There’s no shortage of hotel booking websites these days, and a lot of them end up feeling pretty similar. Stayforlong.com has tried to do things a bit differently by focusing on longer stays, which is where it really tries to stand out. Below is a closer look at how the platform actually works and what kind of experience people tend to have with it.
(Photo: Stayforlong.com)
Overview
Stayforlong.com is based in Barcelona, Spain, and was set up back in 2015. The idea behind the site is fairly simple – the longer you stay, the cheaper the nightly rate tends to be. Rather than aiming at quick one-night bookings, it’s more geared towards people staying several nights or longer. The platform lists hundreds of thousands of hotels across different countries and is mostly used by travellers looking to stretch their budget a bit further on longer trips.
User Experience, Pricing, and Customer Feedback
If you’ve booked a hotel online before, using Stayforlong.com won’t feel unfamiliar. You search by destination and dates, adjust the price filters, and browse the available hotels much like you would on other sites. Once you book, confirmation usually comes through pretty quickly. A lot of users say they found decent prices and didn’t have much trouble getting from search to booking.
Where things get a bit less clear is when you start looking at customer feedback. Some people are very happy with the deals they got and say everything went smoothly. Others, particularly on Trustpilot, mention problems like extra charges showing up, taxes not being totally clear at the start, or customer service taking a while to respond. There are also a few reviews where people say fixing issues after booking wasn’t as easy as they expected.
You’ll also find some posts online from travellers who say they arrived at their hotel and were told the reservation couldn’t be found. These don’t seem to be everyday cases, but they do pop up often enough that it’s probably something to be aware of.
(Photo: Stayforlong.com)
Cancellation Policies
When it comes to cancelling a booking, the process itself is fairly simple, but the outcome depends on the rate you chose. To cancel, you need to log into your account, open your booking or voucher, and click on “Cancel your booking”. Before it’s finalised, you’re asked to enter your email address and answer a short survey about why you’re cancelling.
As for refunds, Non-Refundable rates are usually the cheapest, but you won’t get your money back if you cancel. Free Cancellation rates are more flexible and let you cancel without paying a fee up to a certain date, which is shown on your voucher. The Stayforlong Rate sits somewhere in the middle, with a small deposit that isn’t refundable, while the rest of the payment can still be cancelled for free before the payment deadline.
(Photo: Stayforlong.com)
Booking.com vs. Stayforlong.com: Which Should You Choose?
When comparing Stayforlong.com with a major online travel agency like Booking.com, the most obvious difference is scale. Booking.com is one of the largest hotel booking platforms in the world, with the advantages that come from its size and long-established presence, such as round-the-clock customer support and a huge volume of verified guest reviews.t can still be cancelled for free before the payment deadline.
In terms of how the sites actually feel to use, there’s not a huge amount between Stayforlong.com and Booking.com. Both are easy enough to get around and don’t take long to figure out. Where Stayforlong sometimes does better – especially for longer stays – is pricing, with some users finding cheaper rates than on bigger platforms. The downside is that Stayforlong doesn’t have the same size or safety net as Booking.com, and that smaller scale may help explain why customer experiences tend to be more hit and miss.
Therefore, taking everything into consideration, we would recommend Booking.com due to their brand identity, their infrastructure and their reliability.
By Paul Joseph