It can be hard to find a hotel that ticks all the boxes. A hotel can look absolutely lovely from the outside, but might not be so pretty on the inside. Similarly there are hotels that don't look so great from the outside, but are lovely on the inside. It is not always the best thing as they say, to judge a book by its cover. With the recent recession travelling for fun has been in decline. Similarly even business travel has been cut to a minimum to save money. Therefore it comes as no surprise that hotels are competing with one another for business. So how do you choose the best hotel from the choice you have? It's not always about cost. A 50 pounds a night hotel in one area may be tonnes better than a 50 in a popular area, simply because that area is in demand. In London for example, how do you decide which of those many, many 50 a night hotels to stay in?

The first thing to do is check out the facilities. Most hotels will have a website detailing their facilities. At the bare minimum you want a TV and en-suite facilities. Back in the day hotels would have one shared bathroom. Thankfully in this day and age, we have a little more choice, and should expect our own shower. Tea and coffee making facilities should normally be on offer. If the hotel doesn't have the more minor amenities such as a trouser press, try not to worry too much. Is a trouser press and mini bar really a necessity? It is worth considering the chocolate bars in most hotel fridges are charged anywhere up to ten times what you pay in the shop! The bottled water is very often more than the average priced bottle of wine!

The bigger facilities are important if you are staying a while. For stays shorter than a couple of days, why not check out the local restaurants? However, should you be staying for a while you might want the cost and convenience of a hotel with its own restaurant. Whether you need a bar or not depends on you! For work travel, you are probably going to be that tired after a hard day, that you'll probably just want to go to sleep. On the other hand if you are travelling for leisure, there's nothing like popping in the hotel bar for a drink or two.

Always read up on the hotels. You should be able to find help from the local tourist board. It is much quicker though to login to Google and search for the hotel name. The hotel should be listed on lots of different review websites. Do take the reviews with a pinch of salt though. Some people are very difficult to please and the review can reflect accordingly. They will expect a 500 pound room for 50 pounds! On the other side, some people are far too soft and easily pleased. I have always found the best reviews are the long detailed ones that review every aspect of the visit from start to finish. The more detailed review normally helps you suss out how fair the review writer is being.

Ringing the hotel before hand is another method to work out the quality of service you will experience. If the staff are friendly and courteous, that hotel is worth booking! However, should the staff be frankly useless, that hotel should be given a wide birth. Ask them about the local area, the rooms and facilities.

You should after a little work be able to find the perfect hotel. Bear in mind though, in places like London events can dictate availability and you may find during peak times the hotel unavailable. Make sure you book in advance so you don't miss out. Wherever you choose to stay, enjoy your trip and make sure you leave reviews for others.