How to avoid mistakes when choosing a hotel, or as silent booking services

Whether you've been a situation where you decided to become "independent" traveler, you arrive at your booked hotel room door open in anticipation.. and see is not what you expect?

Visiting dozens of hotels around the world, "filling cones" and has accumulated invaluable experience, I came to the conclusion that book hotels - it's not "play the lottery", as it may seem in the beginning, but only a matter of technology.

Below - nine tips from my personal experience of how not to be confused reservation and get exactly the level of comfort, which you hoped.

Tip 1. Never take a decision on the photos

The most important thing you need to know, work with the service booking - photos submitted online booking, always or almost always be far from reality. Therefore, your task - to estimate the number or the hotel is not on the pictures, and the other, circumstantial evidence, which will be discussed below.

I'll tell you a funny story that illustrates this principle. A hotel in Asia put fake photos pool allegedly present on the territory. In the second photo - you can see the actual size of the "pool".

Tip 2. Always pay attention to the total area of ​​the room

Only this figure gives a true understanding of the size of the room. If for you the comfort and the "freedom of movement", your option - from 35-40 m² and above.

However, there is one little trick. The presence of a balcony or patio allows you to visually expand the space and get rid of the feeling Trapped within the four walls.

Life example.

Arriving in a boutique hotel in New York, who described their rooms as "spacious", and not paying attention to the actual size, we found quite tiny space - we do not just have nowhere to put your things, but also to move around the room was difficult (the total area of ​​the room, including the bathroom, was 22 m²). I had to do "upgrade" and do the move. Below is a photo of the room, which, indeed, seems to be quite spacious.

Tip 3. Always pay attention to the total number of hotel rooms

As a rule, this information is immediately after the description of the hotel as a small registry (photo below). If you care about a sense of peace and quiet, your option - a hotel with a capacity of 200-300 rooms.

If you want to stay in a hotel belonging to the brand such as Mariott, Hilton, Hyatt, etc., numbered bar may be raised to 400-500 rooms. All above - the risk of being in the "anthill": the queue at the front desk, a crowd of people at breakfast, lack of attention from the staff, the endless road to the number through the floors and corridors.

Life example.

Arriving at the Hilton San Franisco, first impression of the star hotel was immediately dispelled noisy and uncomfortable lobby, which, in search of free wi-fi, hundreds of people were. Only then I read the description of the hotel and found that the number of rooms in this hotel - 1908!

Tip 4. Caution - boutique hotel!

The boutique hotel is usually positioned as a stylish luxury hotel, did not belong to any hotel chains. However, beware - the quality can be a dramatically better or dramatically worse than expected. In this case, the rate is guaranteed to be higher.

The main thing to consider when booking a room in a boutique hotel, is the date of the renovation (renovation of the hotel). If the renovation was done recently (1-2 years ago), boutique hotels it is particularly proud of and display this information on the first line in the description. If the date is not updated information about the hotel - it is an occasion to think about.

Quote From Wikipedia:

Recently, the concept of "boutique hotel" is blurred, it is used for marketing purposes to improve the attractiveness of the hotel.

Life example.

In search of an alternative to the most "densely populated» Hilton San Franisco - I studied several adjacent boutique hotels. As a result, I saw a small room, with a bad smell, old furniture and small latticed windows and room rates approaching an incredible $ 250-270 per night.

In the photo - a room boutique hotel site Booking.com:

And the number that I saw - a small and shabby.

Tip 5. Like to sleep in silence - study the noise factor

If you are sensitive to the sounds from the street and you need complete silence to sleep - you definitely need to understand how great is the noise level in the room. Here it is necessary to take into account two factors:

1. The proximity of the road and other noise factors (busy streets, tourist center of the cluster). Calculated using Google Maps or other cards. If the road is closer than 100-150 meters, there is a high probability that the rumble of the road will always be present in the room background.
2. The quality of sound insulation of windows. It turns on the novelty of the hotel or by the renovation, as a last resort - you can just call the hotel and find out how well windows block the noise from the street.

Life example.

Settled in a beachfront hotel Aston Kaanapali Villas on the Hawaiian island of Maui, I was surprised to find that the hotel is near a busy road, the roar of which is heard in the room. The windows also did not block the noise. I had to just get used to.

Tip 6. Do not be misled by the term "beach hotel"

If your goal - a beach holiday, please read the hotel's location on Google Maps. Look, if divides the hotel and the beach road, build a walking route to the nearest place of rest, make sure that the hotel is not "ignores" nothing.

Life example.

Hotel Hyatt Place Waikiki Beach (note the title is present lulls the vigilance of the word «beach»), in which we were settled, was positioned in the search Booking.com as a "hotel on the beach" and promised "stunning ocean views". However, forgetting to mention that the hotel is not on the beach, and a block away from it, and even of the highest numbers seen views of the beach and the hotels that are in front.

Tip 7. The final price for a room with a high probability will be higher than the price stated on the booking site

Planning cost estimates, do not forget that in addition to the room rate, you need to be very still pay taxes, access to wi-fi (if you need the internet), breakfast, parking (if you plan to take a car rent).

Taxes can be directly included in the price or charged separately, and then you have a chance to learn about them only in the time of departure from the hotel, when paying for accommodation.

Here is an example of one of the taxes hotels in the US, which were not included in the price stated on the reservation:

• Tax (about 16%)
• Resort fee ($ 20 per night)
• City tax (2%)

Booking.com feature consists in the fact that the real cost of the reservation, including taxes, you can see only in the second step, after the selected room type and pressing the "book." Information about the real value, after reloading the page, will be located in the upper right corner. In the second step focuses on refining your billing information at the bottom of the page, so in the upper right corner of eye does not get.

Availability of wi-fi and the areas where it operates, - throughout the hotel, in the room, only in the lobby - as a rule, are listed on the hotel's page, that information is easy to find. However, if the wi-fi fee - you know that, as a rule, paid access to only one device. Therefore, if the two of you - feel free to multiply the number by two.

Quality is also nonlinear. There have been cases when a free internet worked much better paid. Therefore, if you have scheduled an important meeting or Skype conference, it is better to clarify the actual speed of the Internet and its cost in advance - in order to avoid unpleasant surprises.

If breakfast is not included in the room rate, the cost is usually can be easily found on the hotel page, or in the room description (usually excluding taxes). Anyway, if breakfast is not included, to be put on this event at least $ 15-20 per person.

Parking can range from free to $ 15-50 per day. Specify the availability of parking close to the hotel and take into account these additional payments, if you plan to rent a car.

Thus, if the price matters to you, taking into account all of these factors can seriously disperse slender sort of service for the price of reservation, so that Excel to help you.

Life example.

Settled in one of the hotels, we found that the amount of extra. payments for the two of us, if we relaxed and nothing will not do, will amount to $ 194! This amount includes a variety of taxes ($ 40), breakfast ($ 72 for two people), parking ($ 52) and the internet ($ 30).

Pay attention to our article "How to buy cheap air tickets and a hotel room for less: tricks reservation systems»

Tip 8. In a review, pay attention only to the fact that he wrote the majority of

By studying the pages of reviews of hotels, you need to always keep in mind - how many people, so many opinions. If you read everything on it to navigate - the desire to go to the hotel is no longer just. It's no secret that the negative reviews are more willing to write. On the other hand, did not read the reviews - so go blind - after all, "is aware - is forearmed."

A little math to help navigate in this "stream of consciousness". Reviews can be divided into two types:

The first type - that writes the majority of people, that is, repeatedly indicated a certain advantage or a disadvantage. It is to these reviews, I recommend to listen.
The second type - that says a minority and it does not match your personal opinion.

Therefore, in order not to be misled and to save time, always keep in mind two factors:

1. Reviews, which occur repeatedly, that is, those who wrote the majority.
2. Overall rating of the hotel, which in my personal opinion, as a rule, is too high: if there is a score "Awesome," in reality it is "good" if the evaluation "good" - that is, as a rule, satisfactorily, etc.

Everything else - the noise and error.

Tip 9. What else should I look for when booking a hotel?

Listed below are the other, in my opinion, important factors to consider when booking a hotel.

• The name of the category numbers may not be what you think. Due to the fact that the names of the categories of rooms can vary from hotel to hotel, it is better to look at all available categories of rooms in the hotel, so to speak, to examine the entire list, to sort out which numbers above and below which in line. On Booking.com To do this, simply click on the name of the hotel without selecting a date. Thus, for example, you can learn that "Junior" is worse than "deluxe", but better than "superior room". Or, for example, that in addition to the room "overlooking the ocean" there is still room to "Ocean Front". Suddenly, right?
• Reservation fee (guarantee) can be an unpleasant surprise. Be especially careful to carefully study the cost of the booking. It's such a small subscription and podpechatki that appear in the process of making your reservation. Sometimes it can be blocked by a certain amount in the account to secure your reservation, sometimes can not shoot anything, sometimes on the map to block payment for one day, sometimes for two. Sometimes the amount of return in case of failure of the reservation, sometimes not. Sometimes the return, but only up to a certain limit. With all my care, often it happened that I did not notice the information that the amount on the the card will be locked, for example, of a few days stay, and it was unpleasant surprise. It also happens that when you try to cancel your reservation free of charge up to a certain period, I learned that the term has already passed since the countdown was on the other, local time and date for the hotel "X" there has already come.
• Written comments to the order - not a guarantee that they have received. If you want to inform the hotel that something very important about your journey - for example, you have special requirements, or a special event and you want to emphasize this - this is best done directly by sending an email-a or call in hotel. In my experience, in 4 cases out of 5 information I reported to the hotel via the comments to the order in Booking.com, for whatever reasons, did not reach. However, then I discovered that the information confirmed by the hotel, placed in the section "Reservations" - "Updating the reservation." I advise you to look if you are sent any comment to the armor.
• Not always a higher category by definition better. There continue the theme of room categories. For example, a cottage with views of the garden can be no "sea view", but close to the sea, while the "sea view" room can be far from the sea and next to, say, the same noisy road in high-rise building. During their "trial and error", I came to the conclusion that if you are very important to the location of the rooms (cottage), with respect to sea or beach - the optimal solution - call the hotel and specify which category of accommodation to suit your needs and requirements will be best for you.

What to do if trouble still came from not waiting, and you encounter the problems above?

• Do not like it - go for it! If you are not satisfied with the appearance of the number or location - boldly ask for the upgrade or replacement of numbers. As a rule, if not today, then tomorrow there will be room.
• No places - this is not a sentence. Even despite the fact that the hotels on Booking.com standing the status of "all sold out" as a rule, always a few rooms available for replacement.
• What's in the neighborhood? If the proposed options categorically reject - ring up or go around the neighboring hotels. Again, even if according to Booking.com, they are completely sold out, it is likely that the availability they still are.
• Can move without penalty. If you decide after all to change the hotel - check the amount of cancellation fees. Often, notify the hotel enough for the day that you leave with a fine and you do not take. Thus, find a suitable place to move, notify the hotel that you sezzhaete, for example, tomorrow, and you will avoid financial losses.
• reservation service to the rescue! If the above methods did not help - call Booking.com and ask for help. In my experience, the Russian-speaking support team work out quite effectively incoming requests and my problems have always been solved peacefully.

And what problems you encountered? Write in the comments tips that can also make life easier for "independent travelers."