How To Find Just-Right Trip Accommodation In Five Steps
- Updated: 04/27/2022
Part six of our ten-series “Amazeballs Guide To Better Family Travel.”
Over time and lots of traveling, I have learned that great accommodation can elevate a trip to the next level.
Although I cannot make the lodging magic happen all the time due to budget constraints and late planning, I try to get as close as possible.
Here are the five steps I use – with enough planning – to help book a just-right place nearly every time. See what works for you so you can level up your own lodging.
Five Steps To Finding Just-Right Accommodation
1. Define the budget. Before a trip, set a per night spending cap for accommodation and use a budget template. Read more below.
2. Make an accommodation priority list. Think through the top features you would like your lodging to have, and rank them using a template in “Find Better Trip Accommodation Faster: Make A Priority List.”
Table Of Contents
3. Pin down the right location. Figure out these three key things in “How To Pinpoint The Right Location For Your Trip Lodging.”
4. Search using these top four resources. Use these four recommended resources to zero in on the right place. Read more in, “Four Top Resources For Finding The Best Trip Accommodation.”
5. Weigh the options – make the best decision. Compare ratings, features, and perks to make a decision with zero regrets. Read more here.
Define The Trip Budget
Knowing your trip budget ahead of time will help you figure out what you can afford each night for lodging.
Sometimes, I already know in my head what I can roughly spend, and other times – and depending on the trip – I go formal and enter my trip numbers into a trip budget template.
And for those lucky souls to whom a budget need not apply, skip to step two because the world is your oyster, and now you just have to find where to locate the prettiest shell to stay in.
For the rest of us, read on…
Why Take The Time To Budget
It is easy to get carried away when trip planning and booking accommodation. Especially for those of us who have not had the chance to vacation in a while, a trip can be a time to indulge, lose track, and pile on charges to a credit card to worry about later.
I am not at all a fan of this approach.
Enjoying now to pay later at interest is not only expensive and painful – especially when months later you may find yourself paying off the charges for a trip that has already come and gone – there is no need to do it.
I have traveled both on a shoestring budget – hostels, backpacking, and camping – and with more generous funds. The funny thing is I often find myself doing the same things during the day – exploring, hiking, sightseeing – as I did as a cash-poor backpacker, that I do now as a more resource-rich adult-with-responsibilities-and-a-mortgage.
The major differences in what I decide to spend on my trips today vs. then have to do with where I stay and what I eat.
The major differences in what I decide to spend on my trips today vs. then have to do with where I stay and what I eat. And that is where budgeting comes in.
Plus, I know my weaknesses well – charming places to stay – so a budget keeps me grounded.
When I happen to find a place full of character, with great views, stellar ratings, and in a prime location – the temptation to book it, even if it is out of my price range, is strong. For example, here is where I wanted to stay in Boston.
It is called the Boston Yacht Haven, so I should have known I could not afford it – especially considering our Boston visit was only a part of an expense-intense 10-day trip. Instead, once I came back down to reality with the help of my budget and Jordan’s are-you-insane eyebrow arch when I showed him the Yacht Haven website, I downshifted to find a lovely and well-located three-bedroom North End Airbnb, which cost less than half of my dreamboat.
Welcome To Trip Budgeting: A Sample Template
For those times I do get so strongly pulled into the splurge stratosphere that I do not want to come back down – a budget – like the one I created in the template shown below, helps me determine what other trip expenses I can tweak to make the dream a reality.
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And even when I am not trying to afford accommodation that is out of range – budgeting helps me adjust my other items, so I can afford to travel for longer or do activities that cost more – like scuba diving or private tours.
Any expense line in the budget – such as transportation, meals, activities, shopping, and more – can be reasonably altered with enough planning. Travelers can slash travel costs by renting a place with a kitchen and cooking instead of dining out. Or decide to do free activities – like hiking to keep costs down. Or take the time to search for a great deal on a rental car, or opt to skip the car rental altogether to use public transportation.
If your goal happens to be accommodation awesomeness above all else, there are many variations where you can cut to save money to afford a great place. Getting a grip on your trip budget will show what can be tweaked.
Root Your Trip Budget In Real Numbers (And Stop Dumb Trip Destination Ideas)
So I do not prematurely tweak my children’s souvenir spending to stay luxe, I anchor my number crunching in reality and back up my budget with brief research – primarily, a price and availability check on lodging.
If I cannot find a great or even good place to stay in my price range, I may want to reconsider my trip details before I decide to adjust my budget.
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My quick research starts with Google’s hotel search, which typically tells me two important things.
One, how booked up a place is, and two, what I can expect to pay in different classes of lodging for my trip dates.
Google's hotel search tells me how booked up a place is, and what I can expect to pay in different classes of lodging for my trip dates.
For example, a quick Google hotel search for a popular U.S. summer destination such as Jackson Hole, Wyoming, shows me only 9% of hotels have availability for three hypothetical travel days in July.
So, right away, I know this is a challenging (a.k.a. dumb) destination to plan a last-minute summer trip – options are limited, and the lodging that is available is expensive across all classes.
Compare that to a stay in Boston – a great summer location to visit – which shows 81% hotel availability for the same period across a wide range of far more affordable hotel lodging.
To confirm my suspicions that Jackson Hole is out of my price range for a last-minute trip, I can check Airbnb to view the rental availability for Jackson Hole. A glance shows Jackson Hole has “low availability” – no percentage is even given, and the first available property is an entirely different town. A last-minute trip there is not looking likely.
Conversely, Airbnb for Boston shows only 55% of rental units booked for the same 3-day trip window. With nearly half of all Boston rental properties still available, along with high hotel availability, Boston is looking like a more affordable and better option for a last-minute summer getaway.
Briefly looking up hotel information for my budget not only saves me from traveling to the wrong location, but it also saves me from traveling on the wrong dates.
At any given time, a trip can coincide with one-off large-scale events, such as conferences, festivals, playoff games, or graduation weekends, which can drive up the demand and price for accommodation for a brief time.
If I see what I think to be an abnormally high price spike and low availability for a destination, I enter the dates for the following weekend or week after to confirm the spike. If I have travel flexibility – and I do not plan to attend the event – I now have an opportunity to change my travel dates or my intended trip destination.
And for those times that I can not change my travel dates or location – for whatever reason – I know I will be stuck paying the higher price, and I will look to adjust my trip budget elsewhere.
Now you have a handle on your trip budget, it is time for the fun – figuring out your lodging must-haves. A view? In-unit laundry? Afternoon cookies? Read “Find Better Trip Accommodation Faster: Make A Priority List,” for how to do this – part two of our “How To Find Just-Right Accommodation In Five Steps” series. Also, part six of our “Amazeballs Guide To Better Family Travel.”
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Hi, I am Janice and and I run the Gather and Go Travel blog. I am a travel writer, blogger, and bookhound, specializing in family and group travel. I have traveled extensively domestically and internationally to 40+ countries. I am fascinated by other cultures, religions, and languages—and love to share what I have learned in my writing. For more on my background, read my bio, our story, and how to work with me.
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One Response
Thanks for pointing out that we need to know what our budget is for the trip to know what we can tweak in all the expenses we will have. First of all, I think I need to find a motor inn accommodation that has a reasonable price or even a promo. I think it will be biggest part of the expenses we will have when we go to Albury, especially when we need a big room for a family of five.