A hotel has the power to enhance or ruin your vacation. If your hotel is costly, it will consume money you could be using to enjoy your vacation. Read on to learn about finding a great hotel for a good price.
When you get to your hotel room, look over the room before unpacking. Is your room mold and mildew free? Are the showers, sinks, toilets, etc. properly functioning? Do you have the blankets, pillows and towels you need? Call the front desk if you find any issues; they can either fix the problem or give you a different room.
Verify the check-in time at the hotel. Sometimes there are people that don’t know when the room will be ready and so they aren’t sure of what to do with the extra time they have since they can’t check in. If you might arrive prior to check-in time, try calling the hotel and seeing if the room is available.
To get the best prices on hotel rooms, start your trip planning weeks, or even longer in advance. There are quite a few hotels that will reward booking your room a few months in advance with nice discounts. You may even be able to cut the price down by half!
Do not assume that each hotel welcomes pets. Call them ahead of time to see if they are even if the website they’re on says yes. Get the term “pet-friendly” defined, as well. The hotel may not allow large dogs or certain types of pets.
Always book early for that special couples massage for you and your loved one. In order to get the best masseurs at these top hotels, you must plan early to ensure that you get a good experience.
Check your AAA membership for a hotel discount. You may be surprised that your auto club membership includes hotel discounts, but it does. You can save five percent or more on certain hotels. It’s a savings that really adds up over the nights.
If you are an avid jogger, a GPS watch is a great investment so you can always find your way back to your hotel. Also, don’t forget your exercise clothes! Enjoy a morning jog each day while on vacation. Even if your route takes you through the street of a city, at least you will get a glimpse of the area you are visiting.
For people who are frequent travelers, consider signing up for some loyalty programs with your favorite hotels. A loyalty program offers many benefits. There are many rewards given when you accumulate loyalty points such as free stays, free upgrades and later than usual check out times.
There are membership programs that hotels offer for those that stay frequently at their chains. They provide you with points for every stay. In time you may even get to stay there for free!
If you want to work on saving the environment, a green vacation is something to look into. The number of “green” hotels is steadily growing. Many new hotels are constructed to meet green standards, earning green certification. Older hotels may choose to take “green” standards seriously, which is a great thing. You can ask a travel agent to pinpoint eco-friendly hotels, thus making sure your vacation doesn’t hurt the environment.
To get the most out of your hotel stays, particularly if you travel a great deal for business, join a membership program such as that offered by Choice Hotels or Marriott. The more points you get, the more free stays you can use for vacations.
Being a member of AAA makes travel very easy. The AAA membership fee is well worth the discounts offered by many chains, and renting a car will also be easier. People that have young kids will get a car seat for free in a lot of different places.
Find out if the hotel you’re staying at has a functioning pool for the kids. There aren’t many things that are as frustrating as going to your hotel with kids that really want to swim only to see that it has been closed.
Ask if your possible hotel reservation is either smoking or non. If cigarette smoke bothers you, look for a hotel that doesn’t have smoking rooms. You could still get a non-smoking room, but smoke can flow through the air and settle on your clothes. Even if a room is designated as nonsmoking, sometimes people smoke in there anyway. Request a non-smoking room if you do not want to smell like cigarettes.
Ask for a crib or fold-out bed when you make your reservations. Such items usually have a limited amount of such extras. Sometimes, there are also extra charges for items like these. Discuss your needs at the time of booking.
Resist the temptation to indulge in your hotel’s bottled water! After checking into your room you will probably feel exhausted and thirsty. As a result, you likely want to purchase that bottle of water you see sitting on the counter. Hotels take advantage of guests by charging ridiculous amounts for bottled water. You might find that there is free water offered in the hotel gym, however. Plan ahead and bring your own bottled water.
When you pay too much for your hotel room, you’ll have nothing left to have fun with. Saving money and getting a comfortable room can be accomplished if you do a bit of planning and research. Check these tips as needed when planning your hotel stay.