georgiagal

How long does everyone normally spend researching to find a hotel? I noticed I've spent hours going through online reviews and it's driving me insane sorting through all of the info. Does anyone else have this problem?

Nizar

Can be hours/days easily. Wouldn't say it's a "problem" though as it gets me excited, I love it and wouldn't have it any other way.

There are some instances where there is - to me - no stand out hotel where I am visiting so I'll ask my TA to recommend somewhere based on his client feedback and/or personal relationships which are likely to get me upgrades and perks etc.

But most of the time I approach my TA knowing precisely which hotel I want to stay at, and usually the room type too. And this is the result of all that research.

KatW

MikeFromTokyo

5khours

5 minutes max.

BENLEE

Depending on the city, if new, can spend quite a bit of time researching, checking their location on google map, reading up TA reviews and then browsing their website and checking prices and also reading up past threads here. Worse come to worse, I asked my travel agent to recommend but that didn't work out well in the past so I still prefer to select myself and then just ask them to book.

If it's a city that I visit often, I just go back to the same hotel again and again. That is until the property gave me a reason not to.

kaizen7

Long time.

Most of the times I did the research for the hotel and destinations concurrently. and if somehow I find another destination that attracted me more then I start over

But somehow I think I do enjoy browsing hotels websites to check if there's any interesting hotel around.

And sometimes, a very attractive hotel can influence my travel plan.
For example, Al Maha Dubai influence me to take an Emirates flight from Singapore and make a week "stopover" in Dubai before continuing to San Francisco.

MSPeconomist

GetSetJetSet

Not very long, there are usually only a couple of choice to consider

Lambi

Easily a couple of days. BUT I've recognized that the very best way to get the feel for the hardware of the hotel is youtube! You'll get to know exactly what your room will look like and all the facilities

Ericka

instyleprincess

Usually days. To be honest I care more about where I stay over where I want to go most of the time, so I spent a lot of time researching the places I want to stay and if it fits my criteria.

I got most of the suggestions here, scroll through tripadvisor (usually take me a lot more time on TA because I read through reviewer's previous stays as well). I enjoy doing the research though, I don't spend more for quality, but I REALLY hate it when I spent the money and took the time to get there and the hotel turns out to be a disappointment, especially if I'm traveling with elderly family members

eamus

Alain de Botton the Swiss/Brit philosopher has written a lovely little book called The Art of Travel. (Actually, several of his works touch on travel, including especially A Week at the Airport, and I recommend all of them.) He makes the observation that for some people, maybe many, the anticipation of the journey is a hugely important and rewarding part of the travel experience: the dreaming of what it will be like, the look-and-feel, even the experiences themselves. In that light, time spent researching might not be time spent, let alone time wasted; it might be an integral part of the experience.

TravelLawyer

I had this exact conversation with a non-FF this past weekend. While I'm not nearly as good as some FTers and dealhunters out there, I tend to get fairly decent pricing/redemptions when we travel, so he asked how much time I spend researching before finding what I want. I told him days, sometimes weeks. He was bewildered - I think the general public opens an Orbitz or Expedia window and books without much thought into the process other than maybe thinking "okay, let's book a 3.5-star and sort by price".

passionforhotels

For business trips when all you're going to do is sleep for a few hours in the hotel room, then that's probably the right approach: is the hotel near where I need to be; is it decent enough for a good night's sleep; does it have details that I need [eg gym/wifi/breakfast]; is it in the right price range; [and then possibly] do I get points for my stay. No sense in committing much time in researching for a place you're going to spend less than 10 hours in and much of that with your eyes closed.

For a holiday though, it's a different story. I can't tell you how many hours over any number of weeks before I commit to a booking. And yes, I like that comment about Alain de Boton - it's truly a part of the holiday experience.