Accommodation
Here are some general ideas of what type of accommodation and prices we paid for our around the world trip. We stayed in plenty of hostels and backpackers, but we never shared a room with other people. We found that when traveling as a couple the cost of a private room in a hostel was usually not that much higher than the cost of two dorm beds.
We stayed in every kind of place imaginable, in basic huts, hostels, budget hotels, bed and breakfasts, guest houses and resorts. On a few occasions we treated ourselves to something with a bit more comfort, but most of the time it was just what ever place seemed friendly, clean, comfortable and cheap. Our nightly accommodation costs varied from as low as $9 a night up to $170, and a range of many prices in between. After taking all the price ranges into consideration the average nightly cost came to $50. If we omitted our travel to Europe, this average would definitely come down.
South Africa
There is every kind of accommodation available here. Hostels, guest houses, bed and breakfasts, budget hotels, high end hotels and resorts are all available depending where you are. Prices ranged from $35 to $70 per night for what we stayed in. We were spending our nights in a mixture of hostels, guest houses and budget hotels.
The low end was a private room usually with a bathroom in a hostel. The higher end was sometimes a private self catering room within a private home or small guesthouse. We found most of the accommodations in South Africa to be of very high quality and comfort. This country really caters to backpackers. The hostels are amazing. Many of them are more like small resorts. They have game rooms, pools, restaurants as well as laundry and internet facilities. Capetown was more expensive at around $50 to $60 for a double room with ensuite in a hostel. If you compare to North America you get a lot more value for you money here.
Thailand
This country has a mixed bag of places to stay. There are hostels from good to very bad. Hotels range from budget to high end luxury. Bangkok was at about an average of $50 for an adequate hotel room or $30 for a double hostel room with ensuite. Other areas in Thailand we found places around $15 to $20 for a double hostel room with ensuite. Most of the guest house rooms through out Thailand were basic, clean and comfortable. We found the exception to this in Bangkok. It was hit and miss. It seemed you had to shell out more money to get a place that was clean and didn’t have a funky smell to it.
Siem Reap, Cambodia
The places we stayed in were very comfortable, modern and clean $25 to $35 for a double room with bathroom in a guest house or hotel. We stayed in huge modern rooms for as little as $25 with an included breakfast. They had spotlessly clean tile floors, modern bathrooms, cable t.v. and air conditioning.
Singapore
A minimum of $50 a night for a very small hotel room. We had to do a bit of searching to find something for that price. The rooms were basic and clean.
Laos
This is where you can still really get bang for your buck. You shouldn’t have to pay anymore than$15 for a double room with an ensuite. We found most places to be spotlessly clean and comfortable. We chose to spoil ourselves here and get very nice accommodation for as little as $25 to $40 a night.
China
It really depends where you are and if it is a big city. We paid as little as $9 to $45. Bejieng was the high end for a double room in a hotel. The hostels throughout the rest of China averaged at about $25 for a double room with ensuite. The level of cleanliness and comfort of the rooms varied here. Some places were very clean and comfortable, others were kind of dingy and had a smell of mildew.
Tibet
An average of $25 to $35 for a double room with ensuite in places that were more like small hotels rather than hostels. Most places were clean and basic.
Hong Kong
We stayed most of the time for free with my brother, but on the second time through we stayed in a small room in a place located in the central district of Kowloon for $45 a night. It was nothing special, but clean and convenient for shopping, etc.
Greece
Wow, have prices every gone up here since the introduction of the Euro and the hosting of the Olympics. We couldn’t find anything less than$80 in the Plaka area. This was a shoebox room that was dreadful without air conditioning. We managed to find a place further out on the edge of the Plaka area for $70. It had air conditioning, private ensuite and included a light breakfast. It was basic, clean and comfortable.
On the island of Corfu it was difficult to find something that was not an upscale hotel. We searched all around Corfu town and finally found small older hotel. The room was very tiny, but it only cost $55 a night so we were not going to complain.
Venice, Italy
A shoebox room for $130, it did include a nice breakfast. The location was good, just off one of the main canals. Clean and cozy.
Portugal
We found mostly small hotels and guest houses. A double room with ensuite that usually included some kind of breakfast was from $40 to $60. The places were very clean, basic and comfortable.
Ireland
We had a lot of troubles finding a place to stay in Dublin. If there is a concert or event going on things really get booked up. We paid $90 for a tiny hostel room, and had to pay $170 for a tiny hotel room on the night of a concert. There was no where else to stay. In Cork we paid $60 for a small room in a guest house.
London, England
We passed through London a couple of times on this trip. Each time we could only manage to find a small hotel room for about $130. You can get cheaper places, but they are will be further out and you will make up the difference in transportation costs to get to the airport. These places were shoebox rooms.
Seville, Spain
Seville can be rather pricey, it took a bit of shopping around to find something on the cheaper side. We managed to get a small hotel room with in walking distance to most attractions for $70 a night. It was very clean and comfortable.
Tanzania
In Arusha you can get a basic double room with private bath and air conditioning for $50. The city of Moshi was around the same. On the island of Zanzibar in Stonetown it was about $40 for a a basic double room, we had no air conditioning though. Elsewhere on the island in Nungwi we had a basic room right on the beach for $30 a night. It was clean, had a private bath and ceiling fans. We paid a bit more to stay in a place with more amenities in Paje and air conditioning, it was $60 a night.