Hotel vs apartment - your comments please

The price is usually similar for two people. More than two - I would prefer apartment. Or you want to save money on meals and go to restaurants less. You can cook in an apartment. Front desk in a hotel: you can get the same information in the town Visitor Center and then some. Conclusion: with two people - it depends on your preferences. With more than two - apartment has usually significantly better price.

Some apartments are owned or managed by people who make themselves available for questions. When perusing Booking.com or VRBO, look for reviews that indicate the owner or manager was wonderful, helpful, available, etc. As mentioned above, the TI is also your best friend, especially in smaller towns. For 3 or more nights we almost always do apartments except for special occasions (Christmas stay in a fancy hotel with meals included made it more festive).

I find most of the time that apartments aren't the most economical choice for just a couple, but can offer great savings for more people traveling together. Or, perhaps they come in a bit cheaper, but I compare the savings against having to bring in my breakfast groceries (and make it), and not having someone to tidy our room, no desk staff, making arrangements to meet the owner/operator upon arrival and so on, so go with a hotel. That said, I have my eye on a very nice apartment for two in Florence which I hope to visit in 2015.

We did have a terrific experience with a two-bedroom apartment in Edinburgh that was cheaper by two couples than any decent hotel or B&B. And it was much better located; steps off the Royal Mile. Same trip we did well with an apartment in Glasgow, but again that was sharing with that other couple.

Also years ago we rented a villa in Spain with my sister and her family (seven of us altogether). That was more economical for her family, but less so for us as a couple, but the main benefit at this stage was she had three young children and we booked a sprawling home with many bedrooms, five patios and a private pool. All of that was certainly worth more than squishing everyone into a few pokey hotel rooms!

I guess all in all, I continue to be open to both options but expect when just traveling with DH that hotels and B&Bs would be our main choice.

I loved an apartment when we were a party of 3 and another time, of 4. I do appreciate, though, the front desk service in a hotel (and the maid service!) and for just two of us we opt for a hotel. Since you are waffling on the subject, maybe cost will be the deciding factor.

For me it depends on the length of stay and affordability. For 3 or more nights I prefer an apartment, 1 or 2 nights then hotel is fine. I rarely if ever use the hotel front desk for information and I don't need anyone coming in to clean every day. On my most recent trips to Europe I actually found small studio apartments to be less than the cost of the hotel, even for 1 person. I don't need an included breakfast because I'm not a big breakfast person and prefer to pick up something at the nearest bakery or deli on my way to my day's sightseeing.

You'll get answers in favor of both apartments and hotels for various reasons, most people will have a preference one way or the other. You need to weigh the importance to you of the hotel amenities against whatever is in favor of the apartment (cost, location, etc), and decide on that basis. For me the apartment almost always wins - all other things being equal.

@Sue,

i havent stayed in an apartment, yet, but one day I'm sure it will happen.

But i have stayed in places with no front desk person.

I can understand what has happened, but what i will do is to ask other locals or the last stop i was visiting. I usually dont have issues finding places that are well marked - so far.

Also, i recently purchased a phablet for my travels. Not to replace a paper map, but to augment it and my broken internal compass.

Happy trails.

They both have their advantages. I generally prefer apartments for the space (especially since my husband and I are not on the same sleeping schedule) and the chance to save money on meals by eating in. I don't care about someone cleaning the room. I generally don't miss the front desk, but there are times when it is nice to have someone to ask questions of, and it's wonderful to stay at a B&B with friendly owners, whether you need their help or not. I also love a hotel or B&B that has a great breakfast. I'm fine with making my own in an apartment, but a nice breakfast buffet is a special treat for me.

I feel pretty much the same as Carol (above). I wouldn't use an apartment for a two night stay, but we stayed in one for a week in the Oberallgäu last year, and it was much more economical, even considering having to buy groceries for breakfast, than staying in a hotel. We only had supper (bread, meat, cheese, wine) in the room a couple of times (when we had had a big noon meal), so it didn't save that much money, but it was nice to have breakfast in our night clothes in the morning. The apartment had "Brötchen" service, where they delivered fresh baked rolls to the door in the morning.

The only negative, the day we arrived, we stocked up on coffee, milk, cereal, butter, cold cuts, cheese, jam, etc and ran out of almost everything two days before we left, so we had to leave a lot behind.

Thanks all for your thoughts. When we rented the apartment for five nights in Colmar, I too thought we'd save money by not eating out all the time. That didn't happen. #1) I really didn't want to cook and then have to clean up afterwards. #2) We enjoyed trying the local bakeries and restaurants. So that doesn't work as a reason for us to rent an apartment. The only thing we did do was bring back some wonderful bread and cheese one night for dinner because we had a late lunch and weren't really hungry.

I thought it odd that the apartment we rented only had a total of four bath towels. Had to ask for additional towels - got two more. Maybe the French use their towels for five days?? Was I being weird for asking for more towels??? Interesting to see how other people live though.

I love apartments. With two the cost might be about the same but when we travelled with our sons, it was considerably cheaper. I like the extra space. After 8 days in two Black Forest locations, it was a shock to go to just a room. The apartments were as good as any suite in a fancy hotel. Alto I like German breakfasts, a steady diet is no good for my diet and my wife prefers scrambled eggs to soft boiled. Cooking dinner is no problem and shopping for it is an experience I enjoy. We can always go to a restaurant if we want.

Love apartments. Last three visits to Vienna rented one. Last September rented one for 8 days in Lech am Arlberg, Austria and 7 days in Santa Magdalena in Sudtirol.

We prefer apartments even if we are only 2. As Carroll said, my husband and I have totally different schedules, especially in the morning.

When staying in hotels or B&Bs, it's a struggle for him to get up in time for breakfast unless it is served until 11:00. I'm often up and wanting coffee before breakfast starts at many lodgings.

We only rent apartments with a bedroom that has a closeable door and the bathroom accessible outside the bedroom.

We also require that there be a clothes washer. A dryer is nice, but a drying rack or lines outside are fine and we can make do with many other ways of hanging the clothes to dry. I hate sink washing and with a washer we can do loads at night and leave the place with most of our clothes clean.

We do end up leaving some food or toiletries behind, at least in the last place we stay. The cost of that is minimal.

We do stay in B&Bs or hotels when it makes more sense to do so, but they are not our 1st choice.

One caution I do have is to read the fine print about the place you rent including the reviews, look closely at the pictures and use email to verify things that are deal breakers for you. That would be true for other lodgings as well. We have been disappointed with both, but I think more attention needs to be paid when choosing apartments.

I agree with Lo to really look at reviews and pictures. I continue to be fascinated at how the angle of a picture can distort the size of things. We stayed in an apartment in London that was supposed to sleep 4- I still don't know where that 4th person would have slept as the fold-out couch was more like fold-out pillows.

We appreciate the elbow room an apartment offers as well as the laundry option and basic kitchen.

Hi,

"...thoughts on apartments vs hotels?" Not that much to compare. I've stayed in an apt.only once, Warsaw, 4 nights in 2001. It was all right, no negative experiences, satisfactory. . I've always stayed in a small two star hotel, Pension, B&B, or a hostel, be it for 1-2 nights or spending almost 2 weeks at the same Pension.

When it was just my husband and I, hotels made more sense. With a larger group (i.e., our kids, in-laws, parents/siblings, etc.), apartments are definitely the way to go for us. Also, if you have smaller kids, then an apartment with a kitchen and washer and a separate bedroom is nice to have. Also, if you have an extended stay (such as a week), then perhaps an apartment would be more comfy.

As others have noted, really look over the apartment's written details, reviews, and location on the map. Email the owner a benign question to get a sense of them. I have rented apartments almost exclusively for the last few years through mostly AirBnb in the States and other companies for abroad, and cannot have been more pleased.

The only drawback I have come across (especially abroad in a big city like Rome) is the fact that you need to call them to meet you at the location. I have not had a working phone in the past and have had to rely on the kindness of strangers (usually a group of folks sitting at a nearby cafe). I do not tend to ask the front desk folks at hotels questions or directions, so not having someone there has not been as big an issue. Another perhaps con for an apartment rental is that if you sometimes put down a deposit, and then have to pay the remainder in cash as soon as you check in, so if the apartment is your first stop in the trip, then you may need to do some exchanging of money prior to the trip, so check to see how you need to pay for the place (not an issue with AirBnb since you pay for the whole thing up front but more for some other companies that have this arrangement).

Either way, it's always been a fun time!

When we went to Italy this year in early Sept, my mom was with us so I rented apts thru airbnb. (Two nights - single nights by airports, we stayed in hotels). We usually do B&B's, generally only do hotels the night before heading home or if we had a late arrival.

I actually think I may swing more towards apts from now on, depending on how many nights (I think over 3 nights I'd look at an apt). All were very centrally located, and we usually found ourselves back at the apt during the hottest part of the afternoon to either wash the sweat off or take a nap and refresh, so having a bedroom separate from the couch/living room was nice. A few times I prepared supper and it was nice to eat breakfast without having to get out of my comfy bedclothes. I don't worry about maid service - it doesn't kill me to throw the sheets over the bed (or not); towels - whatever - I use the same towels all week at home...the places we stayed all provided info on what to see in the form of guidebooks or binders of info - where to eat, where to shop for groceries if needed, where to find a bank machine, info on public transport options...and I think hubby really appreciated it as mom and I are early risers, so we'd get up and go out in the mornings and leave him sleeping and could come back and not disturb him - whereas in a hotel, there really isn't any privacy (if you need it). And it was nice to be able to 'spread out'.

But yes, it is definitely nice to show up at a hotel/B&B and have someone there waiting or a front desk instead of trying to set up a time and have to make sure you stick to it when renting an apt. We stayed at one on the Amalfi Coast and the people renting it were going away for the weekend to a wedding and asked us to be there by 4pm. Well, a missed bus in Sorrento, a 30 min wait, and 90 min bus to Amalfi and we just got there by the skin of our teeth - not sure what would've happened had we been later - I guess they would have had to arrange someone else to meet us - but the 'panic' of not showing up on time and not knowing what to do was eating at me...

I travel solo, and part of the experience for me is staying in a lovely hotel and having everything taken care of for me. If I were to travel with a partner or friend I would possibly consider an apartment, but really, I don't want to cook, do dishes or clean the bathroom--I get to do that at home.

We've generally used apartments for at least part of the last several trips, letting us linger in an area for a while as "temporary locals," when we were not trying to cover large distances with lots of 1- or 2-night stands. It's worked really well in many parts of France, plus in Venice, London, Rome, Madrid, Edinburgh, and other places in Scotland, Ireland, and Bulgaria. The owner (or their representative) has always been helpful in getting us oriented, and in critical situations has been available to come by for assistance. That's not the same thing as a 24-hour front desk, but we've enjoyed having our own kitchen (for breakfast if nothing else, but lunches and dinners with ingredients procured from the local market have been great experiences), one or more bathrooms, and more and more we're finding places with a washing machine, too.

Some apartments have minimum-stay requirements (especially during popular times of the year), or can even require checking in and out on certain days of the week, so that can affect your schedule. Others provide no bed or bath linens (you bring you own from home or buy them at a local furnishings store), or they charge extra for providing linens. That works for people driving a couple hundred kilometers from elsewhere in Europe, but not so much for someone flying from overseas with luggage!

With several weeks coming up this summer in southern France, we're looking at several different weeklong apartments/gites so we can settle in for a bit in each place.

I always wonder why people think they have to make the bed or clean bathrooms in an apt - all I do is toss the covers over the bed (like at home) and make sure I hang up the towels (like at home) - I don't scrub the toilet and shower and wash the sheets - all apts I've used - they generally seem to have someone come in and clean after you leave (well, they've always been clean when we've arrived)...even when I stay in a hotel or B&B, I toss the sheets over the bed and hang up the towels...maybe that's just me...?

As for cooking - it's nice to have that option - I cooked on maybe 4 nights of our 15 night trip this year - even to be able to pick up a pizza (as we did in Amalfi) and take it back to the apt and have plates and cutlery and buy your own 2L bottle of Coke for 1euro instead of paying 5euro for a glass at a restaurant was nice. Tho I will say I was a bit perplexed by (what I'm guessing the be from IKEA) the drying racks - which in two of the apts were part of the cupboard over the sink - with an open metal rack for the water to drip back down into the sink - I was trying to figure out where the sink side drying rack was like I use at home - took a few days to realize you just put the stuff back up in the cupboard to drip dry and not leave it sitting beside the sink on a towel...lol.

I own and rent to tourists a couple of apartments in Europe. I have been doing this for about eight years. I have come to see that those renting apartments fall into two major categories: professional and amateur. Some amateurs are very good and very serious about their properties while others do it to make some spare change and at best its a hobby with some profit. The professional companies can actually own and rent or they can represent individual owners so that the owners don't have to get involved in the process. Those managed by Professional companies tend to be more consistent in quality and expectation while the amateur apartments are more likely to range from one end of the spectrum to the other. My favorite post involved a gentleman that rented the apartment of his deceased mother. The dirt on the baseboards and the mold in the shower were acceptable to him because that's how his dear mother lived and if it was good enough for her then …....

My apartments and those of the other people I know in the business are simultaneously listed in Airbnb, Flip Key, VRBO and half a dozen others that are specific to various regions. I would suggest shopping on all of the sites then doing a little detective work to try and work your way to the Owner's Site or the Professional Management Site and doing business at that level unless you feel you need the various protections that the Airbnb, VRBO and Flip Key provide. Sometimes you will find better deals by working directly with the Owners. If you are staying 4 nights or more always ask for a discount (except at my apartments). You will also get a better idea at the owner or management company web site if this is grandma's apartment or one of a dozen being represented by one company. The companies will put more value in the reputation and may give you better satisfaction if you have a complaint.

The business is typically a cash on arrival business with no deposits on a short stay. There are exceptions and the ease of things like PayPal is changing the business. But still beware if they want all sorts of ID and a lot of cash in advance of arrival.

One thing that can not be denied, if you hit upon the right amateur owner there can be no better experience than meeting and getting to know that individual. For me its the people that I meet along the way that gives our trips their highest value.

Finally, in my opinion, it about location. Find a place on the fringe between local and tourist so you can get up and walk left into the real culture, or right into the marvelous sites. Apartments can provide that advantage in ways that few hotels can.

I stayed at an economical studio apartment in Paris last fall. It cost about $90/night. In the neighborhood I found all the businesses a normal life required plus a nearby Metro station. I loved having the space to myself and having a refrigerator/coffee maker. I don't think I saved money on food as I carried lots of groceries "home" and still ate out many of my meals. Most of my trips to Europe I've stayed in hotels. I like them, too. It's nice to have people around and a fresh breakfast available every morning. Some apartments in Paris feature free phone calls to everywhere. Some have an automatic washing machine. If you stay more than a few days, launder towels yourself. Apartment management can be hard to reach or super-available. It depends. The apartments I've stayed in have required partial payment at the time of reservation and had strict cancellation policies.

We have stayed in perhaps two dozen different apartments during our family trips over the last eight years. We have saved a small fortune doing so - partly because we are willing to cook our own food frequently rather than dropping $100 on every meal, and partly because it saves us a great deal over the alternative of getting two hotel rooms for the 4-5 of us. But even if saving money were not a critical factor, I would still prefer apartments over hotels because of the way they make me feel. Everyone in a hotel (including people from that same country) is a transient visitor living the life of a visitor (part of which is eating out all the time). Spending my time in an apartment and going to a shop to pick up some essentials helps me feel like I can to some small degree imitate the life of someone who belongs there. I understand that that feeling is just a feeling. People who live there go to work all day, not traipse around sightseeing. But the feeling of belonging is real enough to me and that's all that matters.

In all of our travels we have never had a bad apartment experience. A few were just mediocre, but the vast majority were fantastic.

And I have no problem at all using the same bath towel for five days without having them "refreshed". Even seven is fine with me.

Randy, I agree. I say that its the people that you meet along the way that make or breaks a trip and you come into closer contact with more people by staying in an apartment. Now the 7 days on dirty towel thing...................... We discovered a solution to that and to over packing; its called a washing machine. We rent apartments with washer/dryers and generally travel with carry-on luggage as a result.

For my own travel planning, apartments (rented as whole units, I'd not stay in a room of an owner-occupied apartment/house sharing the living room, kitchen and maybe bathroom with the resident family at all) are considered an option when stay is longer than 4 or 5 days. Less than that, the hassles that normally come with an apartment rental are not worth IMO.

Then, I'm not one to travel with extended family parties of 5 or 6... for larger travel parties, renting big apartments is likely to be financially attractive.

A particular worry I have about holiday apartments is reliable internet access.

The internet access question is interesting. We've only been using holiday rentals since 2007, but even in that fairly narrow time frame, the availability of internet access has changed completely. It has gone from being a non-issue (we didn't seek out any and I'm almost certain the apartments didn't offer any) in 2007 and 2008 to being considered almost as essential as a toilet today.

In 2009 we stayed in a lovely apartment in the Dordogne region of France and they had a simple desktop computer with internet access in the apartment for anyone to use. That had nothing to do with our choice to stay there, but we found it nice to be able to keep up with things back home. In 2010 and 2011 wifi internet service in the apartment seemed like about a 50/50 prospect and we started looking for it as a feature since finding it elsewhere was a hassle. By 2012 it was more common to have it than not, and last summer in Ireland and Scotland it was included in almost every apartment we investigated. The three we wound up using had faster wifi than we have at home.

Of course, a compelling argument could be made that all this connectivity has taken some of the magic away from being away from home. I won't disagree. But it is mighty convenient to have good reliable wifi.

Some locations in the world have more reliable internet service than others. So most time it isnt the apartment that has the issue, its entire portions of the city. That isn't as big a problem as it once was as a lot of us have mobile phone service with unlimited data service when roaming in Europe which fills the gap when necessary.

We had often considered throwing in a cell phone, but again with the new mobile plans that isn't a great value either these days. Trying to find Added Value to comp with the apartments has always been an issue. Washer/Dryers, Air Conditioning, Game Consoles, DVDs, CDs, Books, Maps, Cards, Chess Sets, etc. are all pretty common these days. I think there are a lot of apartment owners seeking more incentives to encourage business; but its very competitive and most renters just want clean and cheap.

I prefer apartments for four or more nights. That's where I draw the line, because it takes longer to 'check-in' at an apartment because you need to know how to adjust the heat, work any washing machines or dishwashers, etc. Also longer to check out especially when they need to read the power meter for your final bill.

Now that being said, I will never again use an apartment on the day of arrival after an International Flight. I will use a hotel the first day. I had to sit around for 4 hours in Paris, dead tired, jet lagged, waiting for the previous renters to check out and the maids to get in and clean. Most U.S. - Europe flights land very early in the morning (at least on the East Coast, where I'm from).

Donna, cant say that I blame you. Its part of the uncertainty of renting apartments. It can be worse if the owner is running more of a hobby than a business and it can be worse because some parts of the world have a different view of service. I mentioned above that I own a couple of apartments. But when I travel I stay in hotels as often as I do apartments. Different trips, circumstances, locations, etc dictate different approaches to housing.

What Donna experienced could also happen in a hotel if it's fully booked and you arrive before checkout time. Hotel would probably let you leave bags and/or sit in the lobby, but if there are no available rooms they can't produce one.
We just tried apartments this trip and will probably use on future trips for longer stays because of more space, kitchen and washing machine. Hotel for 2-3 night stays.

JG, you are correct. The choices are endless. One last consideration is accommodations exclusively for the sake of the roof and bed vs accommodations as part of some larger experience and the type of experience that would be most memorable for a person.

Room in a castle or monastery
Morning with the family in the apartment
Five Star Hotel luxury experience
Great friends made in Hostels
Once in a life time view
That special neighborhood.

I always look to make it about more than just the bed, but start with location first. Nothing beats a great location.