YOUR HOME AWAY 
Did you know that 34% of Americans booked an extended-stay hotel for five to 10 days, while 36% booked one for 30 to 180 days?
If this is your first time booking an extended-stay hotel for business, you might not have been aware of their popularity. There are a few things you must know before you hit the book button.
Read on to learn about these mistakes to avoid when booking extended-stay hotels.
With so many third-party hotel booking sites, you’re bound to find multiple prices when looking for an extended stay hotel. It’s a great idea to look at multiple sites before you commit to booking an extended stay.
If you find a room you like, see what different sites charge for it. Hotels oftentimes have to pay a fee to have their site listed on these sites.
To get the best price possible, try calling the hotel and see if they price match the best price you found. While it might not always work, you should give it a try.
You’re spending the money on an extended stay, so you should get the best deal possible.
It’s a fact that non-refundable rooms are a lot more affordable than refundable rooms. While you might choose to go for the lowest possible rate, booking a non-refundable room might not be practical.
If your plan is to book an extended stay hotel for business purposes, your company will not want to risk losing their money if the trip gets canceled.
Also, keep in mind that other things could come up, such as an illness or family emergency that might force you to cancel the hotel.
When booking an extended stay room, the best thing to do is to get a refundable room, even if it costs you a few dollars more. You could end up losing more in the long run.
If you find yourself booking extended stay hotels often for corporate purposes, a big mistake is not signing up for hotel rewards programs.
Many hotels offer loyalty programs to their guests, and these are free to join. If you find yourself booking the same extended-stay hotel, it’s worth asking if they have a rewards program.
While rewards programs vary from place to place, most hotels allow guests to redeem their points for free rooms, room upgrades, and other perks. Not to mention, hotels also reward their loyal guests with added perks such as faster Wi-Fi or free breakfast.
When booking any type of hotel is a mistake to use anything other than a credit card. Not only do credit cards offer rewards to their members, such as cashback, points, airline miles, free rooms, and more, but they also help protect your transaction.
For example, if you booked a room with a third-party booking site and it turns out to be a scam. Your credit card company will be able to follow the trail and refund your money.
Also, if you were to pay in cash when you arrived at the hotel and had a horrible experience, you wouldn’t be able to report them to your credit card or bank to get your money back.
A lot of people are not aware that some hotels will require an incidental deposit of $100 or more. When booking an extended stay hotel, it might be a while until you get your deposit back, and that money will keep missing from your bank account.
This deposit can be a lot taken out of your bank account, which is why paying with your credit card is the best way to go.
When it comes to booking a hotel, you should be aware of the location before you book. It doesn’t matter if the rooms are beautiful and the hotel has a pool if it will take you 45 minutes to get to your where you need to be.
If you’re booking an extended-stay hotel for business, you need to check the hotel’s location compared to your business place.
Take a few minutes to type in both addresses on Google Maps to see your commute. Make sure you also account for traffic during rush hour.
When it comes to extended-stay hotels, you shouldn’t let the rate alone determine your booking. After all, you plan to stay there for an extended period of time, so it will be your home away from home.
Before you book your extended-stay hotel, you should consider all of the perks they offer. Do they offer laundry services, free breakfast, airport shuttle, etc.
If you plan on staying for a lengthy period of time, it’s important you have as many of the comforts as you would at home.
While this might seem like a given, how many times have you showed up at an appointment on the wrong day or time? We’re only human, and we’re bound to make mistakes.
Before you book any travel-related booking, it’s important that you double-check or even triple-check your arrival and departure time.
The last thing you want is to show up at the extended-stay hotel and realize your booking started a day early.
Another mistake you could make when booking an extended-stay hotel is not reading the reviews. If an extended-stay hotel seems to0 good to be true, reading the reviews will help you decide.
Although you should always take reviews with a grain of salt, they do provide valuable information such as the accuracy of the location, cleanliness, value for your money, and more.
Now that you know about these mistakes to avoid when booking extended-stay hotels, you’re ready to take your trip.
Remember to inquire about price matching, read guest reviews, avoid booking non-refundable rooms, always use a credit card, and more.
Are you ready to book your next extended-stay corporate hotel? Contact us today to see our locations and book the best rate.