It’s no secret that I love to travel. Exploring new lands is my absolute favourite thing to do and I’m constantly on countdown until our next adventure (right now it’s Munich next month). I adore planning all of the details from who we will travel with, what we will do and where we will stay. I feel like my alter ego is a travel agent and genuinely enjoy scrutinising reviews of places online and finding exciting places to visit. 

One of the most crucial parts of planning a trip is finding the perfect place to stay. There are a few steps that I follow when finding the ideal place to call home for the duration of our trip.

So you’ve decided where to head off on your next adventure… What next?

1. Decide what you are going to do on your trip. We recently went to Florida with the intention of ‘doing Disney’ as well as Universal. I found a great hotel ten minutes’ walk from Universal. I’ve had some experience with theme park travel and have drawn the conclusion that if it is possible to stay within walking distance to the park, then do. It’ll save you loads on parking and general travel, plus your feet will thank you at the end of a long day. So lock down your ideal location for your chosen activities.
2. Decide what it is exactly that you want from your accommodation. If I am hiring a car, then free parking is essential. I always look for free wifi too and an in room safe.
3. Prioritise these in order of preference. There is a chance that you might not find somewhere that ticks all of the boxes!
4. Set your budget. Know how much it is exactly that you would like to pay for your accommodation. Some people prefer to spend a minimal amount on accommodation so that there is more money to spend on days out. Personally, I base my decision on how much time I will be spending at the hotel.
5. Start your search! I try to be a bit savvy and search a variety of sites online. Hotels.com offer a free nights’ stay after every ten nights booked with them, but they aren’t always the cheapest to book with. Lastminute have a great variety and you can often team their hotels up with flights. Plus they have ‘secret’ hotel stays if you are feeling risky. For the undecided, Booking.com have free cancellations on so many of their hotels, so you can change your mind easily. They also offer book now, pay later. Agoda often has great prices on popular hotels, so they are definitely worth checking. Expedia have an extensive range of accommodation, but aren’t always the cheapest. Airbnb is a little gem that I started using last year. Some of the places are incredible and they are often very reasonably priced too.
6. Once you have found your hotel, see if you can get cash back. Many places offer cash back through sites such as Quidco. I once received over forty pound back on a booking through Lastminute, so it’s definitely worth checking.
7. Stalk your chosen hotel for reviews. Before booking, check your decision. Trip Advisor offer a wealth of information for travellers and their reviews are genuine. I also look at traveller photos to see what the place is really like. Unedited images don’t lie!
8. Book! Once your decision is final, get clicking and booking to secure your place. Then sit back and dream of your next adventure!

How do you decide where to stay? Have you picked up any hints or tricks?
L x