How To Find Cheap Accommodation
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How To  Find Cheap Accommodation
7 Tips To Having a Great Vacation Despite The Economic Gloom

By Edward Kirwan

The economy across the western world is in tatters yet you still want to go on holiday. Nothing
wrong with that but you will have to be a little more inventive in your planning and finding cheap
accommodation is a vital part of that planning.

Singles and couples can normally find hostel accommodation at reasonable prices in most large
towns and major cities. The old images of hostels as being scruffy and needing you to share
rooms are largely a thing of the past. The new-era hostels are more sophisticated and offer all
the modern facilities including internet connections.

You can also consider private “homestays” where the owners are happy to rent one or two
rooms for a smaller price than the commercial establishments. Traditionally designed for
students, homestay hosts accommodate families (and very often business people too). To take
advantage of a homestay holiday go to Google where you will find homestayweb.com, homestay-
australia.com  and  canadahomestayinternational.com among millions of others.


A trend of recent years has been for house swapping or home exchange. People house swap
across the globe for both short and long term periods and for all sorts of reasons. It is even
becoming more common to make arrangements for long weekend swaps so you can take your
vacation in smaller chunks if that suits you.

The advantage of being able to cook your own meals in a proper home can lead to tremendous
savings in your quest to be able to sleep cheaply. Additionally you get to know a little more of
the area with any useful help the owners left you and the fact that you will be doing the
shopping locally. Many times a car swap comes into the bargain so you save on car hire too. Just
remember to splash out at the end of the week with all that money you saved, after all it is your
holiday.

Camping is a perennial favorite and will no doubt remain so. However with more and more
people camping and demanding more and more of the home comforts this is not as cheap as it
used to be. So like the good scout you are be prepared to do some homework to find the best
deals before they get booked up. Renting a camper van or motor home can save you a lot of
money and you will have a lot of fun exploring new horizons and experiencing the sights and
sounds of your travels.

Bidding for your vacation or holiday accommodation is another great money saver in finding
somewhere cheap to sleep. If you want to bid on priceline.com or hotwire.com for example be
sure you know what you are doing as with any auction or your cheap accommodation won’t be
cheap anymore. Once again do your homework and plan ahead. Visit both: betterbidding.com
and biddingfortravel.com where you will learn to avoid bidding mistakes and therefore how to
get the best deals.

Look further a field. Think outside the box. If you are used to going to one type of place or
following one type of activity think again. Your favorite spot and your favorite things to do will
still be there another time but you may be pleasantly surprised at how you could enjoy going
somewhere different and doing something completely different. For example, if you plan to visit
Europe, spend some time in Morocco. Quite different, certainly but it is a cheaper option. If that
is too drastic for you, instead of the Caribbean try Argentina, Chile or Costa Rica. Marvelous
places to visit and all with very cheap accommodation.

If you must visit the big cities here is something you might like to try. Book your cheap
accommodation in a smaller town outside the city and make it a treat to visit the city for your
sightseeing and shopping. Sometimes when you do less, you enjoy more. Try it.

Before the economy improves you may have to make adjustments to your vacation or holiday
plans. But that is all it is an adjustment because you will still have your holiday.
Finding cheap accommodation is part of the plan and you can choose between hostels,
homestay, home exchange, camping or even bidding for your whole holiday online.

Whatever you do, you will find somewhere cheap to sleep even if it is a tent in the desert!
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