Booking a hotel sounds easy. Open a site, type the city, pick the cheapest or the prettiest one, swipe your card, done. But if you’ve ever shown up to a hotel that looked nothing like the photos, paid for extras you didn’t budget for, or realised too late that you’re three suburbs away from where you wanted to be — you know it’s not that simple.
The truth is, a lot of travellers rush through booking without much strategy. They treat it like ticking a box instead of what it is: one of the biggest factors shaping their entire trip. A bad hotel won’t just waste your money — it messes with your sleep, your schedule, and sometimes even your mood for the rest of the holiday.
Let’s cut through the fluff. Here’s what experienced travellers actually pay attention to when booking accommodation.
First, location isn’t just about how close something looks on a map. Smart travellers go deeper. They check if public transport is nearby. They make sure late-night food or grocery options are walkable (because nobody likes wandering in a strange place at midnight hungry). They even check the terrain. That “5-minute walk to the beach” turns into 15 minutes if it’s uphill and you’re carrying a boogie board, two towels, and half a watermelon.
Then there’s the fine print. The terms you scroll past because you’re in a hurry. Good travellers don’t just check for free Wi-Fi and breakfast. They make sure there’s no hidden “resort fee” that’s going to sneak up at checkout. They look for things like check-in and check-out flexibility, cancellation policies that don’t sting, and what the actual parking situation is (because “parking available” sometimes means “parking available two blocks away for $45 a day”).
Another thing the pros do? They don’t just look at the overall star rating or the flashiest guest reviews at the top. They skim for patterns in the 3-star reviews — not too happy, not too angry, usually the most honest. If ten people in a row mention the paper-thin walls or the dodgy plumbing, it’s probably not a coincidence.
And here’s the part most people forget: timing. You don’t have to book five months in advance or at the last second. The trick is to understand how demand shifts. For instance, if you’re travelling to a popular city during a shoulder season (right before or after peak times), you can often snag solid deals. A site like Wotif shows flexible date options, so you can see right away if moving your stay forward or backward by just a day cuts the price without sacrificing quality.
Of course, it’s not just about being cheap. It’s about being smart. Experienced travellers will often book free-cancellation rates early, then keep an eye on prices as the trip gets closer. If rates drop, they rebook at the lower rate and cancel the old one. Easy way to save cash without locking yourself into something too soon.
And while everyone wants an “Instagrammable” hotel, the smarter play is booking something that matches how you actually travel. If you’re going to be out all day exploring, you don’t need to pay extra for a spa and three restaurants inside the hotel. If you’re travelling with mates and splitting costs, an apartment-style setup with a kitchen (and maybe even laundry) makes more sense than separate rooms at a high-end hotel. Sites like Wotif make it easy to filter for those specific types of stays, so you’re not wasting time scrolling through options that don’t fit your style.
Let’s also be honest about reviews. Not everyone has your standards. That reviewer who gave one star because “the weather was bad” is not your problem. Smart travellers read reviews with context and take extreme opinions with a grain of salt.
And sometimes the best move is trusting a booking platform that actually filters out dodgy properties or has customer support that won’t leave you hanging if something goes wrong. Having used Wotif a few times myself, I’ve noticed their booking process makes it harder to accidentally miss important info — things like whether your room actually includes air conditioning or if you’re about to accidentally book a shared bathroom situation (nobody wants that surprise).
Booking hotels isn’t rocket science, but it pays to slow down and think it through like the experienced travellers do. A bit more effort upfront saves you headaches later — and probably a few hundred dollars too.
After all, when you’re spending hard-earned cash and precious time off, the place you sleep shouldn’t be the part you regret.
