How do you work out what is good value for money? do you always look for the cheapest? when do you splurge?
I just picked up on the
best versus
cheapest aspect of the previous discussion.
There is definitely a difference between best and cheapest
For example in Bangkok...
Cheapest - I've stayed in 100baht boxes in Koh San Rd - straight out of "The Beach" with the blood still fresh on the walls - I've stayed in some nicer places just off it - for 200-300baht.
Best - 700baht - which is about $20 US - will get you a really nice room - hot water, air-con, comfort, internet access - and a location - away from the pumping music.
It's a value for money decision in most cases - a 100baht box may actually be just the same value for money as the 700baht room - you get what you pay for - and the $200 dollar 5 star down the road may only be a touch nicer than that 700baht room - making it bad value for money.
I vary my choices - depending on if I'm looking for parties and adventure - or a good nights sleep and a day working via the included wi-fi 😊
Where do you stand on these choices?
Do you always just go for the cheapest - or vary the budget like I do depending on your circumstances?
Are you a 5 star prince/ess - a bad nights sleep with a three foot mattress and a single dried pea?
Reply to this I vary all the time In bali I have been only doing fan rooms with Hot water which is saving me $15 USD a night But when in Bangkok I allmost allways stay at Thai House inn on Suhkumvitt as it is convienent to the airport any time of the night or day. close to the sky train and I can get to Khoa San rd in less than a hour durring rush hour using skytrain and river boats and very fast free WiFi which is something I crave after being in places like Cambodia Vietnam or espically Indonesia so I can indulge my youtube habit which for me the added value makes the 700 baht a night a deal for me.
I also really like the D&D roof pool more expensive than the other accomodations in the area but for me the pool is worth it.
I normally will spend a little more the first couple of nights hook into the network and find the best local deals and then settle in.
I find things that I particularly like that really enhance my exprience be it a friendly bar Max's Guest house Phuket, a cool old villa in Sihanoukville Orchedee Guesthouse. Awsome View on the end of the Long Beach in Puerto Galara Philippines up in the rocks. anything that makes me have a better time is a better value and sometimes just keeping a few extra dollars will do that as well. So it varies on circumstance.
Reply to this Do you always just go for the cheapest - or vary the budget like I do depending on your circumstances?
Most of the time I choose the cheapest but if there is somthing really special available I sometimes go for that.
One time I was in China there was a quaint little Chinese hotel. It has rooms with crisp white sheets on the double beds with en suite bathrooms with hot water baths. It was so nice there that I didnt even go out that night. I just took a hot bath and sat at my window drinking the complimeantary tea and looking at the goings on in the street below. The cost was 16 US.
'All the other places I stayed in China were 5 to 10 US. They were freezing cold with damp sticky carpets and the attached bathrooms had only cold water that came on for a couple of hours, usually at some inconvenient time in the afternoon. The staff had no sense of our Western needs for privacy and stomped through my room at regular intervals starting at dawn and asked me questions in Chinese.
I never bother with the glass and crome sterilized expensive hotels such as the Sheraton. They are absolutely not worth spending my years travel money to stay a week at.
Reply to this As a young girl my parents always pulled a trailer down to Mexico for the winter and we stayed at camp grounds along the way. Then, when we traveled to Thailand, my parents picked out places to stay that were affordable (not that hard since we went to Thailand the year the baht crashed) and safe for a family. At one point during our second year there we stayed in a bungalo on a beach for a $1 a night.
In Europe I tested my penny-pinching skills by overnighting on trains as much as possible (one can not go too many days on 5 hours of sleep a night and no bath) and when I did stay in hostels, I always went for the cheapest. If there was a special place, such as a unique mountain hostel in Switzerland or a castle-turned-hostel in Germany, I stayed there for the experience. But I always made sure that the next night or two I was able to average my budget. I've spent a few nights in train stations as well, which were not the best in regards to comfort. But it stretched my money as was my goal at the time.
Some of the hostels were a little sketchy. I stayed in one Belgium hostel in a shared room where there were too many people. Individuals were letting their friends in the back door and sleeping in the beds with them. The hallway smelled like someone defecated on the floor, which made entering the hostel somewhat repulsive.
I stayed in a really large hostel in Berlin once near the red-light district (unbeknown to myself at the time of booking) in a room of over 20 bunks. Most of the other people in the room were men and all of them would stay out until four or five in the morning at the porn places. Needless to say I wasn't there for very long despite the budget price of the hostel...
Reply to this Last time I was in Dublin all the cheapest hostels were booked so I had to take an expensive one. As I hiked the 200M from the dorm room in the middle of the night up and down a few flights of stairs to the only toilets which were incidentally unisex, I wondered why exactly this hostel costs more than the cheap ones I usually stayed in. The only service that I could see as better than the cheap hostels is it had free internet. In the morning I made the mistake of leaving my breakfast unattended for a half minute and the cleaning lady cleared it away. Paying more unfortunately does not guarantee something better.
Reply to this I've stayed in 100baht boxes in Koh San Rd - straight out of "The Beach" with the blood still fresh on the walls
If I see blood and any questionable bodily fluid in the room, I will be running out of there in a flash !
I tend to go for mid-range accommodation. But If I see a 5 star resort that's on special rate and good value for money...I'll grab it so I can fully enjoy my holiday.
For me, it's the quality than quantity. I'd rather stay for a week in a safe and comfortable hotel than a month in a box getting eaten alive by bugs and having to constantly worry of getting robbed or attacked.
Reply to this Another thing that is not value for money is visiting Munich during the Oktoberfest. I live here so at least I didnt have to pay for a bumped up price hotel room to experience trying to avoid the puke puddles and swaying drunks as I walked through the centre of Munich yesterday.
Drinking beer at the Weizen probably started as a cosy tradition but these days the customers are treated with little respect. Every year there are complaints in the newspapers etc about the beer being short of the litre it is supposed to be so more profits can be made from the probably too drunk to notices.
The city is beautiful all year round and the same beer is available in the beer gardens all year round and at a better price. I wouldnt bother visiting Munich for the Oktoberfest. It is certainly better value for money at other times.
Reply to this I try to find something cheap and good... I always stay in budget accommodation, but they can vary widely and sometimes if you come somewhere off season, you can get midrange accommodation for budget prices. Other times if you travel in high season you can get a grotty little shit room for midrange prices. I always try to travel off season, so far I have managed fine... I have paid as little as 2 dollars for spotless rooms with TV, balcony, western style bathroom with hot water, mosquito nets and fans and all the trimmings and 10 dollars for a room that resembled the London dungeons.
Reply to this I am the planner for our vacations and my husband barely knows where he's going when we get on the plane. He knows the country, but not our schedule. I spend a lot of time on the internet looking for the best place for the most affordable price. I have found a very cool website called worldby.com that has been very helpful. I check out all the photos of the place, the full description and the reviews if any are available. So on our trips to Italy, we like to hop from place to place every 3 nights or so. Depending on where it is and what I find, we might splurge a little more in some spots.
For instance, I made plans for us to go to Torino. As we were driving and approaching the city, I explained to my husband that our hotel was about 35 miles north of the city. He started grumbling about it. Why couldn't we just stay in the city, he asked... But when we got there, he could not believe his eyes. We were staying in a fabulous castle. It cost us more than we normally like to spend (came to about $250 U.S.) -- but it was a wonderful experience. We could not afford to do that in each of the cities, but this was money definitely worth spending.
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