10 Worst Mistakes People Make While Booking A Hotel

by Suchismita Pal
10 Worst Mistakes People Make While Booking A Hotel

Booking a hotel room is one of the integral aspects of planning an independent trip. But sometimes, the hotel room reserved online can turn out to be a headache for us. Often, the hotels are too far from the destinations that we plan to visit. Or in some cases, the facilities of the hotels do not meet our expectations. Also, at times, tourists are forced to pay unexpected hidden charges. To get rid of these issues, you must avoid the mistakes listed below while making your hotel bookings:

1. Not Getting All The Information About The Room

It is always advisable to get details about every nook and cranny of a hotel room before booking it, so that we don’t regret later. Seeing the pictures and reading the descriptions aren’t enough. We need to call up the website customer care or more preferably, the hotel, to know it’s the exact location, size of the room, whether it is mountain or sea-facing, amenities included within the room rate, amenities with extra charge, etc. It’s good to note down all the requirements before calling up the customer care.

Worst Mistakes Booking Hotel

2. Booking Rooms From Hotels And Sites Without Cancellation Policies

There are websites and hotels that might give a 15 to 20 percent discount when you’re pre-booking a hotel room, but if by any chance, you need to cancel your reservation later, they won’t refund the money. Thus, it is always advisable to book from websites that have well-defined cancellation policies.

3. Not Asking For Assistance From A Professional

We all have some friends and acquaintances who are travel bloggers, solo travellers and travel company owners. Seek their advice in preparing a well-planned travel itinerary, including the hotel room, within your budget. This might also help you to save a lot of money and time. Also, you might end up including many hidden places in your travel plans.

Worst Mistakes Booking Hotel

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4. Getting Excited Over An Extremely Cheap Room Rate And Booking It In A Hurry

At times, we come across room rates which are too good to be true. But we must ask ourselves, what is the factor that is making the room available at such a slashed down rate? Is there anything lacking in the room like security or a basic amenity? Is the hotel in a location where cars do not reach? Are there proper water supplies in the room? We must get the answers to all these questions before going ahead and booking the room.

5. Not Having Knowledge About The Food Options Available

All of us have different kinds of food choices. For example, a Maharashtrian visiting Dubai might want to have authentic Emiretarian dishes to be served at the hotel, while another person might prefer to have simple Maharashtrian dishes daily. Some hotels might provide organic options too.

Worst Mistakes Booking Hotel

6. Not Paying Heed To The Check-In And Check-Out Times

These are the two most crucial things that must be kept in mind while booking a hotel. For example, the check-in time of the hotel might be 12 noon and your flight might reach the destination at 7 AM. What would you do for these five hours? Will the hotel provide a resting room? Also, ask them beforehand if they are providing a car to pick you up from the airport or railway station. Similarly, keep the check-out time in mind and ensure that you don’t have to roam cluelessly before catching your return flight.

Worst Mistakes Booking Hotel

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7. Not Checking The Reviews

Often the descriptions of the hotels can be A-class, but the reviews can be just the opposite. Therefore, one step that cannot be missed while booking a hotel online is checking the reviews of the previous customers. Also, try to book hotels having higher ratings. If you’re happy with your stay, you can provide some good reviews too to help out other travellers.

Worst Mistakes Booking Hotel

8. Not Comparing Prices

Many people look up only a single website for hotels and after selecting the accommodation, book them directly without even considering the other websites for prices. The same room might be available on competitive websites at much lower prices.

Worst Mistakes Booking Hotel

9. Providing Incorrect Departure And Arrival Dates

No many of us do this mistake. But sometimes, we might be absent-minded and end up putting wrong dates for arrival and departure. In order to avoid hassles, double-check the dates of arrival and departure. Also, make sure that you provide the correct number of rooms and guests.

Worst Mistakes Booking Hotel

10. Booking From Lesser-Known Websites

Have you been through the trauma of getting your room booked and reaching the hotel to find that there is no reservation in your name? It has happened with many of us and the issue usually occurs when the bookings are done from unauthorized websites. Therefore, its advisable to make your bookings from sites and companies that are reputed.

Worst Mistakes Booking Hotel

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Do apply these simple tricks and trips, and you’ll definitely get your dream room to make your vacation cosy and comfortable. Also, if you are travelling somewhere in India, instead of booking your stays at luxury hotels run by foreign companies, prefer to stay at the hotels and homestays run by the natives. This will help in the growth of the local economies. On that note, here are 6 ways to revive the Indian tourism industry post lockdown: