1. Groupon Getaways
that link is to the UK groupon site. but it can be changed to whichever region you are in.
and it is really the simplest way to book a trip.
this was how we booked our first trip, which was to Venice. and the most recent trip to Milan
it was a really great deal, flights, 2 night hotel stay and a gondola ride for less than £200 a person.
watch out for the fine prints though, of what is included and more importantly what isn't.
which links to the next website to check on the hotel that is included in the groupon deal.
2. Tripadvisor
i should put this at the first place cos this is by far the most important website when planning any trip.
it is not like i must stay in a 5 star hotel, but some hotels are so disgusting and dirty.
i just find it very difficult to enjoy a trip when at the end of a long fun day i can't even get comfortable and have to think about how dirty the toilet is or when was the last time they washed the sheets.
so that's where tripadvisor comes in.
it is based purely on user reviews, so search on any hotel and it'll tell you what previous patrons thought about it. angmohs really like such things, so more often than not the reviews are very detailed, e.g. they liked the location, hated the staff, or liked the staff, hated the noisy streets, etc etc.
don't just read through 1 or 2, cos there are always outliers who are either just never ever happy, or happy regardless. but be prepared when a number of people complain about the same thing. for me in particular, if more than 3 people raised an issue about the cleanliness of the place, it is going straight off my list of possible accommodation.
and it really is not about the price.
there are plenty of cheap and nice hotels to be found. just manage expectations about either the size of the rooms or the location, or something. once in a while you might hit jackpot, but it's better to be pleasantly surprised than horribly disappointed.
for example the milan trip, we were offered a hotel right in the centre of Milan, but a few reviews said that it was dirty, so we chose this hotel that was a 20 mins walk away from the city centre but with better reviews on cleanliness and service.
a few things we look out for in reviews:
1. cleanliness
2. location,
a. distance from airport/attractions/transportations(mrt stations etc)
b. is the area safe (especially when we will be getting back to the hotel late. better safe than sorry)
3. service (always a plus to have helpful english speaking staff who are willing to give suggestions or guide us on how to get somewhere. we thought that most people would be able to speak english, but we found out the hard way when we couldn't even order food in McDonald's.)
3. Viator
mentioned this before, but i think it is difficult to appreciate a place without having a guide of sorts to point out interesting things and explain the significance or history of the place.
good example would be like the crushing the bull's balls in Milan
we walked past that spot a few times the day before, but until the guide pointed it out, we never wondered why that spot in particular is always crowded.
it is just a good way to better understand another culture, to broaden my mind.
so viator is a good website that we always use to book guided tours of places we visit.
they don't actually do any tours themselves. what they do is they link up with established local companies. i suppose if you knew which companies they deal with, you could go direct to the source.
however, if you are not familiar with the place, it might be a bit risky to just google and book tours with any company that pops up because you don't know how reliable those companies are.
i do know that viator deals quite exlusively with GoldenTours in the UK though. never quite bothered to compare the prices between the 2 websites for the exact same tour. could be a fun thing to do. just to see how much more we are paying viator.
in any case, like i said, most of the time, it is difficult to find out who they are working with, so i prefer paying a bit more for a peace of mind.
btw, we are very excited about Madrid cos we booked this segway tour through viator which has very good reviews. so we are looking foward to zipping through the sights on a segway!
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| photo kapoed from viator website |
madrid trip started when we were looking for flights to rome and suddenly an offer for flights from london to madrid. so we changed our minds there and decided to go milan instead.
btw if in europe, their Jetstar equivalent is easyJet.
there are lots of other airlines, just that most of my classmates take easyJet, so i always think of it as Jet Star, and other airlines as Tiger Air or something.
so that's what little we have learnt so far. =) hope it has been helpful.
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