to travel or not to travel - accommodation

We are independent travellers, Bec the kids and I.

 By this i mean i spend hours planning our trips on the computer, researching checking prices waiting patiently for the right price. i start my planning and price checking at least 8 months in advance with outlook of booking it 6 months out from the trip. In this day and age travel agents are a thing of the past, much like spacious airline seats lol.

One of the most import aspects of your planning is to work out your budget or what you can afford to spent on a holiday and how you want to allocate those funds.

I We tend to want to have more money to spend on activities and day to day tourist activities than i do on accommodation.You don't need a pool or a bar in your hotel. As a family we need the accommodation to be safe and convenient. By convenient i mean near the middle of the city near public transport restaurants, supermarkets and shops shops but by no means luxurious.

 Public transport is a big one for me and one of the first things i look at in relation to the accommodation. By staying in close proximity to public transport ideally a metro station makes travelling with the city easier and more convenient when transferring from the airport. Most Cities have an rail connection from the airport ( Melbourne is the odd city out).

I believe that if your spending too much time in your hotel room your not making the most of your time travelling.

On our previous trips we have tended to stay mainly in hotels but on our upcoming trip we have mainly booked apartments which when you look into it are mostly cheaper than hotels.

The big plus of the apartment especially if you have children is that there is cooking facilities and a fridge where you can cook and buy food to store which can be a big saver for you on your costs of eating which are a huge cost when holidaying

 A huge challenge is finding accommodation that will let 4 of us stay in the same room. Booking two rooms is just not economical or an option , this makes the apartment a better option. Prices vary widely depending on countries in Europe. I try to average around $100 a night. In cities such as London and Paris this is not possible by any means for 4 people. In Paris you would be looking $180 minimum and that would be a 1 to 2 star establishment.

 Websites that i have booked through often have ratings from previous people who have stayed in the apartment/hotel. These are well worth reading but take a lot of it with a grain of salt because some people whine for the sake of it about things that are not a huge problem.

In the next post i will talk about some of the sites i use to book accommodation

Mark

• photo's are Riga Apartments in Riga in Latvia