Booking places to stay
It’s fairly common that my non-traveling friends gasp when they learn that I go to all these strange places without having a room booked. In general I don’t book a room in advance, as I like to have flexibility to stay where I want, when I want. However, it's up to you, and there are definately several instances where it makes sense to book places in advance:
- If you’re only on the road for a few weeks, then you won’t want to spend lots of your precious time on the road time finding and/or changing hotels. In this case, consider locking-in an itinerary including places to stay, at least for the first night at each stop.
- If you’ll be at a place where it’s going to be very crowded due to a big festival, etc., then book as long in advance as you possibly can.
- If you’ll be arriving late at night and/or after a long flight, then book a room for that first night. It’s no fun to be traipsing around with your bags at 1AM looking for a place to sleep….
As with flights, hotels are getting ever-easier to arrange, even in out-of-the-way places. I believe that the best way to book places to stay is to
- Use Tripadvisor to see what other travelers have to say about accommodation options at your destination.
