Holiday Destination Lodging Options

The problem with most travelers, especially family travelers, is that they refuse to experiment and try out new things. Family vacations are like re-runs of old movies, the same thing every year - Disneyland or DisneyWorld, Hawaii or Myrtle Beach, HIlton or Marriott...

Point is, if you're willing to open your eyes, there's so much more. Especially in terms of hotels and lodging. You can enjoy more luxury and more space, more privacy and more convinient locations, and all this at prices which will likely end up way less than what you shell out year after year to help Bill Marriott and the Hilton family flaunt a luxurious lifestyle.

If you'll only look beyond the usual 4-star luxury hotel or resort, and take a look at the other options listed below.

The picture you see is of an Ocean courtyard (715 Dover Court) in Mission Beach, San Diego CA. Its listed here, with daily rates from $350. Weekly and monthly rates available. And here's the lowdown - 2.5 Bath - 1 King Bed, 1 Full Bed, 2 Twin Beds, 1 Twin Trundle Bed. Max. 8. Cable TV, DVD, High Speed Internet, Dishwasher, Microwave, Fireplace, Washer/Dryer. Linens Provided. Approximately 1400 Sqft. Private Deck with BBQ and Ocean Views. Steps to Ocean. Non-Smoking. Parking: 2 Car Garage.

For the record, I have nothing to do (or gain) from this listing. I just found it off the internet, so as to provide an example.

Now three things I need to point out here. First, this listing is more luxurious and spacious than most condos or apartments or beach-front mansions or cabins on Mission Beach. If you're willing to use a homely condo or apartment, you can bring the price down to about $150-200 per day.

Secondly, even considering this specific rental example provide above, if you wanted all this - the amenities, square footage, parking, kitchen facilities, beachfront location, etc. at one of the San Diego hotels, you'd be paying well in excess of $1000 per day. Unimaginable, even for the upper-middle class.

Third, and most important, we're talking about accomodating around two entire families here, or a group of six to eight people. Do you have any idea how much it would cost to put up 8 people at a hotel with all the above mentioned facilities? You'd have to make an emergency withdrawal from your 401k to pay the hotel bill.

Point is, vacation rentals, when compared against hotels, always come up on top in terms of price vs amenities. Most rental owners can and do provide misc extras like stocking refrigirators with groceries, maid service, etc. Just about the only thing you don't get is room service. Would you want to give up so many advantages in return for the lack of a bell-hop? All I'm saying is, next time you plan a vacation, take a look at some vacation rentals at your destination before you book into a luxury hotel.

Again, a lot of people have preconcieved notions that Bed and Breakfasts are good only for a romantic country weekend getaway. Not so. There are plenty of good B&B's in every major city and holiday destination, with options ranging from single rooms with a common dining and living room areas, to full fledged private studio suites with their own attached kitchens and private entrances. Again, way cheaper than hotels, and the full space including the common areas adds upto to a lot more than what you get at a chain hotel.

Additionally, you get personalized service since there are only a handful of guests. You could say that B&B's are a mid-way compromise choice between hotels and vacation rentals, where you get the service and management like a hotel, and the privacy and atmosphere of a homely private vacation rental.

Now before you read this, lemme say that this part is a fairly controversial subject, and most people would advise you to stay away from it, especially timeshares. Its true, people have lost a heck of a lot on bum deals, and if you're the ordinary Joe, I'll advise you the same thing - Stay away from it.

Basically, way timeshares work is that you lease a property from some company for a specific period, or part, of the year. the company leases out the other periods to other buyers, so all the buyers of timeshares in one property end up sharing the property at different times of the year. I'm not going to go into it in detail, considering that I'm advising you against it.

So let's move on to home exchanges. Again, fairly controversial, but less so than time shares. Concept is again siple. You stay in my house, and I stay in yours. Both of us enjoy free vacations. There are resources and communities on the internet who will help you do this in a safe and foolproof manner. Do a google search for home exhanges or home ecchange networks, and you'll find out a lot more.

Lastly, if you're a budget traveler, you might want to consider hostels or even camping, options which are all usually a lot better than cheap hotels, which will like as not take you to the cleaners. If all you need is a place to sleep and freshen up when you wake up, why waste big bucks on fancy furnishings and a snooty bellhop with a fake French accent?