Most people can say that they have had to stay in a hotel a time or two. Rather if the hotel stay was strictly for business or simply pleasure you always want to make sure your getting the best bang for your buck. My husband and I found ourselves homeless in the summer of 2016. Our home was condemned by the city and we were forced to move. With such short notice we were forced to stay in the cheapest hotels we could find. The hotels had to be close to school,work and had to be cost efficient. We spent our whole summer without a permanent home and the worst part about our situation we had 4 children to pull along. Thankfully my husband and I worked and were able to effectively stay in very nice 4-5 star hotels all summer despite our struggle. Hotels can become very expensive, especially when your booking the rooms straight from the website and staying for longevity. Priceline helped us save large amounts of money and book smart. My husband and I still managed to run our multi-media company while homeless we stayed at the best hotels thanks to Priceline.
If you want to be organized with your hotel stays such as itinerary and hotel receipts make sure that you create an account with Priceline. Creating account will allow you to keep up with receipts and hotel itinerary. Customers always have the option to book as a guest. Once you create an account with Priceline you want to select in which city you will be staying, date of check and date of check out. Priceline also gives you an option to choose how many rooms you will be needing for your stay. Another great feature Priceline offers is allowing the customer to select the number of adults and children that will be needing accommodations. I find this great because it allows you to be specific on the room size and also being able to be selective on how many beds you will receive upon stay.
Of course with any booking accommodations there will be Pros and Cons. First lets discuss the Pro's of booking from a third party company. Making a reservation through a third party company like Priceline will allow you to receive a room at a designated discount for the time upon booking. I have noticed that you can book great 4-5 star hotels for $60 or less sometimes saving a whooping 40%. What these third parties do is buy the rooms in advance from the major hotel companies and sell them for cheap discount rates to customers.
Another Pro to booking through a third party is the amenities. I have noticed among my many stays that many if not all the amenities are included with you hotel stay. No need to purchase extra add ons such as wifi, breakfast, or even being able to use the business centers. All these amenities are included. Sounds Greats right?
Another pro to booking your hotel reservations through a third party company like Priceline is check out times. All hotels have a check out guideline. Most check out times are 11am sharp. I have noticed when I booked rooms through Priceline that they approved a 12pm check out time. Some hotels don't like when this happens because most of the time if not all the time they must honor it, especially if it is in writing plain and clear on your itinerary.
Now that we have most of all the pros of booking through a third party company like Priceline we must talk about some of the cons. There are just a few cons nothing to be afraid of. When your booking your hotel reservations through a third party company like Priceline you are unable to specifically pick the exact hotel in which you would love to stay. Priceline provides you with a list of available hotels in the surrounding zip code area in which you choose.
Lets jump to another con to booking through third party. NO REFUNDS. I know sounds harsh but in all reality it is sometimes impossible to receive a refund for your hotel reservation. The reasons one may receive a refund is due to conditions that are out of your control and are very rare.
Another con to booking hotel reservations through a third party company is the sweet ole incidentals. Depending on what hotel Priceline may book for you be prepared to pay incidentals or possibly a deposit. Be aware it is very hard to get a refund for a hotel requesting incidentals or a deposit. All you can do is be prepared to pay up.
Using Priceline can be great for anyone wanting to get a jump start on vacation, business, or leisure. Have fun with booking your hotel reservation and book smart!
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