If you are looking to book the best accommodation for your next trip then here we have shared 12 tips that you must read before making any hotel reservation.
Are you looking to select the best accommodation for your recent trip to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia? While planning a tour selecting the best hotels, resorts, apartments, or any other accommodations is one of the major headaches. In this blog, we are going to share a couple of practical tips that will definitely help you to make the right decision.
Image credit: makka-hnt.com
01. Be Specific About Your Trip Duration and Budget
Every tour is a huge opportunity to have fun and enjoy different attractive locations, communities, and cultures. Still, it is also true that every tour demands a high volume of money! You have to be very specific about your tour length, how many days and nights you are going to stay over at the hotel or our rented accommodation.
The accommodation cost is seen to be the king portion of your holiday expenses so you have to fix an estimated budget that will guide you to select the perfect accommodation. If you are going to Saudi Arabia for a tour then you can enjoy the natural beauty of mountains and rocks, religious places, establishments of the Royal Saudi Arabian Kingdom and historical places in Saudi Arabia.
02. Be Careful About Choosing Location
The location is a very important factor when choosing the accommodation for your trip. When looking forward to booking a hotel or resort you must consider the geographical location of the accommodation. Think about some of the questions below,
- What is the distance of the accommodation from the airport? Will they provide a pickup and drop-off facility?
- How easy is the address to reach from the bus stop, metro station, or rail station?
- Can you visit all your enlisted destinations from the hotel?
- Are there any reputed restaurants and shopping malls nearby?
- Is the hotel/resort/apartment neighbor to a hospital?
These things are some of the very important matters that you consider before booking accommodation. Many of us simply search for a hotel near me in Saudi Arabia and confirm our reservation but after reaching the hotel we find it so difficult to communicate with the destinations that we were looking to visit. Also, if the hotel is not easily accessible from the airport and local bus stop then you might have to make a huge expense of taxi fare on the trip.
03. Date and Time of Your Arrival
The date and time of your checking in the hotel is a very big deal. If you are going for a casual trip in peak season then most probably the hotel rates will be higher than average but the same hotel might cost up to 50% less during the off-seasons.
The clock hour also matters as some hotels allow late-night check-ins while others might not. There are also conditions like if you check in before 10 am then a certain amount of the room rate will be charged extra, or if you check in at 2 am then you might have to pay a full-day rent. So if you are going by an international flight that will land by midnight, you should look for the hotels with the best offerings for your late-night check-in.
04. How Many People in Your Group
The decision of which kind of accommodation will be best suited for your trip depends on how many people you have with you on the tour. If you are planning for a business trip then a single-room hotel might be convenient for you but if you are going for a holiday trip with your friends then you might want to stay in the same room or lobby and have fun all night. In that case, you should go with apartment renting.
05. Read Guest Reviews
There you will find so many online reviews given by previous guests. I suggest you go through all those comments that will give you a real-life view of the hotel or apartment that you are interested in booking.
Mark the issues that other guests have talked about. Check if there is any rating on specific features or the property’s complementary offerings.
Credit: IHG.COM
06. Starts Varies Country Wise
All of us know about the start classification of hotels but you should be aware that the start facilities depend on the country’s culture and traditions. The three-star hotel facilities in North America and the three-star facilities in South Asia might not be the same. So please don’t decide on your accommodation by only seeing the stars.
Check all the features and facilities in detail and then confirm your reservation. Take help from the hotline support of the hotel/resort/apartment or any other host.
07. Do You Need a Kitchen
The food culture is a very sensitive part for all of us as there might be vegetarians or allergic to ingredients, and others. In that case, you might need a separate kitchen facility. In other cases staying for a long period of time can cost very high food expenses so it might be budget-friendly that you cook yourself.
There are hotels and logging companies that provide the facility where you will have a room attached with a separate kitchen you can go for that. Though sometimes this room rate would be a little higher than the regular rooms.
08. Do You Need Parking Facilities
If you are a traveler who prefers to go by own car or bike then you must need parking or a garage facility with your accommodations. Though most of the hotels offer their own parking space for the guests there are few hotels that do not offer parking. Unfortunately, there are some hotels that ask for extra parking charges.
So, if you are planning to go on your own bike or car then you should be sincere while selecting the hotel or accommodations area. But personally, my experience says that you should not drive on your own as you might get stuck in traffic jams that can kill a lot of time.
09. What Amenities Will You Get
The hotel properties offer complimentary amenities; during your online browsing should see those too. Many hotels offer complimentary health clubs or gymnasiums, swimming pools, jacuzzis, spas, hair salons, indoor dining, and others. These facilities are free for the guests. So when you are looking for a hotel near me in Mecca you should check the descriptions in detail.
10. Check Hidden Costs
Most probably you are known for the phrases like Value Added Tax, Service Charge. These phrases are used to hide some external or additional charges that the host will charge you at the final billing.
There might be extra charges even for the room services, bedsheets, towels, property tax, etc. You must check if there is any option included for such additional charges or if all the costs are openly disclosed.
11. Confirm Reservation Earlier
After being sure about the date of your tour/holiday just make the room reservation as early as possible. Otherwise, you might miss the best hotel or chosen room type even if it might cost you extra. Actually, in the peak seasons, the room rates get higher, even when the hotel’s occupancy rate is high they ask for higher rates to sell the left rooms.
12. Ask Whatever You Need
Many of us feel shy or hesitant to ask for any information or cost disclosures. But this is not something you should do, you must be confident and ask whatever you need to know or any facility that you expect from the hotel as the hotels are part of the hospitality industry this is mandatory for them to provide you with better facilities. Moreover, when you are paying for something, why won’t you make the best use of your money?
13. Make A Tour Plan
Having a preplan for the tour might help you to decide which hotel will be the best suitable for your listed destinations and for how many days you should book there.
If you are planning to visit different states of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia then you might need to book more than one hotel moreover in different cities. For example, you can visit Madina for the holy Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, and then you can go to Riyad to experience the capital city.
Final Words
We have come to the end of today’s discussion. In the blog, we have talked about 13 important tips that might help you to find out the best accommodation for your next Kingdom of Saudi Arabia trip.
Let us know about which destination you want to visit next so that we can provide you with updated data like this one.
