The Vacation and Travel Blog

You will find a bed, a chair and a toilet in any hotel room. That about finishes its common features. Every hotel owner has his own view of a level of comfort. And stars, which are on a facade, particularly do not explain anything. What should one do in order not to be disappointed in a chosen hotel?

Representatives of travel agencies assert that many travelers arrive home in a bad mood, because they know anything about specificity of hotel business in different countries. The double room in a Spanish hotel “four stars”, for example, is very small in comparison with the similar one in Turkey. As it turned out, there is no bathroom in a three-star hotel suite in Paris, besides the food is repulsive. And in family apartments in Italy you must wash the dishes and tidy up.

This situation exists because there are no integrated, unified rules ratifying level of comfort in hotels. To be more exact, standards exist, these rules were made by World tourist organization (WTO) and were accepted under the aegis of the United Nations in 1980ies. But standards are not obligatory for application.

Often enough (especially in the poor countries) a hotel gets an additional star, because the owner is a friend of somebody from the expert commission. Sometimes he bribes for solving this question.

Theoretically, travel agencies should let travellers know beforehand about characteristic features of a hotel. But de facto they often “forget” about it, craving for making a lot of money on the client “here and now”. However, you will know everything about standards in all its minutest details only if you try to understand differences, keeping in mind some general for all hotels rules.

In every country hotels are divided into classes. Usually, stars are used for its identification: the more, the better. You can see other symbols. For example, French hotel chain “Club Med”, founder of such type of rest as “all included”, identifies the class of its hotels by tridents. Hotel chain B&B (bed and breakfast) in Great Britain, for identification the level of comfort in its hotels, draws crowns on the front.

Special differentiation between the hotels often rides on specificity of the country. For example, in Greece quality of hotels traditionally is identified by letters (С, В, А and Deluxe). In France among three-star hotels there is more expensive and comfortable variant “three stars +”, and five-star hotels traditionally are called “4luxe”. Hotels in USA are divided into: tourist, business, first class and deluxe. Hotels of different levels in China are called differently: the hotel of European three-star level here is called “the guest house”, of four-star level is called “the wine house”, of five-star level is called “tourist hotel”. Remember this, and you will not be taken aback by this wide spectrum of names.

Surely last minute vacation deals can save tons of money. But you should understand that last minute vacation deals together with their strong points also have their weak points.

So, if you are really looking for getting last minute vacation deals and squeeze the most from them – please visit this website.

Tags: last minute vacation deals, vacation, vacation deals

When we go to another town or country, we are always having a dilemma. How to choose a hotel, which will satisfy all our requirements? We will teach you.

Every level of comfort in the hotel guarantees its minimum set of conveniences putted at tourist’s disposal. One-star hotel (hotels of economy class) in Europe and USA is usually a small house (there are no more than ten tiny rooms in it) with facilities on the floor, no meals (European plan) but you can get breakfast, if you pay additional money.

The following category of hotels is a tourist class (two stars). They are popular with those who like bus tourism. There is a bathroom and TV in rooms of such hotels, restaurant can be on the floor, visitors are supposed to receive light “continental” breakfast: a bun, juice and coffee in the morning.

Three-star hotels are the most popular. It is some kind of a golden medium between the limited budget and rather high level of comfort. A bathroom, a phone, a TV, cleaner’s services, in most cases there is an air-conditioner and a minibar. You can choose different systems of service: “bed and breakfast”, “demi-pension” (breakfast and supper) or “American plan” (three meals a day) in hotel’s restaurant. American three-star hotels are not worse than four-star hotels in Europe.

Four-star hotels are always well located (it can be the city centre or the seaside in a health-resort zone). You can also expect to receive an air-conditioner, a minibar, a minisafe, a phone, a TV, a bath, a shower, a toilet set, and a hairdryer in your room, pair of restaurants or cafes, free sports and fitness and a spa-complex, a business centre, a parking place under surveillance and a hall porter besides standard services.

But don’t think that four-star hotel guarantees you high level of rest. If you find in the Internet a four-star hotel in Paris, which is completely corresponding to declared level, pay heed to its location, it can be located, for example, in the Arab, Jewish or Chinese quarter. As a result, the client will be dissatisfied. In Arab quarter somebody can steal your bag without ceremony, and in Jewish quarter you will be surrounded by restaurants with specific kosher meal.

In the most expensive five-star swanky hotels, you can get everything as in four-star, but multiplied by two. Actually, it is an independent small town with highly developed infrastructure and perfectly adjusted service. Among offered rooms there is Executive Room, with a sleeping and working zone, where there is a fax and the Internet connection; Junior Suite, including a bedroom and a lounge, and Suite, which looks like perfectly furnished small apartment with a bathroom, a shower and two washbowls. Rooms Deluxe Suite and Excellence Suite, with huge room spaces, terraces and Jacuzzi, are second only to royal (King Suite) and presidential (Presidential Suite) rooms.

Now life is teaching us how to be frugal. But this does not mean that we need to get lower quality stuff. And last minute vacation deals is one of the examples. With the help of last minute vacation deals you can receive really great traveling experience for a fraction of a cost.

Read more about the tricks of last minute vacation deals on this site.

Tags: last minute vacation deals, vacation, vacation deals