Accommodation
I choose accommodation based on where I’m going, what I’m doing and who I’m going with – if anyone. For example in a potentially dangerous location or travelling with work I may well stay in a high end hotel, if I’m looking for just a bed for the night on a flight layover or in a location where I know I’ll be out most of the time I’ll likely choose Airbnb. Most of all, I avoid all inclusive resorts as I want to get out and about rather than tie myself to one resort. Think about what works best for you, your location and the experience you want.
My go-to place for accommodation these days is Airbnb. I’ve used them in several countries for whole properties or just a room, and I’ve had fantastic experiences. So much so, I’ve become an Airbnb host myself. The site has reviews from previous guests so you can verify you’ll be staying in a genuine place that meets the description, and the costs are often much less than hotels.
Airbnb has over 2 million listings across the world, and is growing rapidly.
Trivago is good for middle of the road to high end accommodation, they offer competitive rates for hotels, B&Bs and condos. But cross reference them against accommodation options from other sites on this page.
Some hotels and B&Bs look to fill their empty rooms for a discounted rate at the last minute. Rates can change by the day according to availability and you don’t have to wait until the last minute. This is a great site for simple, cheaper accommodation.
If I’m going a bit more ‘upmarket’ to a reputable hotel, Hotwire has great deals with heavily discounted rooms, mostly in cities. You don’t find out which hotel it is until you’ve booked it but you can see location, facilities and star rating. I have used it once and ended up in an Intercontinental hotel for half the usual price.
Years ago I was a member of this site and had a wonderful exchange to the US. However it costs £100 a year to be a member and you need to find someone who wants to do a mutual exchange with you. These days Airbnb is taking the lead in residential accommodation. That said, I noticed a lot of retired people on the site who were travelling for a year or more and looking for multi-month exchanges around the world, in this instance, it’s a great site for free accommodation.
They have 65000 homes in 150 countries.