Where you choose to stay during your travelling experience will either make or break your trip. It wouldn't be fair to you if you left your beautiful home only to book accommodation at a place that is full of insects and bugs (unless this place is the jungle). You deserve a wholesome trip and this is inclusive of a good and comfortable accommodation. Due to this, you need to make sure you check every detail concerning your accommodation. Here is a list of 9 things you should make sure you check for before you book your travel accommodation.
Proximity To Everything Else
The last thing you want to be doing on your trip is spending more time travelling than actually enjoying the trip. By ensuring that your accommodation's location is close to tourist attractions, food outlets, as well as other necessary things, you'll save yourself a lot of stress and discomfort. Make sure that you get the correct coordinates to the accommodation that you are planning on booking and check to see if it is perfectly situated in a convenient manner for you. If not, you may want to consider booking a different accommodation
Price
This is essentially the first thing you should look into. Check the price of the accommodation as well as incurring costs that may arise during your stay and compare it to other accommodations. You'll find out that some accommodations are money traps for tourists and that their prices are no match and undeserving of the mediocre services offered. Ensure that you compare your prices first before you book any accommodations. Who knows, maybe you will be able to save a few bucks to put towards more travel activities.
Rules
If you are out here trying to have a lot of fun on your trip, it is important that you make sure that the rules of the accommodation aren't a disadvantage to your stay. Ask for rules (if there are any) and if they don't align with you, look for other accommodations. This is especially important if you are travelling with your pets as it may be disheartening to show up to the accommodation, only to be told that pets aren't allowed. This would leave you stressed, which could all have been prevented in the first place. Make sure to check the accommodation rules before deciding on booking
Safety
When you are travelling, your safety comes as an utmost priority. That is why you need to ensure that the accommodation you are booking is safe. Ask for the safety measures that are in place at the accommodation and ensure that they suffice for you. If, for any reason, you feel like the safety measures are inadequate, you should consider finding a different accommodation. Also, ensure that the surrounding area is safe; that way, you can freely take walks without fearing for your or your family’s lives.
Ratings
Website ratings were created for a purpose and luckily for you, you can access them freely. Check for comments on services and responsiveness by the staff at the accommodation. This will give you a picture of what staying at the accommodation will feel like. If the bad reviews extremely outweigh the positive ones, that means there is something wrong with that accommodation. This automatically means you should move on to the next accommodation on your list of probable accommodations. Don't underrate the power of ratings in helping you choose the right accommodation
Customer Service
If the attendant responding to our questions is rude and unresponsive at times, what would make you think that the services are better after you book your accommodation? Take note of how you are responded to and the patience that you are being handled with and if the staff seem to be uncaring of you, move to the next accommodation option. The last thing you need is poor customer service while trying to enjoy your trip.
Room Essentials And Amenities
If you are especially travelling internationally, there are certain essentials that you may want to check for before booking accommodation. These may include an iron or blower in the room. If the lack of these items won't work for you, this gives you ample time to look for a different accommodation with these essentials. As generic as it may seem, not all accommodations offer things like towels. Make sure you ask for all the essentials you want in your room to the last detail so that you avoid being disappointed early in your trip. Moreso, imagine being told that there is no parking for the accommodation you booked upon arriving at the place. This would be more than inconvenient for you and could even lead to you being stressed and anxious for the rest of the trip. You need to make sure that you ask about all amenities like Wifi, Breakfast and parking before you book your accommodation.
Cultural Sensitivity
If you are travelling to a cultural setting that is different from yours, you need to check if the cultural context of that accommodation is friendly to yours. You wouldn't want to face being discriminated against for your whole trip, would you? This would be disheartening, especially after paying for the accommodation, wouldn't it? Make sure you, therefore, check to see if the accommodation is sensitive to your culture so that you at least get to enjoy your stay and travel experience.
Cleanliness
Imagine being told that your room is the dark, dingy and bed flea-infested room at the periphery of the accommodation residence you would have booked. There’s no way you would enjoy your trip after this (especially if there are no refunds). You should therefore make it a point to check about the cleanliness standard of the accommodation you are planning on booking so that you can at least enjoy a clean and bug-free experience.