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| Condo-hotel we stayed at in Miami (the white 2 story) – this picture is taken from the kayak |
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| Backyard |
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| San Juan |
I’ve been looking and pricing a lot of hotels for the vacations that I’m taking with the BF and with my friends. There are so many options. I hate trying to choose a hotel, because I have definitely picked a lot of bad ones.
A question that I always ask myself is if I should be a little frugal with the hotel that I choose, of if I should splurge and treat it like a real vacation that I dream about.
I have scrimped on hotel rooms before in order for me to have more spending money on my vacation. The difference between a $100 hotel room and a $200 room add up quickly.
One thing that I should share is that I’m extremely germophobic, I’ve stayed at my fair share of 1 star hotels, and I can never sleep when I stay at these. I will have to sleep with a hood over my head, and pants, socks and everything else. Yes I do realize that all hotel rooms are most likely dirty because thousands of people have probably slept with the same blanket and mattress, but I’m more of a visual cleanliness person.
Choosing cheap hotel rooms have been mostly good for us though. For our Miami trip last year (the condo in the first picture), we used Airbnb for our room and got a great deal. I think around $125 a night for the room. Not the cheapest place we have ever stayed at, but it was across the street from the beach, in Miami Beach, had a canal in the backyard with a boat and kayak for us to use, and a jacuzzi (way too hot in Miami when we went, so we never hopped in).
Of course we could always go free and use Couchsurfing (as explained in my past post). I’ve never done this, and I don’t expect to do this on any of my vacations in the near future, mainly because I like my privacy, especially on a vacation. Would you guys couch surf?
Last year, on one of our vacations, we stayed at an extremely dirty hotel. I wanted to throw up immediately when we walked in. We were extremely mad too, because the hotel was over $200 per night (which by the way was the cheapest thing we could find in the area). There was food on the wall (and some throw up!), the bed was made, but it was obvious that they were not washed because there was multiple hairs on the bed and pillows (and no I am not talking about the hairs on your head, I’m talking about the gross kind of hair).
Yes I know that a hotel is a place where you should only sleep, but I don’t know if I want to do that this year. One hotel that we stayed at had a cement floor, cement ceiling and cement walls. The A/C was leaking and there were puddles everywhere. It was super gross but less than $50 a night. Although I didn’t choose this place, we were on a small road trip and were really tired, and of course Justin Beiber was in town, so there were NO hotel rooms.
Anyways, when me and my friends go to Vegas for the bachelorette party, the hotel cost isn’t really bothering us too much. That is mainly because of the amount of girls going. I think we might be up to 7 now, so splitting a room with that many girls won’t be that expensive.
But for the vacations that me and the BF take, cost is definitely a factor, since I won’t be splitting everything 7 ways. We definitely want to be comfortable and happy though, and not let extremely gross hairs on our blanket ruin our vacation. I definitely consider a good hotel room to be a part of the vacation.
So, what’s the maximum that you would spend per night? Thoughts? Is a hotel only a place for you to sleep?
Also, I updated the blog today, what do you think? I like the simple, clean look.
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For me it's all about the location of where we're staying. My husband always wants the cheapest room but we have to compromise b/c I need to have certain things, lol. We live in Tampa so if we take a weekend trip to Orlando, we usually get a less expensive hotel b/c we're not going to be in the room much. BUT if we're going on a "real" vacay I like a nicer room if the amenities are worth it. If there isn't anything spectacular to offer at a hotel then I'll go cheap, lol.
Ok, I'll admit it – we are travel snobs. While we don't fly first class, we do require at least a 3 star hotel, preferably 4-5. When we travel to all inclusive resorts, we generally get the base model room because we don't spend much time in it. No need to pay for an ocean view when you're going to spend 10 hours of your day laying on the beach. If we're traveling in the states, we must stay at a Hampton Inn style hotel or nicer. A few years ago, we stayed at a Super 8 Motel for a friend's wedding. That is the LAST time I will ever do that. It was disgusting. I think it just depends on your preference and situation. If you're going on a real vacation, I'd go for a nicer hotel. If you're just staying one night, I'd go for something more mainstream like a Hampton Inn or Holiday Inn.
I'm germ-phobic and while the market determines the price of hotel rooms (the area – whether it's a resort or not, etc.), it seems that we travel infrequently and spend $200 per night when I do. It's because I don't want to see any of those hairs mentioned when I stay in a hotel room.
I know how you feel! I am pretty cheap and I hate spending extra money on things when I don't necessarily have to. But I think it depends on where you're going and how long you plan on staying in the room. Have you ever tried a B&B?
It would depend on my financial sitution, but I would probably half couch surf, and half stay in a medium line hotel (which would HAVE to be clean. I hate dirty hotel rooms!)
I prefer quality rooms. I know lots of people stay in the room, but I want to :think: that the room is clean. Appearance is everything.
I have never had a horrible hotel experience. I have stayed in a few that weren't up to my standards (Best Western in Savannah) but typically we stay at about a 4 star hotel, occasionally 3, never below. I use Priceline and Hotwire when starting to look for hotels and I use betterbidding.com for tips. We usually do pretty well with them and end up staying in a nice area and depending on the city I try to stay around the 3 star prices for a 4 or 5 star hotel.
I love staying in higher end accomodations… I only travel once or twice a year and usually check the highly rated hotels on Trip Advisor. While I can't afford a $600/night room, I've stayed in many around the $250 range… When I split it with my sis, it ends up being a good deal! We both love nice soaker tubs and nice amenities so I try to find the best quality/price place that meets both our standards.Lately we've enjoyed staying in apartments… Any 5+ day traveler should check this out as it's usually quite a bit cheaper!
I used to travel a lot for work (as in, 35 different states a lot). Our company had a deal with Marriott and I was almost always happy with them.Now that I am not working full time and have little guys with me, a clean and cheap hotel is important. We have been very happy with the Hampton Inns (two in the last three months). Clean, free internet, breakfast in the morning, pools. Dream vacation? No, but comfortable for the hours we are there. I have splurged, and love it, but it really depends on the vacation. If I am not intending to spend much time in the room–that feels like a waste. If we know we'll be spending time there (conference, visiting cousins at school who won't be around most of the day), splurging is more worthwhile.
I'm a total germaphobic too. Before booking a room I normally check Trip Advisory to see what other people are saying. I wouldn't want to check into a roach inn or something were I know I wouldn't get any sleep just thinking about all the creepy crawlies that might be lurking in the sheets. You should check out Agoda.com. It is an online travel agency. They can give you the lowest rate possible, if not give them the website that has a lower rate and they will go lower than that. And the thing with Agoda.com is that they also have tie ups with high end hotels and can give you a good rate with a good deal. You should check it out.
I'm such a germaphobe, too! That is so gross about the room with hairs–I would have slept in my car! Since I'm still in school and live with my parents during college breaks, I usually stay wherever they choose haha. I don't know how much they're willing to spend, but we usually stay at a Hilton, and they're usually very clean!
just to sleep and get ready hahacome join the giveaway
My hubs will agonize over hotels and read all the reviews before jumping in and booking. He also prides himself on getting the cheapest one, but it better have a pool or the kids will be VERY disappointed… On our first Ireland trip, I booked a cottage online for a week and we used that as our base and did day trips every day. Unfortunately it was at least an hour from anywhere… But it was a great little home away from home.We did stay at a hotel last year that we dubbed the Elf meets Silence of the lambs. The toilets were dinky small kid toilets (thus the Elf reference) and I think we were the only ones in the hotel. The carpet was disgusting and weeds grew in the parking lot rampant. All the buildings around it were abandoned… If it hadn't been winter, I'd have opted to sleep in the car at a rest area…
I've never stayed at ritzy hotels unless I'm someone's guest. We traveled a lot when I was a kid, and I guess middle-of-the-road hotels grew on me. I have gone way cheap, too, though. For the most part it's fine. Only twice have I regretted it, and once I had no choice. Once I got stuck in lake effect snow in Erie, PA, and had to pull off to the first hotel I saw. The water was brown. There were hairs in the bed. I think they kept the same glasses in there from the last people. And there were about fifty million rooms. So I don't know why they didn't just put us in one that had been vacant the night before. Then once at Myrtle Beach I stayed at one with cockroaches (but that's really commonplace in the Carolinas.) The bad part was the front desk attendant who kept knocking on the door every five minutes. I stayed up all night afraid he was going to make his own swipe key copy.
Total germaphobe right here! I'm the exact same way! I've been forced to stay at some cheap motels before and I will never again do that. There were roaches EVERYWHERE! so nasty. I usually spend a little more on a hotel just because I wanna feel comfortable while on my vacation. I mean, even if I am just sleeping there, I want to be able to sleep….with the lights off! I've been trying to find a good deal on a decent hotel in Vegas as well. Good luck!!
I guess my opinion is biased. My PT job is at a hotel chain (Hyatt), so I use their line, even when I can't use my employee discount. I am proud of the Hyatts as an employee. That said, if that were to become a non-option (which is rare!) depending on the lenght of the visit, I'd go for cheap. I only sleep in my room and then I'm away for the rest of my awake time, so I don't care much. I would tolerate a messy room up to a reasonable extent (I'd let management know, of course), but no human remains on the walls or bed! Have you tried looking at the long-stay business type hotels? If your vacation will be more about other places than the hotel room, I know that most hotel branches (Marriott, Sheraton, Hyatt, Hiltons, etc) have developed a new branch which is a lot cheaper while maintaining their high standards. I've stayed at a Hyatt Place and the rooms were outstanding for about 1/4 the price of their hotels.
This is a hard one. I would go for cheap and clean.
PS I left you an award on my blog!
I like to find the best possible deal on the best possible hotel. That said – I've never paid over $200 per night on a hotel. One of my (strange, possibly?) requirements for a hotel is that it has a flat screen TV. I only have flat screen TVs at home, and I refuse to stay somewhere where they don't have flat screens. Also, the hotel has to have free internet (either wired or wireless). Those internet costs can add up. I'd rather use that money to do stuff rather than pay for me to access the internet. I prefer hotels that have a free hot breakfast (though not a complete deal breaker) and don't charge for parking.So, I said all of that to say that I have certain standards when I travel and if the hotel isn't "up to snuff", I will pass them over – irregardless of price…
ok i am a germophob like you too especially when it comes to hotel rooms. i have my limits and spending $200 on a hotel room and there is food and throw up on the wall, ugh!! ugh i shutter just thinking about it. i definitely like to spend a little bit more on the vacation part and not as much on the hotel but i do have my limits.
We've started seeking out B&B through tripadvisor. So far it's been great.I stay in a lot of hotels for work, and the mid-range hotels (Holiday Inn etc.) tend to be a lot nicer than the super pricey ones (ex. The Willard) which fee you to death for every little thing, even if you don't use it (I didn't bring a car! Don't charge me for parking!).
Honestly I wouldn't mind a cheaper place if it's for a night or two, but if it's a vacation and you will be spending a lot of time at your hotel, definitely look for deals on nicer hotels. Do you have rewards you can use at hotels? I love my Chase Sapphire Preferred for this reason. Also chain hotels are not that bad as well. Good luck!
I am a hotel "snob" of sorts, meaning I won't say anywhere that is a motel, or that is unclean. Beyond that, I am fine with anything that seems sanitary and comfortable… I don't need a $500 dollar a night place but I won't stay at a $39.99 either!
i'm definitely somewhere in between $150-$200….comfort is important!
we use priceline ALL the time. This way we're able to stay in 3 or 4 star hotels for about $100 or so. It usually doesn't matter WHERE we stay, because we have our car with us (weekend getaways). I think for international vacations though we'll do a mix of budget and splurge. I know you're not normally in the hotel that long anyway, but I would just like to have couple of days of relaxation and splurge.
I definitely need to look into priceline! Lots of you mentioned it.
I'm usually really cheap. I'll have to check out priceline. I'm going on my honeymoon in September and need some good deals!! We're definitely on a budget!
I'm cheap but we have champagne tastes. Recently, we've been using the timeshare of a (former) coworker. She has way too many points to use, we pay her for the number of points we'd need to stay somewhere, and we all win! Last time we spent $150 total for a 3 night stay in Kauai in a 2 bed/2 bath timeshare condo! Total win. You can do this with people online – people sell their points all the time. Apart from that…it has to be clean. It has to be safe. We've done the 1-star hotels (we stayed in one in France that required us to pay 1 euro to use the bathroom!), and we've done the 5 star hotels (husband used to work for hotel chain – great discounts!). We prefer the middle class hotels – free parking, free internet, clean rooms. If you go to a super fancy one, they charge for every extra. $25 for parking per day! gimme a break.
we used airbnb for our honeymoon and got a super clean fab little apartment for £77 a night in the heart of paris, a really lovely area. i couldnt imagine spending $200 a night on a hotel, id just keep thinking that could be going towards our dream, id never enjoy it!
Hmmm….we are planning our Italy trip right now and this is a question that I KEEP asking! I always try to keep hotel prices right around $100. BUT, I'm also a big germo-crazy person as well so I'm HUGE on reviews!
There are expensive hotel rooms that are "business traveler" quality. I don't spend a lot for this type of hotel, because these are typically the same kind of generic hotel. Nice, great service, but not interesting.I will spend bucks for an old, charming hotel with modern upgrades, say in the downtown historic district. You get a different experience that's worth the extra bucks.
I prefer to stay in a condo and am willing to pay up to $200 a night.Gill in Canada
I've traveled quite a bit across the world on my own dime. I've stayed in really nice hotels and hostels, but never have gone the couch surfing or airBnB route. Though when my brother was in the peace corp, he has tried couch surfing with great results. I'm about to do my first airBnb rental for a trip in July. As far as getting deals on hotels, price line is a good start. This web site biddingtraveler.com helps you bid on hotel rooms.If you're pretty diligent about paying your credit card on time and in full every month. I suggest that you sign up for one of the hotel credit cards because usually a $12,000-$15,000 spend annually can get you a free night in a nice hotel that costs about $250-$300 a night. The return is much better than a 1% cash back credit card because an annual spend of $12k-$15k will only gain you $120-$150, thus the hotel redemption is a better value if you're going to use the free night.
I usually use the priceline bidding thing and score great deals on hotels. And love the new blog look!
As a dancer I used to get all my hotel rooms for free. Now that I am retired from dance I actually have to pay now. Welcome to Yakezie…again
When it comes to hotel rooms, for me it needs to be comfortable and clean and in a good area. If I have to sleep with one eye open the whole night, that's not going to cut it.
A little, I rather spend it on experiences and entrance fees or whatever. If it is safe and clean, it's ok for the night. We usually rent a car, so it's not like we have to stay there for weeks.
Michelle, thanks so much for reading my guest post and letting me know you enjoyed it! I'm now following your blog as well – can't wait to read more! I love the winery wedding idea…and I'm not even a wine gal!! : ]