What is Lonely Planet Hotels & Hostels?
We've made some changes to the accommodation section of lonelyplanet.com. For the sake of ease and clarity, we've taken the fast-growing Haystack section of author-recommended, bookable properties and amalgamated it with our other Lonely Planet accommodation reviews.
Each property featured on Lonely Planet Hotels & Hostels - from budget to big-bucks, main drag to mountaintop - has been visited and reviewed by a Lonely Planet author. The site features detailed author reviews and particulars for each property, location maps and directions - as well as reviews from independent travellers. You couldn't know more about a place without bouncing on the beds yourself.
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How does it work?
Our authors are continually visiting and reviewing properties throughout the world. Once an author has checked out a property, the review is published on Lonely Planet Hotels & Hostels.
At this stage, the property is offered the opportunity to join the Lonely Planet booking service to become bookable on Hotels & Hostels. Properties that join the Lonely Planet booking service agree to our traveller-guided principles - and to remain bookable, they must get ongoing recommendations from our authors and travellers.
If the property doesn't join the Lonely Planet booking service, it's still possible to book it - either through one of our recommended booking providers or by contacting the property directly.
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What are recommended booking providers?
Lonely Planet has been working with a selected number of reputable travel companies ideally suited to service the needs of independent travellers. You may have seen them on Lonely Planet Bookings & Services. Now we’ve made the recommended accommodation booking providers available on Hotels & Hostels to give travellers more options to book Lonely Planet reviewed properties.
When you book though one of our recommended booking providers, you leave our website - the booking service is provided by the provider and not by Lonely Planet, and it is that provider’s responsibility to observe all fulfilment, billing and customer service. We recommend you check their terms and conditions before you make a booking.
We’ve made every effort to select the best, but cannot guarantee that every provider will meet your price and service expectations. You should also know that, when you make a booking via one of our recommended booking providers, Lonely Planet will receive a commission from that provider.
When you book through a recommended booking provider, we will use your personal details only if you have agreed to receive information from Lonely Planet, or if you have subscribed to Comet (our e-newsletter). Rest assured, we will only send you what you have asked for as per our privacy policy. For information on how your personal information will be used by the providers you book with, we suggest you read their privacy policies.
We regularly evaluate our providers and are happy to hear about your experience with them. Your feedback will assist us in our ongoing assessment of their services.
To make enquiries, read their privacy and security policies or contact them directly, you will find the appropriate information links on the contact us page.
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Are Lonely Planet reviews still independent?
Why is our travel information the best in the world? It's simple; our authors are independent, dedicated travellers. Our authors do not accept kickbacks, payment or favours in return for positive reviews and the reviews cannot be edited by properties. Authors select and review properties independently, then we approach those properties to become bookable on Lonely Planet Hotels & Hostels - not the other way around!
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How do I find all the independent reviews?
You can read the full review for a hotel or hostel on their details page.
Simply select a country and a city from the drop down boxes on the “Search & Book Hotels” tab and click on ‘Search’ without entering dates. Alternatively, you can select a destination from the map on the “Browse All Destinations” tab.
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