Choosing the best hotel is an essential part of planning a vacation. If you have the right accommodations, you’ll feel better and be more productive, and you’ll be more likely to enjoy your stay and share great memories with friends and family.
Luckily, there are plenty of places to find the perfect accommodation, whether you’re traveling for business or pleasure. Here are some tips on how to choose the best hotel for you:
Read reviews carefully
Online travel sites make it easy for travelers to share their experiences and review hotels. However, reviews can be misleading if they’re fake. In fact, some websites have even been banned altogether because of the high percentage of fake reviews they receive.
Fake hotel reviews can be particularly damaging because they influence guests’ travel decisions and spending. While hotels can’t stop these reviews from happening, they can try to fend them off by changing their advertising practices to make it seem as though all of their reviews are genuine.
The best way to avoid being duped is to read reviews carefully, focusing on what the people who’ve already stayed at the property have to say. For instance, if you’re looking for a hotel in a specific city, you can usually tell which ones have been reviewed by past guests based on how many mention their location.
A good rule of thumb is to look for reviews from past guests who stayed in the same room as you. This will give you a more accurate picture of the room and amenities than someone who stayed in a different room.
Check for responses from the hotel
If a hotel responds to their reviews, it shows that they care about their customers and want to improve. This also gives them more visibility and credibility, which is essential to securing future bookings from prospective guests.
Use TripAdvisor
Using a hotel-reviewing website is a great way to get honest, firsthand feedback from other travelers. While TripAdvisor has a lot of positives, it does have its problems.
One of the biggest issues with TripAdvisor is that it’s difficult to verify reviews, which can cause a lot of confusion. But some hotels have found a solution to this problem: They’ve started asking guests for proof of their stays before they post their reviews.
Some hotels also have a policy of not accepting any reviews that aren’t submitted through their own website. This can help you identify fake reviews quickly and easily.
Consider your own priorities
For example, if you’re staying at a hotel to host a conference, you might be more interested in the hotel’s location than its check-in experience. In this case, you should be looking for hotel reviews that talk about how close the venue is to the hotel and if it has parking options.
The best hotels don’t just look great; they also offer a variety of services that meet your needs. For example, if you’re in a city with an incredibly active nightlife scene, you might want to opt for a hotel that has a bar or club in the lobby.
