Whether you use the Web or other means to find a place to sleep, you will probably start by already knowing, or asking yourself, what role your lodging is to play in your vacation or business trip. In some cases, the answer may be “anyplace in a reasonable location that is clean, cheap, and has a comfortable bed.” In other cases, you may be looking for a resort hotel with a broad range of amenities, recreation, and on-site events. Or your answer could be anywhere between those two extremes. In any case, your criteria for lodging will, to at least some degree, determine what Web sites will be most useful to you. The general travel agency sites (Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity, etc.) will get you fairly “regular” hotel accommodations and may save you money by packaging a hotel with a flight (or other service). Other sites will get you similar rooms, but their emphasis will be on discounts. If you are a frequent traveler who accumulates “frequent guest” points, you may want to go directly to a specific hotel chain’s site. If you are looking for charm in a comfortable, friendly, laid back surrounding, there are sites for inns and bed-and-breakfasts (B&Bs). If you want the hotel to be your vacation, other sites can find the best resort for you. If “cheap” is your overarching criterion, there are also sites that will get you to a hostel or even “get thee to a convent.” The following sites are grouped along those lines. There are also relevant sites that will not sell you a hotel room but will provide advice and lodging information. As it goes when searching other travel services on the Web, investigate several of these lodging sites. Various sites will emphasize search criteria, provide different kinds of background information on your options, and often offer you exactly the same accommodations at significantly different rates than other sites. For some of the following categories, only a small sampling is provided here, but the examples given are intended to give you a taste of what is available. For example, an Irish example is given for “farmhouse holidays,” but search engines can find similar farmhouse holiday sites in different countries.
