My children’s father recently told me I’m a big kid and he’s right, I am. At the ripe age of mid-thirties, I find cartoons amusing. I still watch Sesame Street trying to figure out if Mr. Snafalumpagus needs help finding it because … where is he? More importantly, I still love Disney. While I have immense love for Disney, I still have yet to stay on property and generally stay “somewhere in the area”. As with anywhere else, this can mean many things but the one lesson it taught me is that there are many things to consider when booking travel lodging.
What’s the first thing you think about when your preparing to book a hotel room? If you’re like most people, it’s the price. How much is this going to cost you – am I right? In reality, price is one of the last things you should be considering. This used to be crazy logic to me until I realized sometimes I was spending more.
Location, Location, Location
We recently took a trip to New York and I booked an Airbnb in Queens thinking “In New Yorkkkkk (Alicia Keys sangin’ in my head)”, … it took us a 10-minute walk, followed by an hour-long subway ride to get anywhere … Manhattan, Brooklyn, ANYWHERE. Meanwhile, I’d seen places in Jersey City and that didn’t sound like music to my ears, so I passed. That also meant I passed up on being a 40-minute commute closer to many places I wanted to go. Time is money. It’s also usually expensive uber rides or public transportation fare.
The Amenities
Hotel A cost $157, while Hotel B cost $115. What you’re leaving out when you just look at price is that Hotel A also has complimentary breakfast for your room party of 3, complimentary Internet, an afternoon reception with light bites and drinks, and a complimentary shuttle. Hotel B simply has a price tag of $115. Honestly, Hotel A would have me at “complimentary breakfast” especially if it’s a full breakfast. I don’t care for continental breakfast … unless it comes to my door in the form of a super cute picnic complete with basket.
The Feel
I took a solo trip to Orlando for my birthday earlier this year because yes, I am a big kid. I started the trip out in a lovely room at B Resort. Everything was stylish, beautiful, lovely. I stayed using their birthday rate offer, where your second night is only $1, and because I didn’t want to pay the $176 (plus resort fee) for another night, I used Hoteltonight for my last day. I love Hoteltonight and have great luck with them but this was my first booking and my stay was a nightmare. I stayed at the Wyndham Garden across the street and let’s just say so many things went wrong that the General Manager would have given me my entire room fee back if I’d paid the hotel directly but, because I used a 3rd party, she could only give me a super late 3 pm check out and credit the resort fee back to my card. I was bummed but it was my fault. I don’t generally care for motels (my definition: any place you exit your room and your outside with the exception of large suites that are more like apartments) and I knew that’s exactly what that was going to be because I’ve stayed at the attached Wyndham Hotel. It’s because I loved that previous hotel stay that I thought the attached Garden motel portion would be similar … it was not. Lesson learned.
So, what’s the first thing you think about when booking travel lodging?
