How To Book A Hotel Yourself - A Complete Guide

By Author: Ryan Cormier
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The most important thing about planning a trip outside is booking a hotel or apartment. We will figure out where to start and how to book online accommodation for your trip, whether it is a hotel, guesthouse (guest house), or hostel.

There are a lot of platforms where you can search for reservations and prices for different hotels.

How to book a hotel yourself:

Booking.com is one of the best platforms to look for the hotel, just copy name of the hotel and paste into the search box and then search for the dates you need.
Thus, you will find out if there is a 10-20% discount on this hotel in other booking systems.

And now about everything in detail. To book a hotel yourself, you need a little time and three simple things that everyone already has:

Internet access
Bank card
The email address must be indicated when booking, there you will receive a letter confirming the reservation and booking code. Or it will be possible to register a personal account on this mail in the reservation system in order to continue to use it
What is a reservation system?

Not all hotels have their own websites and a reservation form built into them; it is easier for them to work through a well-known and familiar reservation system. You can search hotels according to your criteria like city for specific country, dates etc.

You can find the previous reviews and ratings given by people to make your choice much easier. In this case, the details of your bank card may still have to be specified for a guarantee.

After booking, an e-mail comes with an e-mail with a voucher, which contains all the details of your reservation and reservation number. If you are registered in the reservation system, then you can also see the reservation in your personal account.

Most popular reservation systems

Booking.com

Agoda.com

Hotels.com

Expedia.com

It seems to me that 99% of people use Booking.com, it just so happened. Those who are often in Asia also know Agoda, because initially this booking system specialized in Asia.

Many hotels are available in several booking systems at once, but prices may vary. Therefore, it makes sense to look at several sites and compare where the price is better. But there is a way much easier and faster - in 2 clicks. It's about a hotel search engine.

What is a Hotel Finder?

Hotel search engine is a service where you can search for hotels immediately in all popular reservation systems at the same time. That is, such a service searches for the hotels you need immediately, which are dozens. Manually tortured to sort them out. Hotel search engines are also called aggregators or metasearch engines. A clear and convenient site, there are all the necessary reservation systems, including the most important Booking.com. How much I use, there have never been any glitches or problems.

What to look for when booking

When you book a hotel, it is important to check all the nuances you need, as the rules for hotels differ. When you book for the first time, it may seem difficult, but then you get used to it and everything will already be on the machine.

Check the time of check in (usually around 2 p.m.) and check out (about 12 no). You also need to understand that if you arrive earlier, the hotel will be able to accommodate you only if it has such an opportunity, otherwise you will wait.
Check the opening hours of the reception (Reception), otherwise, if you arrive late in the evening or at night, you may come to closed doors. On Booking is located at the very bottom of the page in the "Terms of Accommodation"
The possibility of booking a room without payment (with payment at check-in) depends purely on the policy of a particular hotel.Look for the line "PAYMENT IS NOT REQUIRED - pay on the spot." All this is indicated on the page of a particular hotel near the room you are booking. '
If there is a possibility that it will be necessary to cancel the reservation, look for the line “FREE cancellation up to XXXX”.  If it says “Payment is not refundable,” then this option is not suitable for subsequent cancellations.
Occasionally, it is possible to book a hotel not only without prepayment, but even without indicating a bank card. Look for the line “No credit card required.” But I would not recommend using this opportunity instead of canceling a reservation. And if a bank card has ever been indicated for this account before, then they can still write off.
If the type of bed (a large double or two single) is very important, it makes sense to contact the hotel in Saskatoon or anywhere you want.
It’s best to always have a printout of the hotel reservation (voucher) or a file on your phone with you to show on the screen. But usually just a surname or booking number is enough.
Book a hotel in advance or search on site?

There is a myth that there are small hotels in Asia, which are not in the reservation systems, and in which the prices are supposedly lower ... There are such hotels, BUT! Firstly, this is the lowest price segment, and such housing is not suitable for everyone. Secondly, the difference in price will not be relevant for most travelers and vacationers.

And finally, more and more people are using reservation systems, because it is convenient and allows you to plan your entire trip in advance. Therefore, hotels that are not represented in them are becoming less and less. It is simply not beneficial for hotel owners.

Apartment reservation service

A separate item I want to make Airbnb. This is a service that offers private housing. For the most part there are apartments, rooms in apartments, houses, townhouses, etc. Hotels are found, but less frequently. This service is an intermediary between the owner of the home and you, accepts payment and is a kind of guarantor. By the way, you too can rent your apartment through Airbnb.

Register here and get a $ 30 discount from Airbnb on apartments worldwide. Valid for the first reservation, the reservation must be from $ 180, you can use it within a year after registration.

Apartments, first of all, will be interesting for families with children and companies of several people. Because the apartment can accommodate not 2 people, but 4-6 or more. And with this approach (you usually pay for all the housing at once) it comes out several times cheaper than in a hotel. After all, a hotel would have to take several rooms for such an amount of people.

Living conditions in an apartment can be much better than in a hotel. For example, most apartments have a kitchen, many also have a washing machine. I also noticed that in the center of large cities, apartments are much lower than hotels.

Ryan Cormier has 5 years of experience in professional content writer and public researcher. He has researched various ideas and methodologies which have enhanced his expertise and credibility in this arena. He is keen to write and share about home improvement, food and fitness very often related to his business.