The Perfect Accommodations
There are many things in life to which I sometimes arrive very late (dinners, nearly all TV shows, most entries on Urban Dictionary…), but a hotel reservation is not one of those things – a late hotel reservation can mean spending hundreds of dollars that I could otherwise be using to eat delicious foods, or it could mean compromising on what I want out of my hotel stay. Neither is an acceptable outcome when both can be prevented.
The two biggest expenses of most trips are flights and lodging. If you can control these costs, then the overall cost of your trip has a much better chance of being minimal. In the interest of controlling costs, hotel reservations are to be taken seriously and made early. They’re like insurance against the cost of my trip skyrocketing without my consent.
First, you need to understand how much I love hotel stays. Most especially, I love luxury hotel stays. I will dabble with VRBO, with Airbnb, and even with the occasional hostel, given the correct set of circumstances – though I draw the line at couchsurfing. But all else being equal, I will choose a hotel every time. A nice hotel satisfies that inner streak of bougieness that I halfheartedly attempt to restrain, with only occasional and moderate success.
A few things I find appealing, most of which don’t even require being in a luxurious or expensive hotel:
- A freshly and expertly made bed that I had zero
Balcony at the Westin Resort Nusa Dua, Bali responsibility for crafting
- Tiny hotel soaps
- Washcloths folded into shell shapes
- Room service
- Unique uses and layouts of space
- Complimentary things
- Bathrobes
- Balconies
- Morning tea (yaaaaas to the folks at the Omni and their morning beverage delivery)
- Drinking morning tea while perusing the daily newspaper (again +1 to Omni*)
Basically, I enjoy pristine environments, and I’ve come to accept that I have a robust set of skills that simply do not include keeping personal space neat and tidy. I’ve also accepted that at home, I will never personally take steps to awaken early enough to enjoy hot tea and a newspaper in a bathrobe while lounging on a balcony or in a luxurious bed. And this is fine, because I can experience these things as a hotel guest.
Unfortunately, I don’t have infinite funding for hotel stays, so I have had to devise a strategy to ensure the best possible hotel stay for the least amount of money. The core element of this strategy is to book early! There are other factors, too (such as to re-check rates, stay aware of promotions and discount rates, subscribe to hotel newsletters, research your chosen hotel and associated reviews, and Google Street View), but the absolute best way that I know to get a room at a price point that is acceptable to me is to reserve my room absurdly early. I’m talking about booking rooms before you even have set plans, even as far as a year out. As soon as I hear even the vague echo of a potential date, there’s a confirmation email in my inbox for a hotel room in my price range. If I have a general idea of where I want to be and when, I can book a flexible rate that can be easily changed or cancelled, and then adjust my reservation closer to the date.
When my soror and I were planning a March 2017 trip to the UAE, we had a 3-night stay in Abu Dhabi that we originally booked the previous June, and ended up re-booking twice more before the stay to take advantage of upgraded room types at similar cost. The last re-booking was 2 months before the trip, once we were certain of our plans, and we landed in a non-flexible/prepaid rate suite that was 2 categories higher than our original booking and cost $1 less per night. Even better, breakfast and dinner were included in our room rate. Two months ahead is still pretty early, but we were able to relax 9 months ahead of our trip secure in the knowledge that we’d found an agreeable rate for our stay.
Hotel reservations, unlike plane tickets, are some of the most easily adjustable plans you can make, and they require little to no commitment on your part. It’s important to realize that “reservation” doesn’t need to mean “fully paid.” Hotels need a form of payment card to book, but a flexible rate will not charge your card until you show up for your stay. So it costs you nothing to save your place and lock in your price. If you don’t need to adjust it after all, then you’ve just saved yourself money and headache by thinking ahead. Once it gets closer to the date, if a better flexible or prepaid rate shows up, you can always cancel and re-book.
I’d have a hard time coming up with reasons not to speculatively book a flexible rate. Just make sure to carefully read the terms and conditions, and keep your confirmation emails organized, and you, too, can stay swankily within budget.
*Despite my Omni cheerleading, I’m pretty loyal to Starwood. I just wish Starwood would get on Omni’s level with the complimentary morning beverages + newspaper that begin appearing on your second stay with the brand.