5 Reasons to Book Directly With a Motel

By Tristan Hooker/MediaPA

Are you being led down the garden path by online booking sites?  While we’re between holiday seasons, let’s take a fresh look at how we’re booking our motels and hotels to make sure we’re getting the best deal.

Lee Sinclair from Nelson’s Chelsea Park Motor Lodge says people have been led to believe third-party booking sites such as booking.com, Expedia or Wotif are the best way to book their accommodation.  Lee says in actual fact, booking directly with the accommodation provider is a better option for reasons ranging from saving money to supporting local businesses.

Price:  For most travellers, this is probably the most important factor.  Often people will search through online sites to find the best possible rate.  Lee says what a lot of people don’t realise is most motels can better any price found on other sites, if you call the motel directly.

“Chelsea Park Motor Lodge’s policy is to ensure that you will be booked at the best available rates,” says Lee.

Complimentary Upgrades:  Many motels and hotels reward their customers for booking directly by offering priority, complimentary upgrades. If the room type originally requested is unavailable, direct bookers are a priority for an upgrade.

Chelsea Park Motor Lodge gives priority to direct bookers for upgrades, and they will also waive credit card fees for Visa or Mastercard for anyone booking directly. 

Flexible change policies:  If you’ve made your booking directly with the motel, you’re more likely to be able to make changes to rooms or dates because you’re not dealing with a third party.  Also, if there are any problems that arise, it’s a lot clearer and easier to negotiate directly with the motel.  “As the owner,” says Lee, “we are able to negotiate directly with our guests.”

Support Local: “It’s important to support local and New Zealand businesses,” says Lee.  “We support other local businesses and we help fund the regional promotional agency, to increase the number of visitors to our region. We pay commercial rates to help support and develop local infrastructure.

Lee’s final piece of advice is to check you are actually booking directly with the motel.

“It’s easy to be directed to third party, online sites, believing you are booking directly with the property” she says. “Make sure to check the website is that of the motel or hotel you want to book with”.

Contact Chelsea Park:

Lee and Barry Sinclair

Phone: 03 546 6494

Address: 214 Rutherford Street Nelson

Website: http://www.chelseapark.co.nz/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chelseaparkNZ

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