We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.

Booking the right accommodation for you.

Good accommodation is an important aspect of any trip. On a basic level it needs to be clean, safe and in the right location. It needs to suit your needs and desires – which are completely personal to you – which is why you should book it – not a travel agent. For instance, we travel for work and regularly stay in the big chain hotels. On holiday – we like to stay in accommodation that’s a bit different – a bit quirky – perhaps culturally interesting. We like to find accommodation in the right place at the right price.

Step one – once you have chosen where – think about the location.  They are two different elements. You need to think about what you are planning to do. If you are in a city – are there sights, you want to see? Do you intend going out dancing to the early hours? Do you want to spend time in a particular neighbourhood? If you are in the mountains – do you want to have easy access to a walk or ski lifts? If you are on an island – do you want to be near the beach or in the interior? We enjoy taking our time to explore before we go – some of the things we might want to do.

Step two – check transport links. You don’t necessarily need to book anything before you go – we often don’t. But you do need to check them out as this might have an impact on where you decide to stay. If there’s a great tram/tube system – you might want to find somewhere a few ‘stops’ away from the centre – you will not only get more for your money, but you’ll get to experience the real city. If you have chosen somewhere remote – make sure you know when local transport is available or whether local taxis will take you there. I was caught out recently arriving in Cyprus. I had looked up the bus links – which were reasonably priced. I presumed that like most airport transfers – they would be very regular – only to find out that the next one to the town was in four hours. That cost me a £100 taxi fare! Find out a little about the going rate too. How much should you expect to pay for a Tuk Tuk in Bangkok or a mini-bus in Cambodia.

Step three – check calendar events. In the UK, you would expect to book accommodation at least 12 months in advance to visit the Edinburgh Fringe – maybe more. Foreign travel in no different. Locations with ‘events’ will sell out fast. Locations with limited accommodation will sell out fast. ‘Special’ accommodation will sell out fast. But generally speaking – a normal city or resort – will have a plentiful supply of a wide range of accommodation. We rarely risk arriving somewhere without accommodation – why put that pressure on yourself? When we were in our twenties – finding a budget hostel on arrival seemed like we were living some utopian, freedom dream – at our age – it’s just an annoyance. We want to arrive – drop our bags, lock our valuables away and explore. So, we check events or locations that might sell out fast – and book these first. Our destination blogs give tips on individual places and where early booking is essential.

Step four – hit the internet. A single location trip or multiple location itinerary usually starts the same – a search engine.

Single destination:

• First – look at the price range of your location – this will vary enormously. A European city might start at £160 a night for basic accommodation and go up from there. An Asian city might start at £16 a night for basic accommodation. Look at the full price range and decide where your budget lies. Remember that hotel rates vary on different nights depending on demand – we have been known to do two nights in our favourite hotel and then move for the third night as the price was too high.
• Second – go to a big search engine and filter hard. This can easily take several hours – we are perfectionists and never simply go with the first option. Think about what you actually need. Breakfast might be essential in a remote area – nice in a beach resort and not necessary at all in a city surrounded by cafes. We used to pick city hotels with pools in hot countries – pay the premium and never use them as they were often just bigger than a bath tub on a roof and we didn’t have time. Filter hard!
• Third – check price variation. Once you have chosen your accommodation – check the price variation – which is usually enormous. We firstly check the actual hotel site’s tariffs which sometimes undercut the search engines. Sometimes we will email them directly and ask what they can offer us. Sometimes you might get a special deal if you add one extra night for instance or an upgrade for free. Then we go to the search engines and check for advantages/disadvantages. Some offer breakfast – some with additional tariffs. Do you even need breakfast if you are planning a full day excursion starting at 6am? Some offer cancellation up to the day before. Some offer book now – pay later. We are ‘booking sluts’ – we go wherever we get the best deal for the hotel we want. Now all search engines and hotel chains will offer all sorts of ‘loyalty advantages’ – be strict with yourself – these might not be the best deal on that day. We have spent years booking accommodation and can promise you that the prices go up and down on a daily basis. If we are not sure – we will book somewhere with a good cancellation period – give it a few weeks and have another look. We sometimes even book two – one in my name and one in Nigel’s and decide at a later point.

Multiple destinations

Exactly the same as single destinations but with the following additions:

• Fourth – book the restricted locations first. If you are visiting somewhere with limited accommodation – book that one before the resort.
• Fifth – think about your itinerary. Sometimes, we want to visit a location that’s really expensive – Dubrovnik for instance. We might decide to only do two nights (more than enough in Dubrovnik) rather than three because the prices are so prohibitive. Or we might decide to stay a boat ride away, where accommodation is half the price and simply do a day trip. Transport links and accommodation are always intrinsically linked.
• Sixth – factor in travelling. If you have just done a 15-hour flight and are anticipating jet lag – think about your first few days – are you better having some downtime on a beach before embarking on a week on early starts and late finishes. If you are city hopping – do you want a couple of days in the middle to take a well-deserved break. Plan your journey sensibly. You might even want to look on a map – old school we know!

Tip – on a multi-destination itinerary – the budget might have to change for each destination – so you need to set a whole budget and then you can spread out across every night. We book the expensive/scarce locations first and then sometimes have to compromise on the others. Sometimes, we ‘treat’ ourselves if we know we need a stop-gap at some point. We set a tariff guide – say £75-100 a night. If one night is more than £100 – we find savings on another. This helps us to keep the overall accommodation budget in check and be able to stay in the right places.