometimes you know a friend or relative who has been somewhere and they can show you photos and answer questions about what a lodging is like. So knowing someone who has been to the same lodging recently is a good source of information. Be sure, though, they understand what lodging amenities are most important to you. For example, if a very specific location or a full-service spa is important to you, make sure you do the research or ask a travel agent to ensure those must-haves are included. Your friend’s criteria for a great lodging option may not match your criteria.

The second thing to check is reviews - read lots of them. Do not read two or three and decide this is the place for you. Be sure to read at least 10-15 recent reviews for starters. Next, sort reviews, if possible, and read some of the lowest-rated reviews, noting if those reviews are recent or several years ago. Last, if a particular amenity is critical to you, search the reviews for that amenity to see what fellow travelers have said about it. For example, if a large-city hotel advertises free on-site parking, but a review indicates there are only 5 free parking spots for the whole hotel, you are at least aware or forewarned enough to contact the hotel and ask more questions. I personally was about to book a hotel in a large city because it had some great amenities, but then a review mentioned the room temperature was not able to be adjusted by the traveler. That was a big red flag for me, as I am always warm and most people’s ideal temperature is not mine. I moved on to something else.

One way to save some of your hard-earned cash while still meeting folks in the place you are visiting is to stay at bed and breakfasts instead of hotels or whole-home rentals. Hotels and whole-home rentals are awesome, but they don’t come with hosts who get to know you personally and can be more expensive. I found Stefania’s Milan bed and breakfast, K34 Milano, on an Italian bed and breakfast site, not the popular American booking sites we sometimes use. (See previous post). The site I found it at is:

https://www.k34.it/bed-and-breakfast-milano/k34-bb-milano-en-translation/

Please note you may need to translate this or other websites into English.

I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you that if you are not experienced with booking and do not have time to meticulously plan your own travel, please have a professional travel agent assist you. They are experts! The small fee they may charge you will be totally worth it.

Another tip is do NOT book ANY international lodging yourself unless you can find a bunch of fabulous reviews on several sites. This is called cross- checking. Please cross-check reviews and thoroughly research reviews from multiple travel sites and at Google. If you can’t find the international lodging in multiple places, you may want to dig a little deeper to find out more details or select a different lodging.

Last, do not book lodging using price as your sole criteria. While sometimes you may have only few options, using only the price to select lodging could very well be a recipe for disaster. I tried it once many moons ago in a large city and someday I will write a book chapter about what an unbelievable disaster that hotel and experience was.

I hope these tips assist you in selecting your next lodging. Finding the best lodging for your needs and desires may sometimes be time-consuming, but it will certainly be worth your while.

All the lodging you see in this post, I have stayed in and selected myself. I don’t want to sound pompous or rich. Many of these places were quite affordable and in a fabulous and convenient location. There ARE gems out there, it may just take a bit longer than clicking on your go-to travel app to find and cross- check reviews for them. 😉