Is it time for you to book hotels for your next business trip? Booking hotels for business trips is an art in and of itself! There are several factors that are important to keep in mind to keep your travelers happy and safe. What is most important is that reservations can be made quickly and easily, be it through hotel booking systems or other travel management platform.
We have compiled the most important information in our guide so that you can book quickly and easily. Here’s everything you need to know about booking hotels for business trips.
How to book hotels for business travel
1. Determine the purpose of the trip
First you need to establish the purpose of the business trip. Are you planning on visiting customers or suppliers? Are you going to an industry event or trade fair? Is it a stopover on a multi-destination business trip?
Continuing education and training, as well as seminars are often also reasons for going on a business trip, since education and training events often take place outside of the respective business premises. Depending on the purpose of your business trip, your needs for a hotel will differ, such as the location, whether there is a restaurant or not, or the kind of accommodations you want to book (if you are staying for an extended period, you may consider staying at an apartment or an Airbnb that will be more convenient for a longer trip).
2. Choose a hotel within travel policy
When booking hotels, it is very important to have a travel policy as a point of reference so you know what budget you are allowed for your hotel room. Ideally, this should be stipulated in advance by your company. If you are working with a travel management platform like GetGoing, you don’t have to worry because the platform will guide you to automate your travel policy. In this way, employees can easily use the central booking system to search for suitable hotels that match the respective travel policy.
Using a platform like GetGoing can also ensure that travel policy changes are enforced automatically. Travel policies help simplify the booking process while ensuring traveler safety and satisfaction.
Don’t have a travel policy yet?
3. Think location
Choosing the right hotel is all about the right location. Are you meeting customers or suppliers at their business facilities? Then the hotel should be close to the meeting location. Do you have to get to the airport early the next day? Maybe a hotel near the airport makes more sense in this case? Do you have to set up a trade fair stand and have a lot of materials with you? Then you should book a room near the respective exhibition center.
There are many factors to consider when choosing a location. That’s why it’s so important to know the aim and purpose of the trip beforehand!
4. Convenience is everything
When choosing a suitable hotel, additional amenities and services are a must. A good breakfast with a varied choice of food will ensure a great start to the day and give you energy to take your meetings by storm. And frequent travelers in your company would definitely be happy to be able to use a sauna or gym at the hotel (even if the fast pace of business trips often don’t allow for this luxury). Here, you will be able to find more helpful tips on what business travelers expect from a hotel stay.
Hotel amenities make all the difference when it comes to the comfort and satisfaction of your business travelers. If you use a hotel booking system or a travel platform like GetGoing, you can specifically filter your searches to only show hotels that meet your specific criteria.
5. Consider if it’s a group hotel booking
Group bookings can be very time-consuming, expensive and tedious, especially since hotels often have different offers and conditions for group bookings, and not every hotel is necessarily geared towards groups. Contacting suitable hotels individually can be a very time-consuming process.
A travel platform or a hotel booking system can be very helpful in this scenario, as the booking conditions are clearly communicated in advance and you can also filter by specific search criteria. Plus, in the case of GetGoing, you have the help of expert travel advisors on hand should you need it.
6. Create a detailed itinerary
When it comes to business trips, it is very important to make detailed travel itineraries in advance. Travelers should always have an overview of flights, transport, accommodation, etc., and at the same time be able to access further details so that they can travel safely and never miss a flight or train journey.
A good itinerary includes relevant dates and times, schedules and accommodation, contact and business partner details, planned meetings and reasons for visiting, relevant documentation such as airline and train tickets, and emergency contact information. Of course you can create the itinerary manually and individually, but you can save a lot of time by using a travel platform, where travel itineraries can be automatically created from the existing data.
7. Pay upfront
Business travelers often have a lot of information and processes behind their trip planning that they have to keep in mind. Therefore, it makes sense to pay for flights, train journeys and hotel accommodation in advance. This way, you always have an overview of your costs and travel budget, and your employees can concentrate on more important things at their destination, like killing it at their meetings.
Many hotels also offer discounts, if the full price is paid in advance. That is when it is especially worthwhile to look for the best price via hotel booking systems and travel management platforms such as GetGoing to have the easiest and fastest business travel booking.
One platform to manage it all
8. Use a corporate travel management platform
Using a corporate travel management platform like GetGoing makes a lot of sense as it saves a lot of work and ensures that all bookings are compliant with your company’s travel policy.
You can use the system to make detailed booking requests, so that you can quickly and easily find and book the perfect hotel for your specific business purpose. The search filter function allows you to search for neighborhoods or specific addresses, so that the hotel is definitely close to the meeting location or event that you are planning on attending.
You can also automate your travel policy within the system so that search requests only return options that are compliant with your specific travel policy.
What sort of hotels are the most popular for business travelers?
The hotels that go down best with business travelers are often in the four-star category. Often, travelers also tend to book well-known hotel chains that have loyalty programs. Popular hotels also tend to be close to trade fair/event and meeting locations or close to important hubs, such as international airports or main train stations.
Important factors for business people when choosing their hotel also include free and stable Wi-Fi connections, in-hotel meeting and conference facilities, and other amenities to make their stay as stress-free and convenient as possible.
When to book hotels
The question often arises as to how far in advance is best to book hotels. Far in advance, or last minute? Even though many hotels have great last-minute deals, it is worth booking as early as possible for business trips. This way you avoid rooms in the best locations being fully booked and you often benefit from early booking discounts.
But even if you have to book a room at the last minute, that’s not a problem. GetGoing offers many travel deals for business travelers, no matter what day of the week or how far in advance the rooms are booked.