Joan Rattner Heilman
Joan Rattner Heilman, an inveterate traveler and seasoned journalist based in Mamaroneck, New York, is author of more than a dozen books. She specializes in 50-plus travel.
Get more for your money on vacation by skipping pricey hotels. Instead, try an alternative form of lodging, one that’s more adventurous and unusual than a hotel and also much roomier and more convenient. You can live like a local… meet the neighbors… prepare your meals in your own kitchen… and immerse yourself in a new culture.
To see if alternative lodgings may work for you, check out these possibilities on the Internet…
You can rent a condominium or a house almost anywhere in the world. You’ll have privacy, space, a kitchen, a washer and dryer, and sometimes even housekeeping and other extras, such as gyms and pools. This is particularly practical when traveling with family or a group needing extra bedrooms and living space.
You can rent from private owners or through brokers or, in the case of time-share condos, from hotel vacation clubs. Most properties rent by the week or the month. Price and availability are highly seasonal, but rentals are almost always more affordable than the cost of equivalent hotel rooms. Be sure you see plenty of photographs, ask lots of questions and study your rental contract carefully to be sure that you’re getting what you want.
Houses for rent range from cottages in the countryside to beach houses, villas and castles, and are growing in popularity not only in the US but all over the world.
More information: Try the sites of HomeAway.com and Rentalo.com. For resort destinations, try ResortQuest International (www.resortquest.com) and Zonder Vacation Rentals (www.zonder.com). If you want lodgings in a specific destination or area, search the Internet for the name of the place and add the words “vacation rentals” (such as “Cape Cod vacation rentals”).
Swap homes for a weekend, a week or two or longer, and you can stay absolutely free of charge in someone else’s house or apartment. Meanwhile, that family stays in your house. To make a swap, join a home-exchange service. For a cost of about $100 a year, you will get access to thousands of listings plus advice on such issues as contracts and insurance coverage guidelines for the use of one another’s homes.
This is not the best way to go if you are very concerned about other people using your possessions or if you’re looking for the kind of service that you would get in a hotel, but it’s a very cheap option and lets you stay in a nice home in a real neighborhood.
After you find a listing that matches your specifications, you’re on your own in making the deal with the other home owner. Together, you will decide about the dates of the exchange, household care, pet care, yard maintenance, car exchange, etc.
More information: For starters, try HomeExchange.com, HomeLink International (www.homelink.org) and Intervac International (www.intervac.com). Also visit Home Exchange Travels (www.homeexchanger.blogspot.com) for more tips on swaps.
Renting an apartment for a week or more in a big city will save the expense of a hotel and restaurant meals, an especially good choice for visits to foreign countries where the dollar is weak. It gives you a safe and secure place to call your own without taking on the responsibilities of a house. Whether you get a small studio or a spacious two-bedroom layout, it will undoubtedly be more comfortable and cheaper than most hotels.
Private rentals are always available, but a “managed” property offered by brokers has many advantages that can include a reception area, an on-site manager, a doorman, as well as maid and linen service.
More information: Search online for the name of your destination plus short-term apartments. For example, “Paris short-term apartments.” Or try Rentalo.com or, for New York, Boston, Chicago and Toronto only, Roomorama (www.roomorama.com).
If you’re willing to undertake the everyday household chores, another way to live rent free or even make a little money while you’re at it is to sign on as a house-sitter. You’ll live in a private home here in the US or many other places around the world while the owners are away for a long weekend or a few months or a year. Result: You save money on accommodations and the owners of the home have peace of mind.
Your job is to maintain the house as if it were your own — take care of the pets if any, mow the lawn, water the plants and keep the place clean. When more work is required, such as caring for a sick animal or tending to a large piece of property, you may get paid for your labors in addition to your free quarters.
Connect with home owners by registering with an agency that puts you in touch with openings and guides you through the process.
More information:Try The Caretaker Gazette (www.housesit.org), House Sitters America (www.housesittersamerica.com) or HouseCarers.com.
Join a bed-and-breakfast club for older travelers, and you’ll pay a pittance for bunking in the spare bedrooms of other members and may invite others to stay with you when they’re on the road.
How it works: As a guest, you choose your preferred location from a directory of member households and, if your prospective hosts can take you in at a mutually agreeable time, you make arrangements directly with them. Hosts can be found in the US as well as some foreign countries.
You pay $10 to $15 a night, including breakfast, for a single or $15 to $20 per night for a double and are usually treated to a tour of the neighborhood. In return, when you are a host, you’re expected to welcome guests like family when they come to visit you. Visits aren’t necessarily reciprocal — you don’t have to host the people whose homes you have stayed in. Hosts may take in guests only as many times a year as they like and do not have to take in a minimum number of guests. The clubs charge membership fees of about $70 a year and issue useful guidelines for their participants.
More information: The Affordable Travel Club (www.affordabletravelclub.net)… or Home Hospitality (www.evergreenclub.com).
