Can you figure out those hotel meal plans?  American Plan, Modified American Plan, European Plan, Half board….  What does it all mean?  

If you're looking up hotels in a book or online, you may see that they have meal plans or dining plans listed.  There are different "plans" for providing a room and meals and services to their guests.  These plans, and other amenities, are often listed as a string of letters after the description of the hotel.

I don't know about you, but I find all this alphabet soup at the end of hotel listing a bit confusing….  All the more so because those hotel meal plans don't make sense when we look back on our travels.  

"American Plan", sometimes abbreviated as AP, means that the quoted rate includes all three meals a day.  Why this became known as American Plan is a bit of a mystery to me, because as an American, I can tell you most hotels don't include breakfast in their hotel rates, let alone another meal or two!  

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Let's say your budget really only allows for you to stay in cheap hotels.  Does that mean you should stay home until you can afford more luxurious digs?  NO….  At least we don't think so.  

We prefer to look at these options as inexpensive… not cheap.  Makes it sound a whole lot better doesn't it?  If you want to be a frugal traveler, no matter what your budget, these little places can be a great option.

If you plan to be out and about seeing that new country you're visiting, you're not going to be spending all that much time in your room.  You just need a nice clean bed to sleep in.  Well, you need a little more than that.

So how do you find budget accommodations?  You can search the internet, but while inexpensive hotels may be on the internet, it could be hard to find their listing.  They are more apt to be independent and show up far, far down on a search page.  We've found that it's easy to find these little gems when we travel by stopping and checking them out when we need a room.

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About the only things that hotel rating systems have in common are the stars.  If you are looking for a big name, five star hotel, you'll more than likely get what you're looking for.  Where it starts to get confusing is when you get into the one to four star category.

There are French rating systems, British rating systems, Italians ratings, not to mention Michelin guides and others.  A two or three star hotel in one country isn't the same as a two or three star hotel in another.  

The systems for evaluating the hotels differ from country to country.  So, for instance, French hotels with two stars may be adequate, while you shouldn't settle for anything less than 3 stars in Italy.

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Some hotel fees are hidden, some are right upfront.  Sometimes you can avoid hotel fees if you know about them.  It just takes a little forethought and imagination.

1.    Make sure you bring your cell-phone charger, and use it, so you aren't forced to use their phone.  You don't want to pay those phone fees just because you forgot to charge your phone!  If your phone doesn't work in the country you're visiting, but you have a computer, consider using Skype or another free internet phone service.

2.    Check to see if the hotel you're booking has fees to use wi-fi.  Big hotels tend to charge for this, but smaller ones don't.  We usually like those smaller hotels anyway.  If you're a business traveler, you probably need that wi-fi, but you might be able to get it without the hotel fee in the lobby or their business center.  

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When you're planning your trip you need to decide…  Will you reserve a hotel or not?  Whether you make reservations ahead of time or not depends on your temperament and your style of travel.  

You need to decide if you want the freedom of spirit and sense of adventure and spontaneity that going without reservations will give you, or do you want the peace of mind of knowing there is a room waiting for you.

You may be the type of traveler who doesn't like to commit to a firm itinerary.  You want maximum spontaneity.  Some travelers like to reserve a room for the first night or two at least.  That way when you arrive, groggy with jet lag, you don't have to worry about finding a hotel.  Once you've recovered and gotten into the swing of things, you can hop on a train or rent a car and find rooms as you go.

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Hotels are called just that around the world… especially in the cities.  But if you're looking for a place to sleep in more rural areas of a country, it pays to know some of the other names you should be looking for.  It's just like "B and Bs"... The term "B and B" has become global, but they also have names that they are known by in their home country.  

The actual word translates as hotel in many languages, but that doesn't mean that every establishment that has rooms for rent to tourists will be signposted as such.

In English speaking countries….

If you're looking for a place to sleep in the United States, you might want to look for a "lodge" or an "inn" or a "motel" or a "motor inn".

In the United Kingdom, you can look for any of those and add "pubs" to the mix.  In both of these English speaking countries and others, the caveat is that inns, lodges, and pubs may only serve food and not have rooms at all.

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If you've decided you will be more comfortable on your holiday with hotel reservations in hand, then you're going to have some decisions to make.  How are you going to get those reservations?  Let's look at the options.

1.    You could use a travel agent.  If you're planning a trip to an exotic location, this might be your best bet.  Travel agents know the hotels and lodging in the areas of their expertise, and they can give you good guidance and advice.

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Will internet hotel ratings help you book the kind of hotel you want?  You've heard all the big internet travel booking services tell you to book your hotel with them and save money big time.  Get a five star hotel for a three star price.  Sounds great doesn't it?

While you may get a good deal, you will probably also get confused trying to compare the sites.  There really is no standard set of criteria for hotel rating systems.  With internet hotel rating systems, as with those of different countries, the number of stars depends on each websites' subjective rating system.  And remember, you're probably only going to find bigger hotels on these services, not smaller, cozier places.

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Hidden hotel fees can give you sticker shock when you check out if you're not careful.  In general, we've found that you're more apt to run into these fees in bigger, more expensive hotels and hotels that tend to cater to business travelers, but you should be aware of them.  Keep an eye out for those hidden hotel fees when you're booking your hotel or checking in.

The fee that used to be the most annoying was the fee for phone calls.  With most travelers carrying their own cell phones now, that has gotten to be less of a problem.  Just in case you're traveling where your mobile phone doesn't work, remember to check out the hotel policy on phone fees before you make a call on your room phone and chat away.  And make sure you bring your cell-phone charger so  you aren't forced to use their phone.

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With unrest and terrorism more of a threat these days, you'll find enhanced hotel security almost everywhere.  It's not only big, high profile hotels that are beefing up their security for elite guests.  Moderately priced hotels that most travelers will stay in at least once in a while are adding layers of security.

Some of these things you may notice right off, other measures that they're taking aren't so obvious.  And the hotels may or may not let you know what they're doing.  They may not want the "bad guys" to know what they're doing, and they have to consider how you might react.

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