While I do love renting luxury homes, I hate staying in 5 star hotels. I find the service to be smothering, and I’m self conscious the whole time because I don’t really belong there. I don’t want or need daily maid service and valet parking, nor do I want to dress up to walk through the lobby to get to the exercise room. Frankly, I feel a little unsettled when I walk in and my room is different than how I left it, even if it’s just to move my PJs so that they can make the bed. I don’t want a stranger touching my shit.
Another great thing about renting a private home is that you can rent one with a real fireplace instead of settling for a tv image of a crackling fire. Nice touch, but give me the real thing any day.
Now, I will say that I do appreciate poolside bar service, but I’ve found that if I tip my husband generously enough, he’s happy to provide that service.
The cheapest I ever went was the Motel “H” in Murdo, South Dakota ($8 a night, lumpy but decent beds). That was awhile back.
These days I’m more leery of what commonly goes along with cheap accomodations, and look at reviews to sniff out such things as bodily fluid-stained bedding, active insect populations, thin walls, all night-partying guests, broken door locks, permanent lodgers and homeless people who hang around the entrances smoking, dank leaky plumbing with glorious mold blooms etc.
I once spent a night in a place wherein I felt obliged to put the pistol under my pillow.
I am too old for that crap now.
I will use a 1950’s mom & pop motel with the noisy HVAC unit under the window and a stick chair and table - as long as the reception area is clean and the person at the desk is clean and sober.
Cabins built in the 20’s at the edge of a swamp and away from the road - not again.
When I am traveling by myself, it’s all about price & location to what I am there to see. I always stay in hostels, but in single rooms, not shared dorms. All I want is a room near where I want to be where I can leave my stuff and sleep at night. The only amenity I care about at all is free wifi.
I think the cheapest place we stayed was at a bungalow in Koh Samui. No a/c, but they did have hot water. Can’t remember how must it cost. Something like 30 bucks a night. It wasn’t too bad. At least we didn’t have cockroaches.
We usually try to stay around 80 euros a night for our bed and breakfasts when we’re in Europe. When we’re in Korea, we stay in love motels, which are actually pretty nice if you know what to look for. They’re usually around 50,000 won a night (about 45 USD?).
I travelled in Europe staying with friends in 2-3 person private rooms in hostels for around $12 which was actually really nice - communal bathrooms of course, but free wifi and clean and modern. I think the lowest I’ve ever paid was around $5 for rooms in Chefchaouen in Morocco, and $3-4 in Vietnam (although that was a on a quick trip to the delta, we tended to pay more like $20 in the rest of the country). You kind of get what you pay for at that price (1-2" foam mattress, no air conditioning), but we really only slept there. Paid a little more in Cambodia but I was pregnant and keen on a little comfort.
When I travel, I really want a private room with a private bathroom with Western-style fixtures. Usually, in the States, staying in a hotel means pulling off the interstate to spend the night. We almost always go with Hampton Inn as a known quantity, because trying to decide whether a hotel is acceptable is not something I want to do at midnight.
When we can, Tripler and I like hostels w/ a private room. When I travel alone I get a hotel room of the Hampton variety or cheaper; nothing down to EconoLodge, though, they have a stank. And of course, military base lodgings are our first choice if they’re available. Some are quite nice; Arnold AFB’s Wingo Inn has stunning views from its perch on this peninsula. Hard to beat at $50-$60 a night.
I find renting a house to be very cost competitive to hotels as well. I rented a 5 br 4 ba beach house for a family reunion, sleeps up to 15 and has an elevator and wheelchair accesibility so our entire group can be included. including linens it cost $650 per couple (10 adults)for the week! we’ll save more by cooking at home etc etc. But anticipating more bodies i did book a room at the nearby comfort suites just in case for overflow, that was only 93 a night also on the beach.
We gave up on hotels long ago. They’re either cheap and noisy or expensive and nickel-and-diming our travel budget.
We use our RV (small 5th-wheel camper) for almost all travel. State and National parks are usually 25/night or less, and much safer and quieter imo. For whatever reason, thieves don’t target campgrounds, probably due to lots of outside activity, limited/gated access, and nosy old folks who have dogs. I use hotels when on business trips, and I can honestly say it takes almost the same time to park and connect the RV as check-in at the Hilton. All our belongings are already in the closet/medicine cabinet so there’s no unpacking, and we don’t have to budget for meals since we’re eating exactly like at home.
How low? We’ve stayed in free county parks (we used the generator so it wasn’t exactly “free”). COE parks are 18.00 per night in the winter. State parks run about 22-25 per night. National parks are about 12-15 without hookups. How High? We had a beachfront site in the lower Keys that was 78.00 per night. Still low compared to hotels.
