Discussing Hotel Options With Your Group
When planning any group trip — a family reunion, wedding, friends get-away, or other trip involving multiple itineraries and opinions — one of the most frustrating things can be deciding on the best hotel for everyone.
I’ve gone to weddings, family reunions, and traveled with friends in and out of the country and in each instance, finding the right hotel was a key part of our trip planning. Allowing each person to weigh in is important.
Understanding your group's requirements and priorities is a good place to start. Considerations that typically come into play include:
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Budget: The cost of the hotel is often one of the most critical factors. Groups usually look for options that fit within everyone's budget, considering room rates, taxes, and any additional fees. Depending on your group size, it's also worth exploring the benefits of booking individually v. making a group reservation.
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Location: The hotel's location is crucial, especially its proximity to key attractions, restaurants, public transportation, etc. A central or conveniently located hotel can save time and transportation costs.
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Room Availability and Types: Availability of enough rooms to accommodate the entire group and different room types to cater to various preferences (like single, double and family rooms) is important.
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Amenities and Services: Whether breakfast is included or if there's a swimming pool for the kids can significantly enhance the group's stay.
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Cancellation and Booking Flexibility: Flexible booking and cancellation policies are important for groups, as plans can change, and there may be a need to adjust reservations.
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Reviews and Reputation: Online reviews and the hotel's reputation can also influence the decision. Groups often look at past guest experiences to gauge the quality and reliability of the hotel.
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Accessibility: Consideration for members with special needs, like wheelchair accessibility, is essential to ensure that all group members can be accommodated comfortably.
Fortunately there are several free tools that can help trip planners to collect initial input and to streamline the decision making process. Here are three user-friendly polling apps that are widely used for gathering opinions and making group decisions:
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Doodle: Doodle is ideal for creating simple polls. You can easily create a poll, share a link with your group, and everyone can vote on their preferred options.
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Google Forms: Part of Google Workspace, Google Forms allows for the creation of custom surveys and polls with various question types (check boxes, multiple choice...).
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SurveyMonkey: With SurveyMonkey's free service, you can create surveys with up to 10 questions. Their fee-based tools offer many more options for larger groups.
Finally, once you've narrowed down your hotel options, Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel and other spreadsheets can be useful for organizing, comparing and sharing various choices and travel plans (budgets, interarires, task lists, etc.) in detail.