How Many People Can Stay In A Hotel Room – Hotel reservations seem pretty easy, right? And often: choose a destination, choose a date, enter your payment information and voila, enjoy your trip!
However, there are some big mistakes you can make when it comes to hotel reservations. From booking on the wrong website to forgetting to check some important information, these mistakes can easily make or break your trip. Read on to find out what to avoid when booking these hotel rooms.
How Many People Can Stay In A Hotel Room
I recently had a conversation with a front desk agent about how rooms are distributed during check-in at his chain of hotels. Curious, I asked what method their staff used to decide who got the best room. He revealed this surprising tidbit: Those who book through the hotel’s website or hotel loyalty members typically get first dibs on room assignments with better views and quieter locations. Travelers who book through online travel agencies (OTAs) like Priceline often get the “home run” room (even if they call it the “ice machine room,” or basically whatever it is). The representative couldn’t say how many hotel chains do this, but he said it’s “a fairly common practice” and that the deal is sweeter for travelers who book at the regular rate.
Is It Safe To Fly Or Stay In A Hotel?
The fix: Joining a hotel’s loyalty program is often free, and membership can guarantee useful amenities like better room placement, free nights or breakfasts, or free Wi-Fi.
If the best room is the key to enjoying your trip, book directly through the hotel’s website. But if OTA’s low, low prices can’t be beat—we know how you feel—you can request a specific room type or location.
King bed or two doubles? High or low floor? non smoking? A vision of water? Three red M&Ms? When making a hotel reservation, most booking engines allow you to make a request or add a comment about your stay. However, in the fine print, most hotels state that your request is not guaranteed.
Fix: The old adage “expect something and you won’t be disappointed” rings true here, but it’s cold comfort if you want some comfort. First, know that most hotels will try to honor your request. At check-in, if you notice that a double bed has been turned into one or that you have been placed in a smoking room, speak to the front desk agent and politely request a change. Also, it’s a good idea to call the hotel before you arrive to confirm your request, especially if there is a medical reason.
Mum Slams Hotel For Being ‘too Full Of Locals’ During Her Stay
By this sin of travel, I am guilty as a force. On a trip abroad a few years ago, I noted that my flight left on May 14th, so I booked my destination hotel from the night of May 14th. A new mistake. I completely neglected to check if my flight that landed on the morning of the 15th was red. This meant I paid for an expensive (and non-refundable) room I didn’t need.
The Fix: Unlike the unfortunate writer, make sure you have your flight schedule when booking, and double-check your arrival and departure dates. Also consider the time zone. If you cross the international date line in transit, yes, your entry date may be different than expected. Before you hit “Confirm” or “Pay,” it’s also not a bad idea to have someone check your order to make sure the date you selected is correct.
Credit cards are king when it comes to hotel bookings. Credit cards not only offer rewards like airline miles, free nights or cash back bonuses, but also offer certain guarantees that debit and credit cards don’t (like fraud protection or direct refunds for erroneous charges).
Another tip that most travelers don’t know? Most hotels require an additional deposit if you use a debit card to protect against overdraft fees if you don’t have enough funds in your account. These additional deposits can add up: I once made a $100 deposit in Las Vegas and didn’t go back into my account for two weeks.
Smart Stay Hotel Station, Munich
Fix: If you are smart about money management and choose the right credit card, you can see many benefits when booking accommodation. NerdWallet rounds up the top credit cards with travel benefits. Also be sure to check out Tim Winship’s Miles & Points column, which SmarterTravel runs every week. In, Winship offers the current credit card promotion.
Travelers, beware: confusing hotel names or location descriptions can lead you to book an airport hotel if you think you’re staying centrally located. You’d be surprised how often travelers see the hotel name and quickly enter it without checking that it’s in the right place. After all, some hotels may call themselves “located in the city center,” but a quick search may reveal that they’re at the airport…two hours away.
Fix: Check the postal address and find the hotel location on Google Maps. Always enter your hotel address and see how far it is from popular attractions and restaurants by foot, car or public transport. Try mapping out the route by entering the address of a few tourist attractions you want to see while you’re there. You might want to explore your neighborhood with Google Maps Street View. If there are several hotels with the same chain in town, make sure you book yourself at a property in the right neighborhood—the Hyatt Times Square and Hyatt Flushing are very different.
Back in March, contributing editor Ed Perkins reported one of the most outrageous resort fees we’ve ever seen. At a hotel in Colorado, an artificially reasonable $170 room fee is topped up with a $35 cleaning fee, a $40 resort fee, a $10 pool and spa fee, and a $5.10 processing fee. Oh shit.
Different Types Of Hotel Rooms… Explained!
Fix: If you don’t want to benefit from these services, you may be able to waive some of the charges, such as housekeeping or newspaper delivery. Others, such as resort fees, are mandatory, so you should note the additional costs when booking the hotel. Hotels are expected to clearly display resort fees, but OTAs may not include vague language such as “additional fees may apply.” So call the resort before you book and ask point blank about additional resort charges.
If you’ve ever played Oyster’s Photo Fakeout feature, you’ll know that hotels go to great lengths to make their properties look perfect. But when you arrive, the infinity pool can be the size of a postage stamp, and the fine linen is as fine as sandpaper. Take anything the hotel says about itself with a grain of salt (or sand).
The fix: Do your research. Reading user reviews is a difficult balancing act. You want to read as many reviews as you can without suffering from information overload. You also want unbiased and recent reviews. The best way to get an accurate picture of a resort is to choose review sites wisely. TripAdvisor and Oyster (owned by us as well as TripAdvisor) provide a very accurate preview of what the hotel has to offer; Oyster room photos are a great resource if you’re interested in how you can stack your room into a stunning image, and perhaps with Photoshop. Don’t be suspicious of overly complimentary reviewers, and the converse is true: If you notice that Bob Grump has given every hotel he’s ever reviewed one lousy star, feel free to question Bob Grump’s judgment.
As many procrastinators will admit, waiting until the last minute to make travel plans can have dire consequences for your credit card balance. Hotel rates can go up in the days leading up to a certain date, and if all books are overbooked (or there’s no one left in the budget), you may find yourself without a room. On the other hand, the advanced planner can have its own downsides: Sure, you might want to get all your travel ducks in a row as soon as possible, but actually booking a hotel room early can cost you money.
Hot Showers For Every Guest: How Do Hotels Do It?
The fix: There’s no easy answer to when is the best time to book a hotel room. Prices depend on many factors: location, seasonality, many conventions, even the weather. As a general rule, booking more than 21 days in advance of your arrival date is a no-no for the most popular destinations. You will be vulnerable to inflated prices. The best thing is to start checking prices at least 40 days in advance and watch the trends. If the price seems to be going up, make a reservation.
If you want to make sure you get the lowest rate, hotel booking site Tingo (SmarterTravel’s sister company) will automatically track your hotel and rebook you at a lower rate if the price drops. Of course, if you’re staying up until the 11th hour and your hotel options are slim, check out the Hotel of the Night app for last-minute deals.
The hotel you love “at a great price!” Immediately the credit card number was dropped
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