Categories: Choosing Your Suite | February 24th, 2008 | by Aravind | one comments
Finding quality hotels isn’t easy unless you know what you’re looking for. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of things you need to know about a particular hotel before you decide to check in, making sure you’re going to end up with a good night’s rest wherever you are.
1. Location, Location, Location - the most crucial factor in a hotel suite for vacation purposes. Being in the centre of things is crucial, so make sure you check up on a local map where your hotel is situated in comparison to where you’re likely to spend most of your trip - be that by the beach, the City sights, or a local conference centre.
2. Nightly Room Rate - are you paying for the best or the worst room? Knowing how a particular suite is charged in comparison with other rooms in the hotel is crucial to identifying whether you’re getting the best deal.
3. Room Rate Comparison - are you paying local market rate? How does your suite compare in price to the one at the hotel round the corner?
4. Online Recommendations - can you find online recommendations or discussions about that particular hotel? Have people in travel forums mentioned that hotel as one to visit, or do you know about that specific area from your research? A little legwork goes a long way prior to booking.
5. Hotel Service Reputation - does that particular hotel have a good reputation for service? Is it part of a large hotel chain, or is it a smaller independently owned business?
By taking the time to research the best hotels where you want to go, you can find a quality hotel in almost any location in the world. Despite cultural and language differences, this general checklist will serve you well wherever you roam, helping you find a good place to lay your hat.
Categories: Hotel Reviews | February 24th, 2008 | by Aravind | no comments
Pros:
- Cheaper room rate than most other hotels - Quality Inn is designed for the casual traveller and provides basic accommodation at basic prices
- Good availability - large hotels make it easy to find a room
- Good geographic spread - wherever you roam you’ll find a Quality Inn, or a rival hotel group’s residence not too far from you
- Familiarity - when travelling in a strange place, it’s nice to have the familiar surroundings of a no-frills, solid accommodation provider that you’ve used time and again to make you feel safe and secure
- Quick, standardised booking procedures - to allow you quick access to your accommodation after you’ve arrived
Cons:
- Quality Inn’s often get accused of having no character as a result of their standard appearance.
- Often ‘out of the way’ from more expensive, City centre accommodation which can leave you needing taxi services and bus trips - inconvenient and costly.
- Very impersonal service - these hotels operate purely on a numbers game and sell on the price proposition rather than great service, which leaves gaps in meal service.
- Basic accommodation - you won’t find too many world-class suites here: it’s all plain and simple accommodation for those on a budget.
Categories: Choosing Your Suite | February 24th, 2008 | by Aravind | no comments
Cheap hotels might seem like the answer to your accommodation problems, but beware before you look to the cheapest headline rate next time you book a vacation. Whilst many of us travel on a budget, it’s more important to think about what you’re paying for and what you’re likely to receive if you want to make for a memorable holiday.
For the most part, flights are generic. Of course there’s the issue of comfort and space, but that only really matters for long haul. For shorter flights it’s just a case of booking the cheapest and going with that. Same for hotels, right? Not at all. Hotel suites are a whole different ball game, and booking with the cheapest will vary rarely have a positive impact on your vacation overall.
The first major problem with cheap hotels is that your accommodation will be basic. In fact, some hotels are so basic as to have shared bathroom and showering facilities rather than en-suite, which can really ruin your trip if you like your privacy. Additionally, cheaper hotels tend also to skimp on other elements of the hotel package, and you may find your room has been inadequately cleaned and is in need of a refurbishment. Cheap hotels are for cheap people - it really is as simple as that, and expecting too much of a budget residence could spoil your trip.
Another problem with cheaper hotels is that you will often find a lack of service and poor mealtime facilities. It is commonplace to be required to pay extra for certain meals, including breakfast, at a number of hotels in all price brackets. However, generally speaking cheaper hotels have lower quality food and meal service, forcing you to incur the costs of eating out more frequently if you have a desire for good quality.
What you will find, more often that not, is that cheaper hotels are most distant to where you want to be. There is a premium to pay for convenience, and you might find that booking into a really cheap hotel will leave you several miles away from where you need to be - particularly problematic if you’re going on a short city break or travelling for some business purpose.
Cheap hotels seem like a great idea until you consider the drawbacks. When it comes to hotel suites you’ve really got to pay above a certain threshold to be guaranteed a decent night’s accommodation in a good location, with good service as standard.
Categories: Saving Money | February 24th, 2008 | by Aravind | no comments
Finding hotel suites at a fraction of the price really took off with the advent of the Internet. As the world changed to embrace this new technology, the hotel industry began to find an outlet for taking direct bookings for vacations alongside traditional travel agents, which allowed them to pass on savings to their clients through direct bookings, rather than wasting commissions on needless middlemen.
However now that the world has become more savvy and understand the online marketplace, it has become more difficult than ever to find cheap hotel suites in good, quality locations for that romantic or business break. If you’ve plenty of time to prepare for your trip, however, there are still a number of ways in which you can save money on booking that hotel suite
Easy Ways
Paying by cash or cheque is an easy way to save several percent off the top of your transaction. In most occasions, hotels charge a processing fee if your pay by credit card in order to cover their merchant costs. However this can often run into 3 or even 4%, which on a larger room can quickly add up. Paying by cash directly cuts off that extra charge and leaves you with a cheaper room than most others who’ll be forced to stick the room on their card.
Another easy way to save money on your hotel suite straight off is to choose your time of the year and day of the week. Most hotels have different seasonal nightly room rates, and even offer discounts on certain slow days of the week. For you that’s perfect - you get the hotel to yourselves to enjoy the peace and quiet whilst also paying less for the privilege. Now that’s what I call a win/win situation.
Clever Ways
Now for some more clever ways to save money on your hotel room. Firstly, booking a hotel suite a year in advance will usually yield a discount, as will booking at the last minute. In both situations the hotel are happy to secure the booking and are willing to take a slightly lesser rate for it, particularly in smaller hotels where there is a direct correlation between occupancy rates and the person working at check-in. Of course this will require you to ask for a discount when booking. But don’t be afraid - it’s more common than you’d think in this type of situation.
A variation on the last minute booking is by finding an online hotel suite auction. Kept under wraps, these are websites where leading hotels auction off rooms that don’t look likely to get booked for a much discounted rate in order to try and fill them up. By checking out these websites you can find great deals of highly rated hotels across the world for next-to-nothing, at a fraction of their usual room rate.
Whilst the world is becoming more aware of how to go about finding cheap hotel suites, there are still plenty of ways you too can save money on your next hotel suite - whatever your requirements - using these simple, everyday methods next time you book.
Categories: Choosing Your Suite | February 24th, 2008 | by Aravind | no comments
Booking a top hotel suite is something that we get to do on just a few special occasions in our lives. Mostly for that honeymoon or special romantic vacation, booking posh hotel rooms isn’t something we do everyday, and often the process can seem daunting if you don’t know what to expect. Luckily, we’ve got all that covered for you - the ins and outs of booking that special hotel suite along with what to look for when securing your reservation.
Choosing the Perfect Suite
Choosing the perfect hotel suite for your trip very much depends in the first instance on what your trip is for. For example, your needs on a business trip will differ greatly from your needs on a romantic vacation or honeymoon. Depending on your requirements, you may require something quite basic or something lavish for the occasion. The best way to determine the quality of a given suite, aside from photographs of the interior, is to use what’s called the ‘circumstantial’ test - that is, to consider the circumstances surrounding that particular hotel suite:
- Has that particular hotel a good reputation?
- What is the hotel’s star rating?
- What is the nightly room rate for that particular suite?
- How does that compare to the rates for other suites in the same hotel?
- Is the hotel located in a good neighbourhood?
- Does it mostly appeal to the business, casual stay or vacation market?
- What kind of clients does the hotel normally attract? What are they likely to be able to afford for the more lavish suites?
By weighing up this non-exhaustive list of circumstances, you should be able to gauge how a particular suite compares and how well it’s likely to fit your needs, whether that be for your next business trip or for your honeymoon.
Do you really get what you pay for?
A common misconception in booking hotel suites is that paying more will secure a more luxurious suite. This is, in fact, a fallacy, and room rates only have a correlation with room quality within the specific hotel to which they relate. In order to compare, you also need to know data from surrounding hotels including the prices they charge for their suites, amongst a variety of other factors. If you’re looking to find out which hotel in your area may have the best suite, the answer is to look for recommendations rather than go solely based on price. By learning from other people’s experiences of the kind of suite you’re opting for, by searching online forums or communities, you will be better placed to form an opinion on where you want to stay and the quality of hotel suite you’re likely to find.
Reputation also plays a role in many decisions as to where to stay. Whilst that isn’t necessarily the best way to make a decision, you are guaranteed quality accommodation in any of the big name hotel chains, although this may be outwith your budget constraints. However by booking well in advance or last-minute, you can realise a saving on the headline room rate whilst still taking advantage of the same, quality suite.
Choosing a hotel suite can be scary, but provided you do a bit of background research on the market prior to booking, you should be able to find yourself a satisfactory deal. And remember - if the suite doesn’t live up to the hotelier’s promises, you’re more than entitled to demand better service.