6 errores que se cometen al reservar hoteles (y cómo evitarlos)

Por Elena Marsh — Hoteles y alojamientos

Most bad hotel experiences trace back to one of a handful of avoidable mistakes made at booking time, not bad luck. Here are the six mistakes booking hotels that come up again and again.

1. Reservar basándose únicamente en la categoría por estrellas

Las clasificaciones por estrellas evalúan las comodidades, no la experiencia. Un hotel de 3 estrellas con una ubicación estupenda y un personal atento suele ser mejor opción que uno de 4 estrellas situado en un barrio industrial. Lee unas cuantas opiniones recientes antes de fiarte del número de estrellas.

2. No tener en cuenta el plazo de cancelación

“Free cancellation” almost always has a cutoff. Know the exact date, not just that the badge exists — plans change more often than people expect, and that date is what actually protects you.

3. No echar un vistazo al barrio por la noche

A location that looks central on a map can be dead after 8pm. Street View at different times of day tells you more than the map pin does, especially for a first-time visit to an unfamiliar city.

4. Reservar a través de un tercero para un viaje complicado

If you might need to change dates or have special requests, booking directly with the hotel usually gets you faster, more flexible service than going through a middleman platform that’s several steps removed from the property itself.

5. Olvidarse de comprobar si hay tasas del complejo turístico o municipales

The quoted rate isn’t always the final price. Mandatory fees can add 10-20% and historically often weren’t shown until checkout. This is genuinely getting better — a 2025 FTC rule now requires hotels to disclose these fees upfront rather than tacking them on at the end — but it’s still worth double-checking the total before you book, since enforcement varies and not every site complies consistently yet.

6. Assuming “double room” means the same thing everywhere

Room categories aren’t standardized across hotels or countries. A “double” can mean two beds, one large bed, or something else entirely depending on the property. When it matters, check the room’s actual square footage and bed configuration rather than trusting the category name alone.

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