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 article These Airbnbs Will Blow Your Mind (Not Your Budget) 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.
The post includes the largest database of hostels in the world, the largest hosted rental service, websites for booking unusual designer hotels, accommodation in exchange for help around the house or pet care - 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.
Read also:
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 is a cultural exchange, interesting communication, an opportunity to improve 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 to stay overnight for free, 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.
Rent apartments in Europe
The site for renting apartments and apartments is called Airbnb
How does it differ from the traditional online accommodation booking system that I wrote about earlier ()?
Firstly, the site specializes only in apartments and apartments.
Secondly, on the site you can rent an apartment or an apartment for a long (more than 30 days) period.
For booking.com, the booking period is limited to 30 days.
This opportunity is important for those who, for example, decided to go on their own or send their children with their grandmother to the sea for the summer.
Or for those who are going to go to give birth in the USA (on a tourist visa in the USA you can stay for 3 months and as a rule this is enough for a child to obtain US citizenship).
The process of searching, selecting and booking the found option on AirBnb I described in sufficient detail in my previous articles:
Here I will just give a couple of direct links to popular destinations:
Accommodation booking
After you have decided and in the period of time you specified, the apartment or apartment is free for rent, proceed to booking.
Be sure to read the terms and conditions of your rental property carefully.
Keep in mind that additional services cost money (this is written on the site) and their cost will be added to the final price
The final cleaning of the apartment or villa and laundry are also paid additionally (sometimes it comes in a separate line)
After filling in your details, go to the payment page.
This is probably the most interesting. After all, you don’t want to part with your hard-earned money ... Yes, I understand. When communism comes, we will go on vacation for free.
If more than 45 days remain before arrival, to confirm the reservation, it is enough to make an advance payment of 30% of the cost of living, and pay the remaining amount 1.5 months before the date of arrival.
Payment is accepted by Visa, MasterCard bank cards and bank transfer is also possible. But I hope a credit card is better than the extra 50 euros to pay for a bank transfer.
Airbnb Visa Verification
Also, many are interested in the question - is the booking confirmation suitable? apartment or apartment for self-acquisition of a Schengen visa?
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How to rent a house, so that by sending money - a deposit or an advance payment - not to lose them ... - that is, to have firm guarantees on this score that the owners will not deceive and slip a bed in a hostel instead of an apartment.
There is such a service - Airbnb
An American invention, but due to its great popularity it has conquered the whole world. Therefore, it will suit both those who go on a business trip to Penza, and those who go with their families to relax on the coast of Spain.
I personally rented an apartment in the center of Moscow through this service when my own apartment was being renovated ...
If you are going to rent for a period of a week, then the prices are cheaper than a week's stay in a hotel.
Yes, you yourself can play around with directions and dates: go to the AirBnb website, select the city and dates of arrival and departure and press search
How this booking system works
You look at the housing options offered to you for the requested dates and, having chosen the options you like according to the photos, equipment and price, you begin to carefully consider them
Look at the photos, and although they are not true - after all, they can be retouched by painting over a hole burned by a cigarette butt in the upholstery of a sofa or by adding a missing leg to a chair in Photoshop - you will get a certain picture of the apartment that you want to shoot.
hosts
After that, move on to the host persona. Look it up a photo, look reviews about the apartment from other tenants who lived here before you. look Contact details the owner - does he have accounts in social networks? This is good - it means he does not hide himself and probably pays taxes.
You can contact the owner through a special feedback form. Ask questions. For example, “where do the windows go” or “is it possible to bring a small dog with me.”
Rent terms
If everything suits - carefully read the terms of the lease and canceling this apartment is very important.
The rental price of the apartment may not include final cleaning, and it is also necessary to take security deposit. As a rule, equal to the cost of one day of accommodation and it will be returned to you in exchange for the keys upon departure.
Having found out all the questions and finally deciding for myself: I take it! - go to the booking page, where you will be asked to enter your data and the data of a plastic card, from which the cost of renting an apartment for the period you requested will be debited 100%.
Rent payment
But, the money does not immediately go to the owner. No. He will receive them only on the second day of your stay in the rented apartment, because if you arrive and find that the photographs of the apartment you have seen are photographs of a completely different apartment or that this apartment does not match the description on the Internet, you must contact the AirBnb support service in order to so that you are immediately offered a similar option for less money (a moral damage bonus), or your prepayment is returned.
In turn, the owner of the apartment is interested in making you like the apartment, since he does not receive money for rent immediately, but only after your inspection of it, that is, on the second day. As you can see, the system takes into account the interests of the tenant and guarantees him from deception.
And one more thing: be sure to read: there people share their experience in renting accommodation all over the world through AirBnb, warn if it is necessary to warn, and also leave reviews about good housing options they have rented.
