Holiday Accommodation Comparison Sheet

Who this is for

Your shortlist of places to stay, compared properly. Each property gets a cost line that adds the nightly price, the nights and any extra fees into one total, then a second line where you score it out of ten on the things that matter to you.

Travellers choosing between a handful of hotels, apartments or villas who have too many browser tabs open and want the real total and a considered score for each on one page.

What this helps you track

• The full cost of each property once cleaning, resort and other fees are added
• What each one works out at per person per night
• Cancellation terms written down before you book
• Your own scores for location, facilities and reviews, added into one figure
• Which option is cheapest and which scored highest

How to use it

1. Write the destination, the dates and how many guests are staying.
2. Enter each shortlisted property on the cost table with its type, price per night, nights and any extra fees shown at checkout.
3. Copy the cancellation terms in your own words so they can be compared at a glance.
4. Score each property out of ten for location, facilities and reviews on the second table, and note the distance to wherever you will spend most time.
5. The totals, cost per person per night and summed score are worked out in the browser and the workbook; on paper, multiply and add across.
6. Read the cheapest total against the highest score before booking, and keep the sheet with your booking reference.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Why is there a separate extra fees column?

Because the nightly price is often not the price you pay. Cleaning charges, resort or facility fees and card charges can change the order of a shortlist, so they are added into the total rather than left for the checkout page.

How is cost per person per night worked out?

The total for the property divided by the number of guests in the header and by the nights on that row. It lets an apartment for six sit fairly next to two hotel rooms.

What should the scores be based on?

Whatever matters to your group. The sheet asks for three marks out of ten and adds them up; it does not weight them. If one factor matters most, note that in the notes column and read the scores with that in mind.

Does it include local taxes?

Only if you enter them. If a tourist or city tax is charged on arrival, add it to extra fees for that property using the figure the property or booking site gives.