Hotels and Special Deals, In General
In each destination we will try to tell you how we find hotels for that destination. There are, however, a few rules. First, it is usually not too difficult to find a discounted rate or a special deal. Although they have a great business, we rarely use websites like www.expedia.com . We do scour for deals. In some cities, countries, etc. you can find a discount broker that seems to offer good deals and is running a reputable website.
Second, regardless of how you find a hotel, we think you should try to investigate the hotel. Try to find some objective reviews of the hotel. Do not rely on the pictures on the hotel’s website or the booking website. But remember – not all reviewers will reflect your tastes and you have to put the reviews into context. In a small town in New Zealand we stayed at a hostel that had a room with a private bath for a very low price. The “customer” reviews were unbelievably great (literally). We enjoyed our stay, but in retrospect, the review was of a very low budget lodging option – and taking this into account what we got was a good deal. But did the room meet up to the raves in the review? – not really.
We use the following websites to get a feel for a hotel (and sometimes as ways to find out about other hotels in the area) … www.fodors.com – for many (not all) destinations Fodor’s will give you online its reviews of hotels as well as customer reviews of the hotels. www.tripadvisor.com has the most extensive website we have found for reviewing hotels. All of the reviews, however, are customer based. For specific destinations we will try to find a website of a local monthly magazine or paper that gives reviews. And in the last case, we will do a web search on the hotel name – and will just cruise the web for tidbits of information.
For U.S. cities, we do use www.priceline.com … if you do your homework, you can get a really good deal on a very nice hotel. But you need a U.S. credit card to use priceline. By homework – find out before you bid how many neighborhoods are in the city in which you are looking. And for each neighbhorhood, figure out what is the highest ranked hotel. Why? If you want a particular neighborhood and you are willing to just go after the best hotels in that neighborhood put in a lowball bid. If you fail, the only way to get a second chance is to add a second neighborhood. If you add in a neighborhood that only has hotels that are ranked lower, by default your next bid, if successful, will put you in your preferred neighborhood.
Hotel Chains
We prefer to find the interesting boutique hotels. We still do. But if you travel a lot (e.g. for business), there is a benefit to joining a hotel’s affinity program. Figure out which chain has the most number of hotels in the most number of places to which you travel for business and would like to travel for pleasure. If you start to get status through the chain, often you will get upgrades to nicer rooms and will build points towards free rooms. Through affinity programs we have ended up in five-star resorts staying for free. The affinity program we like the best is the one offered through Starwood at www.spg.com. This covers the Sheratons, Westins, W, Four Points, St. Regis, and Luxury Collection. If you do not travel very much, the Fairmont chain treats entry level president’s club guests quite well.
Luxury Hotels
Sometimes you just want to stay somewhere quite special. But, you may not be that interested spending a lot of money. We have gotten great deals by using www.luxurylink.com. This website offers many special deals at upscale resorts (but do you homework to make sure it is a good deal) by way of an auction. So you have to be willing to bid and pre-commit to a trip. But the deals can be great. If you know you are going somewhere for a specific period and so would have to use the lodging from a winning auction for that period, contact the hotel/resort before bidding and ask about availability. While the hotel cannot guarantee availability, you can certainly find out if it is possible. The website offered by Andrew Harper also offers deals through auctions.
Second, regardless of how you find a hotel, we think you should try to investigate the hotel. Try to find some objective reviews of the hotel. Do not rely on the pictures on the hotel’s website or the booking website. But remember – not all reviewers will reflect your tastes and you have to put the reviews into context. In a small town in New Zealand we stayed at a hostel that had a room with a private bath for a very low price. The “customer” reviews were unbelievably great (literally). We enjoyed our stay, but in retrospect, the review was of a very low budget lodging option – and taking this into account what we got was a good deal. But did the room meet up to the raves in the review? – not really.
We use the following websites to get a feel for a hotel (and sometimes as ways to find out about other hotels in the area) … www.fodors.com – for many (not all) destinations Fodor’s will give you online its reviews of hotels as well as customer reviews of the hotels. www.tripadvisor.com has the most extensive website we have found for reviewing hotels. All of the reviews, however, are customer based. For specific destinations we will try to find a website of a local monthly magazine or paper that gives reviews. And in the last case, we will do a web search on the hotel name – and will just cruise the web for tidbits of information.
For U.S. cities, we do use www.priceline.com … if you do your homework, you can get a really good deal on a very nice hotel. But you need a U.S. credit card to use priceline. By homework – find out before you bid how many neighborhoods are in the city in which you are looking. And for each neighbhorhood, figure out what is the highest ranked hotel. Why? If you want a particular neighborhood and you are willing to just go after the best hotels in that neighborhood put in a lowball bid. If you fail, the only way to get a second chance is to add a second neighborhood. If you add in a neighborhood that only has hotels that are ranked lower, by default your next bid, if successful, will put you in your preferred neighborhood.
Hotel Chains
We prefer to find the interesting boutique hotels. We still do. But if you travel a lot (e.g. for business), there is a benefit to joining a hotel’s affinity program. Figure out which chain has the most number of hotels in the most number of places to which you travel for business and would like to travel for pleasure. If you start to get status through the chain, often you will get upgrades to nicer rooms and will build points towards free rooms. Through affinity programs we have ended up in five-star resorts staying for free. The affinity program we like the best is the one offered through Starwood at www.spg.com. This covers the Sheratons, Westins, W, Four Points, St. Regis, and Luxury Collection. If you do not travel very much, the Fairmont chain treats entry level president’s club guests quite well.
Luxury Hotels
Sometimes you just want to stay somewhere quite special. But, you may not be that interested spending a lot of money. We have gotten great deals by using www.luxurylink.com. This website offers many special deals at upscale resorts (but do you homework to make sure it is a good deal) by way of an auction. So you have to be willing to bid and pre-commit to a trip. But the deals can be great. If you know you are going somewhere for a specific period and so would have to use the lodging from a winning auction for that period, contact the hotel/resort before bidding and ask about availability. While the hotel cannot guarantee availability, you can certainly find out if it is possible. The website offered by Andrew Harper also offers deals through auctions.
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