Cheap Tickets Europe

Here are some tips for Europe:

In Europe, many budget hotels and most dorm-style accommodations don't provide soap. BYOS. Towels, like breakfast and people, get smaller as you go south. In simple places, you won't get a washcloth, and bath towels are provided per stay, not per day. Hang to dry and re-use.

In France, room prices vary tremendously within a hotel according to facilities provided. Most hotels have a room list clearly displayed, showing each room, its bed configuration, facilities, and maximum price for one and for two people. Also read the breakfast, tax, and extra-bed policies. By studying this list you'll see that, in many places, a room with a double bed and shower is often cheaper than a room with twins and a tub. Be snoopy. Hotels downplay their cheap rooms.

In Europe, hotel ratings and prices are based not on room quality but hotel amenities: a new building, classy lobby, 24-hour reception desk, elevator, and shower-to-room ratio. Budget travelers choose family-run older hotels with hall showers, stairs, and local character.

When checking in, pick up the hotel's business card. In the most confusing cities, the cards come with a little map. Even the best pathfinders get lost in a big city, and not knowing where your hotel is can be scary. With the card, you can hop into a cab and be home in minutes.

Half of all the cold showers Americans take in Europe are cold only because they don't know how to turn the hot on. Study the particular system, and, before you shiver, ask the receptionist for help. There are some very peculiar tricks. In Italy and Spain, "C" is caldo/caliente, or hot. In many British places there's a "hot" switch at the base of the shower or even in the hallway. You'll find showers and baths of all kinds. The red knob is hot and the blue one is cold - or vice versa. Unusual showers normally have clear instructions posted.

Anywhere in Europe, beat the high cost of hotels by staying in rooms in private homes. You'll pay about $25-50 a bed. Ask for a B&B in Britain (includes breakfast), a casa particulare in Spain, quarto in Portugal, chambre d'hôte in France, and Zimmer in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

Scandinavia's best-kept secret are its luxurious B&Bs. They're incredibly cheap at about $30 a bed, but they can't advertise. At tourist information offices in Sweden and Norway, ask for a rom or hus rum, and in Denmark, a værelse.

Here's the key to keys in European hotels: Always turn the top of the key away from the door to open it. While you sleep, leave the key in the door (so you can get out quickly if there's an emergency). When you go out for the day, leave your key at the reception desk. Confirm closing time. Some hotels lock up at night and you're expected to keep the key if you stay out late.

Here are some tips:

Sometimes it's worth forgoing the pricey mini-bar or extravagant room service in exchange for a comfortable but more affordable place to lay your head for the night. And if the hotel you choose exchanges some amenities for some which are even more useful, such as a kitchen or laundry facilities, this can be an even more rewarding decision.

...First off, choosing exactly what amenities you need and picking a hotel that you know can offer these options is a great way to narrow in on what is important to you without wasting money on what isn't. Usually, one chain will have similar features at all the properties, so you have an idea of what to expect no matter where in the country you're staying. Second, look for special deals. Whether it's a last minute savings or a special discount for a particular card or membership, there are lots of discounts to be found and these savings can add up. Sometimes if you stop at a welcome center they will have coupons for local hotels as well. One great hotel chain to look for when finding these deals and picking out the most important amenities is Extended Stay Hotels. They offers you wireless Internet, great TV channels, and a spacious suite.

From Taschen: "Daisann McLane spent four years on the road, staying at more than 200 budget hotels and took photographs of her rooms before she turned down the covers every night. This guide to choosing inexpensive hotels is aimed at travellers."

Here's a good sentence from that book: "You are where you sleep, because where you sleep says to the world, �This is who I am'."

From WorldHum:

Daisann McLane writes the �Frugal Traveler� column for The New York Times and the �Real Travel� column for National Geographic Traveler. Her photo book Cheap Hotels has just been published. The photos are intimate and raw, unlike the type usually featured in glossy travel magazines, and that�s what makes Cheap Hotels memorable. McLane has captured the images and rhythms that most of us see and feel when we travel, and her accompanying text�written in English, French and German�reveals a lively side of her writing that sometimes gets buried under magazine and newspaper format constraints.

What are some of the things about a cheap room that make you, as you write in the book's introduction, so "unexpectedly and inexplicably" happy?

It happens when I walk into a new room and sense immediately that someone has put a piece of their heart into the room, something that reflects either a proprietor's personality, or local culture, or in the best case, both. In the book I mention, for instance, the way that in Fiji or the Cook Islands, even the most modest hotel will have the housekeepers put fresh ginger or pikake flowers on the pillow or nightstand. The flowers, as they wilt in the heat, give off the most intoxicating fragrance. You want to swoon. In Bali, of course, you will wake up and open the door and find a little banana leaf packet filled with rice and flower petals-offering to the spirits. I always am touched to think that, so far away from home, I am being cared for by a stranger concerned with my spiritual well-being.

In the less remote, more Westernized places, the quirks of a hotel room may not be so exotic or culturally rich, but they still make a difference. In the Caribbean, for instance, I've stayed in a few places (two of them are in the book, one in Panama, and one on the island of Carriacou) where the owners had clearly fallen in love with the local styles and customs. They'd created rooms made of local materials, with fans instead of air conditioning, bright prints and colors. True, high-end exclusive resorts do this too, but I feel much happier when I can enjoy really beautiful surroundings without all the pretension and without worrying every time I order a beer that it will cost $10.