12 tips to find your perfect holiday home with Booking.com

Freedom, privacy and space are just some of the major benefits of choosing a holiday home over a traditional hotel. Holiday homes come in many shapes and sizes, from apartments and villas to chalets and glamping pods and are especially well suited to group trips and family getaways. 

With so much choice out there, it’s worth spending some time finding your perfect holiday home for your trip. Our handy filters and map features make it easy to find your dream holiday accommodation.

Are you keen to get your holiday home booked? Head to Booking.com and start your search. Here’s how to use our search options to discover the ideal property for your next trip

It’s important to start with some idea of what you want when it comes to the property type or location. Otherwise, your search could take a very long time! 

Before starting your search, work out what type of accommodation would best suit you. 

For example, depending on your preferred location, you could choose between:

• Apartments

• Villas

• Homestays

• Chalets 

• Premium tents

• Glamping pods

Once you’ve decided on your location and preferred type of holiday accommodation, you can perform a search for your chosen destination and then filter the results by type – such as apartments, villas, chalets or other types of holiday rentals – using the checkboxes on the left-hand-side of the results screen. 

If finding a bargain is high on your list of priorities, then being flexible with your holiday dates is key. Flexible dates usually offer a wider price range than fixed dates. This is because flexible dates typically give you a much wider price range than an arrival and one departure date. For example, you may find lower prices by travelling outside of school holidays. 

We make this process easier with its flexible search options. When searching for accommodation, click on the ‘Check-in date – Check-out date’ box. Here you have two options: click on ‘I’m flexible’ and search by month, or select a specific date but add one, two, three or seven days’ flexibility on either side of your chosen days. 

Our extensive range of filters is perhaps the most helpful tool available when it comes to finding the perfect holiday home for you. 

On the left-hand side of the results page, you can filter within a wide range of categories, including:

• Room facilities 

• Property type

• Property ratings 

• Number of bedrooms and bathrooms

• Review score

• Neighbourhood

• Accessibility 

…and many more! 

Some of the most helpful filters for elevating your experience include:

• Private pool

• Balcony 

• Sea view

• Parking

• Self catering

• Wi-Fi

• Fitness centre

• Double beds

• Superb 9+

• Bicycle rental 

There are so many filters to choose from that it’s important to consider which facilities  and features are most important to you. Applying more filters may reduce the number of available properties, so make sure you choose the one that matters most for your trip.

Did you know you can also filter by minimum and maximum budget when searching on Booking.com? This is one of the quickest ways to narrow down your search. Simply decide on your minimum and maximum budget per night, and then move the dial on the left-hand of the results page to filter properties by cost. 

The location of your holiday home is crucial. Perhaps you’re looking for a centrally-located apartment that’s a stone’s throw from major attractions or maybe a beach house where you can step out from the door straight onto the sand.

Our map feature makes it easy to find a property in your preferred location. Simply click on ‘see on map’ on your potential accommodation’s listing page to find out exactly where the holiday home is located. And if it’s not quite right for you, the map also displays other available accommodations in the area, along with prices. 

Remember – it’s also important to consider how you’ll arrive and leave. Check how you’ll get to the holiday home, whether by public transport, taxi or hire car. Consider how far from the airport or station you’ll be arriving at. And if so, is it worth the hassle or would you be better off looking for somewhere closer?

If you’re travelling during peak seasons, it’s vital to book early. Holiday homes in  popular destinations get booked quickly. Not only will you have more choice if you book way in advance, but you should also be able to find a better price.

You can browse property features and in-house facilities all day, but how are you meant to know if a holiday rental meets your requirements? This is where Booking.com’s reviews, review scores and property ratings come in. Use all three at once to find the properties that suit you best. 

Start by filtering by review score. This is an overall rating from one to ten, based on guest feedback. Decide what score you’re comfortable with and select the relevant filter to only see holiday homes with scores above a certain number e.g. ‘Very good: 8+’. Top tip – click on a listing to see individual scores for specific aspects of the holiday accommodation, such as cleanliness, comfort, value for money and location. 

If you’re looking at home and apartment-like properties, pay attention to the quality rating. Booking.com’s quality rating system takes into account many different factors about each property before generating a score. You’ll see it displayed via yellow tiles next to the name of each listing. Booking.com’s quality rating is especially useful when booking holiday homes, which don’t usually have the star rating given to most hotels. 

Finally, once you’ve narrowed down your search to just a few properties, take a look at the reviews to confirm there are no major issues. On Booking.com, you can filter reviews by topics such as location, room and breakfast. 

Your holiday home might promise that it sleeps six, but it’s important to find out exactly how it sleeps six to make sure no surprises when you turn up. Read the description thoroughly and go through the photo gallery to find out how many double beds and single beds the holiday home offers, as well as whether it includes sofa beds or bunk beds. It’s also important to look at the layout of each room. Then, check that your guests are happy with their sleeping arrangements.  For example, do they mind sleeping in bunk beds or sharing a room?

There are filters on Booking.com to help you choose from accessible listings. Use the ‘Property Accessibility’ and ‘Room Accessibility’ filters on the website and check the photos and description to make sure the property is fully accessible for everyone on your trip. 

It’s important to read the fine print to avoid any surprises upon arrival.

In particular, make sure to check for:

• Cancellation policy

• House rules 

• Check in and check out times

• Age restrictions

• Pet policies

• Accepted payment methods

• Cot and extra bed policies (if applicable)

When it comes to payment, however, you shouldn’t have to worry about any extra charges. Booking.com’s ‘no hidden fees’ policy and clear price breakdown makes it easy to see exactly how much each accommodation costs. This way, you can avoid surprise fees for cleaning, taxes or utilities. 

Are towels, kitchen basics, laundry facilities, Wi-Fi and parking provided? How about air conditioning, a high chair and a safe? Scroll down to the ‘Facilities’ section on your holiday home’s property listing on our site for a precise breakdown of exactly what you can expect to find within your accommodation. 

If you’ve not done so already, download the Booking.com app before setting off on your trip. Your hosts may try to contact you through your Booking.com account with check-in details or last minute changes, and you can see and respond to these messages easily through the app. It’s also useful to have all the details of the trip right there in the palm of your hand.