Booking Hotels Online For The Win

Anytime you are traveling to a city one of the most important things you can do is book a hotel online in advance. This has many advantages. You know you will definitely have a place to stay and won’t have to search for one when you arrive. That would cost you time and money in taxis.

Booking hotels online

When I first arrived in Pattaya I had heard there were so many hotels to choose from that I didn’t need to book in advance. I wanted to check out each room before I decided on one and that ended up being a big mistake.

It was a very busy weekend and all of the best places were booked. I ended up walking around the area near Walking Street for 2 hours in the mid day sun with a heavy backpack weighing me down. I will never make that mistake again.

Booking Hotels Online for Better Rates

Very often you can get a better rate when you book a hotel in advance (especially hotels in the Philippines, other places like Cambodia walk in rates are lower). The hotels have deals with the online sites and they give them a lower rate which then gets passed on to you. These extra savings can really add up over time if you are the type of person that travels a lot.

Some hotels also will only give out the basics when you book in person and then charge for other items like a towel or aircon or soap. Tune Hotels in the Philippines are notorious for that. However if you book online all of the amenities are included for no extra rate.

More Options to Choose From

Booking hotels online you get to see customer reviews and maps so that you can get yourself centrally located. It is always nice to have a lot of options and online that is exactly what you get.

You can narrow down your search to certain areas, prices, or amenities. You can select the hotel that has all that you want it to offer, and it won’t take you long at all. If you wanted to book when you arrived it would take hours to look at 10 hotels, online it takes minutes.

You get peace of mind knowing that you already have a safe place to stay upon arrival. You will also save money.

The main sites to book hotels online are Agoda and Booking.com. Or you can find a short stay apartment in the Philippines on Airbnb.com – referral link for $35 off.

Girl Friendly Philippines Hotels

Recently I had a friend who lives in Vietnam ask me if hotels in the Philippines mind you taking home girls, and if so could I recommend him any girl friendly hotels?

My response was obviously: LOL.

PI is not like Vietnam, (or to a lesser extent Thailand and Cambodia).  In those places you might have issues bringing a date or working girl home, but I have never seen a non girl friendly hotel in the Philippines.

I have heard that there are some luxury hotels in Manila that may have a problem if you are parading around obvious pros in the lobby, but I don’t think they would really do anything about it.  I have heard of hotels that may charge you an extra fee if you have TWO visitors.  So factor that into your budget if you are planning on any threesomes.

This certainly makes things a lot easier when choosing a hotel because you can go ahead and book any hotel ahead of time online.   Somewhere like Thailand or Cambodia you may need to try and email them or call them.  Emailing or calling people in Asia is always an adventure that doesn’t often end well.  And in Vietnam you can pretty much just forget about it.

Overall the only thing in the Philippines that isn’t ‘girl friendly’ is the stares.  Whether the girl you are with is a pro, your wife, your gf, or just a friend she will get stared at like she is a pro.

She will definitely notice this, some girls can’t take it, others don’t mind at all. Airbnb can make that easier, no hotel reception staff to walk past everytime.

3 Responses

  1. jspill says:

    falling in love with that chick seeing her on every page

  2. ococcy says:

    that dante’s gf?

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