Where to Stay | The One With The Budget Traveling
June 02, 2019
As I continue on my week away at my brother's I thought I'd keep the travel theme going and so, welcome to the second installment of my Budget Traveling Series, if you didn't catch my first post on How to Fly & Get Around, make sure to give it a read first. Today I'll be showing you how I save money when booking my stay, and share a few of my favourite places, just keep reading.
Much like I did on my previous post, I must advise you to travel off peak, it might not seem as exciting but trust me, your wallet will appreciate it. Also, remember you don't have to stay right in the middle of all the action, usually city centers have the most expensive places to stay at, but if you look for places a few minutes away, I promise you, you'll save a lot of money. Make sure to pick a place off center but still in walking distance so that you don't have to spend the money you saved on your stay on public transport.
The kind of place you stay at is also very important, most of my traveling days have been spent at hostels instead of private rooms, which I'm okay with. For me, hostels are the way to go, and if you're traveling with friends, you may even get the entire room for yourselves, something that has happened to me, it's like having a giant sleepover. If you're not comfortable sharing a bedroom with strangers, which is totally acceptable, maybe try to book private rooms in hostels, it will be pricier than a shared room, but still cheaper than staying at an hotel or an apartment. I know it's hard to look for places online, you can never tell if they're as good as the pictures make them look or if they're trustworthy, so I thought I'd show you the places I've stayed at before, just to help you out.
If you're staying in Porto, something you should do because it's absolutely beautiful, check out these places: Magnólia Porto Hostel & Suites, this was the first place I stayed at when I first visited Porto, it has quite a warm and familiar feeling to it, the breakfast is great, it's walking distance from most things you'll want to see and the staff was lovely, also you have a great selection of rooms to choose from, mixed dormitory rooms, female dormitory rooms, family rooms and budget twin rooms, they've got it all; for my second stay I chose the Urban Garden Porto Central Hostel, which has a different vibe, a little bit more modern, quite young and hip, the breakfast was also great, the bedrooms were so comfortable and there was this little garden where you could lay down on a hammock or have breakfast in the sun, it was great, the room selection isn't as big, they are all mixed which means you'll stay with both men and women, but you can choose how many people you'd prefer to stay with, if not, there is always the private studio; finally my personal favourite, which you'll be shocked because it's not an hostel, Citybreak Apartments Coliseu, (Standard Studio) this was a bit pricier but so worth the money, the room is so so comfortable and clean, warm and inviting, you have your own kitchen, fully equipped, affordable parking nearby, plenty of great restaurants, supermarkets, and it's right by the most popular shopping street in Porto, I loved every single second in this place and I think this is the only place I'll be staying at in Porto whenever I visit.
If you're visiting Sintra, there's really no other place I'd recommend other than Villa Maçã House, and I'm making this recommendation as a weekend getaway place more than as a young-people-hopping-across-Europe place. I say this only because there's absolutely nothing around besides the beach (Praia das Maçãs), their restaurant and a few mini-markets and cafés, this is a place to rest, to recharge your batteries, to get away from the hustle and bustle of your day to day life. My boyfriend and I took a few days off and decided on this place because it was the perfect resting place right between Azenhas do Mar, which I've always wanted to visit, and Sintra, which I hadn't visited since I was much younger, we took our car and enjoyed the short rides we had to make: only 5 minutes until Azenhas do Mar, 30 minutes to Sintra and around 45 minutes to Cascais, where we ended our stay with the best ice-cream in the world, Santini. Every morning we would walk down the road, with the ocean being the first thing we saw, and go buy some food at the market for breakfast, which we would then prepare in the little common kitchen available, which had everything you could possibly need for a short stay. The bedrooms are perfectly comfortable, with AC and automatic windows, lovely decoration, super clean and I found there was enough space for us to store our things for the short time we were there, but the only thing I was uncomfortable with was the bathroom situation, there's no real separation from the bedroom itself, so keep that in mind if you're staying with someone you're not 100% comfortable with, they'll always know what you're doing in the loo. Also, and this can be either a good or a bad thing depending on how much of a people person you are, there's not really anyone on site, there'll be someone waiting for you to check in or you can go find them at the restaurant which is what I had to do as we got there a bit late, but the desk at the house is always empty, even to check out all you have to do is leave the card at the desk.
Lastly, if you're staying in Amsterdam, the only recommendation I can really make is the Hostel Stayokay Vondelpark, which I stayed at in 2016 and would consider staying at whenever I next visit Amsterdam *squeals with excitement*. I visited Amsterdam with 3 friends and at the time there was really only one room available for us to all stay together, not that I minded, it was really quite cheap, but that meant we had to stay at a 12 bed mixed dormitory room. The only downside to this was that some of the people we stayed with weren't really very hygienic which made the stay a bit uncomfortable, but that's not something I can blame on the hostel. Besides the great breakfast and super nice staff, the best part of this hostel was the location, we were right by Vondelpark, one of the most famous parks in the city, something I didn't know when I was booking us our room, not only that but it is less than 300 meters away from the Museumplein, where you have most of the must visit museums in the city, Anne Frank's House, Dam Square and the Red Light District are all just a few minutes away, and the only time we had to use public transport was when we are going from and to the airport, the bus stop to the airport is around 5 minutes away from the hostel and the ride takes around 40-45 minutes.
Now that that's off the way let's talk booking. There are plenty of booking websites out there that do pretty much the same thing, you've got Trivago, Momondo and so many more, but my absolute favourite is Booking*, that's where I always book through and I have absolutely no complaints. By now, I've reached Genius status and have a small discount in some hotels/apartments/hostels, which is great, but even before that I already loved it. Booking basically looks through every place in their website to show you the best fit for your preferences. You may choose how much money you want to spend for each night, the area you'd like to stay at, if you'd like breakfast, parking spot, pool, private room, shared room, you name it. The greatest thing about this is that most times you can get a better price through Booking than you can if you book through the hotel's actual website, crazy right? Just make sure you book in advance, prices are always changing but they do tend to rise as you get closer and closer to your dates, so keep that in mind. Also, most places do offer free cancellation, which is great if you have a change of plans or if you find a cheaper room, but do confirm before you book, there's no need to lose your money because of a small distraction. If you book through Booking make sure to create your account through this link and win 15€ to spend on your stay, just a friendly discount.
Another tip would be to check if your preferred airline has any affiliation with the website you're using to book your stay. For instance, TAP, my country's airline, is affiliated with Booking, so if I go through this special link and use my Frequent Flyer Number, I'll get two frequent flyer points for every 1€ I spend on each booking, even if I'm not flying anywhere. This is a great way to add up a few points and, in the future, use those to fly for cheaper.
If after all this you're still more into apartments and hotels, which is fair, maybe check Airbnb* (if you create your account through this link you'll get a great discount on your stay, and I'll get a few euros to use too, isn't that great?). I haven't actually ever booked anything through Airbnb, but as most of you know, it's quite a popular place to use, my boyfriend and I actually tried to use it last month when we visited Porto, until we realized the place where we wanted to stay at was actually cheaper through my old friend Booking, Citybreak Apartments, I'm looking at you. Whether you choose to book through them or Booking or the actual places themselves, just make sure to always check them all before you make your final decision. And lastly, make sure to have your Ebates* on (if you're not sure what Ebates is make sure to give my How I Save Money Online Shopping post a read), some websites might be affiliated and let you get some of your money back after your stay. Who said you couldn't save and make money while traveling?
Disclosure: the links followed by an asterisk (*) are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. Also, don't forget to use Ebates whilst shopping to save some money.
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