Places to stay.

I just wanted to put my thoughts down regarding using the internet to find private places to stay when traveling. Recall that we booked all our accommodation on this trip through internet resources such as VRBO (Vacation Rentals by Owner) and AirBnB. During this trip we rented three apartments, one in Brixton, one in Budapest, and one in Amsterdam. Despite some of the quirkiness of the rental in Budapest, all three were better than we expected and were a bargain when compared to hotels. They were all clean, close to either public transport links, or right in the city center. The prices were as advertised (there were no hidden costs).

Two of the three were small one bedroom apartments complete with some food and everything else needed. The rental in Budapest was a two bedroom apartment (because there were four of us) and came with no food. It did however have a bunch of wine and bottled water available to purchase in the apartment.

The owners in both Brixton and Amsterdam were great hosts. Fiori (in Brixton) left us enough food for several days. The place was fully stocked with condiments and all the other stuff that you only need to buy once in a while. Her tea was the best we've ever had. Daniel (in Amsterdam) left us a bunch of breakfast stuff in the fridge (bread, eggs, yogurt, cheese, milk, and butter) and someone came and restocked the stuff while we were out. All three places had great kitchens with all the facilities of home. Daniel even had a housekeeper come in three times over the week and clean up. All three places had washers and dryers, and two had dishwashers. They all had complete bathrooms (Budapest had two), but in Amsterdam there was only a shower, no bathtub.

The experiment of finding private places to stay through the internet was a huge success. Try it the next time you travel and save some money.  The other bonus is you get to meet people who are not connected to tourism to the same degree as hoteliers. Nice!