Finding the best hotel in town can feel like walking through a labyrinth of smoke and mirrors. Price, location, reviews, breakfast - it can all start to feel like a little too much. Here are a few tips to make life easier
1) Interpret reviews carefully
One person´s 5 star experience is someone else's holiday from hell. When reading reviews it is helpful to ask yourself - what are people actually complaining about? Is it the fact that they saw a cockroach? that can happen anywhere. The construction noise? if the review is not from the past few weeks, you are probably fine. Also, where is the traveller from - international travellers tend to have higher standards than locals so keep that in mind.
2) Check locations
Maps can be deceiving and one person's 5 minutes stroll to town might be another's 30 minute climb up a steep precipice to the outskirts. Again international travellers without their own transport will generally tell it like it is. It won't be a bargain if you need to get a taxi everywhere you want to go.
3) Don't discount the cheapest option
That grand hotel with large rooms, a stunning lobby and pool with buffet breakfast must be a scam for 30 dollars a night, right? Don't be so sure, larger older hotels cost a fortune to maintain, and quickly fall into disrepair if left empty so they often prefer to have rooms occupied in shoulder/low season. Take the review with a grain of salt as the insta flashpackers are notoriously harsh on older hotels. You can often get a bargain if you don't mind a little bit of old style fashion (dilapidation). When a couple of reviews mention photos not actually matching rooms - avoid.
4) Don't be fussy with breakfast,pool,balcony etc
Selecting all those checkboxes like you are Paris Hilton is just going to mean you are missing out on some huge opportunities. You might need to make your own breakfast, but you could have a huge balcony with ocean views. You may not have the balcony but have a 5 star buffet breakfast. See where I'm heading...be flexible.
5) Find the best then check other sites
Ok you found the perfect hotel now click book! There are 5 others on the page right now!! Chill out and check another site (especially google). You´ll probably find it even a bit cheaper somewhere else. If you are nearby, go visit, you have almost no chance to get a better rate than the booking sites though at least you can have a look around.