Every year there are new websites and tools to help you find a good deal on lodging, so this post will not be relevant forever. I’ll let you know about my experience with them and give you the honest truth. Many of the websites offer the same capabilities, but some are more user friendly than others or offer more properties. Here are some that I’ve found useful:
airbnb.com
Originally this site was created so you could stay in the spare bedroom or privately owned apartment. However pension owners are listing their hotel rooms on it as well, so don’t count on every listing being in someone’s private home. There are also no controls, so I’ve found the descriptions and photos are sometimes not representative of the truth. Not all the properties listed here are cheap either, in fact many were quite more expensive than hotel rooms in many cases. Coverage for certain areas was spotty as well since this is a newer site. But it’s a much better organized version of vrbo and you can rent mansions and villas here or even a private island. There are some really helpful owners listed here and you may have the experience of a lifetime. I’d hate to give them all a bad name because of a few of my experiences.
booking.com
Found this jem for cheap on booking.com.
This is 2014’s cheap hotel room website of the year. I found it because many of tripadvisor’s listings link here. Search by location and put in filters for price, amenities, dates and more. Then sort the results by price, value, etc… A very good website and invaluable tool in my experience. However, not all hotel and pension owners appreciate this service. I’ve even had a few cancel the listing so they can give me a better price and they don’t have to pay the small commission. Hmmm. Also, I’ve experienced some false advertising here as well. The detailed user reviews on this site can be invaluable. Maybe use it as reference and then go and see the room in person before committing to something?
homestay.com
I have not tried this site personally, but I met a few people while traveling that had a good experience with it. Stay in someone’s house and see how the locals live. Like a less professional version of a pension, but not as intimate as couch surfing.
hostelbookers.com
This website is not limited to hostels. It includes pensions, private rooms, hotel rooms and apartments. Has filtering capabilities. Cheap deals and they advertise no booking fees.
hostelz.com
User ratings, scores out of 100, maps and ability to search for dorm rooms or private rooms. An old friend, but perhaps needs to be updated a bit?
tripadvisor.com
My old buddy. My old friend. A site with so much more information than just hotel booking. In fact, their hotel service is now an aggregator from other aggregator sites like hostelbookers, hotels.com, booking.com and more. Trying to be all things to all people I guess. The reviews are valuable and so are the sort and filter capabilities. However I’m going to stick to this website for forums and information most of all.
vrbo.com
Vacation Rentals By Owner used to be one of my favorite sites and I stopped using it for a long time. Why? Because none of the owners kept their calendars up to date. I would email a dozen owners about their properties, only about 40% would reply and many had no availability for the dates I requested when you do your initial search. I see the site has been “updated”, but it looks like the front page design only and the core functionality has remained. I have found a few very good deals on there for some vacation rentals, but the site is cumbersome and takes a lot of time to use. A specific problem is the prices are shown as weekly rates, or as a range, and you have to click all the way into the listing for the exact details.
Please submit your comments if you know of any other good sites to find stellar sleeping arrangements.