Choosing the right hotel for your vacation can make or break your trip. Some people think that, by choosing cheap accommodation, they are getting a good deal, but this is not necessarily the case. As you make more trips, you begin to understand the importance of finding a place that offers comfort and a great quality of life. It is therefore important that the hotel choices you make meet some requirements to make the most of your trip. Keep reading to find out tips to choose the perfect accommodation for your next trip!
How important is location when choosing a hotel?
Choosing a hotel with a good location offers you many advantages. First of all, it allows you to save money on transportation and have the leisure to not feel rushed. Depending on the nature of your trip (business, entertainment, passing by, etc.), you’ll benefit from being near your point of interest in the city.
Saving time is another advantage that you can enjoy if your hotel is well located. In case you get lost exploring the city, you will always have a way to return to the starting point without feeling disoriented. Your hotel is very much like an anchor that you want to pivot around. If your hotel is well located, whether you are traveling for a few days or are on a business trip, you will have the opportunity to see more interesting places in a short time.
6 tips to choose the right hotel online
Here are 7 key tips to choose the right hotel online:
- Choose a convenient location
- Read online reviews
- Ease of communication
- Make your reservation directly with the hotel
- Make sure there is Wifi
- Check if breakfast is included or not
Although there are multiple options to choose from these days, finding the perfect accommodation that ticks all the boxes can be difficult when you do not know the surrounding area. The following tips will orient your search for a good hotel.
1. Choose a convenient location
The ideal hotel should have a convenient location, but to determine if a hotel location is perfect, there are other elements to consider. For instance, if you are traveling as a group, are you near the other party members? If you like to work out, is there a fitness center or a swimming pool? As you can see, a hotel location is much more than just a geographical position.
It’s important to consider the nature of your trip to find the perfect balance between being in the vicinity of your point of interest, and being able to kick back and relax. Quebec City offers phenomenal attractions and culinary experiences and the Quartier Saint-Roch is perfectly situated between the historical, business, and entertainment centers.
2. Read online reviews
Checking reviews of people who have already stayed in a hotel you’re considering on platforms such as Booking or TripAdvisor is good practice to choose the right hotel. However, keep in mind that not all travelers have the same needs or tastes, so you should not overestimate these reviews.
Another way to use the Internet is to look on different social media for hashtags concerning the hotel. The photos published by hotels are always very biased, as they always try to show you their facilities in the best possible light. It is the photos of travelers, bloggers, or influencers that will give you a true overview of what the hotel looks like.
Note that people who take the time to write negative reviews are typically highly motivated by their emotions, therefore their experience might not be as representative as they let it out to be. Nonetheless, online reviews give you a good overview of the experience you can expect.
Cleanliness
A hotel can be in the heart of the city, with beautiful rooms, but all these characteristics lose their appeal if the hotel is dirty, if the bathroom is not cleaned, if the walls have stains or if they do not change the bedsheets. Remember that you will have to spend a few days or weeks there, so cleanliness is essential to ensure you have a good stay.
Maintenance
You should avoid dilapidated or poorly maintained hotels, as these are usually the ones where you are most likely to find unwanted spiders or insects in the room, mold on the walls, or unfriendly staff. The conditions of the rooms and the structure generally allow you to get an idea of how much care the hotel dedicates to its guests.
3. Ease of communication
Another criterion to choose a hotel is effective communication with the staff since language barriers can quickly become constraining. When going to destinations where the official language is neither yours nor a common language such as English, you must make sure that the hotel staff knows at least one of the two.
Communication is also a great way to gauge the professionalism of the establishment you are considering staying in. For example, you could send a short email inquiring about the dining options, the difference between certain types of accommodation, and attractions near the hotel. If their reply demonstrates that they wear their heart on their sleeve, then you’ve probably found the ideal hotel.
Tips for a cheap trip in Quebec City
4. Make your reservation directly with the hotel
Rather than going through an online travel agency to book a room, you should contact the hotel directly. Booking site platforms take a cut from the transaction and become the intermediary between you and the hotel. They have a contract with the hotel so if you need to make changes to your reservation, you will have to deal with a third party instead of the hotel.
If you contact the hotel directly, you will be offered different types of accommodation that the hotel reserves for their actual guests (like bringing your pet or special packages and discounts). Plus, if you are a frequent traveler, you can accumulate points through the hotel’s loyalty program which you’ll be able to use in one of their establishments anywhere around the globe.
The advantages of booking directly with hotels
5. Make sure there is Wi-Fi
With the rise of teleworking and business travel, it’s important that your hotel offers high-performance Wi-Fi. In Europe, for example, it’s common for hotels to charge for Internet use, but finding a hotel that offers a stable, high-performance wifi connection for free is a good idea.
6. Check if breakfast is included or not
It is a personal preference, but in most hotels it is possible to add breakfast to your room rate. Economically this is often the best option as in most cases you will receive a discount.
Best hotel in Quebec city
The Best Western Plus located in Downtown Quebec is the best option for your next trip! We take your needs and expectations to heart and strive to exceed them every day. To achieve this goal, we offer one of the best restaurants in Quebec, an amazing bar, different types of rooms, and a wide range of services.
