5 reasons to stay in a private room instead of a hotel during your vacation

I spent the last two weeks on a road trip with my Boyfriend through France. The most of the time we spent in the South in Côte d’Azur with Family and friends but on the way there and on the way back to Germany we stop in many other beautiful places.

Since we don't have a Caravan we choose to stay in private rooms that we booked over AirB&B. I discovered AirB&B three years ago, when I made a trip to Barcelona with 3  of my best Friends, we needed a place where we can stay together, have some privacy and the possibility to cook and -very important- have breakfast when we wake up and not after a time schedule. After that, my first address for accommodation during my Vacation is AirB&B. Normally I book a flat, but this time, I guess because we were far away from big Cities, were not much flats available but a lot of private rooms. I really enjoy to stay I those places and I have 5 good reasons for that!

1. You feel like home

Normally I stay in Hotels when I'am in a business trip. During the day I'm Working or I'm in a Conference, so there is not much time for sightseeings or cultural contact and in the night I usually meet the people I'm working with and after I just want to sleep. In a Hotel you only meet your coworkers or Tourist. I think this is kind of anonymous and you don't have to much contact with the local residents, who in my opinion, play a big roll in the flair and culture of a place an the way you perceive it. In a family house, your are not only a guest, your are also part of the family, you feel welcome....sometimes you even sit with them in the table for lunch or dinner....  in other words you don't feel like a tourist any more...

2. You know other people and other life styles and even make new friendships

When you live long enough in a place you start to think that you know everybody, not because you really know them, is just because everybody start to look the same or living and thinking the same way.  Specially in big Cities seems like everybody is playing a roll what they are suppose to look or to be like, or are in the rush or in stress and don't have to much time to look around. Staying with people you don't know in places you've never been before gives you a very closer view in the hosts private all day life. You may not catch everything in just a few days but you realize very fast how different their lives are. In order to grow inside and enlarge our knowledge and spirit  is very important to learn the skills of observation, communication (not only verbal) and reception, to see with different eyes and to learn from other minds. To see the way they enjoy life, like time is not important at all, or the way they deal with it. 

 

As Eric Roth wrote for the movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ..." I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view."

 

3. You get a super Breakfast with homemade marmalade  and fresh regional products 

Breakfast is the most important meal in the day. If you want to start the day in a good way and in a good mood you better get a good breakfast....For me no day Start without breakfast, at least not without Coffee and a good Coffee in the morning make my day much better. My best friend used to say that there is no breakfast for me without Eggs and Coffee...well I need to be flexible sometimes since not everywhere I can get eggs, but Coffee...mhm there is no compromise I NEED A COFFEE every morning. 

The places we stay were mostly at the country side or in very small villages. The products were fresh from the market and the eggs from the neighbors chicken. The bread from the town bakery, fresh made from the same morning and the marmalade all home made with fruits from the garden or from the region. And the Coffee was always good, French people have very high expectations when it comes to Coffee.   

  4. You get the best insider Tips 

You always know which are the best hiking or jogging routs, restaurants and local stores to go in your own town and that doesn't mean the one full of tourist. In my experience, local residents will always give you the right Tip where to go because those are the places they are going at least once in a week. If you are shy and don't feel comfortable talking with strangers in the street, staying with a family help to break the ice and even if you don't ask, they will give you a few tips. Hotels usually give tips where the Tourist like to go and lets face it, they are not always the best places. There is nothing more disappointing for me that expecting a good restaurant and getting a bad meal that taste like the food I had at school....grrr...this truly happen a few times.... Other side I like to support local Business and when it comes to wine there is so much secret to be discover and those you only get from the people who are living there. Big Business and Big names has a lot of costumers but the small ones need costumers and supporters.

    

5. You have better prices and probably the best views

Hotel are sometimes so expensive that you have to save for one year in order to be able to pay a room for one week. Yeah some of then may have Sauna and Pool but this not really important for me since I don't like Pools and I have a Sauna in the Gym every day...and when I'm traveling I prefer to discover and to be outside. The comfort of the room is not better either than in a room at a Family House and you will probably have more luck with the location. There is a lot of good Hotel, no questions about that, but if you have a low budget, or planing an spontaneously trip, or like to meet other people and looking for the best Price-performance ratio, I can really recommend this kind of accommodation. 

Happy to share this experience
 
Eliza