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There are many important considerations in looking for cheap hotels, today it is possible to find an increasingly varied range of hotels that are great value and can be perceived as cheap. It is however possible to book cheap hotels that are not up to standard however there are some important things you can do to ensure this does not happen.

A common question when visiting a city for the first time and booking cheap hotels is will I have to sacrifice location for money.

When looking for cheap hotels in a major city, ensure you look at map, most good hotel booking websites will have mapping functions using multi map or Google maps to find your chosen hotel. Cheap Hotels can often mean hotels out of the city centre so beware and do your homework on the location of the hotel first of all. It is not always the case that cheap hotels are not in city central locations so ensure that when you search you look for the first cheap hotel in an area that has a good location.

If you are happy to sacrifice location to ensure a cheaper hotel at a bargain price then ensure you investigate public transport thoroughly. Once again most good hotel booking websites or the hotels own website will often be keen to display transportation options and non central hotels will be keen to display how easy the city centre can be accessed by local public transport. Even if you book cheap hotels in major cities you may not be as far from the cities main attractions as some cities have excellent public transport systems. For example Amsterdam has it’s fantastic public tram system, or if you are booking a cheap hotel in London the underground train system helps you get anywhere in the city that you wish to go.

Even if the transport system is good in the city you decide to stay in, you need to ensure that after saving money on booking a cheap hotel, that you do not end up paying more in transport costs than if you had booked a hotel closer to the city centre. This is often a mistake that city and short break tourists will make and it is often only a mistake you will make the once.

It is important to ensure though that you are really not much more than 5km from the city centre otherwise you will be a good distance out from the centre as in a city the roads are always busier so a few miles in a taxi may take a long time in traffic.

Aside from transport it is important to ensure that when you book cheap hotels that the location is in a nice area of town. Often the more budget the hotel, the less favourable the area and when visiting a new city for the first time it is important to ensure that it is a safe and pleasant area. The best way to find out about an area is to check on a website such as lonely planet or local tourist sites.

Shaun Parker is a keen traveller and has spent a great deal of time in cheap hotels. He offers his advice to those looking for a cheap hotel.