Where you sleep at night is one of your major fixed travel expenses, so learning how to find cheap accommodation will help you to keep more money in your pocket for spending on activities.
Fortunately, there are plenty of tips and website resources these days to help you find safe, practical and value for money accommodation.
For us, traveling with our kids is not always about finding the cheapest deals, but getting the BEST VALUE for our money! We don’t like to rough it as much as we used too pre-kids.
How you travel and spend your dollars is totally up to you, but we all need a place to sleep at night and we may as well get the best accommodation deal as possible.
Your choice of accommodation will depend on your:
- travel budget
- travel destination
- travel style and comfort levels
- number of companions
- interests
Getting 15 percent off a room you don’t want isn’t always better than regular price at a room you do want! So our goal is to help you save money on accommodation and get the price you want, at the place you’re happy with.
The style in which we personally travel has evolved from solo travel, to traveling as a couple, to now being a family of four. So our accommodation preferences have changed as well.
Depending on the length of the trip and the destination, we’ll chop and change between accommodation styles.
As a family, if it’s longer than a weekend getaway we prefer to stay in apartments. They offer several benefits:
- Access to a full kitchen saves you money by not eating out every night.
- Separate bedrooms from the living room make it easier to put the kids to bed.
- You have your own laundry.
- You can book a 3 or 4-bed apartment and split the costs with another family or friends.
These extra facilities on a long stay can make your trip so much more enjoyable.
But if it’s a short city stay, or we’re just traveling as a couple, we’re happy to stay in a hotel and sometimes we’ll cut costs and find a family friendly hostel.
If you are on an extended trip around the world, consider spending more of your time in countries and regions where your money travels further, and when visiting the expensive countries lower your accommodation standards.
