Seamless Journeys
Travel knows no boundaries
Accommodation tips
WISHING YOU HAPPY PLANNING
The important part of any trip has been the ACCOMMODATION and how we end up falling in love with it. This has always reflected on our moods during a tour. When we live in comfortable surroundings, we feel energetic and enthusiastic.
The choice of stay has always been self-catering. Read "Planning for food" before you continue. to get an idea of why this has been our favourite choice.
Variety is the spice of life. Tourists can get spoilt with the plethora of choices available today - Hotels, Bed & Breakfasts, self-catering, hostels and more.. Of course there are loads of suggestions made by search engines like tripadvisor and booking.com that offer varied choices on a single platform. There are also other websites that are country or region specific. You could browse them too.
9 out of 10 times, our choice has been AIRBNB. In any case all our accommodations, whether booked with HALLDIS or through trip advisor, booking.com or directly with host, have been satisfying. The learning curve of what and how to choose, has been moving steeply upwards ever since and with each trip the experience has been increasingly great. Customer reviews always play a major role. Go for the ones with good reviews, you won't regret. Travel is getting more global and there are millions wanting to help others in making choices in all fields of travel. You just need to grab those.
Depending on the group size and budget you can book your place of stay.
On that note, I would like to share my accommodation planning experiences here. I always keep the following in mind while making choices.
1 : COST - This depends a lot on the total budget. If we plan to stay in more than one place during the entire tour, the total cost of all accommodations obviously needs to fall within or around the budget allocated for "STAYS ". Reading reviews and drawing comparisons relating to costs of various choices is relevant here.
2 : PROXIMITY & ACCESSIBILITY - Is the choice of accommodation close enough to places of visit, does it provide easy access - these questions need to be answered. A decision to stay close to an easily accessible public transport has always been the success mantra in all our tours. This has never failed till date. It helps save a lot of time on commuting. For eg. A particular beautiful Accommodation outside the city, that is less expensive and is easily accessible by cheap & comfortable public transport would obviously be our choice. In short any accommodation, that is within budget and easily gets us to the centre should be fine. It need not be swanky. Remember that most of the time is spent outside the accommodation. We only tend to sleep and eat a bit there and nothing much. Spending on luxury may not make sense unless the vacation is only meant for total relaxation or any other specific purpose.
3 : COMFORT - The biggest lesson learnt is never fall for glossy pictures of the accommodation. It may sometimes be far from true. Verify its authenticity. Again it is best to read as many reviews as possible, read between the lines, before making the final decision. Zeroing in on your favourite choices may seem simple but you may want to re-think on the number of baths required as per your group size. Mornings can be crazy during the tour. In case of larger groups, you can choose to book different accommodations in the same area for ease of tour co-ordination. Also check on the kind of bedding. Do not make the mistake of going blindly by statements like "Sleeps 10" where 3 of the beds may be rather uncomfortable sofa beds. It is better to ensure comfort of all members to avoid complaints and arguments later on.
4 : SELF-CATERING OPTIONS - Hotels never gave us a feel of the city. In almost all parts of the world a good hotel has similar interiors , rooms, services and functions the same way. The group also tends to get split. Self-Catering has always been my No.1 choice due to the following reasons : (a) We have our own privacy even if we choose not to cook (b) We are at liberty to cook as per our taste and convenience (c) It gives a great feeling of blending with the surrounding area and living like a local. You need to live it once to believe it. (d) There is plenty of time and privacy to bond with the group (e) It is a fantastic way to save money
In places where self-catering options are unavailable, it would be wise to check out on nearby food options. Tricks and tips are plenty, we need to just read and get ideas from various sources and stay prepared before we travel.
5 : CUSTOMER REVIEWS - Honest reviews play a major role in making the right choice. It gives a good picture of what we can expect during our stay, any rectifications required, information on neighbourhood, safety, comfort, any malfunction of utilities etc....Majority customers write honest reviews. Just remember to do the same after your travel, to help future customers make their choice the same way. Be honest.
6 : CONTACT HOST - While making your booking contact the host and sort all your queries beforehand. Don't hesitate to correspond more than once if required. As you develop communication with them, you will see that your sense of comfort increases.
7 : BOOKING - Today, most booking platforms are easy to use. Just ensure that they are totally SECURE sites, before you go ahead and part with credit card details. Read about the CANCELLATION policy and make a note of it in your diary. This may come handy in case you are planning to seek refund later on. Maintain the booking information, date wise in your folder / file .