Explore With Landon

Hotels are often the most expensive part of booking a trip. There are hundreds to choose from, many different booking websites, and thousands of reviews to read. Because of this, booking a hotel can be stressful. Not only do you want to find the best deal, but you also want to ensure you have a good experience. A good or bad hotel can make or break a trip. However, it doesn’t have to be this way. With these six tips and tricks, you can make booking a hotel cheaper and simpler. 

Let’s dive in!

Tip 1: Compare Prices Across Multiple Platforms

You probably do this already in some shape or form. It’s a widespread practice to shop around when booking a hotel, but comparing prices between all of the different hotel websites is an annoying task that can take up a lot of time. After all, there are hundreds of different websites to book hotels with.

That is where hotel search websites such as Trivago and Kayak come in. These websites compare hotel prices across hundreds of different websites at once so you can find the best deal. These websites are pretty well known and you might have used them before. However, there is another website that is less popular that I always use in my hotel searches: Google Hotels. 

If you’ve used Google Flights before, Google Hotels is the same thing but for hotels. It has all of the super useful search and filter options that can be found in Google Flights making it a powerful tool to find a great hotel deal. To get to the website visit Google.com/travel and click hotels:

Once in Google Hotels, it looks like this:

There will be a list of search results on the left with a moveable map on the right. Under the search bar, there are several filters to sort the results by price, rating, and amenities such as having a pool or free breakfast. 

There are also great features such as the “Where to stay” button which will give you an overview of the different neighborhoods in the city that you are searching:

Google Hotels offers a lot of unique features that I haven’t seen in other booking platforms so I suggest checking it out in your next hotel search.

Tip 2: Don’t Ignore Reviews and Ratings, but Take Them with a Grain of Salt

Reading reviews is often a double-edged sword. On one hand, it is by far the most helpful tool to ensure you are making the right hotel choice, but on the other, a few bad reviews can scare you off from a great deal. It’s important to look at reviews, but be mindful of why someone might be writing one. Here are my 3 rules for tackling reviews:

1)I would never stay in a hotel with less than a 3.0 on Google. For context, most Motel 6s have at least a 3.0 on Google so if a hotel is below that RUN AWAY!

2)What is a deal breaker for others might not be a dealbreaker for you. Last summer I stayed at a hotel in Greece that had a 3.2 star rating on Google which is close to my 3.0 cutoff. However, after reading through the reviews, most complaints were about the bad free breakfast. I’m not a huge breakfast person, and we saved so much money that free breakfast didn’t matter. Plus these were the views from our room:

So remember what matters most for you during your stay when you check reviews.

3)Look at Google Review Categories. When you are on Google Hotels and you click on the review section you will see review categories with a quick positive, negative, or neutral sentiment. For example, here is a hotel in NYC:

As you can see, the location and the property itself have more positive reviews whereas air conditioning has more negative reviews. This hotel looks like a great choice, but maybe not for the hot summer months. 

You can also click on one of these categories to see the individual reviews under that section. This is super helpful if you are looking to see how people feel about accessibility, safety, or pet friendliness.

Tip 3: Don’t Skip the Fine Print on Cancellation Policies

Travelers often book non-refundable rates because it tends to be a bit cheaper, but this leads to financial loss if plans change unexpectedly. I always book a hotel that is refundable up until the last minute for this reason and one other reason you might never have thought abou. Here are the two reasons I always book a refundable hotel rate: 

1. Plans Change. People get sick, flights get canceled, sh*t happens. It is always worth the little bit of extra money to have the peace of mind knowing that if something happens you can get your money back. I think it’s still important to get travel insurance or even better book everything with a credit card that has a travel insurance policy.
2. Prices Change. Hotel prices are a weird thing. Unlike airline tickets, they can get cheaper the closer you get to your stay. Now this doesn’t happen much when traveling somewhere during peak season, but at all other times, it is fairly common. For this reason, I like having a hotel that is cancellable up until the last minute in case I see a better deal pop up. 

Tip 4: Location, Location, Location

Booking a hotel far from key attractions, public transport, or the city center can result in higher transportation costs and wasted time. Location is especially important when you don’t rent a car and you plan on using other means of transportation to get around. Once again, Google Hotels has several tools that will help you.

First, when you are searching there are a couple of toggles in the left corner of the map that let you overlay certain information like subway maps or concentration of restaurants. Here is before and after toggling public transportation

Or you can toggle the concentration of restaurants:

Back to the reviews tip for a second – when looking at the reviews for a specific hotel you can select the location category to just read reviews about location:

I also always recommend reading guides about the different neighborhoods in a city before you pick one to stay in.

Tip 5: Don’t Overlook Hidden Fees and Extra Charges

Taxes, resort fees, and parking charges are often not included in the initial price, leading to unexpected costs at checkout. While taxes are unavoidable resort and parking fees are so it’s important to shop around. For example, look at this hotel in Cancun on Booking.com: 

Your initial reaction is probably, “Okay! Nice hotel with great reviews and a price that isn’t too bad”. You see the $275 price and click see availability.

On this page, in tiny print under the price is the explanation of what is excluded from the price you saw initially. It’s hard to see so let’s zoom in a little.

There is a 16% Value Added Tax(VAT), another 5% city tax on top of that, and an extra $16.34 in fees per night. Let’s do the math real quick:

Starting Price	$275
VAT	$44
City Tax	$13.75
Fees	$16.34
Total for One Night After Taxes and Fees	$332.75

This is an extra $74.09 a night just in taxes and fees. 

This can be so annoying especially when you are trying to stay within a tight budget, but it always pays to read the fine print before booking anything.

Tip 6: How to know when booking an Airbnb or VRBO is a better deal

There are definitely times when booking an Airbnb or VRBO makes much more sense than staying at a hotel. Each option comes with its own set of pros and cons. For instance, hotels often offer daily housekeeping, fresh towels, and perks like free breakfast, gyms, and other amenities. On the other hand, Airbnb rentals typically provide a kitchen for cooking, more living space, and greater privacy. So, how do you decide which one to book? Here are my top three factors to consider:

1. How many people are you traveling with?
If you’re traveling with a group, splitting the cost of an Airbnb is often much cheaper than booking individual hotel rooms. Plus, staying in a shared house makes it easier to spend time together, rather than retreating to separate hotel rooms at the end of the day.

2. Do you plan to eat out often?
Eating out on vacation can get expensive fast. With an Airbnb, you’ll usually have access to a kitchen, which allows you to save money by cooking meals at home. A quick trip to the grocery store can go a long way toward stretching your travel budget.

3. Are you staying in a city or a rural area?
In major cities like New York, London, Paris, or Miami, Airbnbs are often just as expensive—or even pricier—than hotels. In those cases, booking a hotel might make more sense. However, if you’re heading to a rural area, Airbnbs are typically easier to find and often more affordable.

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