Budget lodging - am I missing something

I'm going to Germany next week and all of our accomodations are private doubles with shared bath, none are more than €40/night. It takes a little digging, but it's possible.

Look at Let's Go guidebooks - they list a lot of hostels, but they also list several budget hotels that are very good.

If you can tell us where you're going or where you're having trouble finding budget accomodations, maybe we can try to offer you some suggestions.

That may just be one of the downsides to travel in June or high season. I think I responded on another question for you about GPS vs Maps. I traveld in October last year and had no problem find lodging for 2 people for 60-70 EU, but that is considered off season. Plus you have an extra person that I did. I have a feeling that the 120 - 140 range may be where you will be and the bad dollar does not help either. You could always look at places that are a short bus ride out of town or an extra subway stop away from town center. I am sure some other responders will have good ideas of where to stay as well. We went out of Ricks books almost exclusively except for specific recomendations from friends. Good Luck!

Look at www.tripadvisor.com Great website for reviews of pretty reasonable lodging options.

Are your prices total for three people or per person per night?

I don't know what kind of accomodations you're looking for (or where all you're going), but you could try hostelworld.com and hostelbookers.com they have some listings for around $70-$90 (not euros!) perperson per night in Salzburg. It can take some wading through and sometimes looking up the accomodations you find on a different site (another site like hostelworld.com/the hostel/hotel/B&B's own website) to find out exactly what they offer/what's available but it could give you a place to start. I found a great deal for a hostel in Dublin through hostelworld.com but had to communicate directly with the hostel to get the reservations I wanted-still got the great deal though.

I am travelling in July, and staying a week or so at every stop, so I found it a much better deal to get apartments. My one short stop in Ireland I went through a booking website and got a double/single room for 100E a night. That third person REALLY changes your room rate, and that summer holiday rate doesn't help either.

It's a matter of what you are looking for and when.

A hostel is under 20 Euro per night for each member of the family, you will get a dorm style bed and community showers/toilet down the hall (some hostels offer better amenities for about the same price).

Many North American travelers won't stay unless each room has toilet and shower en suite. That eliminates a lot of the available budget options and drives the price up considerably.

I travel shoulder season and am convinced (maybe wrongly) that I pay less by not getting reservations.

I call in the AM on travel days for the next room. If the hotel knows the room may go empty, I'm more likely to get a true budget price. I also make sure they know I'm happy with a bath down the hall and can pay cash. They may be less motivated to offer a rock bottom price three months ahead.

I'm not sure I'd risk this during high season but it has allowed me to travel relatively cheaply.

One other point. In Europe, the price is per night for the room rather than per person. Is it possible they are quoting two rooms for that price? If you are reserving two rooms, one for husband and you and another for teen daughter the quotes you are getting might be the total rather than each room, 120 to 165 Euros isn't bad for two rooms in June.

I've traveled with three kids and have always been quoted one price. When I called ahead I told them we were a family of five and asked what they had. Sometimes they gave me two rooms, a double and a triple. Other times they gave me an apartment. Their quote was always the total for the family per night.

Michelle,

I just (Oct.) completed a 14 day trip, alone, around Bavaria. My accommodation (w/ brkfst) averaged €37 (~$50 at the time). I can't speak for other countries; this was in Germany. If you have to stay in major cities or at starred hotel, it might be expensive, but there are a lot of budget accommodations out there, if you know where to look. I stayed mostly in small towns at small, simple, family run hotels and pensions, which I found on the town's websites, www.[town_name].com.

Besides Salzburg, where are you going?

BTW, one key to getting budget accommodations is to know a little of the local language.

I think it being peak season is the biggest reason that you aren't finding more budget-friendly rooms. I always travel shoulder season (or winter) and never have a problem finding rooms at much cheaper rates, particularly if I'm paying in cash.

Biggest problem you have is booking triples.
Many hotels , especially budget hotels, are in old buildings, and the rooms are small, some are tiny. So , only " bigger" ( term used loosely here) rooms can be triples or quads, and many places will only have 3 or 4 such rooms, if they even have them at all, so supply and demand increases prices for triples and quads quite a bit , as opposed to what we North Americans are used to, big rooms that can easily accomadate extra beds, or already have two queens in them( try and find that for cheap anywhere in Europe) .

We're traveling for 3.5 weeks- Austria, Bavaria and Italy with our teenage daughter. Austria and Bavaria were cheaper, Italy more expensive, but we have an overall average of 105 Euro per night. We chose B & B's that will accomodate three. We are going in Sept.-Oct.

We are staying at the Maringerlehen in Ramsau (outside of Salzburg) for 77 E for all three, private bath/shower, including breakfast! They came highly recommended by other RS fans.

What countries are you planning to visit? I'd be happy to share our B & B's with you if you want to send me a private message.

A few years ago I was able to book a double room for 40 EUR in Paris. It was small, but a few yards from the subwat station. I don't believe it would much difference in price in 2008. We stayed in Nice for 55 EUR a comfy room with kichen close to the beach. We got the room from the travel office in Nice.
Try hotels.com or google for budget hotels.
There will be an extra charge for the 2nd person, even if you book a single.
Also you can try to find hostels that have private rooms.

I also stayed at kyriad.com , not in Paris but some where on the road from Paris down to Golden Coast.
It was very low priced but very clean, about 30 EUR, but it didn't have a receptionist. It had a sort of ATM where you pay and get the key.
I know those type of hotels are in Paris as well.

Don't feel bad, I'm having the same problems finding places to stay. Since everywhere in Europe charges by the person, rather than the room like here, it gets REALLY expensive fast if you're traveling with children. I've been searching for 3 months and haven't found a hostel yet that charges 20E per person, I'd love to know where that is!!!! I'm finding more like 60E per person and with 6 of us, it would end up costing 3 times what we paid for our airfare and that would be with us having to sleep dorm-style and share bathrooms (which is no big deal when we aren't traveling with our kids). Thankfully, our housing is free once we get to our final destination, but the 7 odd nights here and there are killing our budget. Good luck!

Also try www.venere.com and www.hotelibis.com. I am going to be there in May and i have been able to get double rooms for about 75-80 euros - not in the most central locations but very close to metros stations.

Thanks everyone! What I am hearing is that our lodging is driven by traveling in the high season (constrained by school vacation) and the fact that we need triples everywhere. We are also staying larger (or high tourist) towns - Salzburg, Venice, Rome, etc. From what I see on the internet and on this site we aren't doing too bad - 120E for a triple in Rome (convent) and 165E in Venice for a triple - as I said earlier our biggest find (yes, from this site) has been Pension Elizabeth for 84E (during the European Soccer games). Thanks for everything and I'm sure I will have more questions as we approach our date of departure!