Finding the Perfect Hotel Room

So you are going on vacation, right? Where are you going to stay? Well, you might have some inclination and you may not have any clue at all. The first thing we take into consideration when we are going on an extended trip is our budget. My comfort level really has no bearing if I cannot afford it. haha! Once we figure out how much we can safely spend per day on hotel, we look at other aspects of hotel hunting. All the bells and whistles used to be extremely important to me until I had to give up a lot of extra things I could be doing on my trips. I learned very quickly that there is a balance between being comfortable and not being comfortable. So make a wish list of the things that are the most important to you and read the online reviews. They are very helpful. We have gone on vacations where we said we didn’t care where we stayed, we were only sleeping there. We could manage for one night. Well, that one night ended up being horrible. There are now places on our “never stay again” list. Not because they were terrible rooms necessarily, but because of the service we had from beginning to end. That is pretty sad, because we did just sleep there. One place we were just passing through, traveled until we couldn’t keep our eyes open anymore so we stopped. It was a budget type hotel. We waited to be checked in because no one came to the desk to help us. Yes, I know it was late. But as a paying customer, I do expect some service. We went to our room and went straight to bed, lights out, all is quiet. Not long after, we are woken up by slamming doors and screaming children. I don’t even know what language they were talking in. But it was like people came to join them in the room next to ours. All night long, babies cried and adults yelled at them (or so we speculated). Morning came and we had not slept a wink, even banging on the wall between us once. We had five hours of driving left and we just laid there not wanting to move. When we finally checked out, they asked if everything was okay and we told them the truth. The guy at the counter asking was a manager and he told us he didn’t believe us because never called down to the desk to complain all night long. We couldn’t believe the audacity of the guy. That is a place we will never return to, not because of the terrible night (the paper thin walls don’t help), but the fact that the management called us liars was the real reason. We have five star hotels we won’t stay at either because of a lack of amenities and parking. There are really nice three stars that offer you the moon and we return to again and again. You will form your own list over time and it will change depending on the cities you see. The internet is one of the greatest tools in finding a great place. You can score a wonderful deal and decide if it is worth staying at again or not. You are also able to leave your own review. A consumer’s point of view is a most valuable resource. Read the other reviews before booking and be certain that there are no red flags that may anger you at that location. Go into it educated and ready to overlook any flaws. One thing I was unprepared for once was the fact that one hotel failed to provide shampoo and only had limited soap. Some will charge you extra for another bar of soap, or to buy the shampoo and conditioner. Sometimes it is just less expensive to run to the nearest store and buy trial sizes. But with that lesson learned, I now check the list of amenities and make sure items like that are offered so I am not caught unawares again. When shopping for the perfect room, make your list and find as many perks on it as you can without going over your budget. Sometimes “just sleeping there” doesn’t mean stay in the half star that has nothing on your wish list. A great vacation is the objective here, enjoy yourself! For more information about Branson cabins rentals and Branson resorts, there’s great information online.