Top Tips When Booking Rentals in Asia, From Airbnbs to Luxury Hotels

Over the course of my time as a journey reporter for Insider, I’ve spent greater than 30 nights staying in leases throughout Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and South Korea.

I have been protecting regional journey for Insider for a yr, which has meant spending lots of time in leases. I’ve spent nights in luxurious resorts in Indonesia, hostels in Singapore and Thailand, a campervan Airbnb within the Philippines, and a shipping container hotel in Malaysia.

After I first began making reservations for these leases, it felt daunting — I used to be unfamiliar with the places and there weren’t many dependable critiques on-line.

However after testing out dozens of lodging, I’ve discovered how to decide on the appropriate lodging, ebook effectively, and get monetary savings.

Listed below are seven of my high ideas for vacationers.

1. Learn current critiques on web sites like TripAdvisor and search for vlogs to get a practical image of what the rental is like.

Journey writers and bloggers can have good ideas, however I feel it is extra useful to search out out what the common particular person skilled throughout their keep.

Google Evaluations and TripAdvisor have each confirmed to be good locations to gut-check the fact of hostels, motels, and resorts. I counsel filtering critiques to indicate the latest ones.

If you happen to’re staying in an Airbnb or someplace distinctive like a glamping tent, vlogs on YouTube and TikTok is perhaps helpful. 

Pictures on-line, particularly these posted by the rental’s administration, might be deceiving, so do your analysis and have a look at as many critiques as potential earlier than reserving.

2. Lookup the rental on Google Road View earlier than you ebook.

At any time when I journey to distant places, I take to Google Maps and discover satellite tv for pc views of the rental to see its situation.

I additionally stroll nearly across the neighboring streets of the rental to see what the ambiance is like, and if I have to make particular transport preparations in case it is situated up a mountain or in a rural village.

3. If one thing in regards to the on-line itemizing appears off, give them a name earlier than you ebook.

Southeast Asia is thought for its distinctive leases — however they’ll generally be sketchy. A number of movies on TikTok have shown tourists mistakenly booking deserted resorts in locations like Bali.

I’ve stayed in distant leases together with a rural mountain cabin in Thailand and a “haunted” hotel in Malaysia. I used to be initially skeptical of those leases, in order a further precaution, I referred to as reservations earlier than reserving to verify the place continues to be up and working.

I additionally requested for additional info like current pictures of the rental, directions on how one can get there, and who to contact in case I bought misplaced alongside the best way.

4. Keep away from listings the place company complain about being “scammed” or it’s possible you’ll end up paying a further payment in particular person.

Look out for the phrases “scammer” and “overcharge” in critiques when doing all your analysis — you may simply be requested to pay additional upon arrival.

Throughout a visit to a finances lodge in Malaysia, I used to be requested to pay a further 80 ringgit (round $18.50) upon arrival, regardless of have already pay as you go on-line.

If you happen to’re backpacking and are intently watching your finances, it could be finest to keep away from these leases altogether regardless of a budget marketed charges.

5. Name upfront to request early or late check-in — or the rest, actually.

I’ve discovered that the majority boutique leases are keen to take particular requests like early check-in or late check-out — so long as the request is made upfront.

The one exception to this are hostels and finances motels, the place there’s a strict hourly price. In that case, your finest transfer will likely be to verify if there is a discounted price for early check-in.

6. Be affected person when making an attempt to snag offers — generally it is value refreshing the web page a pair instances to get a cheaper price.

Flash offers and costs can seem on reserving websites with out prior discover, so I sometimes refresh the reserving web page a number of instances earlier than making my cost.

For instance, I booked a room with a personal plunge pool in a luxurious resort in Singapore for beneath $400 on a third-party web site. Though the worth listed was nearer to $600, a flash sale netted me a considerable low cost.

7. If you happen to can, journey within the low season.

If you happen to’re touring in Southeast Asia the place the climate is scorching and humid all yr spherical, it is perhaps value making your reserving through the monsoon season, when it is prone to a bit rain extra.

As long as you are not reserving a rental in a flood or landslide-prone space, it is completely advantageous to ebook throughout a much less busy season — not solely will you get monetary savings on lodging, however vacationer points of interest are additionally prone to be much less crowded.