Finding a place to stay is critical to any journey.
We all have our own understanding of what we want and what works for us. The important thing is to reach a point of confidence that you will be comfortable with where you’ve chosen to stay. There are many factors to consider in finding accommodations. Considering the below factors, the traveler should make their decision based on what’s best for them. You may have your own factors to add to your decision.
Major factors we consider
Everyone’s criteria for what constitutes a good place to stay is specific to them.
Cost
Cost is always important, but in different ways for different people. Places to stay are sort of like paying for a good wine. A good wine doesn’t have to be expensive. Just because you pay more does not mean it is a better accommodation. We paid roughly $120 per night for a loft apartment in Florence that was awesome. Not only was it a very reasonable place to stay and a great location, it gave us our Florence – The Stairs story! Whether you’re looking to save as much as possible, or just want to make sure you pay a fair amount for where you stay, understanding the place makes
Stars/Rating
“Star” type ratings can sometimes be misleading. It’s important to check out the reviews when you think what should be a high (or higher) star location. It’s hard to go wrong if you choose the higher stars or customer ratings, although it can happen.
Reviews
Reviews are tantamount in determining where you stay. As described in Stars above, reviews can exhibit the reason behind a lower number of stars. It could be a disgruntled customer, or that a place didn’t meet an expectation (realistic or not) that they had. When you read the low ratings, you can get an idea if the location has a pervasive problem or if it was a one-time occurence.
Many of the same types of review can tell you if the staff is rude, there are bed bugs, the air conditioners never work. Reviews can also tell you if someone had a problem that isn’t yours. We once read a review where a family went to an all inclusive where in addition to 4 other restaurants, there was an adults only restaurant. They were upset that they couldn’t go into the adults only restaurant with their children. In this case, if you don’t have children, or don’t have a problem staying away from that particular restaurant, that 2 star rating is irrelevant and drags down the overal ratings.
Location
Location makes a big difference in some cases. If you want to be within walking or driving distance, there’s a good chance it’ll cost more than a place outside the area you’re touring. Also very important is the whether the neighborhood you’re contemplating is safe to you. There are specific neighborhoods (particularly in other countries) that are well known to not be safe for Americans.
Cleanliness
People have their own ideas about cleanliness. Cleanliness is almost always covered in Reviews above (especially if it’s bad), but you have to read the reviews to see if a particular place is struggling with bed bugs, or the sheets and bedspreads are covered with bodily fluids. We have a light to check the bed (click here), that we use on certain trips, mostly All-Inclusives, where their hotels tend to be less attentive.
Views
Views in certain places can be astounding. Although we don’t treat it as important as the previous criteria, it is still considered in our search. Depending on where we are planning to stay, views can play a major factor. If possible, we look for mountain views or city views, but it’s not a necessity for us. Here a few of the views we’ve had from great places we’ve stayed:
Planning ahead
Researching is better than it used to be, especially with the internet and numerous websites and smart phone applications. Between sites like Expedia, AirBnB, and Homeway, finding a place to stay is easier than ever. We have found excellent places in 4 different continents, in places we’ve never been before, without much assistance from others.
One can spend hours lost in the effort, so it’s always good to have a few things locked down before search, starting with the criteria you decide is important to you. Once you have a feel for what you (and/or your party) would like in an accommodation, you can often use those criteria as “filters” in your search.
On the fly
Things don’t always work out. Sometimes the stars and reviews don’t match up to the location. Sometimes the location has an independent problem. No matter what the situation, it’s always good to be prepared to switch up at the last minute.
More than once we’ve had to find something on the fly. On our last 4 overseas journeys, we’ve been forced to find alternate accommodations. Twice it was past 8pm, once at 11pm. In another country…
It first happened in Florida when our entire family of 7 showed up at the hotel only to be told there was no room. They had overbooked and we got there after 10pm due to our flight. We didn’t know much then, but we knew enough to insist on being put up somewhere for the evening. They found us another hotel and off we went.
As we had booked this through a travel agent, the travel agent not only had our stay at the first hotel reimbursed, but the agent got the original hotel to reimburse our cost at the other hotel as well. That’s one of the major advantages of having a travel agent!
International examples
Argentina (2013)
We left for our 16 day trip without a place to stay on days 14 & 15. Somewhere within the first 5 days, we found a place and booked it online!
Ireland (2014)
One of the places we booked cancelled the night we were to stay there. We had booked pretty far in advance and were calling to confirm our arrival time as it was pretty late (11pm). We had been on the road some 14 hours that day having seen Carrickfergus Castle and the Giant’s Causeway. However, the owner had just found out that morning she had cancer and understandably was pretty devastated. We told her we totally understood her situation. Once we hung up we immediately started looking for a place to stay. It was pretty difficult as we were in the middle of Ireland and cell service was not the best. We finally locked in a place only 20 minutes away and spent a comfortable night there, for less money.
Spain (2015)
We had booked a very nice apartment in Barcelona. We got there around 8:30pm at night only to find out during the tour that the toilet leaked. Really badly. The person showing us the unit said it was “source” water and would provide extra towels to help us keep it dry. Based on the smell it was not source water. We insisted they find us another place to stay for 4 nights and he said they had none. While he was working through the process, I booked a hotel nearby on Expedia. Once booked, I told him we were leaving and that we expected a full refund. The refund posted the next day.
Italy (2016)
The pictures were much better than the unit, it was definitely not what we expected. I (Gary) could tell Dianne was not thrilled, nor was I. So while the gentleman was giving us the details of his unit, I had already found us another place before he left. We quickly agreed to move and did. We explained to the owner that our situation had changed and he ended up giving us all our money back.
Final Advice
As you might imagine, it’s happened enough to us that we no longer panic when confronted with the need to book last minute accommodations. We roll the contingency into the budget, which is just one of the 12 Considerations When Planning a Trip, and if we don’t need to spend it, we can use the money for something else!