I have a time-tested rule when it comes to travel: Go where the locals go whenever you're able.

For my trip to Germany last week, I failed to follow my own guidance and learned what it means to be an Expidiot. That’s someone who books a hotel room in a hurry through Expedia (EXPE), but fails to read the fine print about what is and isn’t included in the price. 

Wth the departure date drawing closer, I read an online review of my three-and-a-half star hotel  in the middle of the night. It sounded like a good enough choice.

My primary reason for booking the place was that it offered a swimming pool, which isn't standard with European hotels. It was also near a museum and the train station, meaning my daughter and I could easily take jaunts. I'm a sucker for trains and European stations.

I had declined a gracious invitation to spend the week at the home of the host family for my daughter’s exchange program. I wanted to ease into that relationship and preferred the privacy of my own space to spend time with my 11-year-old before we parted ways.

If I’d known the host family would be such a terrific personality fit, I might have acted differently and saved about $800. (Ach. Es macht nicht.)

Instead, I became an Expidiot. Knowing enough about railroad hotels, I’d booked the “first class double” rather than the “standard double” to ensure we would have some modicum of basic comfort. I didn’t anticipate a heat wave.

We checked in jet-lagged at around 10:00 a.m. As expected, we needed to spend a few hours roaming the new city until the room would be ready. In that bleary first impression, the hotel appeared decidedly shabby and the location marginally safe.

Things didn’t get much better when we came back to collect the keys for our room and found our floor mostly under renovation. Located at the farthest end of the corridor, the room had killer comfortable beds, TV, minibar and luxurious bath. But it sat smack against an elevated highway. As it lacked air conditioning, we had limited options: Close the window and bake or endure the traffic noise. Absolutely pooped, we fell back onto our duvets and heard nothing.

Awaking a few hours later, we began to explore and learned that both the swimming pool and breakfast were “extras” for Expidiots. The pool was a third of the cost of the 14 euro breakfast buffet (both were free for my daughter.) We took a swim, a sauna and lingered in the whirlpool. It was well worth it, but the principle still bothered me.

I’m feisty and not afraid to make demands, but the challenge with an Expedia reservation is that it’s prepaid. This gives you a lock on the price, but no real bargaining power at the reservations desk. If you threaten to leave, they’ve already got your money. Plus, our hotel was booked up with two business meetings and a contingent of Danish teens in town for the World Hip-Hop Competition.

I settled for an oscillating fan. We stayed where we were and eventually grew into the place.

The location really was ideal. It put us directly across from the bike rental place, the trams to everywhere, the post office and a great museum with an even better restaurant that stayed open all night.

The European soccer championships are underway and every night we got caught up in the spirit depending on the victorious country. All the familiar brands are sponsors and their logos surrounded the area: Coca-Cola (KO), MasterCard (MA), McDonald’s (MCD) and Canon (CAJ) to name a few.

At checkout, I was relieved my tab for incidentals didn't include charges for all the times I accidentally clicked to the adult movie channels, which were the easiest buttons to find on the remote.

Some languages are universal.

Have you ever successfully upgraded from a bad pre-paid hotel room? Weigh in on The Exchange.