I’m in the process of searching for hotels, which means the spreadsheet is open and ready to go. First I frequently do a search on “best places to stay in” the city, village, town. I’ll come up with a number of sites with that search. I tend to prefer those that are done by an individual. Nearly always, for a first time visit, it’s suggested that we stay in either “city center” or the “historic city center”. If there is a walled portion of the city that is where I tend to want to be.

As I’ve written before, I compare the hotel site, Booking.com, Expedia, and sometimes even the United site (although paying with miles has proved to be unwise) for the cost. I check Trip Advisor, and I see how the hotel (or B&B or whatever) is ranked on Google. It’s a long process, but it helps me process everything. I also map out all the hotels on Google Maps, so Dan and I can see where we’d be staying. In most cases I can see the street view, and “wander” the area a bit to get an idea of the neighborhood. And yes, I check Rick Steves’ book as well if I have that country’s book on my iPad.

But recently I’ve realized there are a couple of other things to watch out for.

First, Expedia often has the best price, even over the hotel site. But you really have to read the fine print. If there is a “resort fee” or a “facility fee” or anything like that, Expedia may not include that and you pay at the hotel. (Booking may have the same issue, but there price has always been higher anyway so I just use them for their hotel ranking and I read their reviews.) I also found that, when booking through Expedia, I’m not always given a great room: the hotel loses the Expedia fee and I suspect they flag any of us who book that way, but I can’t be sure.

But the most recent issues? First, there’s the “will one of us have to climb over the other to get to the bathroom in the middle of the night?” Some newer hotels have very small rooms (and lovely lower prices), but there is no way in the world I will choose them if both ends of the bed are up against a wall. Forget it.

The most surprising thing of all, however, are the new “innovative” (??) bathrooms. They are frosted glass. Some are in the middle of the room. I have no interest in being watched while in the bathroom, even through frosted glass (and some even appear to be clear glass!). Some have no door at all. Again, no interest in that. And in the middle of the night I’m sure Dan would love me turning on that bathroom light! (Yes, I bring a nightlight, so maybe I’d not need to, but still ….) I recently wrote to one hotel because someone mentioned the lack of privacy in their bathroom. The hotel wrote to say I could rest assured that all the rooms had bathroom doors … except the most expensive that is. It, instead, was an “open concept” room. No door. No privacy. No thank you.

CitizenM hotel has both, by the way: bed against the walls and a very innovative bathroom.

Planning a trip really keeps me on my toes! (And my eyes are starting to go bonkers.)