After Landing
Choosing Where to Stay in a City You Do Not Know
How to pick a neighbourhood and accommodation type, read reviews properly, and avoid the classic location mistakes.
Location beats decor. A slightly plain room in the right neighbourhood produces a better trip than a beautiful one forty minutes from anything you came to see.
Start with transport, not with the map pin
A hotel that looks central on a map may be poorly connected, while one that looks peripheral may sit on top of a metro station two stops from everything.
Before booking, check:
- Walking distance to the nearest metro, tram or main bus stop
- How many changes it takes to reach the places on your list
- Whether the connection to the airport is direct
- What the area looks like on street view, at ground level
Ten minutes of this saves hours across a trip.
Choosing a neighbourhood
Different areas suit different trips, and the labels used by booking sites are marketing rather than description.
The historic centre is convenient and usually noisy, crowded and expensive. Good for a two night visit, tiring for a week.
The first ring out - residential areas one or two stops from the centre - is where most experienced travellers end up. Cheaper, quieter, real restaurants, and still close.
Business districts are quiet at weekends and dead in the evenings. Fine for short work trips, dull otherwise.
Areas near main stations are well connected and, in many cities, the least pleasant part of town after dark. Read carefully.
Accommodation types
Hotels give you reception staff, daily cleaning and someone accountable when something goes wrong. Worth more than people credit, especially on a first visit to a city.
Apartments give you space, a kitchen and better value for groups or longer stays. They also give you self check-in instructions at midnight and no one to call.
Hostels are not only for young backpackers any more; many have private rooms at prices below hotels with better social atmosphere.
Guesthouses and B&Bs sit between the two and often provide the best local knowledge you will get anywhere.
Reading reviews properly
Ignore the overall score and read the recent one and two star reviews. Look for repeated complaints rather than individual disasters.
Patterns that matter: noise, cleanliness, hot water, and how management responds to problems. Patterns that usually do not: one guest who disliked the breakfast, or a complaint about a construction site that finished last year.
Check the review dates. A property that was excellent three years ago and has slipped will show it in the last six months of reviews.
The details that get missed
- Check-in and check-out times, especially for early arrivals and late departures
- Whether luggage storage is available before check-in and after check-out
- City tourist taxes, which are often charged separately on arrival
- Whether there is a lift, in cities where old buildings frequently have none
- Cancellation terms, and whether the rate is refundable
Booking strategy
Flexible rates cost a little more and are worth it when plans are uncertain. Non-refundable rates make sense for fixed dates and events.
Booking direct with a hotel sometimes gets you a better room, a later checkout or a small discount. It is worth one email asking.
Once you have somewhere, work out the transfer from the airport in advance using our airport transfer guide. Arriving with the route already decided is a good way to start a trip.
