A trip starts with the place you choose to stay at. The view of the city will definitely be marked by this decision, so invest the time to choose right.
Many people believe that a good hotel has to belong to one of the big chains, but that is not always the case. A good hotel choice is based upon two important characteristics: service and location.
First up: Service.
A hotel can be gorgeous inside and out, but if your stay starts with a bumpy arrival, or you find yourself in a battle to get decent service, or if your checkout from said hotel was a complete fiasco — those are going to be the things you will remember about your trip. You have to feel a sense of joy when your day is over and you think of going back to your hotel. If you dread returning to your “home away from home,” the hotel is not worth what you have paid for it, no matter how many stars it may have garnered.
The other crucial element: Location
Location is a key ingredient to an enjoyable trip. The area should be safe and central. You don’t want to be taking taxis in a city you are not familiar with (for obvious reasons), so minimize your exposure to the need for an excessive amount of transportation by choosing wisely. Here in the States it might be a little more difficult to avoid taxi rides, but in Europe, for example, where everything is generally close by, there is no reason to choose a place far from town. Plus, the pleasure of leaving the hotel and being in the middle of all the wonderful movement and action of a strange city can be quite exciting!
So, how do you find a wonderful hotel?
Besides using travel books and relying on the personal recommendations of friends, you can use the Internet! We have such a wonderful cyber-tool at our fingertips, that it would be a waste not to use it! It takes time to search out the real gems, of course, but traveling is usually an investment, so do your homework.
Read about the city, and then find the hotels that are consistently recommended. Read all the reviews people post online about each place. Pay attention to where the reviewers are from. For an American, the room might have been “too small” because everything here is so big, while for others room size might have not been an issue. Every detail counts. And most importantly? Have fun with exploring your options in discovering that “charming hideaway” you have always wanted to visit! You won’t regret it!
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