Global Travel Planning
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The global travel planning podcast is filled with travel inspiration, itinerary ideas, real life adventures, practical tips and insights to fuel your wanderlust and help you make your travel dreams a reality.
Global Travel Planning
Finding Your Ideal Accommodation: Tips, Tricks, and Travel Tales with Tracy, Melissa, and Shelly Marie
This episode delves into the essential topic of choosing the right accommodation for travel, exploring personal preferences and valuable tips for all types of travellers.
We share personal stories and insights about what makes an accommodation memorable while navigating the challenges of hotel booking and location considerations.
• Discussing recent travel experiences
• Addressing how age influences accommodation choices
• Evaluating effective strategies for researching accommodation
• Sharing insights about trusting reviews
• Highlighting non-negotiable amenities for each host
• Importance of location and its impact on travel
• Weighing the pros and cons of various booking platforms
• Sharing favourite and worst accommodation experiences
• Final tips on booking strategies for travellers
⭐️ Guests - Melissa (QueenslandTravelGuide.com.au) and Shelly Marie (SoloHerWay.com)
📝 Show Notes - Episode 43
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- Episode #36: Top 10 Travel Tips for 2025 [ Expert Tips To Maximise Your Travel Experience]
- Episode #39: Planning Your Dream Trip in 2025: Expert Tips and Strategies
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How do you find the perfect place to stay when you travel? In this episode, melissa, shelley and I share how we search, book and choose accommodation, along with must-have amenities, money-saving tips and our best and worst stays. Hi and welcome to the Global Travel Planning Podcast. I'm your host, tracey Collins, who, with my expert guests, will take you on a weekly journey to destinations around the globe, providing travel inspiration, itinerary ideas, practical tips and more to help you plan your next travel adventure. Hello and welcome to episode 43 of the Global Travel Planner podcast.
Speaker 1:So this week, myself, melissa and Shelley are going to be talking about how we choose accommodation for our travels. But before we do that, we're just going to have a quick chat about what we've been up to over the last month in terms of travels, if we've done anything exciting, and what plans we have over the next month, because I know at the end of March that episode we're probably going to have some exciting travels to share with you. So that's the first thing I'm going to start off with, but before that, before I invite Shelley and Melissa to chat, I'm just going to give a big shout out to Laura Sternham-Dilts, who came on to SpeakPipe to share her travel plans for this year, which was great. So thanks, laura, for coming on and sharing that. And remember, if you leave a message on Speakpipe, you get a chance to have a shout out on the podcast, which is really cool. Right, let's start with you, shelley. What have you been up to this last month?
Speaker 2:And just share again your website? That'd be good for everybody to know. Hi, I'm Shelley, with Solo Her Way and I just returned from Sri Lanka. So I just spent about two and a half weeks in Sri Lanka and it was really, really nice. I enjoyed it. I traveled all around the country. I went from Colombo all the way to the hill country and all the way back down by the beaches, so it was really nice. Uh, the culture, the food, the people were amazing. I learned a lot about, uh, the different foods, about, uh, gems, about, you know, the different arts and crafts that they do.
Speaker 1:um, so it was, yeah, it was really really nice I think you'll have to come on and chat about Sri Lanka, uh, shelly, because Doug and I are planning to get there, hopefully in April if all things work out. So it'd be really good to have a chat with you so we can get some tips off you for that. So remember that, shelly, from soloherwaycom now we have, which is here's, the yank from our obviously Brit aussie yank episode at the end of every month. So let's talk to the aussie contingent. So, melissa, how how are you?
Speaker 3:yes, hi tracy, I'm really good, um, but look, I haven't done a lot of travel, or probably any travel in the last month. But, um, when I'm not traveling around the world, I love getting out and exploring brisbane. So I've been to a couple of new shows that are playing in Brisbane. You can read all about it on thebrisbandtravelguidecom. But something really exciting that I've been planning at the moment, which also involves Shelley, given Shelley's in Queensland at the moment, I'm going to take Shelley up to Bundaberg in a couple of weeks, which is the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef and, super exciting, shelley and I are going to sleep on the reef, so we're going to stay on a pontoon for the night and sleep under the stars for a night.
Speaker 3:We're also going to go to Lady Elliot island, uh, which you can only get to by plane. It's just been named the best snorkeling place in the world, um, and we also hope to see some really cute little turtles being hatched, uh, because it's that time of the season in bundaberg. So next time we're on me and shelly are hopefully going to tell you all about that.
Speaker 1:I have to say, when you told me about your plans, I was really, really jealous. I was like, oh, that sounds so amazing, so I can't wait to hear all about it, though Doug and I fly to Morocco on Tuesday, so I shouldn't feel too sorry for myself. That's pretty cool. So over the next month we are flying, we're in morocco for 10 days. We're doing an intrepid tour which, um melissa and I did two intrepid tours last year of india, which we actually still need to talk about the podcast which were amazing, um. So we decided that because we just haven't had a lot of time to book an intrepid tour of morocco. So that's what we're doing. They're there, we're there for um 10 days, eight days of which are the tour, and then we fly to Madrid on the 28th of February and then we have some time in Madrid, seville and possibly um into Portugal by the time we speak next. So that that's, that's our plans anyway, that's amazing.
Speaker 1:I'm pretty excited yeah, so anyway, we'll work in, we'll. We'll catch up on that next month, but this episode we thought we'd talk about, um, how we choose accommodation for our travels. Now it's. I find it important. If you get the wrong accommodation, it can have a huge impact on your trip, uh for sure. But I thought I'd start off with with asking, because we're we're all in our kind of, uh well, late 40ss or late 50s I'm not going to say who that might be me so as we get older, I think our preferences potentially have changed. Now I know for me it certainly has, and I certainly look for a little bit more of the luxury option. We do tend to mix and match. So we'll do the luxury with some more budget accommodation. And in the UK we spend a lot of time in B&Bs. We really like B&Bs because they're local and you get to meet people and they're also cheaper and you get a breakfast, which is a really good budget option. So what about you, melissa? Have your accommodation option choices changed as you've got older?
Speaker 3:I actually don't find they really have. To be honest, you know, I'm a bit of a budget adventure type of traveller. So you know, I guess the only thing I'd say when I was in my 20s I was happy to stay in a dorm room, which I definitely would never stay in a dorm room now, not at all. But I'm still okay with the budget kind of thing, it doesn't bother me. There are other factors to me that are way more important when it comes to accommodation compared to price. So, yeah, no, maybe I'm, you know, I'm the one who's in the late 40s. So maybe when I'm in 10 years and I'm in my late 50s, maybe they might have changed a little bit. But no, I don't find it's changed too much for me at this stage. No, okay, what?
Speaker 1:about you, Shelley.
Speaker 2:Definitely, definitely. They have changed. When I first started, especially full-time traveling, I was like, oh, I can do this, I could sacrifice, you know whatever it was. Now, no, no. As time has gone by, my preferences have evolved and I'm with you. I'm more of the luxury mid-range. It doesn't have to. For me, it doesn't have to be fancy, it just has to be clean. It has to have nice towels, nice linens, wi-fi basics that some people take for granted, but when you're on the road, those basics are really important.
Speaker 1:so oh yeah, absolutely, I agree definitely yeah, okay.
Speaker 1:So so we all have kind of different preferences than when it comes to accommodation. Uh, I think I mean we, honestly, we, we do, we are flexible and just thinking about the accommodation over the next month, I'm obviously looking at places that are Airbnb type so we can do washing, because getting your washing done on the road can be a bit difficult in hotels, especially in more expensive hotels, where they seem to charge a lot of money per item to wash things. So that's something. So what about when it comes to? You know you're planning a trip. What is the first thing that you do when you're looking for a place to stay? Shelley?
Speaker 2:The first thing I do is I will. I believe in the hotel points and so I will join. Even if I stay one time, I will join. So what I usually do I'm planning another upcoming trip. What I'll do is I'll go on the hotel apps, I'll look and see if there's you know any deals They'll send you. You know, percentages off, see how many points I have. I'll look that way.
Speaker 2:The other thing I do which may be a little unconventional, maybe you ladies do the same is I use my VPN. So I will switch my VPN to that country, that city and then I will look for their prices, the local prices, because oftentimes, for myself, if you're looking at a US site and most sites have different categories you're looking at a US site. Believe it or not, they have US prices for travel. So if you switch it to another site that's maybe Spain or Italy or wherever you may choose, you might see a substantial difference in the price and also the accommodations offered, because a lot of those accommodations are not on these big sites. So those are like my two key. Okay, what about you, melissa, when it comes to finding accommodation.
Speaker 1:So those are, like, my two key. Okay, what about you, melissa, when it comes to finding accommodation?
Speaker 3:The very first thing I do, before even actually looking at accommodation, is I research the area and try and work out where the best area is to stay. In my view, there's no point actually looking at accommodation until you have worked out the area you want to stay. And so, to do that, I normally like will look at a lot of different travel blogs and try and work out where everyone recommends to stay in terms of the area. I might map out some of the attractions I want to see and try and work out is there a central area I want to stay? You know, using google maps and try and work out where the restaurants are, or you know whatever. It kind of depends on the trip. But yeah, so before I even start looking at accommodation, I do my research on what area of the city I want to stay in.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a good point. I have to say we we tend to look at how we're getting to a place. So if we're going by train, then I'll look at what the area is like around the train station. If we're driving and particularly in the UK where you've got some cities where getting parking is incredibly difficult, so you have to be thinking if I've got a hire car, am I going to actually be able to park anywhere near the accommodation or am I going to be miles away and how would I feel about that? So it's checking that sort of thing. Um, so that's something I do, I must admit. For this, just looking at hotels in Madrid, the other day, I just kind of put in Madrid and just saw what came up in our price range. See, you know, just checked where it was close to public transport and I've kind of gone off that I haven't booked anything yet but that. But that's kind of my initial research. What about reviews? Do you check reviews? Do you trust them?
Speaker 2:Yes, I want to make one notation about the other thing, about booking. I don't know if either one of you have heard of hood maps or or it's kind of like when you look at Google and you search the area and along with Melissa I agree, like one of my things is, it has to be walkable for me in the major areas Well, hood maps, they will show you. It's made by locals, so it's a combination of almost like an urban kind of dictionary type thing and Google combined, but they'll tell you the areas, whether it's students, whether it's, you know, maybe retirees, maybe it's business, and it kind of goes. But it's flowing all the time and it's changing. So that's another resource.
Speaker 2:Ok, now I'll answer that other question in case he wants to fix it. Okay, I'm 50-50 on the reviews. I really don't trust a lot of the reviews. I would say a lot of sites. You know, if you have credible websites like ours that are people, don't pay for our reviews and we're ethical about reviews, you would be surprised how many reviews are bought and how many reviews are changed. So I look at it, I look for keywords in the review and if any of those show a red flag, then I just move on.
Speaker 1:That's a good idea. I must admit, I use Bookingcom a lot for checking out accommodation and I always look. When I've put in my criteria, it's always an eight review of eight or above. I don't look at anything less than that. That's kind of our criteria. And then I do check just to see if things like if it's going to be noisy. Because we were reading a review the other day and it was something about they said something. Luckily they had earplugs, and Doug was like why does it say they've got earplugs? And then I read a bit further and it's on this very noisy street in Madrid. There you go. So it was kind of that clue. So Doug was like, oh no, because he's a very late sleeper so that wouldn't work for him. But what about you, melissa? What about reviews?
Speaker 3:Do you believe them? Okay, I'm going to say yes and no, and a little bit different from what you guys have said. Oh gosh, there's some whingers in the world.
Speaker 2:I read some, wait a minute.
Speaker 3:Can you translate that for the American here? Okay, some people will just complain about anything and everything. Okay, I was reading something the other day and someone was complaining about that, that the hotel they, the hotel bar they stayed at wouldn't allow them to BYO and I, and, and they gave them a one, a one review, a one star was like oh my God, okay, well, like it's not allowed, whatever. So, look, what I do is I do read reviews, but I do read a lot of them and I choose to kind of balance it out. So I won't just read one or two and they go, oh this place is awful, I'll read, you know, a few and go kind of see overall what are people saying. Because you just can't.
Speaker 3:I just think some people are super radical, um, but the other thing you need to think about is reviews as well is to make sure you're looking, you know like, you're sorting it by like recent um, because sometimes the way they show reviews might be different, and so make sure you sort it by recent, because hotels change hands all the time. So you know you might be reading some bad reviews and it's changed hands and now the hotel has run much better, or vice versa. It used to be run really well and now it's not. So, yeah, I'm just going to say, make sure you're looking at recent reviews and just read a few and give it's not so. Yeah, I'm just going to say, make sure you're looking at recent reviews and just read a few and give it a balanced approach and try to read through those one stars, because someone's having a good old complain.
Speaker 1:Absolutely and I totally agree with you on that. Now, what about when you come to Booker Hotel? What things do you have to have in your accommodation? So not hotel, airbnb, b& bb. What is it that you're looking for? Now I know, and I'm waiting for shell it to say air conditioning. Because I know, because I just know, that is kind of top of the list when, when I speak with most of the north americans for my uk travel plan, london travel planet sites, it's always aircon is a huge. Now, really, we don't need it very often in the uk. But come on then, shell, what do you have to have in a hotel? I'm going to throw in their Wi-Fi. That absolutely is a total must for me. It's got to have free Wi-Fi and good Wi-Fi.
Speaker 2:Yes, stable Wi-Fi. Stable Wi-Fi. Yes, air con Stable Wi-Fi. It has to be safe. So it goes back to the area. It goes back to whether you're in a hotel, airbnb. So, if you know the locking system, like I know that sounds petty, but the locking system on the door, I mean, is it a key card, is it a swipe, to get in and out of the building? Do you have a doorman? You know, I mean that for me is a big deal.
Speaker 1:I think that's important, Shelley, because I mean, as a solo female traveler, you've got to think about those things.
Speaker 2:Yes, and also, you know, if it's a hotel, I like staying up on the upper floor. But besides that, I mean, my basics are like you said air conditioning, Wi-Fi. I have to have some place to make coffee. So if it's a tea kettle, it is something just to get the first cup of coffee in in the morning. That's it. Maybe a little refrigerator, but then again, I like clean, nice linens, towels and hot water and I'm good.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, well, I'm with you on the kettle. We have to have a kettle and we have to have a private bathroom. Kettle, private bathroom, yeah, those are kind of key considerations. It's got to have good Wi-Fi, because I can't do my job if I haven't got decent Wi-Fi. What about you, melissa?
Speaker 3:It kind of depends for me on the kind of trip that I'm doing. Like you know, there are some trips that you're kind of doing a sightseeing city trip, and you might only be there for one or two nights. So my requirements might be a bit less. I might be willing to compromise a little bit more if I'm not there for long, but if I'm going to be there for like a week or like know, like a beachy type of holiday where I'm relaxing, then I want a little bit more. I might want space and I want, I might want you know, like you're talking about, I mean, the wi-fi is not huge for me as a traveler, as a blogger. Then, yes, I want the wi-fi and yes, you know, if it's hot, I want know if it's hot, I want air con. If it's cold, I want heating. It's just kind of a tricky one because it kind of depends on what sort of trip you're doing as to what the requirements are. But actually, sorry, I just want to make a note.
Speaker 3:As you know, a family travel blogger, one thing that is super, super and you know, maybe you guys don't know about this is particularly in Asia. Asia might, asia thinks that four to twenty kids can sleep in one bed. So you will see a hotel room and it'll go sleep 10 and you look in it, you look into it a bit further and it just has one bed. So I'm going to say, as a family travel blogger, it's really important that everyone has a bed or it's a double bed for two people. That's so important and it's really really hard. Hotels, for some reason, just don't make that stuff easy. So I'm just going to say, as a family travel blogger, that everyone actually has a place to sleep and we're not all expected to sleep together.
Speaker 2:That's a good point, because I've been in the situation as a solo female traveler where they will put me in like a twin bed and they'll shove me like in basically a closet, because I'm one person and no windows, no windows, it's literally like a closet. So, yeah, you really have to, in certain countries, really look into that. And also the other thing, tracy, I think you said it previously laundry, a place to do your laundry or a place that can do your laundry, because, especially for me, I stay longer um, my average is like a month in one place and that's essential yeah, definitely, and that's easier in some places than others.
Speaker 1:You know, in asia it's not a problem to get your laundry done and it doesn't cost a lot of money. But traveling around, uh, europe which which we're doing it it's really a huge consideration and we had that when we were traveling around, uh before christmas, when we did about six different countries and christmas markets and extra, we were all over the place. Luckily we stayed with a friend of doug's in stockholm so we could do some washing then, but it was. You know, you look at the cost of the, the actual hotel charges to wash stuff, and you're like, no, so we do take a washing line and we take up those uh washing sheets with us as well. So we do as much as we can uh in in, when, in the hotels, um, but yeah, that's it.
Speaker 1:What about? I'm gonna ask about breakfast, because that's another one I know when, when I look at booking, it's like so do we take it with a breakfast or do we not? Now, quite often it's a dog loves to have his breakfast, so so we kind of look at the cost and decide if it's worth it or if it's just, you know, if there's a. If we look again on google maps. So we've got a hotel there's. Look, there's a supermarket five minutes away. We'll go and stock up, which is why we we generally will try and always get a fridge. Uh, because of that. But, um, you know what do you do? Do you do you go for breakfast or do you not? Do you book it or do you leave it?
Speaker 2:I don't. I don't because I hate to say this, but sometimes I value my sleep a lot more than I do an egg. So I find myself looking at the clock and I'm like, oh, I got like 20 seconds to get down to breakfast. Never mind, I figure, if I really I do your trick, tracy, I'll go to the store, I'll get a couple things to have to snack on and then I'll go out and have breakfast. Or if I'm staying at Airbnb, I'll cook something later. But for me it's not worth the price, and if you really, really, really want it, you could always purchase it that's true.
Speaker 1:What about you?
Speaker 3:melissa. Yeah, I'm probably like what you said, tracy, like I'll weigh the price up and if I think, oh, wow, that's really cheap, I will do it, but otherwise generally no. And mainly the main reason for me is because when I'm in a city, I want to enjoy the city. I don't want to be stuck in my hotel. So you know, like, if you're in a city, I want to enjoy the city. I don't want to be stuck in my hotel. So you know, like, if you're in Europe, for example, I want to go somewhere where there's a really cool square and sit on a, you know, a nice table and have some breakfast while I'm watching the world go by. So yeah, I will do it if I think it's a good price, but otherwise it's not really a big deal for me actually that's.
Speaker 1:That's brought back in memory when you said that, melissa, because I remember Doug and I staying at hotel in Salat and the Doi Doi in France, maybe about 10 years ago, and we didn't have breakfast at the hotel, but we found this amazing cafe on this wonderful street that did Le Petit Dijonais Complète and that's what we had every morning. We went and we had our little bit of breakfast and we watched the world go by. As long as we've got a cup of tea first thing in the morning, we're happy to then wait a little bit, but Doug's gotta have his breakfast. That's something he's like. No, we've gotta have breakfast, but as long as we find somewhere or have something in the room, the one thing it's some places I do love breakfast, so we stay at this. We always stay at the same hotel in Bangkok and they do the best breakfast in the world and I could not stay at that hotel. It's the Chaterium at Riverside in Bangkok. So shout out to them If I could not stay at that hotel without having the breakfast because, honestly, it is just magnificent, absolutely magnificent.
Speaker 1:Now let's talk about location Deciding. Now I kind of mentioned before about um. For us it's around train stations. Looking at that. I am very key. When I talk to people about where they stay in london, I say stay in the center, because you don't want to be spending your precious time traveling in and out of a city, for example, to go and see the sites. However, I want to ask you this one, shall I? Because obviously you spend a month in a place. So I just the thought of spending I don't know how much, how many thousands it would cost to spend a month in the center of London in a hotel. So what would you do in those sort of circumstances? What would you look at for location, if you want to say somewhere that was, you know, like a major tourist destination?
Speaker 2:well, um, what my strategy is is usually I'll book a hotel for like two or three days, so then I get to see the area and then either previously which normally previously I will have already done some research for Airbnbs or B&Bs, and then, once I'm there and I have those two or three days, I do stay in the city center because I do a lot of walking, but I will go ahead and I will look physically at that area.
Speaker 2:So once I'm there, it gives me a couple days leeway to check it out. I have been known to text an Airbnb or a B&B owner and ask if I could actually see it, and sometimes they say yes, sometimes it's occupied, but that's usually what I do. I tend to stay in the center. There's more things to do. The other thing that I do for location is make sure that there's many day trips I can take from that location. So I'm planning an upcoming trip after Melissa and my trip coming up in March that I want to take several day trips, but I don't want to lug my luggage like every other night so can you spill the beans about where you're going, because you said mentioned about this trip.
Speaker 1:Now I need to know, shirley I'm still.
Speaker 2:I'm still in the plane but, uh, but anyways, but I'm trying. I'm trying to see how far I can go out from that city center on day trips, or maybe even one overnight. That will be cost effective.
Speaker 1:Um, so that's that plays into me for long, long range yeah, I know that's that's a good tip, and I know we we're looking at madrid for three nights so we'll stay in a kind of hotel in the center. But because we're going to be in seville for longer, I'm looking at the apartment like that's not going to be in the center, it's going to be a little bit cheaper and obviously a lot of European cities as well now that don't allow Airbnbs because it's impacted so heavily on the cost of housing for residents of those cities. So, yeah, I can understand why it's more difficult in terms of being able to get that accommodation. That's not a hotel these days in those kind of centre of those cities. What about you, melissa, when it comes to accommodation? What do you look for location-wise?
Speaker 3:I mean location for me is the number one thing I look at and again it depends on what sort of trip I'm doing, like what you kind of touched on. If it's a city, a sightseeing sort of trip, I need to be close to the attractions or or the main train station or bus stop or whatever. But I mean, you know I also do family trips where I might be doing like a beach trip in Asia somewhere. So I want to be, you know, I might want to be on the beach front or I might want to be really close to where the main swimming area is or where the restaurants are. So it just depends on the sort of trip. But I think too many people get lost in the actual accommodation and don't think about the location.
Speaker 1:Location needs to come before accommodation yeah, yeah, I guess so and I think, yeah, you're right, I mean it. You have to think, like, if you're arriving into uh, like, we arrived into Germany, into Berlin, central Berlin, so we didn't stay around the hot barn half this time because it's really expensive, but I made sure that I found accommodation that was on a direct line that we could get to, so I think that's important. The last thing you want to do is arrive and think how am I going to get to my accommodation? That might be 20, 25 minutes away, because then or even further, then you're going to negotiate public transport, which brings all sorts of other issues, and if you're driving yourself as well, you've got to think about you know, can you navigate safely around that city? Is there parking, all of?
Speaker 2:those sort of considerations come in now. Just to add one thing to that it sets off the cost also. Yes, yes, so you may think you're saving money by staying a little bit further out, but by the time you pay for transportation, your time and the aggravation sometimes it's not worth it absolutely I.
Speaker 3:I was going to say that too, like if you're looking for somewhere cheap and you actually choose the cheapest place, it might actually not be the cheapest place, because then every day you're going to have to get a cab, or because there's no public transport or whatever, or there's nowhere, nowhere nearby, to get food or whatever, so you've got to yeah.
Speaker 1:So yeah, that's something I I share that a lot in terms of, uh, talking about london again, because we we deal with a lot of kind of accommodation requests around london and often, um, you know, people say, well, we've got a tight budget, so we don't want to stay in the center, so we're going to be further out, and then they'll, they'll tell us the accommodation and it's miles away from a bus stop, it's mile miles away from a tube stop, it's it's maybe a train sometimes that they've got to get out. So by the time they've added the cost exactly what you say the cost of getting in and out. Rush hour in london on the tube is not fun. If you're going to get cabs, it's going to cost you and also time, and also if you've had a busy day out sightseeing. The last thing I certainly do not want to have a 20, 30, 40 minute walk to my accommodation. I just want to be come off the public transport or whatever and then just get into my accommodation, so that's a huge kind of thought process.
Speaker 1:And if you've got luggage, when you've got, when you arrive in a place as well, dragging luggage through, you don't want to do that. You've got, when you arrive in a place as well, dragging luggage through, you don't want to do that. So, yeah, I, I agree it's. You've got to kind of consider what the style of your trip was in terms of are you going to be, you know, are you traveling family or are you going to be, uh, you know, is it a beach holiday and it's just you or you have, you got loads of luggage? Is it going to be a month long trip? And then really sort of think, what will? What will work in terms of accommodation and the area that you need to stay in? I think that's true.
Speaker 1:Now, do we book direct or do we use third-party platforms? This is a great question. Now I have to say I've been using bookingcom for years, so we do use that and that is my go-to, because I always book with free cancellation, always, um. So that that's who I use and kind of I'm upfront about that. Sometimes it may be more expensive, but that's that I use and I'm upfront about that. Sometimes it may be more expensive, but that is how I've rolled for a long time in terms of go on bookingcom and I look at it. So what about you, shelley?
Speaker 2:I use again. I use the hotel apps. I will also use different apps like hotelcom, hotel Tonight, different apps. I will use the Bookingcom and different Airbnb, obviously. But what I'll do is I'll research everything and then I cross-check it. So I'll research it on, let's say, the Bonvoy app and then I will go on the direct website and then I'll go on Bookingcom and then I'll see which one and then, depending on if there's a huge price difference, that's the platform I'll book on. Or if I want to make sure I get my points, then I will either book direct or book from the app.
Speaker 1:I think the thing that always puts me off about booking something like Airbnb is you've got to pay it up front. I quite like the ability to pay it when I check in. That's always a big plus for me. I have to say yeah the Airbnb.
Speaker 2:the only thing with Airbnb I've found is that it's good if you do it through the app. A lot I've run into some owners will want to take you off the app and talk, and sometimes it's okay, but basically if you stay on the app, airbnb does have a resolution team. So, like you were saying, tracy, if you pay for something up front and you get there and it's a disaster or two days in it falls apart, then if you have a valid you know concern or complaint, they are very. I have to say I've had really good experiences with them intervening and refunding me my money back.
Speaker 1:That's good to know. What about you, melissa, in terms of when you come to book accommodation? What do you use?
Speaker 3:I'm pretty much like you, tracey. I tend to use Bookingcom all the time and I only book accommodation that can be cancelled. Even if it's extra, I'm going to book accommodation that's cancable. The funny thing is it's really odd is that it's actually very, nine times out of ten, more expensive to book direct. I know I, you know I'm in a lot of facebook travel groups and people always go, oh, book direct, book to correct, book direct, but it's often more expensive, not cancelable, is it if that's a word um and yeah, and just not flexible um, which is really really strange um. So yeah, mostlybookingcom. I will also book from Qantas because I like Qantas points and Qantas often have some really cool deals where you'll get like crazy amounts of points. But if I don't get the crazy amounts of points, I'll just go through bookingcom.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's true, and I think they. What about you, shelley, when it comes to free cancellation? Is that something that's important for you as?
Speaker 2:well, I was going to say I always do free cancellation. That's one thing. If you join a lot of these hotel programs, one of the perks is you get free cancellation. So I always do that because you never know, you don't know off now?
Speaker 1:no, absolutely. I remember we headed to paris a few years ago. We actually went, uh, one time I did not book, with free cancellation. Why do things happen with the one time? The one time you've not done so it's and, and I felt, and I was actually really ill, but we went, I got, I got medication and I was all right. But, to be honest, if we hadn't, if we had had free cancellation, I probably wouldn't have gone. But so I and I always make sure that I do it now and I always did before that, as I say, it was a kind of one-off, I think. But now let's, let's talk about our favorite hotels, or worse. We're going to talk about favorite, I think, first, and then I want to talk about any horror stories or or places, without naming them, um, that we've stayed at, because I think that'll be good. So, um, what about you, mel, your favorite place that you've ever stayed at?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean I did a bit of research before the podcast to try and think about this and what I came up with is about a year or two ago I went to Khao Sok in Thailand, which is in their jungle, and they have a big lake and we stayed in like some overwater villas. So you're on the lake, you're in the overwater and you can just jump off your villa straight and swimming and stuff, but you're surrounded by jungle and so during the day and night you can hear monkeys and hear elephants. I didn't see any elephants, but I did hear see, sorry, monkeys, but definitely heard the elephants and um, yeah, it was really cool, amazing experience. And then you know they've got kayaks that you can kayak around and yeah, you're basically in the middle of nowhere and it was super cool, oh that sounds amazing.
Speaker 1:What about you?
Speaker 2:shelly got a favorite you know I like melissa, I was trying to think before the podcast and this sounds horrible, but like I've been so many nice you know really. So it's it's hard to pinpoint, but I could wrap up the best and the worst all together.
Speaker 1:Okay, go for it answer.
Speaker 2:I'll answer and vote at the same time. So my first trip to Italy I'll make this very short. First trip to Italy I flew into Bari so I was told Bari was going to be these little nonas rolling pasta in the street. All this stuff, all this fantasy, whatever, okay, no. This fantasy, whatever, okay, no. Anyways. So I went. I had booked an Airbnb, did my due diligence. I should have had the red flag when the taxi driver dropped me off very quickly and left very quickly. So I went in. It was not what it was supposed to be.
Speaker 2:Fast forward, two hours and a lot of communication, not in English and basically I got kicked out of the lobby by an 85-year-old Nona she was like maybe four feet tall, screaming at me in Italian. It was like I was like what is happening? So I'm out on the street sitting on my pink suitcase in the middle of Italy and so fast forward. I'm like, okay, I found a way to get to a taxi because there was no taxi, no ride share. Found a way to the taxi, looked up a hotel on one of the apps person didn't speak English, showed him Okay, okay, I take you took me. Now this is later at night, I can't see a lot of stuff took me and did not take me to where I was supposed to be, but it wasn't a scary thing, he just didn't know. He pulls over and I ended up and I didn't know at the time until the morning I ended up in the most beautiful town in Italy, polignano, as you know, tracy.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, and I was met by a very gracious host very late at night and I was brought to a B&B and not an Airbnb but a B&B, and it was the old stone, with a chandelier and all that. I mean it was. It was small but it was gorgeous. And when I woke up the next morning, not knowing where I was, I opened up the drapes and there was the blue, turquoise, water, whitewashed buildings. I mean it was amazing. So, from getting kicked out by an 85 year old Nona all the way to fast forward this fabulous, you know trip I mean, you know, and I was only supposed to stay a couple days I ended up staying two and a half weeks. So, yeah, so you never know how things are going to go. So that was kind of like one I could think of best and worst all together.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, that's it. That's quite a story, quite an experience as well, shelley, so you're lucky that you ended up somewhere. That was so amazing. Have you had any horror stories, melissa?
Speaker 3:You know I'm pretty easygoing and nothing really bothers me that much, but probably one of my recent horror stories was when I was in the UK and I stayed at a very nice hotel but I ended up with bed bugs and I had bites all over my face and my arms and hands and it was awful. Yeah, and, like you know, I've traveled a lot and this was only recent well say recently, it was probably about two or three years ago and, um, yeah, it was, it was awful, but it just it was a very, very nice hotel. So it just kind of proved to me that, you know, you kind of think of bedbugs and somewhere where you stay that's a disgusting, you know, dorm place. But this was not that um, and so much so that, um, you know, I took photos and videos of the bed bugs and you could obviously see them on me and, um, the hotel gave me my money back, so, um, so they certainly took it serious, which was good to hear.
Speaker 1:But yeah, oh yeah, I think it's been a huge problem in Europe over the last couple of years. Actually, I have, I'm going to say this, I'm going to touch wood here because with all the travels I've done, I've never come across bed bugs yet. But you just know, like you say, it could be a beautiful hotel and it just is one of those things. So, yes, hopefully it will never happen is have you ever had experienced bed bugs, shelly or not?
Speaker 2:one time. One time, and believe it or not, it was in the us wow, yeah yeah. So there you go.
Speaker 1:You just don't know yeah, and well, my horror story. It was in our queensland, I have to share this with you. So doug and I had booked this amazing, amazing place in the daintree um, and it had fabulous reviews, and it was basically like you had to go through through the daintree forest and we had our own like little hut kind of thing, but really beautifully, like a gorgeous like it, just beautiful little hut, and there was like five or six of these kind of huts around this, this hotel. But the day we arrived the people who owned it had well, they'd left the day before and basically the the new owners, they weren't arriving for another week, so they basically hired a couple of people to come in and do the cooking and look after it. Well, they couldn't cook, they couldn't organize, they couldn't have run a bath. To be honest, it was awful, it was the worst.
Speaker 1:We were there, I think, for two or three nights and it was just honestly. And then when we checked out, they tried to charge us for the Coke that Doug had been drinking, which we had brought with us. It was just, it was honestly, it was the worst experience and it wasn't cheap either. You know the dent, because honestly, it was the worst experience and it wasn't cheap either. You know the denture is expensive, so we have not been back to that particular place, so hopefully it'll have sorted itself out.
Speaker 1:I think we got lots of apologies from the new owners because it was kind of between owners, but honestly it was not the best day that we've ever had and we've been to some wonderful places in Queensland, for sure but that one definitely didn't impress impress us, that's for sure. So have you got any last minute tips or thoughts, anything that you want to share about you know that we can share with our listeners. About booking accommodation, I think my, my tip is always to to you know, do the research and and spend some time thinking about where you're going to stay, whatever your budget really and and kind of check out, as you know, as melissa said, the area and shelly said also check out things like you know, the loyalty programs, because there's a really good idea if you need to save a bit of money. Is there anything else that you think we should cover, girls?
Speaker 2:um, I I think the key for me is not just me, but a tip would be be flexible on your times if possible. If you could book like a shoulder season or. The other thing too is when you're looking at some of these booking, like bookingcom or any of these apps, you can look at their price calendar and you can see if the hotel is full, if the hotel maybe there's a holiday that you don't know about, because many times I arrive in a country and I don't know there's a holiday. But just be flexible, because often the shoulder season the weather is still pretty good and if you are flexible you'll be able to get a much better price.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm hoping that's the case in Spain and Portugal next month. Yes, I will report back.
Speaker 1:Yes please Well, so I think next month's topic, which I've just made up now I'm just going to say so, I think next month's topic, I think let's talk about packing, because that's a huge thing for me right now, because we have potentially a three-month trip back to Australia and I'm only taking a small little pull-along bag, so I have to figure out exactly what I'm going to take with me for the next few months. I may be sending a suitcase back to Australia, though, but yeah, so let's talk about packing. How, what our big packing tips are, our packing uh, best packing wins and hacks, and our kind of maybe our packing nightmares as well.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about those next month but um, yeah, so again, you just want to share with our listeners where we can find you. So where abouts are you shelly in terms of your website, social media?
Speaker 2:It's soloherwaycom and I do have travel guides for Sri Lanka. I have other information of different areas, so yeah, check me out.
Speaker 1:Perfect and Melissa.
Speaker 3:My family travel websites Thrifty Family Travels. Uh, I've also got queensland travel guide and brisbane travel guide and I have the practical travel guide on social media wonderful.
Speaker 1:I tell you what, between the three of us, we've got. We've got loads of, loads of resources, websites, the podcast, social media. Honestly, give us all a follow and make sure that you join our facebook group. So we've got the global travel planning facebook group, but melissa's also started a new facebook group which we're all in and moderating. So do you want to share that facebook group as well, melissa? Oh yes, I think is it over 50s women's travel.
Speaker 3:I can't remember exactly the title. Is that it?
Speaker 1:yeah, yeah, so, yeah, yes, so it's. Do you want to say that again?
Speaker 3:so it's over 50 women's travel yeah, on facebook.
Speaker 1:So I will put links in the show notes to you guys website, to social media and to the facebook groups. So do pop over and join and, as I said at the beginning, leave us a message on speak pride. We'll give you a shout out. We loved, we love to hear what you're up to. We are traveling and, yes, any questions about anything we talked about be absolutely fantastic. So you guys have a fantastic trip to bundaberg and lady ellie island. I cannot wait to hear all about it. Shelly, we need to get on and talk about sri lanka at some point as well, because I'm very excited to hopefully get there in april. So until next week. That's goodbye from me, goodbye from Me, melissa and Shelley, and happy global travel planning. Thank you for joining us on this episode of the Global Travel Planning Podcast. For more details and links to everything we discussed today, check out the show notes at globaltravelplanningcom. Remember, if you enjoyed the show, please consider leaving us a review on your favorite podcast app, because your feedback helps us reach more travel enthusiasts, just like you.