I think it would be worthwhile to post some hotel reservation tips for foreign travelers to India. - It is always better to book the rooms in advance, at least for the first night of the stay. - Usually hotel rates are cheaper if you make a reservation beforehand. Otherwise you need to pay the rack rate which is higher than the rates offered on websites. - You can find tourist information desks inside every Airport. They can help you with names of hotels and rates if you don't have a reservation. They can even make a call and make a reservation for you based on the availability. - At the time of planning your journey, make it a point to go through details of various hotels, their facilities, rates etc. I think above tips will be of help you. Would appreciate if you can add more.
I have to agree that booking in advance is always important when your visiting a foreign country. Not only will it work out cheaper, it also means your not worrying about not being able to find a place to stay when you get there. If your travelling with a party that's even more important as while you might be able to find a room on arrival for one, the chances of finding an hotel with a few spare rooms when you just turn up is unlikely.
Prior reservation is always a must whenever you travel, particularly in India, its always best to get confirmation of your reservation in case theres any kind of overbooking problem. I've also booked smaller hotels in the past that have been in lesser-known areas and occasionally the local taxi service may not know exactly where you want to go so its best to ensure you know the location of the hotel and can direct your driver there if a similar situation happens to you. Also, always ensure you have some change on you when you arrive at the hotel so you can tip a suitable amount.
Transfer from the airport to the hotel can be a problem, especially if there's no coach transfer available. While outside any airport there will be numerous local taxis available, some are more reputable than others, and if you do choose to travel to your hotel by taxi, I'd make sure that you agree the price before you commence your journey.
These tips are really useful! Thank you for creating this thread. I'll make sure to spread these tips around whenever I can.
"It is always better to book the rooms in advance, at least for the first night of the stay." I totally agree with this advise, you should never book for more than the first night even if you intend to stay for a longer duration. You never get what you see on the hotel booking sites, the images will be either photoshopped or taken at an angle to show only best parts of a room/hotel location. It is only when you have physically visited the site you will get a clear picture of what you can expect.
While it's true that your hotel might not look or seem as good as what it did in the brochure, I think just by checking any reviews by customers will give you some indication of what it will be like before you arrive. In my experience I've always booked my hotel for the full duration of the stay and any time I have had any problems the hotel as been more then willing to help if they could.
I would always book for the entire duration, also. What if you booked just the first night's stay, decided you really liked it, but the hotel was completely full after that? You'd have to leave and find another hotel!
