Look for comfortable lodging options in. Couchsurfing is a free overnight stay abroad. Who should choose

With the help of this popular service, you can rent apartments and rooms in 190 countries around the world, contacting the owners directly. The “welcome home” concept, when you get not only a roof over your head, but also a feeling of home, is liked by many - last year there were one and a half times more apartments on Airbnb than rooms in the Hilton network.

To rent a coveted room in Manhattan for $50 or a windmill in Lisbon for $68, you first need to send a request to the owner, get confirmation and pay (on a pay-forward basis, plus a percentage to the service itself). If you want to speed up the process - look for apartments marked "instant booking". If the owner is suspicious, then the deposit may also be blocked on the card - until the date of eviction.

It is usually more profitable to rent an apartment if at least three people are traveling. A traveling couple can rent a single room, and then add another guest there - it usually comes out cheaper. We advise you not to be shy and always bargain with the owners - it rolled more than once. Often, when booking “from today to tomorrow”, it is easier for the owner to give way cheaper than to leave the apartment empty.

Are you eating alone? Take an apartment with the owner (or at least with a cat) - you will have someone to chat with in the evening and roll out a couple of shots in a bar around the corner. It is usually clear from the owner's profile whether a decent drinking companion will come out of him.

9 flats

A less hyped analogue of Airbnb, with which you will become the proud owner of an apartment, room or igloo anywhere in the world (even for a vacation). The mechanics are similar: you find an apartment, write to the owner, you get an answer - and voila! For those who are on fire and want to rent an apartment immediately, there are options with the "Instant booking" label.

You can’t relax with 9 flats either: often for a cheap apartment they will separately charge a daily cleaning fee. In addition, an 11% service commission is usually added to the price indicated on the main page.

Couchsurfing

Sign up for Couchsurfing to find the best free memberships around the world. Use the filters to choose the host you'll be most comfortable with - sort by Couchsurfing experience, languages, age, and even their attitude towards smokers. To increase the likelihood of luck, do not be lazy to fill out your profile in detail and write a heartfelt letter to the future host. No payment is required, it is enough to agree. But in Eastern countries, be careful - behind the cute hosts are usually hidden managers of guesthouses who want to take money from you for a room.

The host always indicates how many people he can accept, so do not forget to check this moment in advance. If possible, grab a blanket and a towel, as well as sugar-covered cranberries, striped chips and Rogachev condensed milk - we have not yet seen a single host that would not melt at the sight of these riches. Ask the owner for secret places, cook him something from your mother's assortment, sharpen knives, in the end. And be sure to leave a good review if you liked everything.

By the way, the Belarusian party of couchsurfers often gets together - join, at the same time and ask about the service.

Homeexchange

For adherents of free exchange, this option is ideal: find a person who wants to come to your city, let him into your apartment, and go live with him yourself. Such matches are found by the Homeexchange service. Add an apartment to the database, indicate the dates of your future trip and the city of your dreams - and wait for those who want to go on an “exchange vacation”. Or be more insolent and offer the owners of apartments that you like to live at home.

Homeexchange services are paid (€ 65 per year, if you did not find an exchange in the first year, then you do not need to pay for the next one). The creators of the service are sure that it usually takes 3-4 months to find one ideal exchange, and if you live in the center of a tourist city, you can do it in a month.

Booking.com

Find any type of accommodation - from a bed in a 20-bed dorm to a presidential suite with three bathrooms - using the convenient Booking.com service. Use a smart filter to select city, area and amenities (like free parking or a balcony).

Most bookings can be canceled free of charge if done 2-3 days before the arrival date. If you find a better option the day before, it’s also not scary: no one will write anything off your card if you didn’t enter your CVV data (three-digit number on the back of the card) when booking. For determined travelers, options with payment at checkout are suitable - you can save 20-40% on the fly.

Booking.com can be a little intrusive: once it gets your email, expect two emails a day with "super good" deals. A nice bonus from booking - if you make more than 10 orders, you can switch to Genius status - with more serious discounts and a check-out an hour later.

agoda.com

Large and convenient service with hotels, which is especially good for trips to Asia. There are also hostels and inexpensive huts here, but the main focus is on hotels. The traditional filter helps to find the best place, price, room amenities and meals. Registered users are promised special discounts (usually a maximum of 10%, but still nice).

The most dedicated users can earn reward points towards future bookings. You can deftly manage the order using applications - you want to kiss the creators, especially when the phone catches Wi-Fi at the airport, and Agoda already shows an interactive map and advises how to get to the hotel.

Island

"Island" was invented so that in three clicks you could book a hotel room or a bed in a hostel. There were no fundamental differences from Booking.com and Agoda (flexible prices, no commissions), except for more jokes. For example, about the Bank of Dreams loyalty program, the guys say that the Island will pay for the nights with you, "and it's not what you think." For each booking, you can receive "dreams" - bonus points, which at first ("black and white") facilitate the use of the site, and then ("colored") are exchanged for discounts not only on the service itself, but also from partners.

hostel world

No matter where your curiosity takes you, with Hostelworld you can always find a cheap room in the middle of the action. The interface, of course, is poorer than Booking.com, but you can find a hostel by city, price, rating and amenities.

If you are absolutely sure of your choice, you can take the Non-flexible booking option - you leave a 19% deposit, which will not be returned in case of cancellation, and in return you get a 25-30% discount on the room. Cancellation bookings will incur a 25% extra charge. For large companies, Hostelworld will be happy to offer more favorable conditions.

By the way, the guys have a good travel blog and have free pdf maps of the largest cities.

Hostels Club

Another hostel search service that offers a large selection of cheap places, as well as the best options for last-minute bookings. Hostels can be compared by location, prices, ratings and amenities. For its services, the site takes from € 2, for each order you need to leave a deposit - 10% of the cost. This is a great option if you are applying for

Recently, we talked in detail about the very first stage of travel - about where and how to profitably book plane tickets.

In the article we will describe both simple and familiar to many tools, as well as more extravagant ones, which not everyone can decide on - but nevertheless, they have the right to exist.

Let's start with the most extravagant option.

6. Booking systems

This is perhaps the most standard way to find hotels. There are many booking systems that have at their disposal a database of hotels for which the search is carried out.

Moreover, often the cost of the same number in different search engines can differ significantly.

7. Meta search engines

This method can be called the simplest, most convenient and often the most effective, especially if your goal is simply to find an acceptable hotel in the right city.

Meta search engines are search engines that do not have their own database of hotels and do not offer booking services, but search through a variety of booking engines.

The obvious advantage of this method is the ability to compare many different options and the absence of the need to study each reservation system separately. For each hotel found, a list of options with prices is provided, from which you can choose yourself.

In addition to prices, descriptions, and photos, some of these meta search engines also collect discount offers and hotel reviews, so you can explore everything in one place.

We have tried many similar sites, many of them are similar, but in our opinion, the most convenient and complete are www.hotellook.ru and.

When choosing a particular hotel, you will be asked to go to the booking system website for booking - you can try to go to different systems and compare the results.

Sometimes it happens that the difference in price is not significant, but in one of the options, for example, you do not need to make an advance payment, or just some system will seem more convenient to you.

So, to summarize all of the above: if you are just going on vacation to Europe or the USA, you want to live in comfort, but not overpay and at the same time not spend a lot of time looking for housing, then it will be most convenient to use one of these services:

www.hotellook.ru

We hope that this review will allow you to find accommodation for the soul and for the budget and have a great vacation!

In this article, we will tell you on which sites you can book accommodation on your own, and give step-by-step instructions on how to do it.

Have you ever had to search for accommodation all over the world on your own or do you entrust this business to travel agencies? The latter will draw up all the documents for you - this is a plus. However, you will pay them more money, the only exception is last-minute trips. In addition, you will be accommodated in one of the typical hotels where all package tourists are taken. And if you want to go on the trip of your dreams, then no one can organize it better than you.

Today we will tell you how to book accommodation yourself. To get started, we recommend reading this article. It will help you navigate the rental sites around the world. And if you like it, sign up for ours.

Where to book an apartment yourself: the best English-language sites for finding accommodation for travelers

Previously, in order to rent an apartment in our city, we read ads on poles and in newspapers in the "Rent" section. They asked acquaintances if they had any friends who were looking for tenants. And renting a home abroad, before arriving in another country, seemed to be a daunting task. Thanks to the Internet, everything has changed - rental sites around the world will help you.

1. Airbnb

Airbnb's These Airbnbs Will Blow Your Mind (Not Your Budget) article features 79 of the most unusual travel accommodations, from luxurious treehouses and small trailers to fabulous mansions.

2.9 flats

3.Wimdu

5. Tripping

6. Agoda

8 Hostel World

10 Outdoorsy

12 Private Islands Inc.

2. WWOOF

Wherever you are going to go on vacation - be it Italy, Turkey or a summer house in the suburbs, the main thing is to take a good mood with you. And then unpleasant little things, even if they exist, will not be able to spoil such a long-awaited vacation for you.

Gathered in one place links to all sites for booking travel accommodation that I know. Here you will find out how easy it is to spend the night in almost any city in the world at an adequate price or even for free! Or find a really unusual place where you will remember your stay for a long time.

In the post, the largest base of hostels in the world, the largest hostel rental service, websites for booking unusual designer hotels, accommodation in exchange for help around the house or looking after a pet - in general, options for every taste. Choose!

Classic: hotel aggregator sites

Personally, I open these sites first of all when I am going somewhere on a trip. As the name implies, they combine information from various booking systems, such as: booking, hotels, ostrovok (one of the best prices in Russia), agoda (good for traveling in Asia), trivago, expedia and many others.

Aggregators compare prices, look for discounts and special offers, where you can also find not only hotels, but also hostels, guest houses - it’s very convenient when everything is in one place.

Free accommodation

The best way to understand a country and its people is to get to know the locals, and even better, live with them for a while. Such opportunities are given by international hospitality sites, when people invite guests to their homes. Just don’t see them as just a free overnight stay, rather it’s a cultural exchange, interesting communication, an opportunity to improve your languages and find new friends around the world.

Source: instagram: @myinterior

Accommodation in exchange for housework

These sites should not be considered only as a way for a free overnight stay, but as a new unusual experience and an opportunity to help people and the ecology of the planet for a week, a month, or maybe more. The bottom line is that you work several hours a day, and in return you get room and board.

Source: GettyImages

Cool and unusual hotel rental services

If you want to live in a lighthouse, in a treehouse, visit eco-friendly or vegetarian-only hotels, try out glamping (glamorous camping) or just show off, then there are special sites for this.

✔ and - here you can buy someone else's reservation at a discount. Someone could not go and sells their reservation on the site. You get a good discount, and the person gets money for a non-refundable number.

Are you ready to join me on an amazing journey with a budget flavor? Then pack your travel bags, fasten your seat belts and let's go! Today we are going to get acquainted with one very interesting idea of an unusual and very cheap vacation. This way of traveling is called house-sitting.

A nice bonus only for our readers - a discount coupon when paying for tours on the site until August 31:

AF500guruturizma - promo code for 500 rubles for tours from 40,000 rubles
AFTA2000Guru - promo code for 2,000 rubles. for tours to Thailand from 100,000 rubles.

And you will find many more advantageous offers from all tour operators on the website. Compare, choose and book tours at the best prices!

You do not even need to be an expert in English to understand the origin and approximate meaning of this unusual term. Housesitting is usually called temporary residence in someone's house, or rather looking after him.

It turns out that if you intend to go on vacation or on urgent business, and there is no one to leave the house for, there are many people who will gladly look after your home, feed their beloved cat and pour precious petunias on the window. These are the so-called "housesitters", which provide such services in exchange for a certain time of free living in someone else's house.

If this is your first time hearing about this type of recreation, you may be pleasantly surprised by its considerable advantages. The main advantage of this way to relax abroad is gratuitousness. You will not have to pay for accommodation, but you will have to take on certain simple responsibilities.

This method of travel has long been known in Europe and America, but among Russian tourists it is only gaining its popularity. Interestingly, such unusual contracts between residents of exotic countries and tourists can be concluded for a variety of periods and with any reservations.

Another way to find free accommodation abroad is couchsurfing. All the details in our article.

What are the benefits of housesitting

It should be noted right away that housesiters do not aim to save their travel expenses or earn extra money. However, this is by no means out of the question! The main goal of lovers of such an extraordinary way of traveling is to learn the features, traditions and nuances of people's lives in a particular country of interest to them. It is the establishment of personal relationships, meeting new people and replenishment with invaluable life experience - these are the main advantages of housesitting.

Would you like this kind of relaxation? Everyone decides for himself. You can go to a distant country and stay for a few days in a hotel or a modest hostel you like. In this case, you will not be bound by duties and will not remain indebted to anyone.

But if you are not afraid of difficulties, are ready to take care of looking after cute pets and do not see anything shameful in accepting a free offer to live in a private house, apartment and cottage - housesitting will be the best option for you.

At the same time, you can directly plunge into the world of national traditions, see an exotic country not through the “pink” prism of the hotel windows, but become a full-fledged resident of it. Even if not for long.

Where to go

When the question arises of where to go on a housesitting trip, you have an impressive list of countries in Europe and America. Here, this method of mutual assistance is known firsthand. Thousands of tourists have already appreciated the benefits of such an unusual holiday. Among them are many Russians who easily picked up this trend.

Therefore, you can safely make a schedule for exploring the sights of Great Britain, Portugal, Italy and other countries. As a rule, the services of housesitters are used by those who do not want to leave their house unattended during their departure, who need help in looking after their pets, or who intend to give their country house in safe hands during the off-season.

Interesting articles:

The best ways to book cheap accommodation abroad

It is in such cases that you can count on free accommodation and accommodation in exchange for your time and labor, which will have to be spent on the performance of often simple duties. Housesitting is the best way to spend a complete vacation away from home. But not everyone can afford to pay for accommodation even in an inexpensive hotel.

Who should choose

Well, are you already interested? Housesitting will be a great option for a holiday abroad for all those whose main activities are not tied to one place. In particular, businessmen who supervise business via the Internet, other specialists whose workplace is the World Wide Web.

Even students who do not study full-time. In general, it will be useful for them to be away from their home. Perhaps it is in the picturesque suburb of Parma or on the shore of some lake in Germany that you will think better, and your thesis will be more successful.

But all those who are “bound hand and foot” by office ties, whose work is connected with a certain place, should not despair. They can also taste the delights of an extraordinary holiday. After all, no one canceled a vacation or a weekend. It is only necessary to correctly guess the timing and discuss in advance all the possible nuances. Undoubtedly, the number of options will be somewhat more modest, but everyone will have a place for an interesting vacation even in the busiest work schedule.

How to select options and where to look for offers

So, we have already formed a certain idea of a tourist vacation abroad called "housesitting". Now let's try to figure out where to find offers, and what points should be prioritized.

As mentioned earlier, this form of mutually beneficial travel is most common in Western Europe, North America and Australia. Therefore, there are a number of sites that are always full of ads and current offers. It is enough to enter only the key phrase "housesitting in ..." and a lot of options will be offered to your attention, some of them may seriously interest you.

In addition, there are already several international sites that post such ads for temporary residence in exchange for small housekeeping services. If you plan to travel in this manner for a long time, you should take care of registering on the sites. To your attention are always fresh and relevant offers that are posted on the sites:

www.trustedhousesitters.com
www.housecarers.com
www.luxuryhousesitting.com

What is necessary

Since housesitting travel involves not just spending time abroad, but also close communication with the owners of houses in which you can stay for a while, discussing all the nuances of mutually beneficial tourism, you certainly need to be fluent in foreign languages. In most cases, only English is sufficient. But it will be much easier for those who speak several languages. This greatly simplifies communication and increases the chances that you will be chosen.

So, let's say that you have a burning dream to experience all the delights of housesitting, and even picked up the first place for the trip. In addition, you are fluent in English and have a great sense of adventure. Then you have to register on one of the sites you like and make an entrance fee. The amount is modest and, rather, even symbolic - from 20 to 80 dollars. This payment will have to be made annually.

In addition, future housesiters will have to fill out a detailed questionnaire about themselves, post their photos, as well as reviews of those with whom you had the good fortune to meet. The main thing in this business is responsibility. After all, a profile filled out correctly and once will work for you for a long time, and sincerity and simplicity will become the best “magnet” for possible foreign friends.

By the way, on the Internet you can find a lot of practical recommendations and tips on how to become a real housesiter and succeed in this type of tourism.

When the registration process is completed, you will periodically receive emails with fresh offers that are posted on the site. You will only have to monitor the offers and choose from the whole variety of offers that are interesting for you, which are suitable for both dates and places.

Once you find what you need, contact the landlord. To do this, you will have to fill out an application form and wait to be contacted. Depending on how interesting your profile is, and what facts you have stated in the application, you will have a higher or lower chance over other housesitters.

If your profile is to your liking, you will be contacted and offered to chat. And if everything goes smoothly, you can discuss all the nuances of living in someone else's household.

Do not forget to find out all the points that interest you so that there are no unpleasant surprises. Fortunately, now it is not difficult to do this, because ultra-modern communication channels are at your service - Skype and e-mail. And one more nuance. Housesitters arrive a couple of days before the departure of the owners of the house in order to have time to get acquainted with the house, animals and receive detailed instructions. They leave the next day after the owners returned home.

Worth remembering

If you choose such a budget way to relax abroad, do not forget about some important points. First of all, housesitting is not a banal opportunity to live in someone else's house for free. Remember, a potential guest is chosen scrupulously, studying the personality in detail and transferring its qualities to oneself. As a rule, already in the process of communication, a certain impression is formed about the guest and the owner of the house, which, in most cases, turns out to be correct.

Europeans and Americans choose a person according to values, studying all aspects of personality. They will not let anyone into their comfortable house on the seashore or in the middle of the beautiful capital. It is not uncommon for a housesitter to receive an invitation from the hosts after a couple of letters or one Skype conversation. But the experience of compiling a profile comes with time.

Another important nuance. Since for Russians this type of recreation is still a “dark forest”, many of our compatriots equate housesitting with the services of “housekeepers”. That is why, due to the call of their pride, many refuse housesitting, declaring that they are able to pay for their vacation themselves. And they don't know what they're actually giving up!

And that's why. Housesitting does not at all indicate a lack of money for recreation. Among housesitters there are many citizens who can boast of higher incomes than the bulk of tourists from Russia. But they still go on a visit to distant countries, preferring to live in someone else's house, and not in a hotel. This is a kind of exotic, an opportunity to get acquainted with the traditional activities of people who live on the other side of the world, an opportunity to plunge into the unusual world of traditions and local customs.

Important Instructions

Housesitting, despite its growing popularity, is filled with competition. As soon as you see a suitable option for the tour, you should immediately apply. After all, only those who are faster win in this case. The more interesting the offer, the greater the queue of those who want to get it will be knocking on the homeowner's door. It is not uncommon for applications to stop accepting applications within a few hours after the ads are posted, and homeowners opt for one of the candidates.

Therefore, if you want to go to an interesting place and get a coveted offer, you should systematically monitor the options and do not hesitate to submit applications. Pay priority attention to "hot" offers, the chance to get them is always higher. Sometimes unforeseen situations happen to the originally selected housesitter, and homeowners have to urgently look for replacements. This is where your "finest hour" can come! The main thing is not to miss it.

When considering offers, immediately specify whether you can come alone, with a couple or with children. As a rule, homeowners have nothing against such a family vacation. Well, it’s not always possible to relax with animals, although there it’s as lucky. Sometimes having children is a priority. For example, if the owner of the house has his own children, and would like to introduce him to communicate with his peers. In this case, you will win twice: you will be able to spend a vacation with your family and give your kids the opportunity to “pull up” English or another language.

In addition, it is worth paying attention to the presence of animals at the host. If you come across an offer to spend a few weeks in the city of your dreams and live in a chic house on the lake or the sea, whose owner loves his pet, be sure to write about your cats / dogs and how much you love animals. Give examples of why it is worth choosing you and entrusting the care of your pet into your kind and reliable hands with a calm heart. It helps a lot.

And further. Don't be intimidated by the prospect of caring for animals. You will have enough time to visit the sights, and swim in the sea, and other little things. Many housesitters will attest to this.

Well, do not forget to agree on all the nuances. For example, many invitees do not mind at all if you drive to the city for shopping in his car. It is important to remember here that the cost of gasoline and the payment of possible fines will fall entirely on your shoulders.

Also, do not forget to specify the points related to paying utility bills, making the necessary contributions, and the like. This is especially true if you plan to live in the house for more than a month. Well, some points can generally be prescribed in the form of a written agreement. This will help to avoid incomprehensible situations and get out of difficult situations with dignity. So do not neglect this opportunity.