Apartment versus hotel

Nope! I am the same way. I enjoy not having to make the bed and tidy the bathroom. No cooking, doing of dishes and no shopping. I love having all of the choices for meals that restaurants provide - oh and hubby gets something different and we share! Couldn't, wouldn't want to do that in an apt.

For a few days I don't think you can really get the feel of a neighborhood that many say renting an apt does. I would think one would have to spend considerably longer to actually get to know one.

Hotels and restaurants can eat up a large part of your budget. My solution is usually to choose the cheapest B&B I can find so I have more money for dining. When visiting beautiful farmers' markets, do you really want to take a whole fish or rabbit back to the apartment to cook, or just to dream about it? Items that are ready to eat, like baked goods, cheese, fruit, and deli meats, I have no trouble eating in a regular hotel room or on a park bench. If an apartment requires staying a week or more in one spot, that can be relaxing, but not necessarily the most convenient way to see a range of destinations.

I think this is one of those purely personal things, somewhat along the lines of "one persons's trash/another person's treasure" or "different strokes for different folks".

I prefer an apartment for anything longer than 3 nights if I can find one in a good location and priced right. I don't normally eat breakfast (croissant and juice for me) so hotel breakfast buffets are lost on me. I'm also an introvert/loner and don't like conversing with a bunch of strangers at a b&b breakfast table. I like the room an apartment affords (even a small one) as opposed to a hotel room, which once I open the suitcase becomes a mess of things spread all over the place and not many places to even sit. I eat a lot of meals while on the go while exploring, both in restaurants or from street stands, so I rarely use the kitchens in the apts I rent except for the fridge and microwave or hot ring to store and reheat leftovers or purchased meals from groceries or delis. I also don't need a maid coming into my space everyday to clean - I do minimal cleaning up after myself and I know they'll come in and clean before the next renter. I live alone at home and don't do much cooking (or cleaning) anyway so I don't need the vacation from household chores like some do.

You're definitely not the only one who wants to be 'on vacation' when you travel. The hotel people outnumber the apartment people by a large margin, but there are a few of us apartment people out there too.

I do both, but I actually prefer hotels. O like having bed made each day and fresh towels. I book hotel rooms with mini fridges usually so still can snack in room.

We visited Europe for 28 days this July. We stayed in an apartment for 10 nights total.

Let me start with “the cheapest B&B I can find”. Why? I think you are missing the opportunity for the accommodations to add value to the trip. Then there is the issue where the cheapest is usually the least convenient. My time is valuable and I don’t want to waste that time three times a day going back and forth to some location that adds nothing to the value of the trip.

When I travel I pick a place to stay based upon what additional experience or value it will add to the trip. That means on any one trip I might stay in an apartment in Budapest that places me in the heart of a UNESCO World Heritage site with a Synagogue on one side and wine bar on another side and 200 Hungarians in the same two block stretch. In the High Tatras of Slovakia it might be a 3 star hotel with great views of a lake and the mountains with their snow covered peaks; and in Moscow it might be 5 star hotel on Red Square, a hotel frequented by presidents and dignitaries from all over the world. Yes, I get off on having a door man open the door for me and on having my shoes shined while I sleep …. Not often, but occasionally; yes. Average the cost of the three and it’s a pretty reasonable trip and I enjoy the accommodations for a purpose beyond sleeping.

Joan,

The things you like to do can be done while staying in apartments too.

I personally enjoy staying in an apartment. No one forces you to cook or eat in the apartment, and I would be cleaning up after myself no matter where I stayed. I don't really like anyone coming into my hotel room anyway and we usually put the 'Do Not Disturb' sign out. I like the space you get with an apartment. I like the kitchen and the fridge. My husband likes to have as many cups of coffee as he wants. It's nice to be able to have a cup of coffee or tea without having to get dressed and go to a breakfast room. It's nice to have a glass of wine at night after spending the day out, and discuss what to do the next day. What's really nice is to have a washer and hopefully a dryer so it's easier to pack light and not waste good touring time at a laundromat.

This doesn't mean we stay exclusively in apartments. Our upcoming 6 week trip will be in a mixture of B&B's, apartments and Inns.

Why do people feel the need to be critical of people who choose to do things differently than they do?

James - what a nice and different way to think about the accommodation choice! I have to confess I don't usually think that way for a primarily sightseeing trip - might when doing a beach vacation - but usually I am looking for clean , comfortable, location and moderate cost.
Last few years have been travelling with my dad and son and staying in hotels. Realized , that as much as I love the cosiness of a family room, between the snorers and the night-time bathroom runs :) we were not getting much interrupted sleep. Last year, when my aunt joined us, we decided to rent an apartment with 3BR and 1 1/ 2 bathrooms! What luxury! we really enjoyed the space and it did help to have the separate bedrooms. As well, we enjoyed having the living room so that the nightowls had place to go and then the morning risers also had a place to enjoy coffee before the others awoke. We ended up heating up a chicken and making a salad with market buys for dinner 2 nights and we enjoyed breakfast from a nearby bakery.

This year, we were 3 again and we mixed apartments with hotels. Having the apartment in Florence in the middle of our 2 week trip allowed us to do laundry; each to have some private space and to get some nice sleep. I have to admit, I enjoy having the living area so we can comfortably talk and enjoy each other. The rest of the trip we did hotels, and it was nice having the breakfast made etc. We also decided to do a hotel with a pool so that gave us some outdoor living space that added some nice downtime.

I have to admit - I actually almost enjoyed doing the laundry since at home I have to go to a laundromat and on vacation it was in the apartment. And both apartments we rented had nicer appliances than I do! LOL

Fun to hear how others do things and the pros and cons

Hi,

Totally agree. After 20 trips in 43 years to Germany I've never rented an apt, whether I stayed 1-2 nights or almost 2 weeks in the same place. If it's on my bill, the accomodation in Germany has been in a hostel, small hotel, Pension, large hotels, a single dorm room at a university, and once a "Zimmer frei" set-up. In Europe using the apt option I did that once, Warsaw in the old town in 2001 A nice experience, no problems.

Would I choose the apt option? Yes, but not in Austria and Germany., Most likely in France, depending on the various factors and circumstances, same as with other countries.

To each his or her own. James and Diane both make excellent points. Thank you especially, James, for reminding me how much throwing up in a bidet adds to enjoying a vacation! ;)

We like apartments for longer stays because of the space, appliances, neighborhood connection, and convenience of cooking/coffee/wine "at home" if we want. Apartment vs. hotel has been pretty much a wash for us economically because we seldom eat more than a light breakfast or late snack in the apartment. And we've used apartments mostly in places where we're reasonably familiar with things, including the language, so we don't need the help of a desk clerk or concierge to figure things out. For a family whose members keep different hours (kiddies, teens, adults, oldsters) having separate bedrooms would help a lot, I'd think.

For shorter stays apartments don't seem worth the trouble of getting the key, figuring out how things work, etc. And there are fewer choices for one- or two-night stays. Hotels work fine for us then, or B&Bs.

"Oh, in the B&B, before I would let my host see me as a pig, I would make the bed and cleanup the room before I went out for the day."

James - you would definitely be the rare exception there - 9 years owning a B&B - one guest made the bed!

I travel with a small coffee maker, coffee, creamers & sugar so I can have as much coffee as I want in the morning before going down to a lovely breakfast. I purchased the coffee maker almost 20 years ago before our first trip - probably one of the best travel investments I ever made! I also travel with wine & wine glasses (not plastic) so a nice glass in the hotel room or B&B in the evening is easy to do. I've been know to whip up a batch of Sangria on the fly as well - I always have paper plates with me and a small sharp knife to cut up the fruit - a bottle of cognac from the mini bar, sugar, and a variety of fruits from the market and voila! It's a drink & a snack!

Aparthotels and serviced apartments are a good compromise. We have stayed in such places (eg in Rome, Sorrento, Bologna. Verona, Australia, NZ etc) and the beds are made, bathrooms/kitchens cleaned and towels replaced, if wanted, daily. Often there is a more thorough clean of the whole place once or twice during our stay which is usually for 7 nights or more. For stays of 3 nights or less we usually use hotels.

I like eating a leisurely breakfast in my PJs and then getting ready for the day. And as others have said, having the choice of whether to eat out or not. Plus of course the extra space and privacy, my OH is an early riser so I can sleep on undisturbed should I wish.

Couldn't agree more with all you stated when I was traveling with my husband and it was just the two of us. A good B&B or hotel would be a solid choice. But now with you preschoolers, even with shorter stays, a hotel is definitely not the preferred way to go (although it does happen here and there). Plopping the kids at the table with cereal and milk in the morning so much less stressful than heading our to a breakfast buffet. Same for nap time, snack time, etc. I definitely like having a sink that is not in the bathroom and a separate space for them to play that is not the 5x8 space in front of the hotel door. I should note that I am on vacation too, so I don't cook in the apartment for reasons you noted. Even with kids, much easier to go out for dinner and lunch (but not breakfast for some reason!).

I'm chuckling as I tidy up the bed every morning when we stay in hotel rooms; I just can't stand having to look at an unmade bed!

We have yet to book an apartment abroad but fully intend to one of these days as we've grown to love rentals for longer stays here in the U.S. Most of our choices have worked out to cost the same as a mid-range or even budget accommodations, and have more of the amenities we prefer and use versus those we don't. Give me a laundry, free parking, and a terrace with a view versus a pool, hot tub, room service, etc. We don't really cook on vacation but a kitchen is great for refrigerating and heating up leftover meals, making FULL pots of good coffee and whatnot. It's also nice for the insomniac (me) to be able to get up, get that coffee going, have breakfast without having to get dressed, watch the news or the stars, and generally ramble around without waking up the other.

We'll be staying for the second time in our very favorite rental in one of our favorite places next month, and we just can't wait! After a long day of hiking, there isn't a better spot in town to kick off the boots, make a drink, and take in the view from the deck.

We have an upcoming trip (24 days to go...come on!) and we are doing a combo of everything. Revisiting couchsurfing hosts for the 4th time in London, staying with my sister, hotels in Naples and Heathrow, apartments in Atrani, Rome and Venice.

We always have a mix on our trips. Sometimes I like being catered to at hotels and B&B's (we mostly tend to B&B's and generally only do hotels when we are coming home and need to be by an airport, or arriving late somewhere). But after paying some big money for not that good a breakfast when we stay at hotels (I'm looking at you, Munich), we generally take our breakfast elsewhere when at a hotel. Other times, I like the apts as we can do our own breakfast, cook supper if we like when we get tired of restaurants.

We stay at airbnb's a lot and generally use ones with the host present, so we meet some cool people (we also couchsurfed a lot in other years, but tend to airbnb now). And we have had lovely conversations with strangers at B&B breakfasts - the English couple near Sequoias Nat Park in California, the Aussies travelling Europe who we met in Venice, many others over the years (the strangest one - we were in Ottawa at the canals and got chatting to an Englishman about the boats after he noticed my hubby's Clarks (shoes) England tshirt. Then - two days later, in Montreal at a B&B, chatting with an Englishman at breakfast - and realized it was the same guy we talked to in Ottawa. What are the odds?!) I guess hubby and I are people people. I for one love making small talk. And one of my fav things to do is go into supermarkets (time permitting) and see what is different (oh - don't get me going on all the soda pop flavours you lucky ducks have in the US that we don't get here...sigh)

And who says you have to make your bed if you are staying at an apt? How hard is it to take 5 seconds and throw the covers over the bed? I'm not worried about cleaning the bathroom or scrubbing down the kitchen either - I'm pretty sure after we are gone, someone professional (or the owner) is coming in to clean it...I've never given it a second thought - other then to clean any dishes I may use and throw the garbage in the proper bin.

But to each their own - that's why there is something out there for everyone!

@Diane / @Christi;
From the time I get off the plane in Europe to the time I get back on the plane to leave Europe every second counts; everything should add to the holiday one way or another. Just a place to sleep, while the only option often, is not a great option.

Oh, the bidet incident; Florence, the summer of 1980.

For the same price as a hotel room, I can stay in an apartment that is as nice as any suite in a hotel costing 5 times as much. I guess I don't have a lot of cleaning the bathroom when I am just there a few days. I don't have to cook if I don't want to, but I can if I want - can't do that in the hotel. I didn't realize making your bed is an onerous task.

Throughout most of my travels in Germany the last 15 years, I have stayed in small, family run Gästehäuser and Privatzimmer (B&Bs). I had never tried a Ferienwohnung, because they are only economical for larger groups and usually required longer stays than I wanted. However, last September we stayed for a week in a FW in the Oberallgäu.

My observations on my first apartment experience:

A lot like home. We did not get clean towels every day, but we don't at home. In fact, most places in Germany now only replace the towels if you request it, which I never do. The small apartment had "Murphy beds", so we had to fold the Federdecke before folding the bed. No big deal.

Meals. We always ate our midday meal out. If we had a big meal at noon, we only had sandwiches and a bottle of wine in the room in the evening. Otherwise we had a sit-down meal in a restaurant in town in the evening. We picked up breakfast "stuff" (cold cuts, cheese, butter, preserves, coffee, etc) at the local market. They delivered fresh-baked rolls to our door every morning for 35 euro cent each.

Cost. The room cost the two of us 299€ (43€/night) for the week, not including groceries. The rest of the time, staying in small places and one Privatzimmer, we averaged 75€/night, with breakfast. So we saved over 30€/night at the apartment.

Groceries, including a few bottles of wine, which are incredibly cheap in Germany, plus the breakfast rolls cost us 50€, total for the week. So, not including the wine, about 6€/day for breakfast and a couple of evening snacks.

Overall: Without doing a lot of cooking in the apartment, we still saved some money, and it was rather nice being able to start the coffee as soon as we awoke and have breakfast before we dressed. Possible downside: we arrived Sat afternoon. After settling in, we walked around town and saw a grocery store. We got some groceries - good thing - the stores aren't open on Sunday. One other thing, by day 6 we ran out of most stuff and had to go shopping again, so we had to leave some groceries behind when we left. I definitely will get an apartment next time I have an extended stay somewhere.

Its not just " making the bed" its having g fresh towels everyday ,( we will use same one for two days to conserve water sometimes though) .
Its coming back to a fresh tidied room, and when in a hot climate its sometimes means fresh sheets. This is all pure indulgance for me and I love a bit of it. We haven't found that we can afford the large apartments some of you mention, no separately living rooms. Also it has been easier to find hotels with ac then apartments, within our budget anyways.

We will be renting an apartment in Europe for the first time on the next trip, but have rented condo accommodations MANY times in Hawaii and would not use hotel there -- condo allows for breakfast without having to wait until everyone wakes up, easy picnic lunches, laundry facilities, separate room for TV. Everyone has to choose their own tradeoffs -- for me, it works.

When you travel with more than 2 people an apartment makes a lot of sense. European triple or quadruple rooms - if you can find them - are not big. Once you add the people and their luggage it's not that comfortable anymore. Booking 2 hotel rooms can get quite expensive.

When we travel as a couple we like both options. The extra services you get at the hotel with somebody in the lobby who speaks the local language and can give you insider tips and help you with local bookings can be nice.

But even when it's just the two of us, I still like the freedom that comes with an apartment, especially for breakfast. I often suffer from insomnia and wake up long before anybody else (or even in the middle of the night) and like being able to get up, make some coffee or read my book without waking up my partner in the process.

I found some great apts on airbnb. There will be three on my upcoming trip and we needed a separate bed in a sep room, as I'm sure my mom doesn't want to share the same room as me and hubby. We got one in Atrani for $165 a night (all fees in), Rome for $145 a night, which is a stone's throw from the Colosseum - you can see it out the window, and Venice for $155 a night - just a 5 min walk to Rialto. I made sure they had ac and washer and dryer, so if I really want to wash towels when washing my own stuff, I can. I can pretty much guarantee we would never have found 2 hotel rooms for those prices located in the areas we are staying. My budget would have gone thru the roof. So we can use the money saved to splurge on more gelato!

But that's why there are accoms out there for everyone. To each his or her own!

I've stayed at about every possible type of lodging. My conclusions now are when I'm traveling by myself, I'm perfectly happy with a hostel. When I'm traveling with only my spouse, a small hotel or b&b is the preferred lodging. When I'm traveling with the family, I prefer an apartment or house - because there is room to spread out and not be on top of each other all the time.

Throwing up in a bidet! Good one, James. That reminds me of a business trip where I had to share a room with a co-worker, who told me about the odd-looking urinal in the bathroom, which he had to try out. Once I let him know how it was supposed to be used, he became addicted to it.

Normally, because our vacation time is so limited and hard to schedule, we (wife and I, not that guy) stay on the move but try to stay three days in each place, with only a couple of exceptions. We did rent a houseboat through an apartment/houseboat rental site once for three days in Amsterdam, and that was one of our best stops ever. When we retire and can stay a week or more in one place, we will probably look at apartments, especially after reading the posts here.

A large apartment does not necessarily mean high cost. We had a bedroom, 1 1/2 baths, kitchen, living room in a 1699 building on the main square. Cost - 45 Euro per night for the two of us. Unlike some countries, many German apartments do not require a week long stay. We have twice stayed 3 days and twice 5 days.

I'll be staying in a studio apartment in Paris this fall. I chose this apartment based on cost and availability. Location was good, also. I like apartments for some advantages: I prefer not having other people (maid service) in my room; I can prepare food if I want and nobody tells me I can't bring in carry-out; lots of privacy.

The down-side to apartment stays: there is less interaction with other people while coming and going; there is no breakfast waiting for me downstairs; up-front details and payment more likely and more complicated.

I still like hotels and don't plan to give them up entirely.

Airbnb just seems too complicated with huge variations in what to expect. I tried it once; it was ok but not great.

Whoa Joan - you do realize that you CAN leave the apartment, right?!?

If you want to stop for an afternoon coffee and a bit of Kuchen, you can.

If you want to eat at a restaurant, you can.

Maybe you've looked at some kinkier websites than I have, but I've yet to come across any apartment listing that states that I will be in leg irons INSIDE the apt for the duration of my stay. I can eat breakfast (cooked myself or not) in my room, or have coffee at a café. Nothing is better than smelling the aroma of freshly brewed coffee while still in bed, or while in the shower (thanks, Honey!). I don't have to be in the breakfast room by a certain time. After a loooong day of sightseeing, I can shower and then eat dinner - fancy or not - dressed only in my oversized and comfy t-shirt if I choose. If I'm ravenous and my husband really isn't hungry, he's not stuck at a dinner table while I eat my not-very-fast food all while being glared at by the waiter (who's sure I'm passing food to my husband).

Who the heck is cleaning bathrooms? IF you need the beds made, it's just not that hard to pull the bed linens up, or in Germany, straighten out the comforter. Poof, you're done. I personally find it a little icky and weird to have a stranger make-up my bed at hotels, anyway; I, too, have the Do Not Disturb sign out. I don't need a fresh towel everyday. I don't want my stuff moved around in the bathroom, nor find my other things either in, or out of, the drawers and closets.

While staying in an apt, I have many more options open to me than when I stay in a hotel, so that in itself feels more relaxing and luxurious to me.

Now...if I traveled solo and not for extended periods of time, a hotel or B&B might make much more sense. If staying for a month, plus or minus, an apt would be well worth considering for many reasons. If traveling with a family, an apt could make fantastic sense.

Stop reading those kinky apt rental sites that keep you chained inside the apt ;-)