Me
1. Identify the area you want to stay in
For me, I know I wanted to stay in the Union Square area in San Francisco. Why? It is the main shopping area of course! Ha!
Don't know where to stay? Just do a Google search, say, main shopping area in that city as a start.
2. Identify nearby hotels using Google Map
Go to Google Maps and do a search of hotels in that area. For me, I just type in “Hotels in Union Square, San Francisco” and all the hotels around Union Square appear as pins in the map.
3. Check out the reviews
Shortlist a few hotels in the area and read the reviews from TripAdvisor.Com about these hotels. TripAdvisor.com is a travel information website, covering reviews from users for more than 212,000 hotels and 74,000 attractions in over 30,000 destinations worldwide. It even has pictures of the hotels taken by users. Definitely give you a more accurate picture of what you will be getting than the pretty pictures from the hotel's website! So if the hotel you shortlist is rated highly by the users of Trip Advisor, chances are it is pretty safe to book it if the rate is acceptable.
4. Get the best rates
To get the best rate available, check out the following:
- Hotel’s own Website: Check out the online rates available, especially any special packages or promotions.
- Online wholesalers or consolidators:
Wholesalers refer to websites that have longstanding contracts with the hotels so they can afford to provide attractive rates. If you book through a wholesaler website, you will need to pay the entire stay in advance with your credit card through the website. Examples of wholesalers include Hotels.com, Hotelclub.com, Priceline.com, etc. Different countries have different wholesalers that specialize in the specific country or region. Here are some examples of wholesalers I have used before:
Thailand: http://www.latestays.com/, http://www.agoda.com/, http://www.asiarooms.com/, http://pyotravel.com/
Japan: http://travel.rakuten.co.jp/en/, http://www.asiarooms.com/, http://www.agoda.com/
Hong Kong: http://www.asiarooms.com/, http://www.priceline.com.sg/, http://zuji.com.sg/
As for consolidators, they do not own or control the room inventory. Their discounts are determined by the hotels with rooms to fill and vary enormously. If you book through a consolidator, you pay for your room as usual when you check out of the hotel. An example of a consolidator is Quikbook.com.
- Airline’s Boarding Pass Privileges: Some airlines tie-up with hotels to provide their passengers with preferential hotel rates. For example, when I fly to London on Singapore Airlines, I will always book my stay with Millennium London Knightsbridge hotel which has a tie-up with the airline as its preferential rate allows me to book the room at GBP130 per night inclusive of breakfast! Great location at a great price! Check out http://www.singaporeair.com
For me, I finally booked my SFO room stay directly with Hotel Palomar’s website which has a promotion that makes it way cheaper than to book from wholesalers or consolidators.
Labels: google map, hotel booking, travel planning, tripadvisor
I like the idea of booking a hotel online. Having a game plan for this kind of thing before I arrive is the best. It makes me more relaxed.
Anita Mas | http://www.windsorlodge.com.au/reservation.html