There’s always someone you know who seems to luck-out with an upgrade every time they go away, right? Yet every time you turn up at the hotel, you seem to be stuck with the windowless box-room.
What’s going on?
Well, whatever it is – it ends today.
We’ve got a whole host of top tips to help you better barter for a bump. (And we’ve got one tip that will make sure you always get the best room.)
But before we begin, a word of warning – all hotels are different and every situation varies. You might go for a while without even a free extra cushion. But don’t give up. Remain bold and always at least try to see if you can get something a little more luxurious.
OK. Ready? Let’s go:
- EMAIL AHEAD – Though it’s never guaranteed, we’ve come across countless friends and colleagues who’ve emailed ahead of their stay to explain their visiting the hotel as part of a special occasion and wondered if an upgrade was possible? We’re not saying you should invent something, but if you do happen to have a birthday, anniversary or some other special occasion on the horizon – it’s worth a try.
- ARRIVE LATER – Seems like a small thing, but later in the day a hotel is less likely to be receiving new guests for that day and it’s more likely they’ll have a better room available. If you can keep your luggage with you that bit longer, it’s worth delaying check-in.
- BE HONEST – Sometimes honesty is the best policy. Once you’ve seen your room and if it’s not quite how you imagined it, going back to reception and telling them – politely – it’s not what you expected and feel you’ve paid for, can work as an upgrade technique. Ultimately, a hotel wants you to be happy and tell other people to stay, so it’s in their interests to keep you happy.
- GO SOCIAL – In the age of the Internet and social media, there’s a whole new minefield for hotels to think about. Once upon a time, a guest with a bad review might never have been heard of again, but these days that review can end up on Trip Advisor, Twitter or whatever the latest social do-dah might be. You can use this to your advantage – especially if you have a decent following. But don’t just be reactive – tweet the hotel ahead of your stay saying how excited you are to visit. Put yourself on their radar.
- BE CHEEKY, QUITELY – What others see as being cheeky and asking for an upgrade is actually completely normal behaviour for most people. So don’t worry about seeming to be ‘cheeky’ for asking. But one tip is to not be too vocal about the whole thing. If other guests see you asking, the hotel might worry giving you an upgrade could set a precedent. They don’t want that, so keep your requests civil.
- BARTER BEFORE YOU BOOK – With the rise of comparison sites and online bookings, people tend to think hotel prices are fixed and can never be changed. That’s simply not true. A hotel is like any other business and can be willing to barter. If you find a hotel you like the look of online, it can be worth calling to barter independently to the comparison site. Explain you really want to stay there, but you were looking for something a little more for the money. It’s worth a go.
Alternatively, if bartering just isn’t your thing. Why not get experts to do it for you…
- BOOK WITH RAPID TRAVEL GROUP – We left it until last because we’re a polite bunch, but the truth is when it comes to getting the best hotel rooms, your best bet is booking with us. More than just an upgrade, we go to great lengths to simply source better accommodation and better rooms that even a typical hotel upgrade would get you. As we always say, finding the best places to stay is our area of expertise – so it makes sense to let us do it for you.
And look, the fact is, booking your accommodation through Rapid is often a lot more cost-effective than booking yourself. We can save you time, we can often save you money and we can almost always get you a better room. So, to find out exactly what we can do for you, just give us a call on 0330 090 41 42.