Travelling for work doesn’t have to mean breaking a cold sweat while trying to navigate a strange city, already 40 minutes late for your first interview. But it usually does. So, in a bid to decrease your stress levels, Booking.com, the global leader in connecting travellers with the widest choice of incredible places to stay, has put together their best time-saving hacks for busy travellers.
Look for a hotel with a work suite
Don’t worry, this isn’t one of those lists that suggests you combine checking your emails with brushing your teeth and add an extra few hours to your working day by avoiding sleep. However. Looking for a hotel with a work suite – and great wifi connection – will save you a lot of time. Staying somewhere with a conference room makes it a lot easier to schedule last-minute meetings and having a printer to hand will probably end up saving your life.
Search via address, not just city
Proximity. Every question we’ve ever asked our business bookers about what they look for in a hotel comes back to proximity. It doesn’t matter how great the breakfast, or how friendly the staff, is when you’re on the other side of the city to the conference centre where you’re due to deliver a presentation in 20 minutes. With this in mind, we’ve made sure that address search queries are available for every destination on Booking.com. This helps travellers narrow down a search to even the building number and – hopefully – shaves more than a couple of minutes off your commute.
Check-in the night before
As more business travellers have taken to adding a couple of extra days onto work trips, the benefits of “bleisure” travel are becoming apparent. Taking the opportunity to explore a strange city will make you feel confident navigating while arriving the evening before a conference frees you from stress caused by flights delays. It’ll also allow you to pick the hotel staff’s brains on the best route to your first meeting and the best place to grab breakfast en route.
Pre-book taxis or a car-share
If your company has offices in the city you’re travelling to, make the most of them. Find out if your company has accounts with any of the local taxi firms and car rental companies. This will be especially useful if you’re travelling with colleagues – in most cities it’s difficult enough flagging down a taxi for two people, let alone six. Or see if any of your local colleagues are interested in car sharing.
Avoid rush hour
Most of us are used to navigating – or ideally avoiding – rush hour in our home towns, but a new city can always surprise you. Forget the usual 7am-10am mayhem: In Las Vegas one of the busiest periods is 3.30-6.30pm, Madrid sees a lot of traffic at lunchtime as people travel home for their midday meals, and the busiest London tube lines have 20 times more traffic than the least used lines. Asking hotel staff about the quirks of their city’s traffic flow will save you time and help you navigate like a local.
Booking.com for Business is a great platform for saving, booking and managing all your business travel with ease.
