Are you planning accommodation for your DIY trip? When it comes to booking accommodation for our DIY trips, we always come back to Booking.com. We do use other hotel booking sites but we find none offer the same mix of choice, ease of use and reliable customer service.
In this guide, I’ll show you how to get the most out of Booking.com, how to search smartly, quickly find the best deals, avoid common pitfalls and use Booking.com as a search engine to get the best price – but not necessarily as your point of purchase.
Contents
What is So Great About Booking.com?
The functionality of Booking.com is what gives it a great advantage over other hotel booking sites. Ease of use, immediate reservations and guarantees, all make Booking.com a trusted and user friendly site for booking accommodation.
Booking.com is one of the top hotel booking sites on the web and scores the highest customer score on’ Which’. However, it also scores highest for most expensive so how can you use Booking.com and still get the best price?
How to Get the Best Price or Deal Available
You can take advantage of all Booking.com’s best bits and still get the cheapest price by doing the following:
- Use Booking.com to find your ideal accommodation.
2. Search for the same hotel on a comparison site like Kayak to find the cheapest price. Be sure that the room you have found on Kayak matches your exact result on Booking.com.
3. Book with the hotel direct. Call the hotel to see if they can match the best price or if they will offer a free upgrade or breakfast.
How to Search for Your Ideal Accommodation
The easiest way to make searches with Booking.com is to use the app, which you can download for free in your app store.
- Basic Search: Type the area of your search, dates, number of rooms and number of people.
2. Use filters: Go to ‘filter’ at the top of the screen. This is one of the best things about Booking.com because the filters are so specific. You can specify exactly what you are looking for.
Some of the filters I always use are: a rating of ‘Very good 8+’ and ‘Free cancellation’. You can set your budget, the location, breakfast included, free parking, air conditioning, private pool, etc, etc. The options are extensive.
3. Sort results: Once you have decided on your prerequisites, then you can decide on how you want Booking.com to sort the accommodations. Personally, I always sort by ‘lowest price first’.
4. Make a shortlist:
I like to find a selection of accommodations and save them to a list so I can easily compare them and share the list with other people in my group to help choose the ideal place. To do this, simply tap the heart next to the accommodation and name your list.
Once you have narrowed down the choices:
5. Check thoroughly: Look through the accommodations and see which ones spark your interest. Then read through each one very carefully, beyond the photos and initial price.
Things to Look Out For
Facilities
Does it have all the facilities that you need?
Are there any extra charges for cleaning, extra bed, etc?
The room description, available bed types. Often you find there are not actually enough beds for the number of people in your group.
Location
The location can be one of the trickiest things to pinpoint. Zoom in on the map and check what the reviews say. Is it close to the beach, up a steep hill, miles away from the ski lift? Ask the property directly if you are unsure.
Reviews
Read the reviews, usually the middle scores are the most honest and helpful. Reading the lowest scores will put you off any place and they are usually unreliable. Take note of how many reviews there are. If there are lots it’s much easier to gauge. If there are none you’re taking a risk. Are there any common themes like unpleasant staff, uncomfortable beds, noise? These are things to watch out for.
Select room
If you have opted for hotel accommodation, go to select room. Here you will find exactly what you are getting for your money. Choose your preference, do you want breakfast, a sea view, suite, free cancellation, etc?
Policies
Check the property’s policies, check in/out time, parties, pets, cleaning, etc.
Once you have selected your accommodation, you can go ahead and book or check out the prices on search sites like Kayak and compare prices but be sure that you are comparing exact matches including the extras like a ‘sea view’ and ‘free cancellation’.
Once you are sure you have found the cheapest price, you can opt to ring the hotel and book directly with them.
Booking with Another Site
Think before you book with another site. Is that site reliable? Does it have good reviews?
Personally, I prefer to book on the Booking.com app, even if it is slightly more expensive. And because I book so often, I have the ‘Genius’ booking discount and often get freebies like ‘free upgrade’, ‘breakfast’, etc.
Things That Can Go Wrong
Unfortunately, like with anything in life, things can go wrong. Here are problems that may occur, how to prevent them and what to do if something goes wrong:
Accommodation is sold/changed hands
The worst thing that has happened to us is that the hotel that we booked in Albania had changed hands and failed to tell Booking.com that they no longer owned the business and did not cancel their bookings.
To prevent this situation, contact the accommodation directly to make sure that they have your booking and check shortly before arrival.
The contact button on the app is not a reliable check because often it is connected to automated responses. Make sure you are communicating with a person and not a bot.
If you turn up to find this has happened, immediately call Booking.com’s helpline and they will find you alternative accommodation.
Accommodation cancels your booking
We have had accommodations cancel our bookings every now and then. Depending on the situation, Booking.com will refund your money or assist you on finding alternative accommodation. They have even offered to refund the price difference for us in the past.
Can’t locate property or owner not turned up
We have had difficulty finding properties or had trouble getting in.
Make sure you have the address, directions and telephone numbers. Make arrangements with the owner to collect keys.
Booking.com have always been fantastic over the phone and given us first class assistance. They have stayed on the phone to direct us to our accommodation and have got hold of the owner to let them know we have arrived.
Accommodation is double booked
This has never happened to us thankfully. Again, always check with the actual property to ensure they have your reservation.
Booking.com will assist you in finding another place to stay.
Payment
Booking.com will say if the accommodation is to be paid in advance or on arrival. If in advance, you will pay through them on the app. Even if you are paying at the hotel, you will be asked to register your payment card details on the app.
It is always advisable to use a credit card when paying so that you have the extra protection of having the support of your credit card provider should there be any problems or disputes.
I once had to get my money back from a travel agent and my credit card provider was able to assist me with this.
Scams
Warning! When using any online companies, you must be careful of scams. It is important to read through Booking.com’s ‘Safety resource centre’ guidelines.
No legitimate transactions with Booking.com will ever require you to pay with gift cards or to share your payment card details by phone, text message, or email. If in doubt ring the Booking.com customer support.
Why Choose Booking.com to Book Your Accommodation?
Personally, I think that you have a lot more choice, flexibility, freedom and control if you book accommodation without going through a travel agent.
Booking.com is so easy to use and compare prices of accommodation compared to other sites. It’s functionality and Genius reward scheme are very user friendly and for me I feel happy that I am paying that tiny bit extra for quality and assurance.
Booking.com have always sorted any problems out for us, which is why I am happy to book with them repeatedly. I also like being able to have all of my bookings in one place on their app on my phone and I can share the bookings with other people in my group.
Whether you choose to book accommodation through Booking.com or just use it as an ideal search toolkit – it really can benefit you in finding that perfect accommodation.
Final Tips
- Use Booking.com as your primary search tool and comparison tool, not necessarily your point of purchase.
- Always confirm directly with the property before your trip.
- Never stray from the official payment channels.
- Store all confirmations and policy info.
- Always reach out to Booking.com by telephone if there is a problem.
Make planning a trip yourself simple and stress-free with our ‘how to’ guides in the DIY Travel Planning Hub for tips on flights, accommodation, transport, itineraries and more – all in one place.
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