Today we will focus on the search and selection of hotels using the service - Hotellook. Also, to help independent travelers, we have instructions on how to find and book flights. via Aviasales. And now about how to book hotels through Hotelluk. You can consider this post as an instruction, or as a review..
The content of the article
What is Hotellook
About aggregators
To begin with, a small explanation for those who are just discovering the world of independent travel. There are many booking systems on the Internet, both foreign: Agoda, Booking, Hotels, etc., and Russian: Ostrovok, Oktogo, Ozon, etc. They all look like a website where you can find, select and book hotels. Previously, I had to manually go through several of these sites to find something cheaper.
But progress does not stand still, and aggregators appeared next in the evolutionary chain that search for hotels in the databases of all booking systems at once. That is, both on Booking and on Agoda and on many others. There is also a Russian aggregator for searching hotels - Hotellook. Its plus is that in addition to the world famous Booking, Agoda and dozens of other booking systems, he also searches for hotels in Russian systems, where hotels can sometimes be cheaper..
Literally from my last experience. I booked a hotel in Bangkok on Ozone, where it cost 2 (!) Times cheaper than in similar Bookings with Agoda. Then I got to lower prices on Ostrovka. So it's great when there is a choice, and the more booking systems are added to the aggregator, the easier it is for a traveler to compare prices and choose a better offer..
Is there a commission and prices differ
The Hotelluk service does not take any commission for the information provided, they are paid by the booking systems, and not by us users. Thus, the prices when entering the same Booking / Agoda directly or through the service do not differ. You can check it yourself in the form below. I have done this several times already, comparing the cost of different hotels: I went in different browsers, cleared cookies, etc. - the price in Hotelluk is exactly the same as in the booking service itself. And what is very convenient is that it already shows the final price with all fees. Surely, you know that, for example, on Agode, the price without fees is initially shown (17% lower) and you can see the final price already on the payment page.
How to book a hotel room
Filling out the form
Let's take a closer look at the functionality of the site. For example, we will look for a hotel in Prague that suits our requirements from 4 to 5 April.
We go to the main page of Hotellook. Here we see a standard search form. Please note that when choosing the dates of arrival and departure, a calendar drops out, where the dates of the month are painted in different colors, from green to yellow. The color shows the average price level for that date, the price range is written at the bottom. It is very convenient if you are not tied to any specific date when choosing a hotel. Let's choose April 4-5 (highlighted in green):
searching results
After clicking the Get prices button, another tab with search results opens. At the top we see the data we entered: city, dates and number of guests. These parameters can be changed during the search, but the filters located in the line below will then be reset and they will have to be selected again (I hope this will be corrected someday).
In the filter bar on the right, we see a link to display the found hotels as markers on the map, so you can change the display type by getting a map with points instead of a list. If you want to see where a specific hotel from the list will be located on the map, you need to click under the hotel name on the line indicating the distance of the hotel from the center. For the first hotel among the search results it is 1.14 km from the city center.
The minimum price for each hotel is indicated on the left, the booking system is signed on the big orange Book button below. If you want to find out prices from other booking systems (for example, you trust them more), you can see examples of prices in the drop-down list by clicking on the small triangle to the right of the button.
Filters and sorting search results
In Hotelluk, filters for searching for hotels are very conveniently located in the form of a fixed line at the top (always on the screen). You can choose the price range, distance from the city center, etc. When a filter is activated, its parameter is written in green. It is also convenient that the Reset filter button is visible. In the drop-down list for each filter, numbers indicate how many hotels meet this criterion. For example, 145 hotels meet all selected conditions.
Below the line with filters there is another one, where different ways of sorting the results are presented. By price, popularity, rating, etc. The option on the far right is a discount, if at the moment in the place where you are looking for accommodation there are hotels that provide a discount on accommodation, this item will be marked in red. It allows you to sort hotels according to the size of the discount. A very interesting and good tool when looking for budget options. In our case, there are no discounts for hotels yet..
Hotels map
In the same line as the filters, only on the right, there is a link Hotels on the map, opening the map, we immediately see how the hotels are located on the ground and in relation to each other. Each hotel is marked with a green marker. The black circle is our filter «no more than 2 km from the center».
The great convenience for me personally for Hotelluk is that the line with filters is also available in the map mode, the filters can be changed at will. It is the map mode that I use in 90% of cases, because almost always the geographical location of the hotel is important to me (usually I sit next to something). And including all the filters I need (rating from 8, price, air conditioning, Wifi, etc.), I get several hotels to choose from at the point I need. Search time is reduced significantly.
But back to looking for a hotel in Prague. The previous picture shows that when filters are not used, there are a lot of hotels that meet our criteria, it will be difficult to choose. Therefore, you can correct the request directly in the map mode. For example, select only hotels with wi-fi from the Services menu (246 results):
Now we will narrow down the price range and select hotels with a rating of at least 9. Now, as you can see, there are very few options left. We will choose a hotel based on our preferences in terms of geographic location - it is better that the area is pleasant and quiet, with transport stops nearby, close to the train station - if this is important to you. By clicking on the hotel marker, you can quickly see the price per night, the number of stars. By clicking on the Book button we go to the hotel page.
Hotel page and price comparison
On the hotel page, we see a slideshow with a photo, standard hotel characteristics, price per room, etc. An important criterion when choosing a hotel is the number of reviews for which a rating is made. There can be several of them, and maybe more than a hundred. The more guests rated the hotel highly, the more truthful the rating is..
The Hotellook rating is the same as our Booking.com rating, so it's pretty easy to navigate. I usually try to choose hotels with a rating of 7-8 and higher, as a certain criterion that there will be no problems and I will like everything..
We look at which rooms, at what price, in which booking systems are available. You can immediately compare prices and understand which booking system will be more profitable to book this particular hotel. If you select a room here and click Book, Hotelluk will redirect us to the website of the selected booking system.
In order to assess whether the hotel is worthy of choice and what are the pros and cons of living in it, you can look at the average ratings. the hotel is its guests. Below on the hotel page are the characteristics of the hotel based on the reviews. But, of course, it is better to read the reviews themselves, preferably not only in Russian. Here, at the bottom of the page, you can follow the link offered by Hotelluk, in this case it is Read reviews on Ostrovok, but there are links to other booking systems. Alternatively, go to any of the Book buttons (see screenshot above) and read reviews in the desired booking system.
Go to the booking system
After we have read all the information provided, you can make a choice. By clicking on the Book button, we will go to the Booking website (in this case):
On the Booking website, you can read reviews of the hotel, if you have not already done so, as I described in the previous paragraph. It also makes sense to check all the information you need: wifi and air conditioning in the room, is there a 24-hour reception (if necessary), is there a transfer, once again look at the photos of the room.
Well, and at the last step, if everything is in order, then we reserve a room.
P.S. That's all. Every time I use this or that service, I think how easy it has become to travel in the modern world, preparation takes less and less time, thanks to such services..
