Does anybody else settle for "adequate" hotels instead of searching for "the best"?

Well I have just finished all my bookings for our holiday.. 28 days.. 5 countries.. and that's a lot of hotels.. lol

I have a budget in mind.. I will never get the "best" hotel within its severe confines.. but.. I try for a hotel that fits budget and still has what we minimally demand.

I have however booked two "adequate" hotels for this trip.. but one is just an airport one night stay. and the other only two night stay( the rest of our stays are 4-7 days long.. so spend more time on them) .. with longer stays I do spend the time to research and get the "best" that I can for my money..

I do a lot of research, generally. Some trips are "super budget" trips and for some I'm working with a bigger budget. When I'm trying to be quick and super budget conscious, I pull up TripAdvisor and sort a city's hotels by price, from cheapest to most expensive. I scan the cheapest until I get a cheap one that rates highly. I'll read lot of reviews on that one. Often it works out....it'll usually be adequate - sometimes much better than adequate. Bad lodgings really flavor a trip for me, so I try really hard to find good ones. Have you tried sorting the way I describe on Tripadvisor? Where are you lacking hotels? There's often quick endorsements from people on this site.

Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

If you look at online reviews (TripAdvisor, for example), you will see that even the top-rated hotels have some 1-star ratings, and even the lowest-rated have some 5-star ratings. There is no such thing as "the best" when it come to hotels, or restaurants, or tour guides, or itineraries.

Decide what matters to you and book your trip. If you aren't happy with someplace you visit or someplace you stay or someplace you eat, it's part of the fun stories you can tell when you return home.

Taking some chances (booking something unusual or quirky) can sometimes result in a unique experience you couldn't have had at the best hotel.

Enjoy!

We have started using AirBnb. Have got some real nice places and real nice rates.

When I was studying for my MBA, a professor explained the difference between "optimizing" and "satisficing". If you have all the time in the world, you can optimize, meaning you can consider all variables and select the option which provides the best solution to all requirements. In Satisficing, you select the first option which provides an adequate solution to all the requirements.

In my case, a property which is close to the train station, or has good public transportation to the station, has an en-suite bathroom, and includes breakfast are about the only necessary requirements. Add to that meeting my maximum price requirement or at least providing a relatively good price to value for accommodations in that area. I'm a simple person; I don't require a lot of pampering. A safe, clean place to stay is about all I need.

It would be very difficult to determine the "best". One property might be closest to the train station, but the rooms are smaller, or don't have balconies. One hotel has room service, but no heated towel racks. Another property might have the reverse. Don't drive yourself crazy. Just find places that seem to meet your minimum requirements and select the least expensive option. And don't look back.

And, in my experience, unless you have practically unlimited financial resources, using a booking website will not get you the best accommodations.

We've always been adequate room travelers. I cringe every time I see someone on travel forums asking about 150 Euro rooms--more than I've ever paid anywhere.
I often use Booking.com and filter my room search from low to high priced. Then I look for the lower priced properties with the highest customer ratings--and read the recommendations one by one. I've never been disappointed traveling this way. Sometimes I'll also go on TripAdvisor to read what customers are saying about a property.
Because a room is relatively inexpensive doesn't mean it's not a great place to stay.

We've recently used www.trivago.com with some success on the few upscale hotels we've booked. Booking.com seems to be filled with bait and switch offerings and we always book with any hotel directly on their website. We also are on the email lists for travelodge.co.uk and premierinn.com for UK hotels that are often on sale. I just got an email from Travelodge for rooms at 29GBP, 49GBP for London. We are seldom in any hotel room for anything but sleeping and showering and a wide range of adequate hotels across Europe provide that. Close to transportation and quiet at night are the two main considerations for us. We also use Google Earth and its street view to locate potential hotels in cities across Europe. There are splendid hotels in the heart of London and Paris for around 150 Euros/50GBP if you sign up on those websites and wait for sales. We once stayed 5 nights in London at an "adequate" Travelodge across the street from the Marleybone rail and tube station for NINE pounds a night.

For sure I do. I don't expect a hotel to make or break my trip. (As an often solo traveler, I also don't have other people to please or to squeeze into a specific room configuration.) My top priorities are generally budget and location, but I can even be flexible about those. I'm currently booking hotels for a trip to New Orleans and not liking how much I have to pay to get a private bath and a central location. For the portion of the stay that's actually booked, I gave up on the budget and "pushed the button."

There can also be many options that are roughly equal and the effort needed to discern the best of those doesn't gain you much.

Thanks!! I just finished booking accommodations for our 15 locations trip. Good to know that I'm not alone in satisficing instead of optimizing -- Lee, the question didn't seem worth setting up linear algebra equations to maximize. :-) a little MBA humor.

This fall, as I booked a trip I used booking sites for a portion of the trip, compared extensively and found myself spending too much time for the results (law of diminishing returns).

One thing I would mention is that for the first half of the trips we booked via booking sites. The section part directly with the hotels. What I found, is that there was no savings using the booking sites. In fact, in my opinion, it is beneficial to to book with the hotel directly.

When we stayed at hotels booked via the booking sites the rooms were, again in my opinion, the least desirable in the hotel. When we booked with the hotel, we received upgrades. My advice check prices via a booking site, but if possible book with the hotel directly.

Some of the best hotels i have gotten have been through recomendations by friends or people on forums( ( i frequent a few and you get to " know" posters over a few years.

The only things I care about when booking hotels while traveling and sightseeing are cleanliness, quiet at night, a bathroom in my room, and the breakfast. Other than that I don't need luxury, just a place to sleep. I don't really hang out in my room or in the hotel while traveling. I also cringe when I see some of the price ranges people post here - their choice of course and everybody has their own priorities but wow...I would rather stay longer and see more rather than blow it on a hotel.
If I'm on a beach somewhere for that kind of vacation...then the hotel is everything and I am very picky!

I will filter by hotel standard and price, then search for the best rated property in the location I want to be in.

"Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good."

Lane, I love that quote. It applies to many things in life, not just hotels, and really struck me as very wise words to live by. Thank you.

Yes, I often use "adequate" hotels rather than "the best". As long as it's clean, reasonably comfortable, close to the station and provides a few amenities such as Wi-Fi, that will work for me. I'm typically only in the hotel room to sleep and shower, so there's no way I'm paying for five-star luxury!

If it is for four-or-more nights, I get pickier and willing to spend a little more, but for 2 or 3 nights, adequate is fine. I love Lee's "optimizing" and "satisficing" comparison. Private bath, WIFI, high-walkability factor, and no reports of hideous problems on the booking sites, I'm happy. Breakfast is a bonus.

And yes, sometimes I just push the button. I love the cancellability of Booking.com reservations.

My favorite part of planning is finding the best hotel/B&B. But, for me it is a hobby, done well when I have lots of time so no need to stress. There are certain criteria I'm looking for and I've been very successful, and sometimes less successful. For us, we prefer B & B's or apartments or very small family run hotels. The experiences we have with our accommodations feel just as important to us as the food we eat and the sites we see. We like the whole package experience. But again, it is fun, not a chore!

I never settle on accommodation. I think it is time well spent to find the best possible place. I guess I spent my college years sleeping on trains and in hostels with paper sheets - not going back, especially now that I have a family.

what did you do about hotels before we had all this info on the interenet, you made your best judgment and I bet you made some great choices and a few bad ones.
You have to balance up the time spent trawling through the huge amount of info out there and the value that is going to add to your trip.
In life we always have to make compromises and trips are like that, you are seldom going to find that magic balance of Price, quality, location and comfort. For me hotels do not make or break a trip but I do have certain standards I do not like to go below.
With the number of reviews out there in the main done by amateur reviewers can you really go by them?.I have just returned from a trip to Lanzarote , the hotel I had was brilliant, nice room , decent view ,great staff and wonderful food and in a location ideal FOR ME but according to several reviews it was a hovel serving canteen style food that was not fit for pigs .I am glad I ignored these reviews.
You have to go with your gut feeling when booking hotels,in general I have been pretty lucky and made decent choices.

I spend hours and hours reading reviews and hotel websites, figuring out locations on google maps and then agonizing about decisions. I'm a light sleeper so a noisy place for more than a night or two can wreck those days and the next few as well. I've had a couple that turned out to be pretty bad, but I've also found gems at bargain prices that I have returned to.

For a night or two, it's probably not worth the time, for longer stays I want to optimize, since my travel funds are not unlimited.

Like some others, I prefer to turn money into time.

I don't think you can determine "perfection" or even "best" in advance, so some of my €40/night choices have been perfect because of the quality of the experience of staying there - breakfast or amenities that are better than expected, kindness of staff/owners, etc.

When traveling with friends (about 10% of the time), I choose the properties and I get pickier, and increase my budget slightly.

I usually use booking.com but if I return, I tend to book directly.

David - I feel your pain re: I cringe every time I see someone on travel forums asking about 150 Euro rooms--more than I've ever paid anywhere.

My comfort zone is about $100-120 Canadian a night - so about 70-90 euro. Once I booked the Sofitel at Gatwick because we were arriving at almost midnight from Venice and I didn't want to mess with taxis to a hotel at that time of night. Cost almost $200. I near died - especially since we were there about 8 hours total. Ugh. Only other time I went more was when my mom came with us and I needed to book apartments with a separate sleeping area.

Now we mostly rent gites for a week at a time, but when we do stay at hotels I'm happy to settle for "adequate." I'd prefer to spend the money on other things, especially since we spend so little time in a hotel. One thing I do when checking hotels' ratings is if I see a hotel that fits the bill with regard to location, price and appearance, but it has a somewhat lower ranking than others, I look at the very bad reviews to see why they rated the hotel so poorly. If it was because it didn't have a hair dryer, for example, I disregard it. If it was because the room had bedbugs, that's a different story.

I do plenty of research and reading of reviews when choosing a hotel, filter by location and price and go with the one that has not just the best reviews, but reviews that mean something to me, personally: attentive & helpful staff, quiet, lovely décor, safe area close to transport, etc. I certainly don't go for the best, but usually end up one notch below that. For me the hotel is an important part of my whole trip experience and I want to be comfortable and happy--if not downright delighted-- in that space.

For Paris this May I spent a lot of time selecting the arrondissement that would best suit me--the 6th--then quickly discovered I needed to up my budget to get what I wanted, and not be in a shoe-box sized room.

I do the exact same thing as described by Christa above -- extensive hotel research on TripAdvisor, and location is very important to me. Just finished booking a hotel for Paris for solo trip in April. I booked (and cancelled) 2 pretty good, reasonable, three-star hotels, before I settled on the final choice in the 6th, where I really wanted to be. I unexpectedly got some extra money a couple of days ago, so I splurged a little and upgraded. I'm excited about this hotel which also happens to be recommended by Rick Steves (Signature St. Germain des Pres). I don't sacrifice comfort or location, particularly when traveling solo. And I always book my room using the hotel's website.

Adequate is just fine with me but my adequate may be someone else's OMG. I do have some criteria I use and consider before booking an accomodation-location, ensuite, and I also do look at reviews on credible websites I trust. Like Laura, "I don't expect a hotel to make or break my trip".

I'm budget-conscious in general and would rather spend money on great souvenirs, museum tickets, or tickets to historic sites. Quiet, clean, and en suite bathroom are my top three criteria for hotels, followed by location. That's important, but I'm pretty flexible on where in a city I would stay. Being close to public transit is the main thing. I do laugh when I read reviews on Tripadvisor and people exclaim how small their room was. Well, really, you're only sleeping in there, and you're in Europe! They do things differently than in the U.S.

I'm with Susan and Monte on this one, "The experiences we have with our accommodations feel just as important to us as the food we eat and the sites we see." That doesn't always translate into the most expensive or the most obvious.

In planning my solo trip to the UK this year, I find I'm booking a mixture of lower priced and higher priced options, depending on the city or town I'll be visiting. I'm finishing off with a splurge for me in a London apartment in a great location. I'll be there for 7 nights and I'm a slow traveler, so I will probably spend more time in the apartment or in my room than many do. I usually tuck it in at the end of the day and don't stay out much after dark.

The rest of the trip will be in a combination of small hotels and B&B's, some on the cheap side, others more expensive. So far the lowest price for me alone is GBP 70 per night and the highest is GBP 144. So far the average is GBP 105. I'm sure that will change a bit as I finish booking my lodgings.

Sometimes I think my satisficing is in choosing a place that is more expensive than I want to pay because it is the only thing available for my dates or it's where I want to be. I already have figured out that lodging for this trip will not cost me 1/2 of what it would be with my husband along. It will be more expensive than that because the savings for a single person aren't that dramatic in the places I want to stay. Where I'll save money is for food because he won't be eating! That should cut back on 3/4 of our normal trip food costs.

I'm another one who uses the booking sites for research and then contacts the lodging directly to book. Some places have the same price, some are cheaper, some will give you a deal, so I usually find the direct contact worthwhile. However, right now I have an email question in to a place in Aberdeen that shows different and more expensive rooms for my dates than Booking.com. I'm asking them what the differences are between the two double rooms that make one GBP 100 more than the other for the 3 nights. If I don't hear back from them soon, they will move from my preferred option to off my potential list.

Hmmm? I guess this means that I don't push the "book now" button very quickly. But I don't exactly look for the absolute perfect place, either. That's probably because I don't think there is such a thing.

In deciding on a hotel, generally a small one at that, I don't need "the best" above all, in Germany where a Single at 40-45 Euro provides adequate luxury. No need to pay 140 Euro for a Double just for myself to occupy it. Now if that 140 Euro room drops down to 65-80 Euro, say in July and August, as a single, I'll take it. On the hotel room "adequate" is basically enough. True, it is hard to make a decision when booking, what prompts me to get with it and hit that "book now" button is if I don't do it, some else will and I end up having to go some else. as regards to location and price. The difference is deciding on "nice to have" vs "necessity" ie, which amenities you cannot do without., eg, tea maker, AC, WiFi connection, spacious bathroom, 24 hr registration/desk service, etc

Depends on what you mean by best. I optimize for location, quality of room (including cleanliness), and price pretty much equally. Best is not just about quality of the accommodations for me. Oh yes, and expediency would be my fourth variable. I don't knock myself out trying to find something perfect because I don't want to waste a lot of time trying to get a perfect hotel across the first three dimensions. The thing I obsess about is how many days to spend where among different stops on an itinerary. So sure, I satisfice. (I was an economics major and yep that's a thing). Plenty of hotels are good enough, though in some major tourist cities like London, Paris, Rome, Venice it's a lot harder to get a reasonable deal. I don't knock myself out trying to find the perfect restaurant, either. More interested in seeing the sights. Finding a great dining experience takes a lot more effort that it's worth. Except in France where I am constantly surprised by how good the food is nearly everywhere. Italy has a good reputation for food too, but also more chances for a bad experience, at least in tourist areas. Back to hotels—Rick's recommendations are always very solid, and I think it's one of his greatest strengths.

Just went with adequate apartment today rather than cute little house (best) for an eight day stay. It was the idea of spending the 200 euro on something else that sealed the deal--so yes.

Wow, directly from my travel partner's mind:

"I spend hours and hours reading reviews and hotel websites, figuring out locations on google maps and then agonizing about decisions."

Me, I want a good place at a good price. I'm not planning to take up residence, I'm just sleeping and showering. And don't forget, every European hotel is a hodgepodge of good and bad rooms, in different shapes sizes and locations. So even if you find the "perfect" hotel you can get a dog of a room.

As I keep mentioning, like the infamous room 444 at Hotel Lutece in Paris .......

"(Tripadvisor) I find it hard to fully understand the rave reviews about this hotel. I agree its in a great location but that, as far as i'm concerned is where the positives end. If you get a room at the back then done expect it to look like the rooms featured on the hotel's own web page.Our room (444) was more like a narrow prison cell, with access to the bed from only one side, as it was pushed up against the wall. The wall lamp was dangerously hanging from the wall."

I'm not sure my adequate is the same as other people's. I figure I need a room to sleep and clean up in the morning before heading out for the day or next destination. My adequate is clean, quiet, bed and shower. If it has those, I'm happy with a cot in a garage. I don't mind hostels, as long as they're clean and quiet (yes, those do exist).

Like some others , I actually enjoy searching for and booking hotels. Call it a hobby or an obsession but I love reading through reviews on booking sites TripAdvisor, etc. and separating the truth from hyperbole as best I can. And getting a good value.

It seems everyone has their own definition of adequate and best etc. I have a few "must haves" and more "wish lists".
I prefer not to spend much... usually no more than 100 e for a double average off season (more in Paris, London for example) .I am almost always very happy with my choices. Of course some are better than others and there is always 1 that tops the list and 1 that brings up the rear and eve that one is always OK
Quiet, clean, good bed, filling breakfast included or reasonable, easy to get to from train or, alternately if traveling by car, easy to drive to without traffic chaos and free or reasonable parking. Location: I find that off central is often just out of the noisy hubub , a better value, and often has more diverse mix of guests which I find interesting.. But then again I like to walk a lot so the off central location may be a deal killer for some. View: Nice if it is included (unless it is out over a noisy street) but I won't pay for it since I prefer to view while walking around rather than sitting in the room. Still for others a view is a must have.

I use a combination of booking sites and direct booking. It is often cheaper and more satisfying booking directly but sometimes the reverse is true especially with some special coupons that the booking sites run occasionally. Usually I book with free cancellation but if the price is super good and it is the first and last places I will snag them. I usually like the flexibility to make a change or to grab another better offer . If it is a mom and pop tough and I am booking directly I won't change to get a better price. And I like exchanging emails with family hotels /b and b directly so I can ask questions and relay my preferences. Often the people are very nice and accommodating and I feel less like a stranger when checking in.

Can't wait to start booking again!