Four Top Resources For Finding The Best Trip Accommodation
- Updated: 04/08/2022
Parts four and five of the article series, “How To Find Just-Right Accommodation In Five Steps.”
After figuring out a trip budget, lodging must-haves, and the right neighborhood to stay in, it is time to move on to the main event – finding the best place to stay.
To find top trip accommodation that is just right for your group, start broad – and then narrow in.
Four Top Resources For Finding The Best Accommodation
To get the best results, use these four sources:
1. Guidebooks. To get an initial overview of the lodging scene.
2. Hotel Search Engines & OTAs (Online Travel Agencies). To view available lodging in different price categories.
3. Niche Websites, Blogs, & Online Groups. To collect where-to-stay recommendations specific to your needs.
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4. Google Maps. To find what others missed. Zoom in and look block-by-block in the area you want to stay in to discover under-the-radar lodging gems.
Guidebooks: For An Initial Lodging Scene Overview
I am a big fan of guidebooks or guidebook content on apps for travel planning and talk extensively about it in the article, “For The Love Of Guidebooks.”
Although guidebooks generally do not provide comprehensive lodging lists for a destination, they do include an edited list of excellent accommodation options across budget ranges not influenced by advertisers.
In addition, guidebooks often include under-the-radar finds that might be less visible on big booking sites. As well as help travelers understand which type of accommodation – such as hotel, inn, resort, or short-term rental – are best for their destinations and the times of the year.
For example, it is helpful to know if my destination typically requires full seven-day Saturday-to-Saturday stays for rentals in the summer – as I found in Bar Harbor, Maine, next to Acadia National Park. If this is the case, I may need to skip looking at rentals and instead book at a hotel or inn.
Overall, I find guidebooks offer an excellent place to get a lay of the land for any destination, pointing out promising options to explore further.
Hotel Search Engines and OTAs (Online Travel Agencies)
To explore hotel and inn options – I look up lodging prices and availability for highly-rated properties for my trip dates on search engines such as Google hotel search and Tripadvisor, and also OTAs (online travel agencies) such as Booking.com and Expedia.
Related: What is the difference between a travel search engine and OTA? Whether or not you can book directly through the site. A travel search engine such as Google’s hotel search will refer you to the property to book. An OTA, such as Airbnb or Booking.com, will act as your digital “agent” and book the property for you. A site like Tripadvisor will function as a search engine for some things – like for hotels when it refers users to book at external sites – and an OTA for others, such as tours, which users can book directly.
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Next, I zero in on the highly-rated options in my price range to check room options. Because extra space is one of my top priorities, I often look for family rooms, rooms with bunk beds, or suites. You will likely be looking for different features.
And bonus, if I come across a property mentioned glowingly in my guidebooks . If this is the case, I am now doubly interested and may put the place on a shortlist for top contenders.
Related: For an example of a shortlist for top contenders, view our list of potential Boston hotels.
Top Rental Booking Sites
The top three vacation rental sites are Airbnb, Vrbo (formerly Homeaway), owned by the Expedia Group, and Flipkey, owned by Tripadvisor. These are all considered to be OTAs.
While on these sites, I look up highly-rated rentals available for my travel dates and within my price range . The ideal rental units should include the top items on my lodging priority list. I save my favorites to my account to find them easily later.
When renting, I make a practice of only booking properties in my price category with the highest average guest ratings – as close to 5.0 as possible – as a way to guarantee an excellent stay. This practice has served us well – across all of our rentals, we have had great experiences with zero issues.
When renting, I make a practice of only booking properties in my price category with the highest average guest ratings.
Of all the rental sites, I prefer Airbnb above the others. I find their user ratings more in-depth and reliable. Plus, I find the Airbnb rental pages – where I can often learn more about the property owners – more personal.
Related: Airbnb is not just about lodging. The site also offers Airbnb Experiences – travel experiences such as tours, classes, and activities hosted and typically run by skilled solopreneurs.
Niche Websites, Blogs, & Online Groups
If you have already found and are ready to book your dream hotel, inn, or rental – you can skip this step. However, there are plenty of times while searching I have not been able to find a just-right place by browsing the major search engines and booking sites.
For these times, I rely on niche websites, blogs, and online groups to help uncover great places to stay I might have missed.
Niche websites. For travelers of different stripes, niche websites cater to specific needs. For example, FamilyVacationCritic.com does a great job recommending hotels and resorts ideal for family groups.
Other niche sites cater to LGTBQ, African-Americans, over-50, and many other travel groups. To find the right website for your needs, Google-search a term such as “the best resources for (your niche) travelers.”
Travel blogs. If the niche websites do not help uncover great accommodation suggestions, travel blogs offer an excellent next step.
To find the blogs most likely to help, Google-search a term like the “best places to stay in (destination) for (niche)” and browse the blogs with the most helpful content.
The only major drawback with gathering information on where to stay from travel blogs is they often feature paid content promoting specific properties. Though, if a hotel chooses to pay niche bloggers for promotion, it is likely that the same hotel offers services and amenities specific to the niche group – potentially making it a helpful shortcut for finding the right place to stay.
Online groups. And finally, if I have not already found my clear accommodation winner via guidebooks, search engines, or niche websites – I embrace my GenX self and get on Facebook.
For however much griping Facebook deserves, it does a few things well, which include Facebook groups.
To research where to stay for a trip on Facebook, I can jump on any one of my local mom or travel-related Facebook groups and search for my destination.
When I do this, I am all but guaranteed to view past discussions rich with lodging and activity recommendations for any trip destination. Or, if I don’t see any, I can post a new query and have the multitudes weigh in.
To find the right groups for you, click on the “Group” icon that looks like a paw print and search on “travel” to find a travel group that fits your needs. And then apply to be a member. Facebook group users love to contribute their advice and experience, and the groups will prove to be a valuable resource in your travel planning.
Not a Facebook fan? Check out the Reddit Travel thread to search for destination-related postings and discussions. Or try Rick Steves’ Travel Forum, which has a primarily European travel focus.
Google Maps Block-By-Block Zoom
And finally, when you feel a bit like Goldilocks in the story of the Three Bears and have not yet found a bed that is just right, move on to my favorite secret lodging trick.
The trick is ideal for the most patient and committed travelers looking for the perfect place to stay – opening Google Maps and zooming in.
Think of it as taking a magnifying glass to find lodging. Once you know the precise location you want to stay and zoom in. Then scan block by block for under-the-radar accommodation options such as inns, B&Bs, and old-school rental companies that might not cross-market on the most well-known rental OTAs.
By zooming in ...you bypass the search engine algorithms and find places that do not necessarily rank highly in search results.
By zooming in on a specific area of Google Maps, you bypass the search engine algorithms and find places that do not necessarily rank highly in search results. For whatever reason, they may be too small, do not have a website with a lot of links, or do not allow for booking with OTAs (e.g., Booking.com, Expedia, etc.).
I have used this trick to find some of my favorite places we have stayed, including an under-the-radar inn in Bar Harbor, Maine, which I found by zooming in just south and east of the Bar Harbor commercial area and along the coast.
As I zoomed in, I noticed Shore Path Cottage – a highly-rated inn removed enough off the main drag to feel like a peaceful getaway, though still within easy walking distance of restaurants and shops. I had not seen the inn listed elsewhere. Its location next to the ocean, room layouts, and warm service were a perfect fit for my family, so I booked it – and we had a wonderful vacation.
And for a recent trip to Oahu, I used this method again to great success, finding a fantastic rental within a short walk from picturesque Lanikai Beach.
Determined to stay in pretty Lanikai where there were no hotels and most rentals required prohibitive 30-day stays, I had been zooming-in block-by-block on Google Maps in hopes of stumbling upon a hidden gem. And my efforts paid off because I found one in the shape of the Lanikai Two-Bedroom Treehouse grandfathered in to allow 7-day stays.
If I had not been searching block by block on Google Maps, I never would have found our wonderful rental, and we would have had to stay elsewhere on the island.
When you do not have a clear winner for a place to stay, such as a Shore Path Cottage or a Lanikai beach rental, some decision-making is required to pick between top options.
To help make your decision-making easier:
- Confirm lodging policies, perks, and amenities.
- Compare top contenders.
- Be confident about your research process, make a decision.
If you have not had a chance to jump on a property’s website already to confirm the details most important to you, now is the time to do it.
For example, does the property welcome – or alternatively, prohibit -children? Does it have a flexible cancellation policy? These are things you will want to know.
You will also want to understand the perks of a stay – is breakfast included? Is complimentary coffee available? Does the property offer free transportation shuttles? Also, read over the amenities – is there an outdoor pool, on-site dining, or a fitness center?
While on your top contender websites, consider taking a few extra minutes to re-price out room rates to see if you can get a better deal by booking directly with the property versus through an OTA.
Related: When booking hotels in advance, unless your lodging has highly forgiving cancellation policies, it is good practice to purchase trip insurance. To learn more about the best ways to protect your travel budgets, read this helpful article from The Points Guy on travel insurance.
Once you have some target properties identified, compare prices and perks and book the one that comes out on top.
For example, when deciding between booking a hotel or a rental in Boston – price and space were determining factors for us. The three-bedroom Boston North End Airbnb rental we found ran $100 less per night than our top contender central-city, double-hotel room.
In addition to costing less, the rental provided us with three times more space – and bonus, complimentary coffee too. It made a lot of sense to book the rental over the hotel room.
Perhaps deciding what to book among your top contenders is not an obvious one? Maybe the prices are similar, the lodging is equally spacious and well-located, and the perks are evenly enticing?
Then know that by this stage in your research – especially if you followed all five steps of finding just-right accommodation – you can confidently book any of them.
You will have undoubtedly filtered out a place to stay that is perfect for your needs and wants, and that will guarantee a terrific trip.
With your best lodging booked, it is time to think – activities! Unless your trip consists of purely beach time R&R, you may want to explore booking something fun, new, and different to do. For suggestions on how to short-cut your way to the top trip things to do, check out “Seven Steps For Finding The Best Trip Activities,” (coming soon) part seven of our ten-series “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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2 Responses
Hi Tammi, I am so glad you found value in it. I love that you are being so thoughtful about your travel and spending. I rarely stay at the big hotel chains. I find much more character (and usually better locations) with smaller properties!
Super useful, thanks Janice! I’ve always stayed at the Hilton or Marriott, but in light of their continued presence in Russia I’m making a determined effort to look elsewhere. This post is a great place to begin.