Staying in Apartments

I’m launching a new series called The Ultimate Guide to Long Term Travel – I want to include things that I know now by habit, but had no idea about when I started out traveling. This guide will help you travel long term for cheaper, but also just help you save money in general on trips with tips and suggestions I’ve learned during the past 2.5 years. 

Recently I went on a trip to Arrowtown and Queenstown with my partner. A good portion of my travels, thus far, have been based around staying in low cost accommodation options such as hostels, or splashing out on nice hotels. While in Arrowtown I stayed in the best place to stay in Arrowtown, in a family-run apartments, Arrowfields Apartments. There is a trend uprising of staying in fully furnished apartments when on holiday and I was ready to see what all the fuss is about. Turns out, there are numerous ways that staying in an apartment offers great value: 

Staying in apartments will save you money

There are a number of ways that staying in an apartment will save you money, one of the most obvious reasons is that apartments are generally a lot more affordable than hotels. You can easily find apartments that are one, two, three bedrooms – or even larger – meaning that you can go away with the whole family or a bunch of friends, while keeping costs down. If you split the costs between each person, renting an apartment usual turns out to be somewhere in between the price of a hostel and a hotel, while offering as much comfort as a hotel. 

You’ll have a fully furnished house usually with a well-equipped kitchen, meaning that you can easily cook breakfasts or dinners – which can be a godsend if you or someone you’re traveling with has food allergies or special dietary requirements. You can cut costs on food bills by eliminating the number of times you eat out – which will save you a significant amount of money. When traveling throughout South East Asia I ate out for every  meal: breakfast, lunch and dinner and it soon lost the special feeling and instead became a chore. 

Staying in Apartments is better for longer trips

Many long term traveling families opt to stay in apartments and rent them out for weeks or months at a time. By doing so, they get a discount which brings the nightly overall price down considerably. While staying in hotels can be a nice treat, there’s not as much space in the majority of them as you would normally have at home or in an apartment and that can be particularly challenging if you’re sharing the space with a friend, partner or your family. Apartments generally have 2-3 times as much space as a long stay hotel suite – this is a huge difference! Staying in an apartment means that you have extra space so that you can live comfortably while you travel. Whether you need accommodation for a week long skiing trip in Wanaka or are spending a month living in Berlin, renting an apartment can be a great option. 

You get to feel like a local 

Hotels tend to be located right in the heart of tourist centers, and while many rentable apartments are centrally located, a number of them are hidden in lovely little neighborhoods, allowing you to really inject yourself into the city you’re visiting. When staying in hotels, I’ve often just been really, really lazy and just eaten at the hotel’s restaurant or ordered room service. Staying in an apartment means that you are much more tempted to get out and explore little restaurants and cafes – which is half the charm of traveling. 

You’ll get more privacy
When I’ve stayed in hotels there’s a lot of interaction with the hotel staff, from every day room cleaning to chitchat when you’re entering or leaving the hotel lobby. At times, this can be quite nice, but I find that it doesn’t allow me to relax as much. Staying in apartments is quite different: generally you pick up the keys, get a nice introduction and then you are free to come and go as you please. I think this makes a huge difference and can let you feel more ‘settled’ in, rather than as if you’re just a visitor. 

How to find short term apartments to rent
Because apartments are becoming such popular choices for people wanting comfort, they are popping up on more and more booking sites. You can browse for apartments on discount booking sites like Wotif.com or even specialized apartment sites like airbnb.com.  

I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at Arrowfield Apartments in Arrowtown and hope to spend more time traveling in apartments instead of hotels or hostels. 

Have you ever stayed in an apartment? What was your experience like?