ACCOMODATION

Finding accomodation in Asia

We notice that you can show up unannounced and book it on the spot. (If it’s low season, they normally have availability). That being said, from what we experience, it’s rarely cheaper than the price online even if you have a nice boyfriend who loves to negotiate everything!

Online booking
We usually book a few days in advance using one of the following site :

Agoda: https://www.agoda.com/
This website is great for Asia. They often have cheaper rates and more options than any other website. BUT carefully read the comments before you book, even if the website says it’s a 4 star hotel it most likely won’t be….. (My guess is that hotels can buy starts-good review- from the website)

Airbnb: https://www.airbnb.com
There's a lot of option on airbnb. It goes from; room in someone’s house, full home rental to hotels. (Yes, airbnb website shows you hotels, but before you book an hotel on airbnb, make sure to look online to see if you can get a cheaper rate for the same hotel)

Booking: https://www.booking.com
I know there’s a lot of other options than booking (hotel.com and etc) but I found that in Asia, Booking is the one that offers the most different option from Agonda and at a cheaper rate than any other website.

Normally, I will do a quick search on each of the website for each of the location that I am staying at, just to get a full view of the possibilities.


Tip: If you don’t mind driving a motorbike (scooter) or car, you can book an accomodation that’s a bit farther (cheaper and often cleaner). Sometime even with the cost of rental car/bike, you still get a better deal than just a room.


Extending your stay:
Sometime we know we want to stay in a town for long period of time, but are unsure of the location. So we book it for 3-4 days and then extend our stay if we like it (Remainder: we are traveling on the low season…) We have tried extending directly at the front desk and extending online. Both worked, but it was still cheaper online (Even if you show up at the front desk with the online price, then will tell you they will match it but once you book they will charge you a little bit more (3-4$ a night)

What we usually do, is that we book online and then we go talk to the front desk to keep our room. Normally there's no problem to keep the same room but sometime they will ask you to change room if you book a room with no preference (standard room, you get what they have available with your bed preference)