I Never Travel Without Checking These 3 Accommodation Pricing Sites

I’m one of the few people who actually enjoys the planning process when preparing for a trip. Before I go, I always cross-reference four key websites. Here’s a rundown of each one; I’ll also mention when I think you should use them.

1 Booking.com

In my opinion, Booking.com is by far the best accommodation aggregator. I use it for almost all of my trips these days, especially when I’m visiting somewhere new or don’t know what options exist in the city I’m traveling to. For example, I visited London in March 2024 and had to find a hotel for the first time (I’m from the UK, but I normally stay with my parents). While I know London as a city very well, I’m clueless about its hotel scene.

I really like Booking.com’s map search feature, which made it easy to find somewhere to stay within the areas I liked. Moreover, booking many places to stay and paying either just before or at the property is great for flexibility. You can look for specific amenities, like whether breakfast is included, and you can also see your accommodation’s distance from the city center.

A lot of aggregators (e.g. Expedia, Hotels.com, and Agoda) are quite similar—but I significantly prefer booking.com’s user experience. The loyalty program is also great. You can also look for amenities like a focus space if you’re looking to work effectively while traveling.

2 Tripadvisor

I never book through Tripadvisor, but it’s a valuable tool if I want to check extra reviews for a place I’m thinking of staying in. Tripadvisor’s reviews are often more thorough than accommodation websites’, and it’s also possible that the user booked directly and left a review on a different website.

While I pay some attention to the positive reviews on Tripadvisor, I think the negative ones are much more constructive for booking a trip. I look at whether the commentor has mentioned any deal-breakers for me, such as location safety, cleanliness, and noise (I’m particularly sensitive to noise, so staying on a main street would be a no-go unless I’m in a place where this is unavoidable).

If the downsides that others have talked about aren’t a problem for me, I’m often more than happy to book a stay.

3 Airbnb

I used to stay in Airbnb accommodation for around 80% of my trips before COVID, but now, I mainly use the platform if I want a unique experience. For example, my partner and I found a lovely cabin in the north of Sweden on a summer trip in 2024. Since the area we stayed in was very rural, we figured that this would be more of an interesting experience than finding a hotel; we could always pick a nice guesthouse as an alternative.

You’ll find many accommodation types on Airbnb, from city apartments to spots in the middle of nowhere. Since meeting new people is one of my favorite things about traveling, I like that you can often meet the hosts when booking accommodation on Airbnb.

I also used Airbnb rentals quite frequently during a “digital nomad” stint in 2019. You can follow these tips on how to book your first Airbnb vacation if you’ve never used the platform.

4 Direct Booking

If I’m staying somewhere familiar and I have a favorite hotel, I’ll often book directly via the company’s website or app. I’ll do the same if there’s a chain that I really like using. For example, I love Clarion and Clarion Collection when staying in the Nordics; I’m also a Strawberry Hotels member, so it’s logical that I book directly and get some loyalty points.

Another benefit of booking directly via the hotel is that you’ll often get a less expensive rate than when picking a booking aggregator, especially if you’re a member. However, you might need to pay in advance.