Book a hostel or cheap hotel in uk / europe with BookHostels

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Make a reservation at a hostel using BookHostels


Sections:	Introduction
	(1) Property Search
	(2) Available Beds
	(3) Room Details
	(4) Booking Summary
	(5) Payment
	What happens next
	Customer service: getting help
	Links

Related pages:	Travel/Accommodation/Hostel

INTRODUCTION

A step-by-step guide to booking a room in a hostel, guesthouse or cheap hotel using the BookHostels online booking system.
Note that this page only contains copies of the screens: you cannot use any of the buttons or drop-down boxes shown here.

Click on this link to open the booking system in a new window: BookHostels

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(1) PROPERTY SEARCH

- After you have opened the booking system, the first screen you will see is like the one below:

Country
If you want a hostel in the UK, you need to choose the country England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Note that you can book cheap accommodation in many countries of the world.

City
Choose the name of the city/town where you want to stay from the drop-down list.
You can only use this system to book accommodation in one of the towns or cities which are listed.

Arrival Date
Select the month, day and year of the day when you want to arrive.
If you want to see a calendar to check the day of the week, click on the small image next to the year.

Number of Nights
Choose the number of nights you want to stay, between 1 and 7 days.
(Some places allow online bookings to be made for more than 7 days; if you choose one of these, you will be able to change the leaving number of nights later)

Select your Currency
If you want to see accommodation prices in a certain currency, choose the one you want (eg: British Pound).
This is only to help you: the actual accommodation charges are always in the local currency.
Note that the deposit charge (which you pay with your credit card) is always charged in US dollars.

- When you have entered the details, click on the yellow search box to continue. You may need to wait a few moments while the information is collected.

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(2) AVAILABLE BEDS

If there are many places in the city you selected, you may want to choose to order by one of these:
- availability (the ones which have beds on all of the dates will be shown first)
- price (the places with the cheapest available beds will be listed first)
- name (hostels are listed in alphabetical order)
- type (eg all hostels will be listed in alphabetical order, then all hotels, then all guesthouses/B&Bs)

- For each hostel, brief details are shown, together with a picture.

- Check if there are ticks for each night you want to stay (meaning that there are some beds available)
A cross shows that there are not any beds which you can book online (some hostels may keep some beds for travellers who arrive without bookings).

- The price shown is for the cheapest available beds (this may be in a large multi-bedded rooms). You will be able to choose the type of room you want later: many hostels have several different types of room.

- If you are interested in finding out more about a place, click on More Info or on the Book Now button. No booking is made yet - you will need to enter your details and confirm these before your booking is complete.

(3) ROOM DETAILS

You can now see details of the available types of room and the price for each person for each night (in the currency you requested earlier: GBP means British pound).

Click on Map and Directions for a map showing the location of the accommodation, together with brief details of how to travel there.
For UK addresses, you can see a more detailed street map by making a note of the postcode and using the website: http://www.multimap.com or http://www.streetmap.co.uk.

Room
Choose the type of room you want from the drop-down box.
If you stay in a multi-bedded dormitory ("dorm"), you may be able to choose a mixed, female only or male only room.

Guests
Choose the number of people who want to stay in the accommodation.
If you are booking for more than 8 people, choose "8+". You will see a "Confirmed bookings for groups" screen. The largest group which can be accepted for a single booking is 20 people.

Click on Book Now. No booking is made yet - you will need to enter your details and confirm these before your booking is complete.

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(4) BOOKING SUMMARY

A summary of your booking will be shown.
Check the accommodation name, dates, room details, number of people and total costs.

You will need to pay a deposit (usually 10% of the total cost), plus a small booking fee (service charge).
The deposit and service charge will be charged to your credit card in US dollars

(5) PAYMENT

To complete your booking:
- Enter your personal and credit card details
- Choose an approximate arrival time to help the accommodation to know when to expect you
- Click on the link to read the Terms And Conditions
- Click on the confirm button. Make sure that you click on this only once

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

Within a short time of confirming your booking, you should receive an e-mail confirmation, including the contact details for the accommodation.
It is a good idea to print this and to take it with you when you arrive at the hostel.

If you need to cancel, make sure that you contact the accommodation as early as possible. If you do not turn up, your credit card will be charged for the first night. Note that the deposit and service charge will not be returned if you cancel.

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CUSTOMER SERVICE: GETTING HELP

If you have made a booking successfully, you will have been sent a confirmation e-mail which includes the contact details for the accommodation.
If you need to cancel or change your booking in some way, contact the accommodation by phone, e-mail or post.

If you have a problem with the booking process itself, use the "contact form" at the bottom of any of the booking pages.
If your question is about an existing booking, make sure that you include your booking reference in your comments.
Use the same e-mail address you used to make the booking (or say which address you used in your comments)
The contact form is sent directly to BookHostels, who will try to help you (during office hours, Monday-Friday)
If you have not received a confirmation e-mail soon after making the booking, check if your e-mail system has put in its "junk mail" section by mistake.

LINKS

Finding short-term accommodation for travel: Travel/Accommodation
Detailed guide to the Ashlee House hostel: Travel/Accommodation/Hostel/AshleeHouse
Looking for long-term accommodation in the UK: Life/Accommodation

Home page: Home

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