Pocket Travel. Find budget hotels faster.

If we combine my love for traveling with my weakness for deals, finding an extremely cheap accommodation can't make me any happier. Don't think that to pay less you have to sacrifice comfort. For me, there are certain minimum requirements for location, safety, and cleanliness that are non-negotiable. In this post, I'll help you know where to search and how to find a good hotel in your future destination. And do it without investing a huge amount of time.

«The ideal is to feel at home anywhere.».

Geoff Dyer

In fact, I have the habit of callingour accommodationin the city we visit "ca nostra" (which means "our house" in Mallorcan). I guess it's just one of my quirks, or do you do it too? Well, let's get down to business.

Step 1. Where to look.

First of all, I want to emphasize that the first step is to have an economical flight. To find it, I recommend you check out my first travel post. If not, no matter how cheap the hotel may be, our budget can skyrocket.

Now that we have the flight sorted, let's move on to accommodation. The search engines or websites I use are as follows:

• Search in the page Dormir de cholloThis website is great for just inputting your destination without specifying dates. It's managed by the same team as Exprime Viajes. It's a treasure trove for finding bargains and getting ideas for hotels that often have good deals.

The issue with this website is that it often redirects us to search engines like Trivago or Kayak. Sometimes the cheap prices offered are through online search engines with dubious reputation. Be cautious and don't just go for the first option you see. Do some research beforehand and simply use the ideas to look up that hotel on other more reliable search engines.

• Look on BookingWhat can I say about this website? It's the ultimate hotel search engine. If you accumulate several bookings with them, they will make you a Genious member Genius and grant you access to special deals. My advice: don't settle for the price you see on the first day of your search. It can vary depending on how much time is left until your trip. Also, if you're sure about your destination and travel dates, book a non-refundable rate to save some money.

• Last but not least, always search on the official hotel websiteMany times I have found the best price this way. Moreover, they often offer room upgrades, welcome drinks, or late check-out.

If you combine these tips with the cashback platform I told you about in the previous Finance post, you'll be able to save even more money. In no time, you'll become an expert at finding the best travel deals!

A good teacher has this constant concern: to teach how to do without him/her..».

André Gide

Step 2. How to search, apply better filters.

When it comes to finding good accommodation, it's not just about the price. As I mentioned earlier, cleanliness, safety, and good location, are a must.

To find the most interesting hotels, knowing how to filter is the most important part of the process. What I do is go to Booking, and on the left-hand side, I select the filters that interest me the most.

In my case, I usually go for:

• «Very good: 8 or higher, to take into account the reviews from previous guests.
• «Less than X miles from the city centre, this will depend on how big the city is and the area you want to move around. It also allows you to change the reference point, in case you want to be close to a specific monument or neighborhood.
• The budget ranges within which I want to stay. For example, from 0 to 50€ or from 50 to 100€. Important! This price is not the total for the entire stay, but the price per night.
• Here is the moment to include whether you are interested in having breakfast included or if you want to have free cancellation. This is important if you are not yet sure if you will stay at that hotel, but you want to have something booked in advance.

Step 3. Comparative list

With all the above, I can now make a list of the best-located accommodations, with good value for money, and read real reviews. As you can imagine, they go straight to an Excel file where I create a list (I'm a list enthusiast, yes I am) that allows me to quickly compare between accommodations.

 "With order and time, the secret to doing everything, and doing it well, can be found."

Pitágoras

I hope that with these tricks you manage to find the best budget accommodation for your next trip. In the next post of "Bolsillo viajes" I will tell you how to focus on trip preparations to make the most out of it.

See you soon and happy reading!

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