2. Friendly Hotel Staff

This was a surprise to me. Even though I really appreciate the friendly and helpful staff in a hotel (or friendly homeowners at an Airbnb), I didn’t expect this to rank number two in things people look for in a hotel.

More so than any facilities the hotel offers, travelers care about how friendly the staff is.

“The fact that staff friendliness plays such an important role in guest satisfaction shows that, as intrinsically social creatures, we love to be greeted with a smile and a chat. It makes us feel welcome and part of the group.” says consumer psychologist Simon Moore, who led the study.

3. A Comfortable Bed

Now, this is actually one of the things I look forward to most when I check-in to my hotel room: testing out the bed.

Nothing beats a large, comfortable bed that just makes you want to stay in your hotel room all day.

We’ve all stayed in places where the bed has been substandard and it’s amazing how a bad night’s sleep can make the next day a real struggle. 

And it’s not just the bed. The pillows and blankets can make a huge difference as well. I once stayed at a resort with a “pillow menu”: a list of pillows to choose from to make sure you get to sleep on your perfect pillow…

So yes, if you ask me how to choose a hotel I would definitely say check reviews about the quality of the beds before you book!

4. A Good Location

The location is, of course, one of the things to consider when booking a hotel.

Although maybe once or twice I have stayed at a hotel just because the hotel was an incredible experience, normally you book a hotel room because you want to (or have to) visit a certain place.

The location being in the top 5 of things to look for when booking a hotel, therefore, is obvious. But, don’t underestimate how difficult it can be to find out if a hotel’s location actually works for you.

I have stayed at hotels that I thought were close to where I wanted to be but then turned out to be either farther away than I thought, next to public transportation that just didn’t run when I needed it to run or close to where I wanted to be but in an unsafe part of town…

Read plenty of reviews from other travelers to prevent these mistakes. And, be careful when booking a hotel that has hardly any reviews (yet).

5. Good Value for Money

Of course, nobody likes to pay too much for their hotel room (or for anything really). So the fact that good value for money is an important factor when rating a hotel stay makes complete sense to me.

I don’t mind splurging on a hotel room but it better be a great experience then!

Expensive hotels aren’t always better than budget hotels and a cheap hotel room isn’t always a bad hotel room. So check what others have to say about the hotel room you are about to book. They will most likely mention if it was worth the money or not.