Please note, this is a collaborative post with Apres Furniture.
Disclaimer:
Before I get in to this post I can only speak for the hotel-type accommodation because I really haven’t stayed anywhere else. Sure I stayed in an AirB&B once but I wasn’t in charge of booking (*cough* the questionable group trip I couldn’t opt out of).
Furthermore, my thoughts on hostels are here and apartments well they’re not for me… I like room service so please refer back to the first sentence of this post.
Before I get started getting into the nitty gritty of this post I thought I’d share what I’d look for in my ideal hotel room.
Modern office furniture is important as I travel with my laptop these days to catch up with blog work and I like to sit down at a desk whilst doing so.
Views are important to me as I want to feel like I’m blending in with my new surroundings. Take New York for example, do I want to be on the first floor of the hotel? Nope. The higher the better. As Alicia Keys would say ‘concrete jungles’ where dreams are made from.
Aesthetics are important because I want to stay somewhere that doesn’t look like my bedroom (aka a mess). I look for hotels with a little history, a great location and plenty of opulence (depending on my budget at the time of course).
Now here is my take on how to pick the perfect hotel room.
TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor is the ‘OG’ of reviews and lays the foundation of doing research when picking the perfect hotel room.
Pay attention to the three and four star review versus the 5 star reviews for an accurate depiction of the hotel. I tend to give a five start review when the service, room and everything else has exceeded my expectations. The traveller photos section is a godsend as it gives you an accurate look into exactly what your room will look like. Do the photos match what is on the booking website’s description or not? Is the bathroom full of limescale? Bedsheets dirty? You’ll find out here.
Remember, all reviews are based on context and the type of hotel and of course personal preferences. Someone’s three star is another person’s five star.
The Hotel Website
The hotel website is usually my last port of call as they tend to entice you in with photos of the lobby like you’ll be staying there. One tip I learnt from fellow travel blogger Meg of MegFabulous.com is to not be afraid to ask the hotel to take a photo of certain things in the room before booking. At the end of the day it’s the least they can do if you’re paying to stay there.
The hotel website is useful for finding out the different room types, amount of floors and amenities the hotel has. For example, if you’re travelling as group of three, they may have a triple room with a sofa bed and double versus you booking two separate rooms.
Social Media
Social media is one of the the main factors I will book a property – I need to see how good it looks on the ‘gram. Is this what its come down to? My travel style is affordable luxury on a budget after all and part of using social media and connecting with my followers is showing them where I stay.
Using the location feature on Instagram is a my final check of picking the ‘perfect hotel room’ as I need to see how it looks in photos. Call me ‘Picture taking Patricia’ if you must.
What do you look for in a hotel room?
Char xo
Please note, this is a collaborative post with Apres Furniture; all views are my own.
Hazel says
Hi Char! These are really good points on finding the perfect hotel room. I didn’t know you can ask for photos prior to booking – but now it makes more sense. Especially if it’s like a luxury hotel and you want to get the most bang out of your buck. 🥰 Thanks for sharing this.
– Hazel | Hazy Wanders
Ro says
These are great tips! We utilize these when planning where to stay as well because it’s so so important to do ample research before reserving a place. I’ve heard so many horror stories of people ending up in terrible hotels as a result. Thank you for sharing!
Makeup Muddle says
These are some really great tips! I try and scan social media now, especially Instagram looking at the hotels name in hashtags and it’s so handy seeing real photos! xo
https://www.makeupmuddle.com