Top 5 Hotel Booking Platforms

In the early days of my traveling life, booking online was not common and you had to sit it out while or check hotels in different places until you found a booking. But over the years the times have changed so have the trends for traveling accommodations 

It`s the age of technology and more often than not our decisions are influenced by the searches we make. The statistics have shown an increase in the number of online bookings for accommodations with more than 148 million travel bookings occurring online. Statistics show:

• 70% of travelers use smartphones to research their travel plans.
• More than 83% of US adults prefer to book their travel online.
• 82% of travel bookings are made without any human interaction using a mobile or website.

• The online travel industry hit 817$ billion dollars in 2020 and is likely to grow exponentially in the year 2022.

This shows that people have been using online platforms to make the most of their travel plans. While there are quite a lot of online accommodation platforms, only a few seem to have made their way into the hearts of consumers and we bring you the top 5 booking platforms to cater to your travel needs ahead of time.

Hostel World

Hostel world has taken the hostel experiences to new heights by providing not just a grading system for all sorts of accommodations but also a feature that connects you with strangers traveling in the same city as you. There is nothing like meeting someone on the trip, in a land far away everything sounds mystical and mythical and the hostel world with its connect feature has managed to provide people with the best travel experience.

The app is popular among backpackers and individuals looking for cheap accommodations. The app works for almost every continent and with over 36000 properties around the world, you would not have to compromise on your travel accommodation better yet make a friend for life.

The app holds 13 million verified reviews from customers around the world and is one of the most popular platforms for customers to book their travel accommodations.  

Another advantage of the hostel world is that it allows a relatively small amount to be paid at the time of reservation and lets you cancel the bookings up to 7 days before travel. The recommendation would be to download the app and take advantage of the number of listings on the platform.

Booking.com

It is by far the most popular search platform by travelers and one of the most renowned booking sites and millions of travelers love this platform due to its easy-to-use nature. The popular site offers the most number of listings to avid travelers when it comes to hotels, rooms, bed and breakfasts, hostels, and guesthouses.

This site has been proven to be very useful as it records the surveys on properties which can be seen in the upper right-hand corner of each posting. You can check out the rating on these surveys before booking a property. 

The other pro of booking.com is you can find the cancellation process on each selected property in case you are indecisive about your plans.

Airbnb

Perks of Airbnb involve its smooth booking process as it allows you to rent out spaces by the day or even hours from the locals living in the city. It gives the users a chance to connect with the locals (on the off chance) But provides a huge array of options specific to your needs. From a backpacker to a full-fledged family everyone can be catered to through the particular app.

However, while the experience might be exquisite, you will end up paying more than staying in a hotel room would cost you. With inflation and property prices skyrocketing so have the rents regardless of which country you are using Airbnb in.

Agoda

Agoda is an eCommerce-based start-up that originated in Singapore in 20005 and now has made its mark all around Asia. On-site not only can you find travel accommodations, but make plans for everything that falls on the checklist of the trip: Car rentals, and flight tickets. 

It works on a similar model as booking.com. However, the key difference is that booking.com directly connects to the service provider. Agoda works on a wholesaler model i.e sometimes you would see them holding inventory at different hotels only to sublet it at a higher price. So if you can narrow down your listing of accommodations, the best way to find it cheaper would be reaching out to the service provider directly, which can be harder than other platforms as you have to search by city and not the region that hotels fall in.

Hotelscombined

The most convenient advantage that hotels combined bring to the table is their partnership with the number of travel agencies and hotel chains that lets you compare rates of different platforms in one search. You can find testimonials of the particular accommodations from third-party platforms on the site while providing a summary of the experience provided by the restaurant. 

This also tells you about the upcoming events which will make the price of rentals and bookings go up and work exceptionally well in the Scandinavian region. 

The biggest downside to using the renowned platform is that filtering out hotel brands, making it difficult to retain hotel rewards and the reputation of some hotels on the website might not be as good, Which is why I would recommend doing some research before you decide on the platform.

The list was made while keeping the data available at Statista insight, the rankings change from time to time as per the number of visitors each webshop caters to every month. 

Users have reported having the best experience and memorable trip with hostelworld.com because of its ability to cater to A-z Experiences i.e (hostels, hotels, camping, bed and breakfast, and apartments) and not just the conventional ones. The access to an online travel community and day-to-day special.