I have stayed in nice and not so nice places. I’ve spent a lot and I’ve spent not so much. I’m going to borrow from Forrest Gump and say, Travel is like a box of chocolates- “you never know what you’re going to get”, but I can try to help. These are some of my favorite places I have stayed without breaking the bank.
Barcelona: Hotel
At $50/night this has to be the best bang for buck place I have ever stayed. Immensely clean, cute café and décor, we had tasty pizza from the room service and the staff were so accommodating. We got there at 9AM in morning, check in wasn’t till 2pm, but they got us a room.
So why the deal. It was a 2 star facility with no pool, but a pretty garden, also it was a 3 minute walk to subway and then 10 minute ride to the city center. As someone from NYC used to subways this was nothing. I understand some people want to be completely in the thick of things. However, the next best hotel in the city center would have run us $150/night. So for our 4 night stay , we saved $400 which we used to eat and eat and eat some more.
Montreal: Vacation Rental
This company offers vacation rental apartments all over the city, most of their clients are corporate clients so they keep very nice and updated apartments in the best parts of the city. While many of the top hotels in Montreal will run you in the $200 range, you can find really nice furnished studio apartments here for $100/night. If you want to feel like a resident and not a tourist, this could be an option for you. When my husband and I choose this option, as soon as we get our keys, we run to nearest grocery store, stock up our fridge, walk the neighborhood, pretend we actually live there. Best for stays 3 nights and up
Santorini: Remezzo Villas
Santorini is of course amazing, every where you look is amazing, and as a top honeymoon/romantic getaway destination, that little island is packed full of hotels just waiting to accommodate tourists and some of these hotels can get very very expensive upwards of $1000/night. But that’s not necessary. During my honeymoon, we split our time in Santorini between 2 hotels. One much more high end and expensive hotel (which was by all means great) and one that was a little smaller and less known. What we learned of course, is that the most expensive dish on the menu isn’t necessarily the best one. At Remezzo we had an entire little apartment (cavernous) and courtyard to ourselves. The Courtyard looked out to the ocean and you just had to sit and watch the prettiest little sunset ever. We paid 60% less and enjoyed it 100% more. Current rates start from $170 in low season to $370 in high season for biggest suites.
Cape Cod: Inn
I finally only just made it to Cape Cod a couple months back. While researching places to stay I was surprised by just how pricey everything was. All the places I fell I love with space –wise, I fell out of love with price wise. I mean there were some of the more trustworthy hotel brands in the area- Hilton, Holiday Inn, but eve those I felt were a little over priced for what you were actually getting. So I looked at AirBnB and vacation rentals and then I found rave reviews for this relatively new inn.
You see, some of these smaller hotels can’t afford publicity and don’t have name brand recognition – so they really just wait for word of mouth to spread. The things I always look for: super clean, updated bath (pink bathroom tiles give me nightmares) great staff, close to wherever I need to be and I’m good. This place had all of that and at $80/night. Myself and my fellow travel mates were all sold. I have to admit, the bed wasn’t as plush as I would have liked but at $80/night when other places were charging triple that, I was going to keep my mouth shut and my $$$ in my pocket.
Please share any hotel deals and steals, little gems that you discovered, any tips that have been helpful to you.