When you go on vacation, do you prefer to stay at a hotel/inn, or do you like to rent out a vacation home or cabin? We usually go the vacation rental route because they tend to be more cost effective and have the comforts and amenities of home. However, sometimes I'm tempted to stay at a nice hotel and not have to do dishes or clean up after myself! What do you think? What's your vacation preference? Any tips on making a hotel stay more affordable?
It depends on how long you stay and the availability of properties. I do prefer vacation rentals for anything longer than a week as it means I don't get disturbed by housekeeping and I can have a lie in. I don't mind clearing up after myself,but staying in an inn can be cheaper if it's a week stay. I choose places that have complimentary wi-fi, breakfast and coffee. Not all places do it, Hampton Inns do, where the sister hotels Garden Inns don't and the difference is very minimal in the rooms. I always sign up for the loyalty cards and they often send promotions to get free stays or bonus points.
Last weekend we were in a mountain resort. We rented a villa that has 3 rooms and complete with amenities like air conditioning, kitchen with cooking implements and fridge. We got that for 11,000 pesos overnight. For an ordinary inn, there are rentals for 2,000 pesos per night but only for 2 persons. Obviously, we got a bargain because it was like a house with a living room and tv.
You'd also have to take into account your itinerary. If you don't intend to stay in one place for long then renting an apartment or cabin would prove to be more costly because when you are away seeing some tourist attractions, you'd have spend the night in a hotel. Since most people like traveling around the countries they visit they not only find that staying at hotels is cheaper, it's also more convenient. It's better for someone traveling overseas to find cheap hotels to stay in instead.
We tend to stay at hotels because we are only three in the family. Renting a house for us would just be an expensive choice. I think renting a house is quite right only for bigger families who intend to stay at a vacation spot longer. It is especially nice for beaches where you will have your own comfort room and resting place. If the family is small like ours, it is better to find a hotel. A huge house is unnecessary and doing tasks can be quite tiring for a small family as you have to assign the tasks between each other. A vacation becomes tiring this way.
I would normally just live in a cheap hotel or something because when I travel or vacation, I'm always on the move. I go from one location to the next so renting a vacation spot would be quite inconvenient. It really depends how long your gonna stay in one area. Maybe if I had family around there to spend time with, I might consider it but even then I don't think I would stay long enough to even make the rent worth it. But yeah I'm mostly vacationing with a couple friends and we just try to hit as many tourist attractions we can in a short period of time. Afterwards, we just move on. I don't like staying in one place for too long because you really lose the thrill of exposing yourself to new environments. Hotels are more worth it in my case because make very short stays.
If you can get a vacation rental, get it. You'll save on a LOT of services, be able to wash your own clothes, have more square footage to stay in, free internet if they have it, and not pay for the extras like parking, phone, room service, etc. It's worth the extra couple of bucks to get a rental, IMHO.
I like the hotel a little more than the vacation rental. In the hotel I have more services than I do in the rental. It was easier to leave the housekeepping to the staff than to have to do it my self, the reason I was on vacation was to get away from house cleaning.
After having spent a large part of my working life having to travel around the world, staying in hotels for what could sometimes be well over a month - staying in a hotel has kind of lost its appeal - which is why whenever I go away - unless its only an overnight stop over - I now much prefer the freedom as well as the peace and quiet of self-catering accommodation rather than the restrictive and noisy environment of a hotel. Apart from the one already mentioned of royalty cards or discounts which are really only of benefit to frequent travelers - the only tip that immediately springs to mind for making a hotel stay more affordable - is to watch out for out of season bargains - especially as that is a time when many hotel chains offer huge discounts for short breaks or stays of more than a week. Oh and I would just add - that unless you plan on never leaving the vicinity of the hotel - to avoid all inclusive packages - as they can often work out more costly - for the simple reason that - if you are unable to get back to the hotel for all the meals that you have paid in advance for and have to eat elsewhere because you miss some - you are effectively paying for them twice.
It depends where we are going. We will stay at a hotel but we are dedicated campers so if at all possible we will camp in our tent. We enjoy the great outdoors and there is nothing as wonderful as camping under the stars on a warm evening.
