Why Be a Tourist? Live like a local!
When it comes to vacations, hotels absolutely, positively suck. Let me count the ways.
Hotels are out to separate you from your wallet. Checking into one marks you as a tourist, which derives from the Greek word tourip, meaning “he who must be fleeced.”
Why else would you pay airline rates to live in a room the size of a good closet?
Food? Dining out all day can, in the words of the rapper Ice–T, “break you with speed!” You could always eat all your meals in the hotel restaurant…if your last name is Trump.
Clothes? Since few hotels have washers and dryers, you can:
a) cast about for a laundry somewhere
b) pay the hotel’s extortionary laundry fees, or
c) pack more clothes and become a beast of burden on your own vacation.
This, as the airlines are charging you for every bag you even think of checking. (If you try to get by with just one huge suitcase, you could be hit with excess baggage fees, as much as $300 for every overweight bag.)
Oh, be joyful…
It’s not personal. Hotels have to treat you this way. The best hotels are always either downtown or in tourist zones, some of the priciest real estate on Earth. Mssrs. Marriott and Hilton have bills to pay too. So don’t hate the hostel, hate the game.
Or better yet, opt out of it and go for a short–stay apartment instead.
Now, if you simply must have someone else making your bed and leaving a mint on your pillow every day, this may not be for you. But consider.
A real kitchen, living and bedrooms. No need to get out so the maid can come in. The kids get their own space, without you paying for adjoining hotel rooms. A refrigerator to raid as you please, without having those obscene charges added to your bill.
And nothing you need is “down the hall.”
Stock up on local “flavor” in neighborhood shops. Have breakfast in your pajamas. Make lunch, always cheaper than dinner, your big meal while you’re out, then a light supper and drinks “at home.”
Having a washer and dryer means you need fewer clothes and less luggage, easier on your back and your budget.
There are other benefits. Being in a real neighborhood with real people gives you a view of and a feel for a different world, one you won’t get from a tour bus.
There’s a whole community of vacationers embracing this philosophy. It’s called SlowTrav.com, dedicated to the idea of being travelers instead of tourists.
Vacation apartments come in every size, comfort level and price range. And not just apartments; owners rent out everything from cottages to villas.
This is where a sharp travel agent can save you some Internet search time.
For you independent sorts, just search terms like “vacation rental” or “short stay apartment” along with the name of your destination — and prepare to be swamped by the sheer volume of choices.
For those who don’t feel comfortable going one–on–one with a private property owner, there are agencies specializing in vacation rentals that will hold your hand through every step of the process.
We recently spent more than a week in a Paris apartment rented by the agency ParisPerfect. It was a great and eye–opening experience, which you can check out here.
So if you like saving money and feeling more like a traveler than a tourist, consider a short–stay apartment for your next extended trip.
And buy your own damned mints.