How to Find a Good Inexpensive Hotel
If you're planning a vacation, traveling for business, or just want to lay your head down for the night in a different area and try it on for size, the best thing you can do is to find some good inexpensive hotels. These hotels are usually relatively small so you won't be overwhelmed by the number of people, but they'll be extremely close to all the action. They might not offer much in terms of comfort or luxury options but they will have excellent quality at an affordable price. If you need somewhere to stay while visiting Grandma or taking a business trip without breaking your bank account, these are perfect solutions. For more information about cheap hotels, read on.
Where to Find Cheap Hotels
The first place you should look is the Yellow Pages. You could also try looking on a travel review site. Most people will recommend the same five or six hotels but you can still find some great deals if you know where to look. The best way to find the right hotel deals is just by going online and doing a search for cheap hotels in your area. The best types of sites that can help you find cheap hotel deals are Hostelz, Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz. Most of these websites will allow you to enter in your specific needs and provide reviews of the best places to stay in that area at a fraction of the cost. You can also try checking out your city's chamber of commerce. They may be able to give you some recommendations on the best places to stay in town that are upscale yet affordable.
Look for Discounts Depending on Where You're Going
If you're going to a big city and staying at a cheap hotel, you can often find some great deals on rooms if you book them ahead of time. The first thing you should do is find out if there are any conferences or trade shows going on in the area. These events will increase the demand for cheap hotels and will usually lead to them offering deep discounts to fill their rooms. If you're going to a more rural area, you should check out the chamber of commerce to see if there are any weekend retreats or family outings planned. Many times these events will mean that the hotel prices will be lower because they want to fill their rooms. If you can find a conference or an event, find out when it is and book your room as far ahead of time as possible.
When to Book Your Hotel
The best time to book your hotel is at least two weeks in advance. If you wait until the last minute, all the good deals will probably be gone. You'll end up paying full price for your accommodations which is probably not something most people want to deal with when they're on vacation or traveling for business.
Try the Cheapest Sites
You don't have to stay at an old, cheap motel with a thin shower curtain or dirty mattress. Your hotel options are different when searching on different sites. If you want to get some good deals, there are websites that charge a lot less than the ones that charge more. What these sites are all about is providing excellent customer service and convenience. Yes, you'll probably have to pay more for your hotel room but you will get much better service and it will add up over time as opposed to staying at a motel that has very little staff and is costing you an arm and a leg every night.
If you're going to be staying a few days in the same area, it's probably worth it to stay at a hotel and not a motel. You'll have much more room and will be able to relax without worrying about bugs, thin sheets, or dirty bathrooms. And yes, this is probably going to cost you a little bit more but you should go for the quality and not necessarily for the cheapest option possible. You might want to look into some of the best cheap hotels in your area if you're really looking for something that's inexpensive that won't leave you disappointed.
You may have been looking forward to your vacation forever. You have planned out every detail and know exactly what you are going to do when you get there. You can't wait for the time to come but the reality is that when it does, it's not always what you thought it was going to be. This can be because your travel plans were thwarted or because you weren't prepared and didn't know how to make the most of what was offered. The following article has some great tips on how to get the most out of your vacation.
Don't set your alarm fashionably early. You're not at work now, so why should you wake up as early as you would? Instead, go with a wake-up time that feels right for you. You may want to wake up at five or six o'clock in the morning, but if you are an early riser, then start at four. This will give you time to take a long bubble bath and have a leisurely breakfast with your other half.
The best thing that you can do is to pack as much as you can into the limited amount of time that you have. You're not going to get very far if you're laden down with more stuff than necessary. A great way to pack light is by covering all of your important bathroom items and toiletries in help-yourself-packable plastic bags. This will leave you with enough space to pack everything else neatly in your suitcase. The only disadvantage to this is that if some of the items were already in plastic bags, they might get crushed during transport.
You won't lose anything by bringing earrings. People can be very judgmental about this, but you might as well go all the way with it. It takes far more time for everyone to get their stuff together than packing any clothes that you might not even wear or take a nap on an airplane in your expensive jewelry box.
One of the most common travel problems is forgetting something, so here are a some tips for keeping track of all of your items so that you don't lose them along the way. A standard, plastic bag can become a great place for you to store any items that you might need to retrieve as quickly as possible. More than likely, you will have this bag with you at all times, making it very convenient to use in the event that anything gets lost or misplaced.
It is important that you make sure that your passport photo is up to date. Many countries require a recent one, so bring it along in case there's any confusion. Keep in mind that some countries do not allow visitors who are passport-less, so make sure that everything is readable and up to date before leaving.
If you are planning on traveling internationally by air, then be sure to clear extra space in your bags for gifts or souvenirs. You will also need to take a list of the gifts that you are bringing along. This will help you to avoid any confusion over whether or not it is allowed to bring items into a certain country. You would also like to be sure that what you are taking in is up to date on the customs restrictions before your trip begins so as not to incur any additional charges on your final bill at home.
If you have credit cards when traveling, remember that they don't have automatic fees when used overseas. It will be more expensive for you if you use your credit cards while out of the country than it would be if you used cash.
Conclusion
If you have a long flight scheduled, then you should definitely bring along some snacks. You do not want to have to buy all of your meals on your flight and you can save a lot of money by bringing your own food. Be sure to bring along an extra bag that is just for snacks so that they don't clutter up your other suitcases.
A good travel tip is to be honest with yourself about how much you need to pack when it comes to electronic items. Do not bring these items unless they are absolutely necessary.