Where To Stay When Away

The first time I traveled outside of the United States was to study abroad in the Dominican Republic back in 2007. Besides studying and interning, I lived with a host family for 6 months. My host family consisted of my Dominican mom, aka mi Doña, and brother two years my elder. Since I enjoyed “traveling” so much, I vacationed in the DR in 2008, 2009, and 2010 was my last visit. Although I enjoyed going to the DR, I really didn’t know how to travel anywhere else. Anytime I wanted to visit, all I had to do was tell my host family I was coming. They picked me up from the airport, let me stay at their house, and fed me habichuelas con arroz the entire time. In actuality, it may have been the rice and savory beans that kept me going back. 

If I had traveled to a different country, I wouldn’t have known where to stay. I wasn’t aware of the various lodging options. I only knew of hotels. In fact, I left my hotel job to study in the DR, and was rehired once I returned. I knew firsthand how expensive hotel rooms were and that was one of the reasons I always chose to visit with my DR family for free.

For this post I’m going to discuss different types of lodging options. Let’s get started.

Hotels

In most cases, hotels are going to be the most expensive option. However, you can still find great deals on rooms. One thing that’ll impress you when you travel out of the country is the value you get for your money. Where $40 might get you an overnight room at the “Motel 5” in the USA, it’ll get you a stylish room at a boutique hotel in Panama.

Airbnbs

I have to admit. I’ve never stayed at an Airbnb. Airbnbs became popular after I already became comfortable with other accommodations. Nonetheless, it is an option. Airbnbs are houses, apartments or rooms that you can rent from the owners of those properties.

I spoke with friends who have stayed at Airbnbs and came up with the following assessment. Typically, Airbnbs are cheaper than hotels. If the Airbnb is the same price as (and even if it’s more expensive than) the hotel, then you’re probably getting more value for your money by staying at the Airbnb.

For example, I asked a friend about his experience with Airbnbs. He and 2 of his buddies stayed at an Airbnb in Osaka, Japan. For three nights, they paid a total of $300 for a really nice house with 7 rooms. 

Here are a few things to considerate when looking at Airbnb rental properties:

• Service Fees

Be sure to factor in the extra costs that are usually involved, such as service and cleaning fees. These amounts usually stay the same whether you’re renting for 1 night or 6. Depending on the size of the property, these fees could be pretty significant – especially if you’re just staying one night and not expecting to have a large expense for lodging. 

• Privacy

Sometimes the owner may live at the property, so you may not get the privacy you want. I’ve stayed at Bed and Breakfast hotels similar to Airbnb, where the owners lived at the property. Privacy was never an issue. If total privacy is important to you and you would like to rent a whole property (with no owner present), you can easily add this filter to your search on the Airbnb website or app. 

Hostels

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Hostels are properties with dormitory style rooms. Most properties have a good selection of room types for male and female. Each room has between 4 to 10 beds. Many hostels offer private rooms for additional costs. Instead of paying $8 to stay in a dormitory, you pay $20 for a private room. At most locations, you’ll have access to wifi, a locker, a kitchen, bathroom, laundry services and any other basic travel needs.

The first time I stayed in a hostel was when I visited Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. The hostel was recommended by a friend. At first, I was skeptical about staying in a dormitory room but decided to give the $8 deal a try. The staff checked me into a room with 6 beds, but I was the only guest in the room. The hostel was clean, the staff was helpful and the location was great. Since then, hostels have been my go-to choice for solo travel. I’ve booked rooms for family and friends who had previously never even heard of hostels. Their experiences turned out to be great as well!

My go-to site for hostels is HostelWorld.

Homestays

If I wrote a book, I could name it ‘The World Hosted Me.’ You know, that has a nice ring to it. I might have to write that book. I’ve lived with a bunch of host families throughout the years.

Anyhow, homestays will be the cheapest way to go. Basically, this is finding people who will host you at their home for little to no cost. The easiest way to do this is to become a couchsurfer. By going to the CouchSurfing site, you can see what it’s about and find people who are willing to host you for a couple of nights. Although I’ve never been a couchsurfer, I’ve hosted and given tours to several people. It was no different than hanging out with friends and letting them spend the night.