Finding inexpensive room and board varies largely from place to place and continent to continent. Finding the right accommodation depends on your level of required comfort, your expectations, and of course your budget.
What are the different types of accommodation to look for while traveling?
There are essentially two over arching types of accommodation: shared accommodation and private accommodation. Within these categories are varying degrees of places to stay. Under the shared category you'll find options such as hostels, couchsurfing, and WWOOFing. Under the private category, you'll find hotels, AirBnB, and house sitting. Then, of course, there are types of accommodation that can offer both. For example, hostels are largely communal, but you can book a private room.
It's better to know which category your trip fits under, what will bring you the most comfort while traveling. Don't feel that you have to travel a certain way. You can be a backpacker and stay in hotels and similarly, you can vacation with a suitcase and stay in hostels. Knowing whether you want some solid rest and relaxation or a couple wild nights out on the town will make a world of difference in how you enjoy your trip.
Which type of accommodation is best?
Which one is best, depends on the individual and the place. Sometimes a hotel is just what you need after weeks of sharing your personal space with strangers and you need a recharge. Otherwise, maybe you're traveling solo and you're really looking forward to meeting other travelers, in which case, you'll want to stay in a hostel.
Personally, we love to stay in hostels. They’re built around the backpacking community and the setup is focused on bringing people together. They're inexpensive, lively, and communal which allows you to meet a lot of different backpackers. There's always something going on and there's often times a kitchen that allows us to cook some comfort food every now and then. Hostels are essentially a place to keep your stuff safe during the day, a place to lie at night, and a hub for meeting new exciting people.
TRAVEL TIP: Never stayed in a hostel before? No worries we'll show you what it's really like to stay in a hostel and how to deal with sharing your space with complete strangers.
AIRBNB
Using AirBnB is ideal in situations where you're looking for a cool local experience. AirBnB works with home owners all over the world who want to open up their doors to travelers. People on vacation or out of town can list their houses on AirBnB. This is a great way to meet the locals or to stay in a cool part of town you may have otherwise missed. We have used this site around the world, and in fact, we used it to find a private villa overlooking the caldera in Santorini, Greece for our wedding ceremony this past summer. The website has lots of options to find exactly what you want and being able to leave and read reviews helps you to know exactly what you're getting.
HOUSE SITTING
Looking for a house sitting placement to suit your travel plans takes a bit more patience than AirBnB, hotels, or hostels. It may not be suitable for every trip. There are a few different sites and circles in which house sitting is popular, specifically in New Zealand, Australia, and Europe. The idea is that home owners are looking for responsible travelers to look after their property while they're away on vacation. There's no money exchanged, but instead, house sitters get to stay in the house for free while caring for the property, pets, and plants. Finding accommodation this way means fitting your travel plans according to the job and not the other way around.
VOLUNTEERING
WWoofing or volunteering is a similar waiting game when looking for accommodation. It's not a simple click and book process, but it's certainly economical. It's more suitable if you're traveling long term (1-12 month trips) as most jobs require a minimum of two weeks work. Websites like HelpX and Workaway will list projects ranging from agriculture to education. The idea is that services are traded for free accommodation and sometimes food rather than money. For each listing, you essentially have to apply for the position. The process is a friendly exchange and hosts are just getting a better sense of who you are before they let you into their home.
COUCHSURFING
Couchsurfing is best fit for travelers looking to connect directly with the locals and who have flexibility in their travels. It's a global community of humble people and avid travelers that offer up their couches for free. The site requires you set up an account and profile (free) that allows possible hosts to see who you are. You send requests through Couchsurfing to people in your area. You can fully screen their page, look at reviews of people who have previously stayed with them (both good and bad reviews), and you can explore their interests. When you send requests to stay with someone you’ll send them a personalized message talking about your adventure, what you want to do and why you think this person would be a good fit. The site works off a give and take philosophy, but keep in mind your travel plans have to accommodate their work and life schedules.
How do I find accommodation and how much will it cost?
HOTELS
Orbitz.com
Agoda.com
Hotels in Europe run anywhere from $90-$300 per night depending on where you're searching. In South America, hotels were affordable running $20-$50 per night, but the quality matched the price. Southeast Asia has been the best place to score cheap 4 and 5 star hotels ranging from $10-$50 for the top of the line hotels. Plus, we found that in Southeast Asia it was cheaper for us, as a couple, to pay for a hotel room rather than two beds in a shared hostel dorm.
AIRBNB
Airbnb.com
You can get entire homes anywhere from $70 to $1,000 a night. Huge price gap, we know, but the beauty with Airbnb is that no two places are alike. Which means the prices are all over the place. You can book anything from a historic castle to a tree-house so it's hard to list a certain price.
HOUSE SITTING
Kiwihousesitter.co.nz
Trustedhousesitters.com
These websites require a membership fee usually applied annually, but if you get a week of free accommodation than it pays for itself.
HOSTELS
Hostelworld.com
Booking.com
In Europe, hostels cost $15-$30 per night. In South America, we were able to stay in hostels for no more than $15 per night. In Southeast Asia, we stayed in really nice hostels for only $5/night.
VOLUNTEER
WWoof.net (subscription is based on country $0-$70)
Workaway.info ($29 annual fee)
HelpX.net ($25 fee for 2 years)
You do have to pay a membership fee for these sites, but you don't have to pay for the accommodation itself. This is free based on the exchange of philanthropic services for accommodation.
CAMPING
Campermate.co.nz
Hostelworld.com
In South America, we were able to camp paying no more than $10 to pitch a tent. We also had the opportunity to stay in a yurt in Colombia for only $5/night for a shared yurt. If you're looking to plan a complete camping trip, then the most exciting possibility is in New Zealand where freedom camping (parking your self-contained camper van almost anywhere in NZ for free) is your best bet.
Helpful travel tips when booking accommodation.
Weekend rates are going to be more expensive than weekdays. Be aware of spikes in prices because of holidays as well. There is a greater volume of people traveling during weekends and holidays so hotels and hostels can charge more.
There are also peak seasons, referred to as high-tourist seasons, that will affect the availability of housing. High- tourist season usually reflects the months of good weather. In Europe and South America, the high tourist season runs from late May to early September. Australia and New Zealand's peak season is from November to February. In Southeast Asia, the high season is from January to March and again from July to September.
Reading a fair amount of the reviews and trusting the ratings of each place on Hostelworld and Tripadvisor is a good practice to get into when choosing inexpensive accommodations.
Hostelworld asks for a deposit when booking with their website, but if you e-mail hostels directly, you can avoid the deposit, which is, in fact, a booking fee by Hostelworld. Hostels never see any of that deposit, it's added on by Hostelworld which further allows them to be a completely free site.
