How to find the best accommodation for your trip

Finding suitable accommodation is crucial to ensure a comfortable and enjoyable experience when planning a vacation. With so many options available, it can be overwhelming to choose the best one.

However, finding the best place to stay for your trip doesn't have to be a daunting task. Here are some tips to help you make an informed decision that suits your budget, preferences, and needs.

Determine your budget:

Before starting your search, establish a budget for your accommodation. Having a range budget of around 30% difference between the lowest and highest budget for your stay is good. This will help narrow your options and ensure you spend your money wisely.

Define the type of accommodation and your requirements.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Are you okay with a shared bathroom? Do you need your own space and not share it with anyone?
• Do you need a kitchenette, a swimming pool, or a gym? Are you traveling with children or pets?
• Do you need hotel services such as very late check-in? Are you looking for all-inclusive resorts?
• Do you need just a place to crash, or do you plan also to stay in and recharge?
• Does this booking need to be fully rebookable?
• Do you need free Wi-Fi? How about parking?

By clearly defining your needs, you can filter out accommodations that don't meet your criteria and determine the type of accommodation for your stay: doom/ hostel/ hotel/ Airbnb/ all-inclusive service resort.

The bed situation:

How many beds do you need? Do you need two single beds or a double bed? If you are a couple from Sweden, where the standard bed size is 200cm x 180cm, you should carefully check for the bed size in Madrid, which is 190cm x 135cm.

Purpose of your trip:

This is one of the crucial factors that will help to research the location of your stay. Are you a first-time visitor? Are you on a business trip? Are you traveling with kids? Are you staying just one night and having an early trip the next day?

A first-time visitor will likely want to stay near the city center or all the sightseeing the destination offers, while a business traveler will choose the location near their work. A family traveling with children will prefer to stay in a kid-friendly area. At the same time, a solo or couples traveler might be okay with being near a vibrant location with many pubs and late-night activities.

Research location:

Research the destination by searching for terms such as "different areas in Berlin" or "which areas are best to stay in Tokyo". For big cities such as London, Tokyo, Paris, or New York, having more than one popular hub with many exciting things for each location is very common. Read a few articles from the top results of your search to define which areas you would like to stay in.

While it can be hard to choose which hub, you can read about the accommodation budget in these hubs, where it is in the city, and what is interesting about them. This will help to narrow down a few areas. It would be helpful if you could rank these areas from your top favorite location.

Find a list of places:

Once you have narrowed down the areas of your stay, it is time to go to booking sites such as Hotels.com or Airbnb.com to find the best place for your stay. A few things I always do when I pick the accommodations to go to the next step:

1. It goes without saying that you use the filter feature on these sites to get a list of accommodations to choose from.
2. Double-check the location: Besides booking on Airbnb.com, you usually get the address of the place before you book. Use the Map app on your phone to see how far the location is from one of your points of interest.
3. Check the place's facility: match your answers above: "Define the type of accommodation and your requirements" and "The bed situation."
4. It is good that you do not open more than seven accommodations to go to your final round.

Read reviews:

Reading reviews from previous guests is an excellent way to get an honest insight into the quality of accommodation. Here are a few things I always do when I read reviews:

1. Sort the review from newest to oldest: Things are often changed, so a review of 4 years ago or right after the pandemic might be less relevant.
2. Filter to read the worst reviews first: I am not being negative, but you would want to know why a place receives such bad reviews. It is essential to read it with consideration.

For example, "bed bugs" and "noisy rooms" are valid reasons to eliminate an accommodation, while some reasons might be more subjective, such as "the hotel staff forgetting to say hi in the hallway." 3. Read reviews on multiple platforms: Usually, the first place to read reviews is where you find the accommodation. Besides Airbnb private accommodations, you can always find more reviews on Google.com and Tripadvisor.com for other accommodations. 4. Reading more reviews on Google.com and looking for photos taken by travelers on Google.com and Tripadvisor.com is very useful.

Compare prices:

By now, you should have the one place that you would like to process booking. Before typing all of your credit cards, make such a commitment. You can scan on Google.com for the last step: compare prices.

Take the time to compare prices across different platforms and websites. Look for discounts or special offers available during your travel dates. Remember that sometimes, booking directly with the hotel can be cheaper than using third-party websites.

Here you have it: Tips on how to find the best accommodation for your trip. Happy travel!