Hotel booking
In earlier times when booking a hotel room was a boring job for the guest and one has to put a lot of effort behind that, whereas in today’s time it is just a matter of few clicks or a few calls/ e-mails etc.
Unlike a long-haul flight or a cramped car ride, a hotel stay is something you have to live with for the duration of your stay. Many a potentially great holiday has been spoiled because of a bad hotel experience. Seriously, you don’t want that happening on your next vacation.
Every hotel’s goal is to sell more rooms and make a huge profit. Yet, without an online booking system, you will have to depend on phone calls and walk-ins only to make reservations. Online Booking provides the easiest and excellence whole word option to the customer. It is highly informative, user-friendly.
It provides quality services to various customers. Booking a hotel with the agent is a time-consuming process. In this situation, the internet provides the best way to book a room in a hotel. It discovers more information about the hotel which is situated in a particular area and also selects the hotel according to your demands.
Here, I am sharing a few tips on getting the most out of hotel bookings.
Location
Seriously, you’ve got to nail it when it comes to location. If you have a good idea of your itinerary during your holiday, it’s easy to pinpoint exactly where you’d want your base. Spend some time on the map – it’s very useful, and the route planning could end up being fun too.
But when you have booked a hotel with excellent proximity to the hotspots you want to visit, what next? Let’s say you’re going to an unfamiliar destination or a country where English might not be widely spoken. Maybe the taxi driver aware of where your hotel is located and maybe he doesn’t. Don’t take that chance. It pays to have a map of the hotel handy, especially if you’ve not availed of the hotel pick-up service.
Safety First
Gone are the days of making payments at the reception desk. Thanks to all those booking websites, credit cards are now the currency to book a hotel stay. It’s all very convenient and hassle-free, but there’s a reason why our folks were always hesitant to swipe.
With the total number of websites on the internet, there’s no telling which one’s genuine and which is out to rip you off. If you’re getting an offer that’s too good to be true, it isn’t. Make sure you check websites for secure payment transactions, which can usually be ascertained through the website markings.
Timing is everything
During festive seasons and regional events, there’s usually a rush to book rooms, with the effect that hotels hike up their tariffs in search of a windfall. The upside to this is that if you’re smart about when to book, you’ll usually find a great deal on pre-booking your hotel room. Several rewards programs can sweeten the deal considerably.
Always take a look for seasonal offers and be prompt in your decision-making because these offers are taken up fast. Most of the hotels will throw in a complimentary breakfast or free Wi-Fi at pre-existing tariffs to attract you into booking with them. Take advantage of their eagerness and get yourself a great deal.
Always Read the Fine Print
Is there a specific hotel you’ve signed up with that offers a loyalty bonus? Does that still hold if you book through a third-party website? Does the room rate you paid include complimentary breakfast or a free pick-up service? What’s the cancellation policy of the hotel?
There’s a reason why hotels choose to use a smaller font for some of their, err, “terms”. The fact is, nobody will help you if you’re not informed about what you’re getting into. The easiest method to know about hotel deals is to check customer reviews. A lot of them will describe the freebies they received or the bad experience they had at the hotel to give you a better idea of what’s coming your way.
Do your research.
Don’t Hesitate to Ask
When it comes to booking a good hotel, asking (or in other words, demanding) for the best can take one a long way. Most hotels are looking for repeat customers, and you’ll be amazed by how far they’re willing to go to make sure that you pick them on your next visit.
Here are few best hotel booking sites to compare prices with for your next vacation.
- Booking.com.
- Kayak.
- Priceline.
- Hotels.com.
- HotelsCombined
- Expedia (which owns Travelocity and Orbitz)
- Agoda.
- TripAdvisor
- Trivago
With a nice cuppa tea and a good internet connection, these travel booking hacks always keep in mind:
- Get price alerts from Kayak
- Snag other traveler’s unwanted rooms
- Check for hotel coupon deals
- Use airline miles to purchase hotel rooms
- Use Mastercard points to purchase hotel rooms
- Subscribe for membership discounts
- Snatch last minute deals with Priceline
- Check for more additional minute deals on Hotel Tonight
- Get paid to write hotel reviews on a website like Yonderbound
- Ask for deals
Always make sure you have all of your documents to make the check-in process as fast and as easy as possible. Here are a few of the documents you will most likely need to have at hotel check-in
- Some Form of Identification
- A Reservation Confirmation
- Your Credit Card
- Any Discount Card
Advantages of online Hotel booking systems
Payments are Easier and Faster. Payments are also greatly eased with an online booking platform. You can require from your guests to pay when they book, further increasing your income, and not worry about payments when they arrive. Apart from it, in case of a no-show, you can keep some of the money as compensation.