Choosing a hotel often ends with looking at the price and the number of stars. Yet what determines the comfort of a trip is neither the stars nor the price but the district. A cheap hotel found twenty minutes from the centre means two hours of travelling a day, and those two hours eat a sixth of a week’s holiday. Below I have written the order in which the decisions should be made when choosing a hotel.
Choosing a hotel starts with the district
First mark the three or four places you will visit on a map, then look at the district that falls in the middle of those points. Being on a metro or tram line is often more valuable than being in the centre, because one stop takes two minutes.
The second thing to look at is the evening picture. A hotel above a bar street looks ideal in the daytime, while at night the music is heard until two. Look not at the photographs but at the word “noise” in the reviews; that is where the truth is written.
Reading the rating properly when choosing a hotel
A hotel above nine points but with only twelve reviews is not a reliable indicator. An eight-point hotel with more than two hundred reviews is more predictable. Sort the reviews by date and read only the last six months, because when a hotel changes owner it can turn into an entirely different place.
Look for the repeated word in the negative reviews. If one person has written “cleanliness”, that may be chance; if ten people have written it, that is a pattern. The same logic applies to the positive side: if everyone praises the breakfast, then it is true.
Hidden costs and terms when choosing a hotel
The advertised price may not be the final price. In most European cities the tourist tax is a few euros per person per night and is taken in cash on the spot. In American hotels there is a daily addition called a resort fee, and it is not visible when booking.
Be sure to look at the cancellation terms. If the visa is not ready yet, take only a booking with free cancellation; the difference is a few euros, but it removes the risk entirely. Filtering hotel options by cancellation terms reduces this question to a single step. For a long stay, an apartment with a kitchen works out cheaper than a hotel.
Read more: A Prague travel guide: the old town, the castle and the currency trap
Hotel, hostel or apartment
| Hotel | Breakfast, daily cleaning, for short trips |
| Hostel | The cheapest, for solo travel and meeting people |
| Apartment | Kitchen, washing machine, for families and long stays |
| Aparthotel | Between the two, reception desk and kitchen together |
If you are travelling alone and the budget is tight, it is worth looking at hostel options, as many of them have single rooms too. When travelling with family, a two-room apartment is almost always cheaper than two hotel rooms.
What to check on arrival
When you go into the room, first open the window and listen to the noise, then look at the water in the shower. If something does not suit you, tell the reception within the first hour; changing the room is easy at that point and difficult the next day. Instead of leaving your passport at reception, offer a copy; that is your right. Information about European standards for hotel services is published on the HOTREC site.
Conclusion
Choosing a hotel is built on the district, the depth of the rating and the cancellation terms, while the number of stars is the least important indicator. Mark the points on a map, read the last six months of reviews, and choose free cancellation. To plan the route and the visa process together, fill in the application form.
Note: taxes and extra fees vary by country, so check the final amount on the booking confirmation.
