Wednesday, 28 May 2008

Cheap Hotel Bookings and Reservations

You know when you give family and friends really good advice that could save them hundreds of dollars and they thank you for telling them but in the end never really listen to you? Maybe it's telling your mum that she won't be able to take money out of Japanese ATMs with her Australian bank card only to be frustrated when she arrives at Narita with no money in her wallet and bitches for the next week about not having enough money on her.

Or maybe it's telling your friends that they should make a hotel reservation when they arrive at Shanghai airport as they could be staying in a 4/5 star hotel for what they're budgeting only to be shocked when they decide to stay in a dingy backpackers while you're in a 4.5 star double room overlooking the central park for the same price.

Despite the fact that I'm actually living in Japan, my mum (despite her best intentions) refused to change her mindset that Japan was as international as the travel shows lead her to believe and while I had been to China before and researched travelling in the country immensely, my friends were fixated on staying in a backpackers because logically that should be cheaper.

I'm sure everyone's (especially if you've ever had friends or family visit you in in a foreign country) had a similar experience.

A recurring cause of frustration for me is when I tell almost everyone that when travelling in most countries (with the exception of China. Seriously make a booking when you arrive at the hotel desks. You may get a 70% discount!) it's almost always cheaper to make your hotel reservations through an online system such as HotelCombined.com, Expedia or Hotel Club.

The sites (and numerous others) are a fast (especially HotelCombined.com) convenient way to make a booking. Most offer customer reviews of each hotel or service and provide photos of the hotel rooms. Also as mentioned before, making a booking online can end up saving you hundreds of dollars as these services don't charge extra like a travel agency would (or at least not as much).

If you're intimidated by using the internet for making purchases, try doing a Google search for information on the site you want use to see if any users have had a negative experience with it before you use it.

Everyone likes to do things their own way, but when someone with experience gives you advice, it's always good to consider it.

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Labels: Australia, Cambodia, China, japan

Wednesday, 22 August 2007

Xian Hotels

After travelling to Beijing and Shanghai (still want to head back there at some time in the future!) I've been wondering which part of China I should visit next. Hong Kong is a given but while searching the web about China I came across, Xian (or "Xi'an") which I admit to having never heard of before.

I'm really surprised I haven't as it seems like an amazing place with hundreds of great sites to see and features to enjoy.

The cheap Asia hotels site that I found last month has a huge listing of Xian hotels available for booking complete with useful customer reviews, ratings and important information such as hotel features, locations and whether or not booking with certain hotels will give you instant confirmation after you do so so you don't end up arriving in town without a place to stay due to miscommunication.

Personally I'm kind of a hotel freak. I just love staying in hotel rooms and enjoying the hotel atmosphere. What's great about China though is due to the currency being so low, it's possible to stay in a 5 star hotel for under US$50 a night!
Check out this hotel for example. How nice is that!

I know some people like to travel cheap but if you can travel a country and spend the same amount on a 5 star room that you would on a 3 star back home, why not splurge a little?

Can't wait to head to China again.

Labels: China

Tuesday, 21 August 2007

"We wish England was Australia... or Jupiter?"

Just saw a new Australian commercial for Bundagerg Rum (Click here to view it) that has a lot of British people singing a song called "We wish England was Australia" which sounded REALLY familiar! It wasn't long until it ocurred to me that the song is actually to the tune of a Japanese hit that was released around the time I first came to Japan 3-4 years ago called Jupiter by Ayaka Hirahara.

Funnily enough I saw this song being used on a tv commercial when I was in Shanghai too.

It's a beautiful song which is why it's probably used so much. I just find it interesting that if I'd never come to Japan I would be completely ignorant of this bit of trivia.

Here's the song. Feeders and Email Readers Click here.