OMG Jay, thank you so much for the excellent advice. Very useful! I’d not thought of negotiating longer-term stays with hotels. I’ve only worked out upgrades with them. I’m trying it the next opportunity I have!

Hi Nora,

On Airbnb there are places you can rent right away without ever talking to the owner/manager. They have a lightning bolt next to the listing and this means the property is readily available. So I never have to worry about not finding something and like Bob above I rarely pay the listed price. I also have to add that in travel almost everything is negotiable……..even the price of hotel rooms. I usually book a hotel I like for one night upon arrival. Then I speak to the front desk and ask how much would the room be if I were to stay two weeks to a month. I have received rooms at deep deep discounts. Here is why it works. When you book through Expedia or websites like it, the hotels pay a hefty portion to Expedia and such. So you eleminate the middle man when you book directly with the hotel. For example I booked a hostel in Chiang Mai for two nights at seven dollars a night while I looked at apartments. But I liked the hostel so much I decided to stay there (it was a newly opened hostel and I like new places). Two of the seven dollars the owner makes goes to Expedia. So we compromised he charged me six. He made an extra 30.00 and I saved thirty. I am in Bali now and a room that was 54.00 dollars is suddenly 34.00 a night. I know 34.00 may sound like a lot but my budget covers it. I like to treat myself every now and then. Here in Bali I certainly could get something cheaper. I have saved as much as 40.00 a night in really nice hotels when I am having a princess moment and want pampering. So my point is that EVERYTHING is negotiable especially when you do it so that both parties feel good at the end of the deal. That is sweet!!!!

Great to hear from you, Sister! Keep on traveling. Let’s see where in the world we find one another!

Hi Nora!!!

Congratulations on buying a Hotel!!!!

What a fantastic deal!

We have sooo much in-common, but some things that are not.

Some things in-common are: extensive travel and living in different countries, writing about our adventures, meeting different people from all over the globe, and yes, buying a hotel.

Though i have not yet experienced the latter of buying a hotel (yet), i almost Bought an Island in 1999! However, i chose to leave the USA and go to other places instead.

If i had known i would be coming back to the USA I would have purchased it for $2000. Another Town in a desolate area (at that time) offered me to take it for Free! I was not as smart as you in Ceasing the Opportunity!

Let me know when it is ready to be occupied and at what rate!

My most interesting places Are in the Near East and a few other places, but at some point, we just have to meet!!

Glad you are doing well.

sis

Thanks, Ellen! I hope you enjoy Cuenca when you come! 🙂

Hi Jay,
Great strategy to get a hostel for a couple of nights and check out the AirBnB places before committing. Do you ever have problems finding a place that’s available at the last minute like that though?

That’s a GREAT tip, Bob! It can make AirBnBs much more affordable for longer term stays.
And Kathryn – very smart to keep records of everything. A woman after my own heart – ha ha!

And yes, your blog is inspiring. Very, very inspiring.

I would like to give Airbnb a very strong endorsement. Our experiences have been uniformly excellent all over the world. We have been on the road for almost three years now, almost all Airbnb, until we took up housesitting. We are in a great Airbnb apartment in Penang, Malaysia right now.

A vital hint–we have never paid the listed price for an Airbnb apartment. We always line up several choices, then tell the owners we have several good alternatives, and ask them to tell us the best price they can offer us. Since we are usually staying 2-3 months, this price can be as much as 1/3 of the listed daily price. It all depends on the season and the market.

Some hosts have this built into their pricing on Airbnb, with the “monthly discount”, which is often 20 to 40 per cent. But in many cases they have not filled this in, and you have to ask them. And we have found that even the listed monthly discount can be larger for a longer rental.