Hostels / Hotels when travelling

[Chris100682]

Myself and my partner are planning to do a spot of travelling early next year. We're all ok with the flights but not sure how to go about booking hostels / b&bs/ hotels.

Do we book when we're there or is it best to book everything before we go? Is there a hostel guide we can purchase?

Can I ask you what you did when you went travelling (if you have that is). Did you simply book when you arrived in the country!

The bottom line is I need as much information I can get. Please help!!!

[chimpydoodle]

Where are you planning on going??

[spk]

Hi there

It really depends on where you are going, but if you are doing the backpacking thing like I am at the moment- some of the best advice I have is buy a lonely planet for where you are going. Other travellers recommendations are good too when you get to a specific place. The problem with booking somewhere in advance is that you dont get money back if you cancel, and if you dont like it or want to move on etc you are tied in. If you are flying long distance, always stay in a hotel for your first 2 nights to deal with jetlag etc. Going into a hostel is pretty hardcore after a 13 hour flight. Also another tip- make sure you have good travel insurance- and take copies of your passport and important documents. Have a great time !

[Chris100682]

Thanks for that, we're planning to go the U.S, then to Australia then onto New Zealand (maybe Asia). Where can I obtain a lonely planet guide?

[chimpydoodle]

If u are sticking to main tourist areas in USA then you shouldn't need to book a hotel/hostel in advance, I stayed in LA and Vegas and got rooms in Hostels and big hotels without the need to book.

Same applies to Asia (Bangkok, Koi Samui &Phuket are where i went) and had NO problem at all! I was in Asia at peak season too.

Lonely Planets can be found in good bookshops, Waterstones etc. Can also recommend Rough Guides, they are great and are very informative and have accomodation info from low priced rooms to top grade hotels. These can also be found in Waterstones. Worth checking if another edition of these books is due out shortly as the main ones for USA and Asia have new updated versions out quite often so check at the desk before you buy!!

check out....

www.roughguides.co.uk

[Pomp]

I recently got back from travelling for a year, and this was one of my biggest worries. Having been away for a year, we never had a problem finding accomodation.

Get a copy of Lonely Planet, as this has accomodation recomendations. Get country specific books, not the continental books as the country specific books contain a lot more information.

There are also recomendations at each hostel about where to go next, most people follow pretty much the same route.

Some parts of the workd being a member of HI (Hostelling Internanational / YHA) can be useful, tends to be developed parts of the world where accomodation is expensive, and check their website

For accomodation ideas check out ThornTree (which is a travelers forum) on www.lonelyplanet.com. Tends to have advice on good hostels, and ones to avoid.

If you are getting in somewhere late book a hostel, I would classify late in this case any time after 16:00, as you don't want to be trawling around with bags looking for somewhere to stay, as it starts to get dark.

When booking a hostel, try and book just one night, if it is not as expected you can leave. Some hostels will pick you up for free and give you a lift into town from airport / bus station.

Speak to other travellers, for advice.

Be aware of public holidays, as it gets busy, and accomodation becomes limited.

[adriennestewartn]

Hi, you should book your hotel from some hotel booking sites like hotels.com, booking.com, priceline.com and etc. but you can also use a site that can search them all at once. http://hoteleyes.com is one of them, good luck.