The number of platforms dedicated to travels are increasing, especially the ones that offers the way to find and buy plane tickets, holidays and hotel reservations. I have to say that they are useful, but are the deals convenient? Generally there are good rates offered, but if you compare them with the proposals present on the hotel websites you can be surprised with better prices or with some extra benefits as the free minibar with soft drinks, the complimentary transfer and so on.
Many hotels complain about the platforms because they are useful to support the different structures helping them to occupy all the rooms, but they ask for an high commission. Also some hotels are not present on those websites. It is then easy to establish a cooperation between the companies that are managing the travel and booking sites, so they can find the way to have a deal and give less advantages to customers.
The same problem happens with flights, when you search for a ticket you just compare thousands websites and meanwhile your reserch become part of the site data, so if you go back to the same page, you will see an higher price. This tricks are common and well known, but in last period Google started to offer a new service. You can directly directly on Google Flights about the connnection you need and the prices. I noticed in the past months that generally there are always the higher prices.
Today I red an article on The Scottish Sun that describes how the improved Google Flight app reveals to readers if the flight and hotel fares are a good deal or not. The journalist underline the opportunity that you have receiving the alerts from Google when the price decrease. With some graphics you can check how the rate goes and the app helps to recognize the best offers using the colours about “cold” and the “hot” fares.
The application works for flights and hotels and I have to say that the service provided is really better than the past, but I have still few doubts. For instance I saw that they also propose the best deals on business class, but of course the cheapest fares are referred to the connections with the stopover, so you need to stay around the world more time before to arrive at your destination.
Meanwhile I was reading the article and checking the new app it cames to my mind the Austrian Airlines promotion, started few years ago and not only one among the airline companies. With your economy ticket you can bid an upgrade to business class. You make an offer and if it will be accepted, according to the amount and the different bids received, they can decide if accept and let you travel in business class with a bit more than what you spent for the economy ticket.
We all know that to find the best deals we need to check the dates, try to change them, to try to change airport, to make the reservation in a specific day of the week and so on. I agree with all tricks, but since the algorithms are changing so fast, I generally keep always in mind these advices, but I always prefer compare the official websites of the hotels and of the airline companies, deleting the computer chronology step by step to non influence the sites and their results, with the different bookingservices.
Traveling often I need to optimize my bookings. It is a matter to save money, but also to reach my goals. I like to take care of every single detail planning my trips. This is the secret to enjoy them. As it happens to you, I always search for the best solution. Especially if I have to reserve a hotel room. This is how I found online HotelsCombined reviews. It was one new, for me, more platform. Good opinions were on many websites, but there was also some bad description of the service provided. What did I do?
The only thing possible. I went through the HotelsCombined platform. Try by myself is the best way to know if the service works. If you are reading this article there is only one reason. You want to book a hotel room using this online company. Here you won’t find HotelsCombined reviews, but my direct experience.
My words coming from the usage. I already mentioned this search engine in another post. But now I want to go deep telling you why you can trust it. Nowadays it is not hard if you have some tech skills and money to invest to create a hotel search engine comparing different websites. The difficult part is to make it properly and efficiently.
From HotelsCombined reviews to the booking
The HotelsCombined reviews were mostly comments about the stay, the payment method, and something not so important to me. It can happen to everyone to have difficulties with a reservation or to live a bad experience in a hotel. It is hard to be objective in the evaluation and this is normal. Then companies’ competitors can use this way strategically. So better for me to explore directly the platform. In this article, I go step by step to describe the results of the comparison usage. This will help you to understand why you should use HotelsCombined as your main starting point and not as an alternative to other platforms.
Since I am curious before to open the website, I took some other information. The company was founded in 2005 in Australia. After one year on the market, they hired the first employee. Now they count more than 200 people in the staff. The company operates on a worldwide basis in more than 42 languages. This platform aggregates more than 5 million deals getting rates from hundreds of sites, comparing them. It is part of Kayak. Well, if they can count on these results plus a lot of prizes won, it means there is something positive. This news is for me more important than HotelsCombined reviews.
Well, follow my experience with the platform searching for some hotel rooms.
Appearance
My first step was to open the homepage of HotelsCombined. No popups, no confusing ads everywhere. A simple design welcomes the visitor. On the left, on the top, there is the search form to select criteria to find a hotel. On the right, a list of some websites used to compare rates. Then a list of destinations and trendy hotels to get inspired. Nothing of these features are described on HotelsCombined reviews. That’s why I want to share my complete experience with it. There is another important thing to take into consideration. On the top menu, there are ‘Hot Deals’.
Hot Deals on HotelsCombined
This section shows a list of hotels around the world with special rates. If you didn’t decide yet where to go, it is useful to surf the deals. You will find great places and you will also save money. Clicking on the hotels you access the details and you can freely choose. In front of you, there will be a page with all the deals related to the hotel coming from various sites. Entering them you see the features of the accommodation and if you like you will complete the reservation.
If the design is already one reason to try the platform, the hot deals are the second one. You take advantage o unique conditions and suggests. But I am telling you about my experience. As I told you I travel often, but I do it mainly for business. So destinations are already decided. Why do I check those offers? You never know. Some of them can be in a place where I have to go. If I should write HotelsCombined reviews just considering the hot deals I could underline the huge variety. They cover a lot of cities around the world. And they are convenient.
Thanks to them it is possible to choose luxury hotels at a cheap price. Or find lower prices for any type of accommodation.
The research
After I surfed the offers I made direct research about my destination. I also selected the dates of my interest. I am not going to focus on these details because you don’t need them. Your attention needs to be pointed on the results. In this aspect, HotelsCombined shows one of its strengths. Especially compared to other platforms. In the list of accommodations, the four best rates from different websites are underlined. For each of them, you can find the main points of policies applied. This means free cancellation, pay later, breakfast included, and so on.
Secret deals
I have never read about this in HotelsCombined reviews. For some hotels of the list, in the results of your research, there are secret deals. What are they? Those are special offers accessible only to members. What does it mean? You have to subscribe, create for free an account on HotelsCombined and the rates will be visible. A better way to save more money. Try them and you will have benefits in planning your trip.
Criteria
Every platform dedicated to hotel reservation allows you to apply specific criteria. HotelsCombined has something more. I want to underline the ones are very useful to me. Location, star rating, price range are common. On this website, it is possible to see prices including or excluding taxes. The theme is the chance to select what type of accommodation you are searching for. Choose a boutique hotel, a design one. There are HotelsCombined reviews or better the customers’ reviews about the properties.
This criterion is easy to catch the preferred apartments or hotels by travelers. Are you trying to catch a precise hotel without knowing the name? No problem, fill the box ‘Hotel Name Contains‘. A few letters of a word help you to make a selection and to find the one you want. Don’t you think this is helpful? It is, you know why? Because online it is full of properties and they are listed according to rates, preferences and so on. More you refine the research you will have the best hotel. Try to believe me.
Reviews
One of the criteria for the research is about the guests’ reviews. Well, you can’t read them. You see how many people voted and the average grade for cleanliness, dining, service, facilities, location, and rooms. Do you know why I consider it as a strength? Because the reviews can be too personal and related to an episode and we don’t have all the same impression. Read can be confusing, as it happens with HotelsCombined reviews. But for some people, this can be a negative point. I guess you will agree with me using it.
3 tips for you about HotelsCombined
Open HotelsCombined website. If you are sure about the destination, start your research. If you need some inspiration, explore the hot deals. This is useful also if you are open to change your mind according to the best offers to save money. Let me give 3 tips to improve your experience with this platform. Then You will write HotelsCombined reviews online. Don’t forget to share it in your comments on this page too.
1. Subscribe
I know, most of the times, you leave your email and they fill your inbox. This is not the case of HotelsCombined, but if you create an account you access to secret deals. Unique and uncomparable offers dedicated to members. It doesn’t cost anything. It means to save a lot of money on your bookings.
2. Use the wishlist
On the bar, on the top, there is the wishlist. It registers your choices when you want. If you see a hotel or a property you like for your stay, added to the list. Why? Because compare them can be sometimes difficult and clicking on deals you will be redirected to other websites. If you mark the most interesting for you, you will easily find them and put them on a page to make a direct comparison.
3. Give a chance to HotelsCombined
Why do I recommend you HotelsCombined? Because I am using it successfully. Compare the largest number of websites allows me to find the lowest price. With the money saved, I can do something else and improve my trip. Then I can stay in better hotels for cheaper rates. One more reason: my blog is written for you and I select the best tools to make your travel experience unforgettable. Or at least I help you in this direction. It is part of my tips.
That’s it?!?! No! There are no fee and no mark-up. If you find a lower rate than the ones proposed by the platfrom they will give you back the difference. Try it now and see if my HotelsCombined reviews are right if my experience is useful to you. Start here now!
What did you find in your room during your last trip? Was the minibar well furnished? Did you have all the toileteries that you expected? In last years the demanding customers in luxury hotels increased their number and the answer came, with some innovation as well. Starting from the menu dedicated to pet to fireworks, passing by rooms for childrens and natural bath products. Why?
Social media are the guilty ones, or at least they are part of the complicity with the customers. Thanks to the opinions shared through internet by clients, the hotelsstarted to be more responsible about the offer, especially in order to satisfy the requests of their future guests. The main point, underlined by Judi Brownell, responsible of one of the best Hospitality schools, of the Cornell University, is that travellers are searching for an experience during their stay.
Women are mainly interested in an holistic experience to feel safe, welcome and assisted, to find comfort and a lot of services. Men are more interested in finding a room well equipped for any need. According to the studies in the sector is quite visible that in last te years many boutique hotels grew up around the world. Luxury rooms and amenities, among services offered by the staff, facilities and products were the main elements to focus on.
As well 5-stars hotels improved their proposal, of course working on prices policy, but as well proposing better accomodation, servicies, facilities and amenities. The quality of the toileteries is now higher, most of them are made by famous brands and as well the beverages and the snacks are produced by the best companies. Plus it is possible to find in the room more utilities, like a complete kit to clean the shoes, Nespresso machine and in certain cases even a selection of champagne.
The hotelsorganize transfers from and to the airport with driver and luxury cars and they also proposed personalized tours around the cities, they offer personal assistance for shopping and to reserve unique experiences during the events. The luxury world grows up for tourists, meanwhile social network, travel influencers and websites are sharing visitors experiences and comments.
Now it is your turn. I need to decide between hotels and apartments. What is the best? For the New Year’s Eve destination I and my friends decided to go to Prague, but we are discussing the accommodation. I suggested to rent an apartment, but one of my friends insisted that hotels are better. He suggests to book a boutique hotel so someone will clean the rooms, we will have the breakfast included and so on. I wanted to go to an apartment to be more independent.
That is why I am trying to get ideas and suggestions from you. We have the task to decide, but you can be a support. What do you think? Are hotels better? Or are the apartments the best solution? Generally, it is a matter of price, but at the last moment you can’t find cheap rates, so the point is more related to the services and the amenities. To let you help me, I can describe what we found on Booking.com.
Hotels or apartments? The apartment
For our New Year’s Eve, I proposed to rent an apartment in Prague. Checking on Booking.com the different available options, I selected the most interesting one. It is larger than what we need, but we love luxury and comfort. What are the features of it? Simply: a marvelous terrace with a great view of the city. Not only, but there are also more things to mention. This is better than hotels for me.
The apartment, called Luxurious Pařížská, is located 400 meters from the Old Town Square. The position is really very good to see the attractions. The terrace then allows having a superb point of view on the Prague center. Free WiFi is included in the rate. There are hitters and a very big space. Five bedrooms, so one more than what we need, a living room, three bathrooms with a bat and a spacious living room. Plus a seating area and a kitchen equipped with a dishwasher.
Hotels or apartments? The hotel
My friend prefers definitely the hotels so this is our selected option. On Booking.com we found a very good one, but what about independence. It is a boutique hotel, called Alchymist Grand Hotel and Spa, and it is located 5 minutes walking distance from Charles Bridge. The place is perfect and it is a very good structure, with even more amenities of other boutique hotels.
What are the features? Free WiFi, reception open for 24 hours and they offer a complimentary welcome drink. Breakfast is included. They have a spa, Ecsotica Spa and Health Club, hosted in 11th-century cellars, you can imagine what a beautiful setting where to relax. The access is free and guests can use the fitness area, sauna, and pool. It looks perfect, but what about the independence?
What do you prefer?
Please help me! I am not asking to support my proposal against the one of my friend, but just to express your thoughts. We have limited time to book and it is necessary to define what we want. I am asking you what would you prefer. Hotels or apartments? What is your choice when you travel? Why? What are the elements that influence your choice? Comment below and you will give me a real help to decide and also to convince myself and my friends. Thank you!
Why not a boutique hotel? This is what a friend of mine asked during our plans for New Year’s Eve… I was focusing on apartments and, I admit it, I was insisting a bit on this solution. Why? I want to feel totally free and completely independent. This because we will be on holiday. Anyway, now we have some more doubts and we need to decide between a luxury apartment and a boutique hotel.
I am thinking to share some pics found on Booking.com so maybe you can help us to decide. It becomes like those TV show when you can ask help from the audience. I am not a TV lover, but I think there should be a famous format called “Who wants to be a millionaire?”. I am trying to win my stay for the New Year’s Eve, but I have to decide among the luxury apartment. Before to do that I can explain to you why my friend prefers a boutique hotel. Let’s see together how and why to choose it.
Why choose a boutique hotel
A boutique hotel is an expression of charm and luxury. The structure offers an intimate stay. This is the real difference between the hotel chains and the big resorts. Boutique properties can show a unique style and décor, along with the perks they feel best suit their guests. There is a smaller footprint that helps guests to feel comfortable and in a place more similar to their home.
You can benefit from a tailor-made service, incomparable assistance, like in a family, to a high level of privacy. You have a quiet space to relax. There are more reasons to book a boutique hotel anyway. This starting point, of course, it looks like a great competition with the luxury apartment. Anyway, a hotel gives you more, like someone who cleans the room every day and a ready breakfast every morning.
The reasons to book a boutique hotel
Most of the small boutique hotels are family-owned and run. The family members manage directly the structure and the services.
Many boutique hotels are luxury places with the breakfast included in the rate.
The staff knows the guests by name, so the interaction is more friendly.
Some hotels of this type are located in beautiful quiet places or in the best tourist parts of the cities.
The setting is unique and not like big chains with the structures made using the same standards and design.
There are fewer amenities than bigger hotels, but you can get support to craft your perfect getaway. Maybe the spa is missing, but who are searching for a romantic break, the boutique hotel is simply perfect.
They are not offering loyalty programs and neither co-branded credit cards, but guests will always get special treatment and discounts. Anyway, there are some companies that operate with boutique hotels and they give you a card as a loyalty programme. It is the case of Small Luxury Hotels of the World. In this case, you can get also free nights.
How to book a boutique hotel
Now you know the benefits given by this type of structure, so what you have to check is already listed. In fact, a real boutique hotel has the described features. Plus: they have four or five stars and not many rooms. Checking the pictures you can see the setting. There is always something exclusive and surely you will never feel to be in a déjà vu. Check the availability and the prices on Booking.com. Then I suggest you contact directly the hotel. Maybe they have special rates or they can offer a particular condition. Don’t forget anyway to read the reviews. It can be useful.
And now?
Let’s go back to my challenge. Do I have to book a luxury apartment or a boutique hotel? Well, I really need your help. So stay tuned, because I am preparing a post with more details and you will be able to help me in my decisions. You will be so important because I will get more advice to share with my friends.
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