5 Of The Best Websites For Booking Travel Accommodations

If you have travel plans coming up, you'll want to reserve your stay well before your departure dates are nearing. In fact, you'll want to do it not too long after you've booked your flight. Delaying this could leave you with limited accommodation options to choose from and have you dealing with steep prices.

The good news is that whether you're looking for a cozy bed and breakfast experience or a stay at a high-end all-inclusive hotel, there are a plethora of travel websites that make it easy to reserve accommodation in a place that suits your exact preferences. While you could always make the booking directly through a hotel's website, using a travel booking website helps you compare your options and check out reviews left by previous customers.

To help you get started, we've put together a list of some of the most preferred accommodation booking websites based on personal experience, user reviews, and the general user-friendliness of the platforms. You'll find a more detailed methodology explaining how we evaluated and selected the websites listed below toward the end of this list.

No stranger to the accommodation booking scene, Airbnb has been offering unique boarding experiences since 2007. What makes Airbnb stand out from other similar platforms is that it allows you to live like a local by booking a room or an entire property in a residential neighborhood. This makes Airbnb accommodations appealing to people who want to experience a destination more authentically.

Searching for a property on Airbnb is fairly straightforward. All you need to do is enter your destination of choice, travel dates, and the number of guests checking in. After you do this, you'll be able to view the relevant listings.

The platform does a good job of showcasing its listings, including a detailed description of the property, pictures to help you understand what the space looks like, and reviews from past guests. While Airbnb, which has listings in around 100,000 cities and towns across the world, is a popular choice for many, a notable downside of using the platform is that guests may sometimes find themselves paying more than they initially expected, thanks to additional charges, like the cleaning fee. 

Still, if you're looking for a unique accommodation experience or have specific needs (for instance, if you'd like access to a full kitchen), an Airbnb listing might be just what you're looking for. The best part is that many Airbnb offers free Wi-Fi like traditional hotels, making them great for workstation purposes.

Many travelers choose to stay in hostels, and it's no surprise why. Hostels present an affordable alternative to traditional hotels, making them ideal for backpackers and budget-conscious travelers. Beyond the cost savings (which is a major benefit for many), hostels also offer people who like to travel a social environment conducive to meeting and sharing experiences with like-minded folk.

Unlike in the past, hostels today offer relatively flexible accommodation solutions. For instance, if you're traveling with a friend or partner, you could look into reserving a private room. That said, if you're looking for a traditional hostel experience where you bunk with strangers, you'll want to reserve a spot at a reputable hostel. This, fortunately, becomes easy to do when you make the booking through Hostelworld.

When you're on Hostelworld's website, all you need to do is enter the details of your trip to view the hostels in the location. Before you complete your booking, check the property details, the house rules, and the reviews — if everything seems in order, you can proceed with making the payment.

Once you make the payment, Hostelworld offers a 100% booking guarantee. In the event that something goes wrong with your booking, the company will credit your account with the entire deposit you paid and an additional $50 that you can use toward future bookings.

Whether you want to book a traditional hotel accommodation, a private stay, or even long-term boarding, Agoda is a good bet. With a whole host of filters that allow you to specify your preferences in terms of the property type, distance from the city center, and more, Agoda helps you zero in on a property/hotel that works for you.

What's more, the website also allows you to specifically view hotels that are pet-friendly (which is great if you want to travel with your pet), workstation-friendly, and ideal for groups. This way, you won't have to deal with any unpleasant surprises when you visit the property since you'll have a pretty good idea of what you're getting.

To help you make an informed decision, the platform lists the reviews left by past customers. Agoda's entire mission has been to make travel affordable for its customers. In line with this, the website runs a loyalty program called AgodaCash.

If you book a room at a hotel or property that participates in this program, you get awarded AgodaCash, which you can put toward future bookings to make your next stay more affordable. The only thing to note here is that you won't be able to use your AgodaCash in combination with other offers and rewards. Given this, you'll have to review the promotions available and choose one that offers the most savings.

Booking.com, which was founded almost 30 years ago in 1996, is one of the oldest and most popular online travel booking companies. Like in the case of Agoda, Booking.com makes it easy for you to look up hotel and property listings with its user-friendly interface.

One of the standout features of Booking.com is its trip planner, which is ideal for people who are uncertain about their travel plans. Additionally, the platform is pretty flexible in terms of offering you numerous room types and pricing tiers to choose from. This lets you view and take into consideration the upfront charges for different accommodation types, helping you make a well-thought-out decision.

Booking.com, like the other websites on this list, displays reviews left by previous travelers, so you get an unbiased idea of what the property has to offer. If you still have any specific questions that you would like answered before you complete the booking, you can use the "Ask a question" button that you'll find on the listing page for each property and post your questions.

Operational in over 70 countries with over three million listings, Expedia is a great choice for comparing your options before booking. If you decide to use Expedia as your travel booking partner, it's a good idea to sign up for OneKey, which is Expedia's rewards program.

With this program, you get to earn OneKeyCash for every dollar spent, which you can then use to book eligible hotels, car rentals, flights, and even activities in the future. You also get to save 10% or more with the Member Prices you'll have access to once you sign up for this program. So, if you're a budget-savvy traveler, there's no reason for you not to sign up for OneKey. 

Expedia's website itself is fairly user-friendly. The interface works similar to that of Agoda and Booking.com. Once you enter your details, the listings come up — you can further filter these by the accommodation type, price per night, guest rating, star rating, cancellation options, and more. You also get to view the most frequently asked questions and verified reviews and ratings on the listing page, which ensures complete transparency.

While there are numerous accommodation booking platforms, the ones listed above were chosen primarily based on personal positive experiences with them. Each of these booking partners boasts a user-friendly interface with complete transparency in terms of listing negative and positive reviews. This allows the average traveler to make an informed decision before spending hundreds of dollars or more on a stay.

Additionally, these platforms had favorable ratings and reviews from customers on the mobile-based App Store and Play Store, which is also an indication of how popular they are. Remember that while these platforms are reliable and popular, it's important to do your due diligence regarding the amenities and quality of stay at individual hotels to avoid any unwanted surprises during your trip.