10 Hotel Hacks: Tips on Booking a Room and When is the best time to book?

For me, booking a hotel is the first step to feeling like the vacation is really happening. Once I have that confirmation email, the excitement starts to build and I know I can get to work researching my itinerary. But how can you know when is the best time to book a hotel?

Don’t let your excitement cloud your judgment and consider these tips on what to know before booking a hotel online to make sure you're getting the best hotel room you can. Booking a hotel room online does have some specifics to watch out for, and a frustrating experience at the hotel can really put a damper on a trip. Like when you get the nonrefundable rate when you’re still trying to lock down your travel dates. Stressful much?  

Incorporating great hotel hacks can significantly enhance your stay, making it more comfortable and enjoyable.

Full disclosure: I love adventures and can spend all day hiking the mountains of Chile and getting seasick trying to cage dive with white sharks in South Africa. But I need my sleeping quarters to be comfortable in all aspects.  

I’m not afraid to pay the price for a good hotel and am in no way a budget traveler. There’s no way I’m going to sleep in a hostel or something that resembles a hotel but barely passes the criteria for a place where a human should spend the night. So, in this guide, I’ll be making recommendations on booking a hotel assuming you want to do the same.

My top tips for booking hotel rooms online:

• Book rooms 1 to 2 months in advance to get the best hotel prices.
• Beware of time zones or late-night departures. Your check-in and check-out dates may not be what you first think!
• Consider the country you are traveling to. Some countries, like Japan, are stricter in their reviews so you can accept lower review scores.
• When I like a hotel I save it for later by using the "heart" option on booking.com to come back to it later. 
• After I go through all the hotels in my destination I will start to prune my favorite options down to manageable numbers. I usually go for looks and breakfast first and then head to the reviews. I read the worst ones and see if there is anything unacceptable for me or if it is just a cry-me-a-river guest.
• I always use booking.com and you should too! 

Btw, I'm assuming you already booked your plane tickets? I have a great article explaining airline cabin classes that could be just the thing you need to realize you should be upgrading to premium economy! 

Hiking in Chile

 

1. When is the best time to book a hotel? 2 months in advance

You ask: When is the best time to book a hotel room? It is 2 months before your vacation that you can find the lowest rate. Any date earlier brings higher demand and as the 2-month magical barrier approaches hoteliers get scared they won't sell enough rooms and lower their prices. After that, you can bump into fully booked hotels and overbooked places or rising prices when the date of your vacation approaches. However, if you feel especially adventurous you can wait until about 1–2 days before your arrival date when you have a chance to snag the best prices—a chance, not a promise. Whenever I tried this approach I had bad luck and ended up with a worse hotel or no hotel at all. However, if you are really lucky you can get the best hotel rates because they need to fill their empty rooms.

I always plan my itinerary based on my travel dates and one by one I fill up those dates with places I am going to sleep so I can avoid the unpleasant surprise of poorly booked hotel dates. Then I re-check all the dates to see that none overlap or are missing, and then I proceed to booking.com. Don’t forget to take travel times into consideration. I have a rule of 3 nights minimum for each spot, otherwise, it feels like we’re always on the move. 

• What day of the week is best to book a hotel?

• KAYAK research shows that a reservation for a Sunday Check-In is 7% cheaper than other days. It might be helpful to avoid checking in on Friday, which statistics show was the more costly day, with price rises over the average by 8%. Oct 22, 2020

I really didn't find any better deals by trying to find the cheapest day of the week or any other nonsense like Sunday being the most expensive day. I honestly do not believe it exists. However, I believe that dynamic pricing works if you save your hotel booking for later. Then, usually, the booking systems tend to mystify you with full capacities, higher demand, and increasing prices. But if you check the same dates and hotel anonymously, you will see the reality very differently.

Top tip 1: Always book a hotel that has free cancellations up to at least 3 days before your arrival. And unless you are 100% certain that you will arrive do not pay upfront. 

Top tip 2: Don't make the mistake of automatically entering your accommodation dates based on your departure date. The same thing goes for your check-out date. If you have a flight departing after midnight, you’ll essentially want to check out the day before your flight. 

Top tip 3: When booking a hotel room and traveling internationally, think about whether you're crossing through time zones. Or if you're on an evening flight that lands after midnight. Both of these situations could make entering the right arrival and departure dates a little complicated. Or a double whammy—crossing time zones and midnight on one flight?! That little situation has had me scratching my head, staring at my watch, on more than one occasion.  

Book a hotel in South Africa: check! Stare at the views: check!

2. How to Find the Best Deal When Booking a Hotel

Finding the best deal when booking a hotel can feel like a treasure hunt, but with the right strategies, you can save money and still enjoy a fantastic hotel stay. Here are some tips to get you started:

The most popular and by far the best hotel booking website is booking.com. In my years of traveling all over the world, I’ve come to love and be loyal to booking.com. I use it every time I travel and will tell you to do the same. You save yourself time by comparing all the options in one place, it’s very well-known so you know all the hotels are on there, plus you save money when you use it regularly thanks to the loyalty program.  

Another advantage is no language barrier. You haven’t been frustrated until you’ve tried to speak on the phone with a Spaniard (no offense). It’s a completely different experience when you have all the information you need in English. Booking.com makes hotels fill in a lot of details, so you will be hard-pressed to still need to ask questions after reading through everything.  

There are many, many other websites that you can use. Agoda.com is my go-to for travel in Asia, and even Google has its own hotel search feature. The basic functions of all these sites are always similar, so whichever one you decide on, you will still be able to use these tips.  

And of course, you can book directly on the website of your chosen hotel. But unless you want that particular one for some special reason—like that others from your group are already staying there—be open-minded and snoop around. Especially if you’re traveling to more far-away places, you might be missing out on some local gems by staying at a chain hotel. For me, booking.com is always the way to go. Anyway, booking.com owns about 30% of all the booking sites therefore it doesn't really matter the name of the site there is a good chance that booking.com owns it. 

Minor Tip

• Enroll in the hotel's loyalty program to accrue points for free nights and other benefits. Consistently choosing the same hotel chain can enhance the rewards you receive.

 

Are you excited to meet locals on your travels?

3. What are check-in and check-out times in hotels?

Check-out of a hotel and check-in to some stunning views!

The standard check-in time at most hotels is around 2–3 pm, and check-out is between 10 am and 12 pm. Keep this in mind when booking and plan your arrival accordingly.  

You can request early check-in and late check-out at most hotels, but it is never guaranteed unless you pay a fee. That fee can make you reconsider since you might be able to just wait at a restaurant having a wonderful lunch for the same price.  

If you haven’t paid for the exception, don’t get your hopes up too high. The times between check-in and check-out are used to clean and prepare the rooms for the next guest’s arrival, so there is seldom wiggle room to have you get there early or stay longer. 

Top tip: When your time of arrival is after 8 pm, make sure to check the latest possible check-in time on booking.com before you book your room. I've had issues with this before and got myself into some mad dashes from the airport to make the latest check-in time. Since then I've learned to check these things beforehand because it's not fun having to wonder if they're even going to let you in.

• If you already have a booking: You can find check-in times in your booking.com app, under the reservation right under the name of the hotel. But you can also check with the hotel directly. Sometimes it differs from what is on the website. For example, one hotel I stayed at in South Africa said check-in until 10 pm on booking.com, but when I contacted them about the info directly I found out that they have a 24/7 reception. 
• If you browse hotels in booking.com: You will find check-in information when you click through to the hotel info and then scroll down to find "property policies".

4. What happens when you can't cancel your reservation on booking.com? 

If you've already made a reservation on booking.com and you need to cancel it despite it saying there's no free cancelation, you can contact the accommodation directly via booking.com or via their business e-mail. Honestly, I have tried this a few times and they always let me cancel without any trouble. What other option do they have? They can cancel your payment and reservation or risk forcing you to be "accommodated" and then giving them hell in reviews. That's something any good service provider and generally all bigger hotels do not want to risk.

5. Filter your hotel room search results by hotel room rating 

The top search options on booking.com offer the most popular filters: ratings

Now you’ve entered your travel dates and where you are going, it’s time to start filtering your search results. The very first things you’ll want to focus on in the filter options are star ratings and guest ratings. Also, click on the “hotels” option if you are looking for hotels only. This way, you won’t be sifting through hostels, apartments, and other property types.

Star ratings

Unless you are on a tighter budget, remove all 1-3 star properties from your results right at the start by choosing the 4- and/or 5-star option. Or both if you’re open to both. This will shorten your results list considerably. Having a more manageable bite to chew on in terms of volume will make your decision process much easier.  

If you aren’t sure if you should be aiming for a 4- or 5-star, just do a quick rate check at a couple of the hotels in your results to see if your budget stretches that far. There are countries where you will get a 5-star for the price of a 3-4-star in your home country, so keep your options open until you know it’s a no-go.

Guest ratings

This might be the most useful of all the filter options. Guest rating is usually a part of all good hotel search engines. The scale can vary, but booking.com uses the 1 to 10 scale, with 10 being the top and 1 being a total flop. Anything less than a 9 should be a second choice after you take a look at those 9ers. Aim for 9 or higher if you want to be sure you’re booking a good quality hotel.  

You also have the opportunity to read guest reviews right on the page of each hotel from your search results. You can further filter the reviews using keywords that are important to you, like “pool” or “breakfast”, and see what past guests have to say about them. A good breakfast is very high on my list of priorities. 

Be aware that the more expensive the hotel is, the higher the standard that guests expect and the stricter they are in their reviews. If you’re going for a 2 or 3-star hotel and see a 9.5 review score, you’re still getting a 2 or 3-star hotel. But at a 5-star, guests aren’t afraid to focus on that not-crunchy-enough croissant they had for breakfast and take the rating down a whole point for it. So the higher you aim the more you can go lower with your guest reviews. I would say 8/10 is reasonable. It also wildly depends on the country you are traveling to. For example, Japanese and Israelis are very strict in their reviews so you can opt for even lower review scores and you will get the same level of service as you'd get in other countries at 9/10 reviewed hotels.

If you are booking directly with a hotel or just don’t see reviews on the booking website of your choice (it might be time to reconsider that choice if that’s the case), check reviews on tripadvisor.com. If you’re not familiar with it, tripadvisor.com is a great website to check reviews for anything from hotels and restaurants to tourist sights and museums.  

That said, I am advising against direct bookings and am always going to be a proponent of using booking.com. The services and transparency are great, you know exactly what you are getting and the user experience is second to none.  

Google Maps is another place to look for reviews. Just find the property you are looking at on the map, click on it, and read through experiences on the left side panel. You’ll also find the best photos here.  

Both of these last options also include candid user photos, which can sometimes be an interesting contrast to the perfect management-curated pictures you see on websites.   

If you happen to be heading to Mallorca, you can check out our list of top hotels on the beautiful island. From luxury to rural retreats, we’ve got you covered.
 

6. Choose your hotel amenities, free breakfast, and accessibility 

A pool is not required, but it helps when you’re in Thailand and it looks like this!

There are many more filtering options to utilize in your search, though I like to keep my options open and not limit myself too much. If you're too picky right from the start, you could end up with no options to choose from.  

This happens mostly in less populated or poorer destinations. You have to forgo the pool if the only option with a pool is outdated rooms that smell of mold. Priorities.  

Tip: Speaking about pools, make sure you really want one. It all depends on your destination and the time of year you are visiting. Some countries, like those in Africa, are just too hot to make you want to bake outside in the sun and an indoor pool is the way to go. Other times, like when you’re visiting the more northern parts of California for example, you picture yourself lying by the pool each afternoon, only to find that you’re way too cold for that half of the time.  

That said, if you have the choice, choose away!  

Filter your hotel by room or property accessibility if you or your travel partner have any issues with mobility or sight. You can look for wheelchair accessibility or visual aids.  

Select from the amenities and facilities list, too. Something like air conditioning might seem obvious to you, but in some destinations, it isn’t a given. Do you need parking or travel around the world with your pet? Make sure you filter out hotels that can’t accommodate those requests. In destinations with less tourist infrastructure, make sure that your hotel has a good onsite restaurant. It may be your only chance to get a proper meal.

I also consider amenities like heated towel racks, which are commonly found in European hotels and can be used for warming towels and drying clothes, enhancing comfort during colder months.

What do I look for on booking.com?

• Hotel room size. I go for 20 square meters and bigger (that's about 215 square feet). Anything smaller is too small and you will run into a problem with where to put your suitcase. Keep in mind that sometimes with smaller rooms comes much lower prices and the best deal as not everyone is willing to stay in smaller rooms.
• Then I go for breakfast included only and see what the spread looks like. 
• After that, I check the convenience of the location and proximity of what I want to see in the destination. 
• The last thing on my list is that I always travel by car, so I check for parking, ideally free parking. Sometimes you have good price for a room but then you will have to pay USD 20 for parking and USD 50 for breakfast and then your deal is gone.
• I prefer 24/7 reception because I do not want to be stressed about my previous day and the need to plan extra to make sure I get to my new hotel on time.
• Whenever possible, I aim to book an international hotel rather than a domestic one, as the standards are usually more consistent. Additionally, their guarantees are typically better because they work hard to maintain positive booking reviews.

7. Choosing the Right Hotel Room and why the location matters.

Location Pro Tip:

If you have a car or rental car, go for a hotel on the outskirts of the city. It's going to be better, bigger, cheaper, and more convenient when leaving or taking day trips. Hotels in central parts of cities have problems with parking and they are usually loud and too bright at night.

You can use Google Maps to see the exact location of the hotel and the tourist sights you want to see. If you’re particularly interested in something or are going to an event, try to stay close to it. Some events (like Las Fallas in Valencia) even shut down traffic and a good hotel location is the only thing between you and a massive detour you’d need to conquer on foot.    

The map on Booking.com is a great feature, too. It’s more personalized to your stay in that you can see not only the location of all hotels in your results, but also a short summary of the price and rating of each hotel, and whether or not it is available for your dates. One click on the little arrow thingy and the page of that hotel opens in a new window, ready for you to read the details and make a booking. Easy peasy.

 

8. Why do hotel rates for rooms differ and how to save money?

Different price options for the same room

Most hotels offer more than one price option for the same room and travel dates depending on how flexible you need to be and what is included in the price. That's right, just when you thought you were almost done, there are more bits and bobs to consider when booking a hotel room online! 

The cheapest rate will often be non-refundable in case of cancellation. You may need to pay in advance and pay extra for breakfast. Or all of the above.  

Having to pre-pay can be annoying, especially if you’re still not set on a hotel and expect to cancel some reservations. You might end up with multiple reservations and a hefty chunk of change missing from your bank account. While canceling the reservation will result in the money being returned to you (if the cancellation policy allows cancellations!), it can take days for that to happen, and you'll get less than you paid back if your bank account is in a different currency due to exchange rates.  

Oftentimes you can make a reservation without pre-payment, but you have only until a certain date, usually a couple of weeks before your arrival date, to make the payment. In that window of time, cancellation is free of charge. If you need to cancel after the payment date, you forfeit some or all of your money. This will be specified in the cancellation policy.  

The most flexible rate is going to be the most expensive, but you know that you won’t have any extra stress if you need to change your dates or cancel your trip. Plus, since you chose a hotel based on its great reviews, you can be almost certain that the customer representative will be happy to help you make any adjustments.
 

9. Information you need to provide at the time of booking

Karin, happy in Peru

Now that you have everything sorted and are ready to commit, let’s look at what information you need to fill in when making your booking.  

In general, you will need to fill in the name of at least one guest staying in the room you are booking. I recommend filling in everyone’s name in advance to make check-in faster, but it’s up to you. Sometimes you will be asked for passport or ID information or a birth date. Booking.com doesn’t require this information, but some other sites do.  

In this step, you will also be able to make any special requests, like early check-in or a room on a higher floor. Note that these requests are not guaranteed. If you book through Booking.com, you will also get an email from the hotel letting you know if they will be able to accommodate your special wishes.  

You can also let your hotel know what time you expect to arrive. This is helpful for the hotel especially if you arrive a lot later than the usual check-in time. It likely won’t be a problem at all, but this way they know you are coming and are not a no-show, so they won't cancel your booking. 

10. Notifying the Front Desk of Special Requests

Bonus tip: Have a credit card ready to pay for your hotel bookings 

Peru life

The very last step is your credit card information. You can’t skip this step even if you choose a flexible or non-prepaid option. It’s a guarantee for the hotel that you aren’t just a weirdo making random hotel bookings, and that if you do decide not to show up after the cancellation date, they will have the stay covered. Because they will charge you if you don’t show up.  

You can use a credit card or debit card in most instances, but there may be hotels that only accept credit. They will inform you of this if that’s the case.  

It is best if the credit card is in your name since sometimes you are required to present the card you used for booking at the time of check-in.  

Many hotels accept payment in American dollars or euros, so instead of having a card in your home currency and just accepting whatever exchange rate you get, having a card in USD or EUR can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars over the years. Just because of the better rate. If you plan on traveling a lot, look into it.

Top tip: Your hotel booking confirmation can also be required at immigration at some international airports. Read my checklist and FAQs about travel documents if you're getting ready for international travel!