Finding the Accommodation Deals

In a couple of weeks we are off to France and Italy for a month.  I was asked recently how we found the apartments we are renting in Paris and Barcelona.

We used www.parisattitude.com to book our little studio apartment in Paris....and it is only a few blocks from the Notre Dame in the heart of the city.  The cost was less than a hotel for a week and includes a kitchen, washer and dryer and free wi-fi.  For only a few hundred dollars more we could have rented for an entire month!  Paris Attitude is the agency that matches up the owners and renters.  They charge an agency fee and guide you through the rental process.  There are a lot of agencies so search around for a bit to find the right locale, price point and agency for you.   The only negative is the high cost wire transfer fees to send money for the deposit.

There are many alternatives including Private Homes, centrally located and available for a week or more. Although we haven’t tried this one yet, the  apartments look charming and would be worth checking out.

Another great online site is http://www.homeaway.com/ which is how we found our apartment in Barcelona. The agency in this case took paypal payments thus one could avoid the wire transfer fees.

We have booked directly with owners and had good luck too. We stayed in a great place overlooking the Aegean Sea on the isle of Santorini in Greece. I do spend a lot of time looking around and seeing what the going rate is.  We have also booked directly with owners in the mountain resort of Canmore, Alberta, Canada and were very pleased with our accommodation.

Staying in an apartment is so much nicer than a hotel, and cheaper too!

One can pretend one is a local for bit…and go to the local markets for the baquette, the fromage and vin.  The best part of having one’s own apartment is you don’t have to eat out all the time!

Doing a home exchange is another great way to save money traveling. One well known website is http://www.homelink.org/index.jsp

We haven’t tried this option yet as we still have a cat and daughter living at home, but it is something to consider when we both retire. I would love to go to a country for 3 months and have a house as a home base.  When we are ready to do this we’ll consider a home exchange.

I hope that gives you the reader some options to consider for your next overseas trip.  If you have any other great ways to save money traveling please leave a comment.  We’d love to hear from you!

Cheers,

Joan