Secure the best hotel for your next holiday

You are probably getting excited about your summer and autumn breaks. Escaping the daily grind is something on everyone’s list. You’ve probably been looking at hotels with Teletext Holidays or similar sites and assessing the options.

With this in mind, this guide to finding the best hotel for your holiday will prove useful.

Set a budget

You probably have a good idea of how much you are willing to spend on your holiday accommodation. Nonetheless, it is a good idea to set a budget by writing it down. This makes it official. It is a good idea to set the budget for your whole holiday including flights, transfers, and spending money.

Budgets are essential for any major project and your holiday falls under this umbrella. Providing you stick to the budget you will not overspend and still have a fabulous suntan when you return home.

Hotel features

If you are looking for an all-inclusive option there are several aspects you’re advised to check. Consider:

• Food and drink: What drinks are free? Most locally sourced drinks are free at least until a certain time, 11pm, midnight, etc, international drink brands may not feature in the all inclusive deal.

Hotel all-inclusive food normally takes the form of a buffet but you can get deals that allow a la carte restaurant dining which tends to give you variety and a better standard of meals.

• Activities: Most hotels feature activities that are free such as stand up paddling and beach volleyball. As a general rule of thumb, anything that requires tuition or is motorised will not feature as part of an all-inclusive deal.

Some hotels do on occasion provide bikes for cycling and or horses. If you’re more of an activity type of person it is wise to check what you will have to pay for.

• Extras: Most excursions will not be included in the all inclusive option but it will probably be easy to arrange a good tour or two from your hotel. Other aspects such as hair salon visits, scuba diving, and golf will probably require an outlay.

All inclusive normally provides the following:

• Buffet breakfast, lunch, dinner
• Snacks through the day
• Locally produced wine, beer, spirits and soft drinks
• Selected activities
• Gym and swimming pools
• Children’s club if the hotel has one
• Entertainment normally in the form of nightclubs, live bands etc

Hotel Rooms

Depending on your requirements you may want or need certain features in your room. This is especially important for family holidays. Are you all going to share a room or do you want extra rooms for different family members?

If you are working to a budget as advised then this will dictate your options to some degree. 

If you are a couple, other questions such as do you want a decent view or are you happy with a view of the building opposite? Do you want room service?

Other aspects to think about are do you want breakfast included or half board if you’re not going for an all-inclusive deal? Is the location good for getting to see the delights of where you are staying?

All this may seem like a lot of effort but it is worth making as you will have a better holiday as a result.

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