I didn’t book any hotels for this trip to France except for Paris just after arrival and just before departure. Maybe that’s why it was really easy to prepare (laughs).
So, what did you actually do there?
- とりあえず直接ホテルにいってみて空室があるかどうかを聞いてみる
- 当日(だいたい午後3時前後)、宿泊地を決めてからBooking.comアプリを使ってホテルを検索、予約
- 現地でGPS情報をつかい、現在地に近いホテルを検索して飛び込みで聞いてみる
このアプリ自体はひょっとすると昨年4月に存在したのかもしれませんが、自分がこちらのアプリを知ったのは昨年の7月くらいでしょうか。(当時の日記:最近お気に入りのiPhoneアプリ ? Booking.comとAmazon JP)
So this is my first time to use this app locally.
In the beginning, I used the method 1. a lot, but gradually I came to decide either 2. or 3. In short, I made full use of the Booking.com app.
How to use it is to search « around your current location » or to enter the name of a specific city as shown below.
After a while, you will see a list of hotels that are open that day like this. By the way, Japanese support is also very good!
After deciding on a hotel and room, follow the instructions on the screen to enter your name and credit card information, and when the reservation is complete, it will look like this.
You can also receive your reservation confirmation by email, but what’s really useful is the ability to save a screenshot (photo) of this confirmation to your iPhone album, and to register your route to the site in Google Maps.
If you are not in a major city on the weekend, you can usually get a hotel on this app.
However, even on weekends, there are many hotels in the area that are not registered on Booking.com, so even if you can’t make a reservation using this app, I think it’s possible to take a hotel directly after you get there.
For example, I wanted to stay in Annecy on this trip, but I couldn’t actually book anything on Booking.com. But I didn’t mind and went there. As I expected, there were many hotels in the old town area and I could check in without any trouble.
In France, the travel infrastructure is so well developed that you don’t need to use your iPhone to arrange a hotel for the day, but it can take more than an hour to find one. It is better to arrange a hotel in advance to save time, and above all, it is very safe (because you already have a hotel).
No matter how easy it is to get a hotel, it’s still a lot of pressure to know where you’re going to stay.
ということで、本当に便利iPhoneトラベル!欲を言うならもう少しパケット代が安くなるといいですよね…。