Types of Accommodation

Before searching for a place to stay during your trip, it’s important to consider the type of accommodation you’re looking for. This will help you narrow down where to look for options.

Typically, there are specialised websites for each type of lodging. For example, if you’re interested in finding a campsite, you wouldn’t search the same websites as you would if you were looking for a resort hotel.

Accommodations can be categorised based on different criteria. To simplify things and avoid confusion, I have compiled a list of the most common options you can consider while looking for a place to stay during your trip, which I hope it helps you to decide. And, maybe you’ll be encouraged to try something new! 😉

Here are the most common ones:

Hotels

Hotels are establishments that offer short-term lodging along with various amenities such as restaurants, bars, conference rooms, and fitness centres. They typically offer a range of room options including single, double, suites, and family rooms, which are rated from one to five stars based on their size, location, and amenities. Hotels are usually known for their high standards of service and cleanliness. Additionally, some hotels offer breakfast included in the price or give the option to add meals at an additional cost.

It’s worth noting that there are numerous types of hotels available to choose from. To give you an idea, here are a few examples:

Boutique hotels: A small and intimate hotel is held in a stylishly designed decor with a personal touch.
Travelling with kids is easier with family hotels, which are often located in popular destinations and offer a range of child-friendly amenities, including kids’ clubs, restaurants with children’s menus, play areas, babysitting services, and activities for all ages.
Adults-only hotels: these hotels do not admit children and are designed for people over 18. Ideal for relaxing without crying children around.
Spa hotels primarily aim to provide services and treatments, therapies or relaxation systems, using water as the main base and focusing on health.
Wine hotels: They are often located in or near vineyards to provide a complete experience for wine enthusiasts.

There are multiple online websites that can help you find the ideal hotel based on your preferences. Some examples, which also offer other types of accommodation, are:

Trivago
Skyscanner
TripAdvisor
Expedia
Travelocity
Booking.com
Hotels.com

Once you have chosen a hotel, I suggest comparing prices on various websites to secure the best deal.

Hostel/Youth Hostel

Hostels are a popular choice for budget travellers and backpackers due to their affordability and accessibility. Typically, they offer shared bedrooms and communal facilities.

I recommend them if you are travelling in a group. If you want a double room with a private bathroom, the price is usually very similar to a hotel’s, so it is not that advantageous. Travelling alone is a way to meet people, but keep an open mind because you can find anything.

Anecdote: On one occasion, while travelling alone, I shared a mixed room with nine others. Not that I spent much time there, but the room stank of feet, and I mean a lot!

Furthermore, one of the guests, a man over 80 years old (with all due respect to people of that age), enjoyed walking around the room half-naked and doing stretches. It wasn’t a nice view, but I guess that was the ‘price’ I had to pay to stay in the city centre for little money.

Here there are some specialised hostel websites:

Hostelworld.com
HostelsClub.com
Hostelz.com
Hostelscentral.com

Apartments

Apartments are self-contained units with separate living areas, kitchens, and bedrooms. They offer guests more space and privacy and are famous among families or groups travelling together.

Some websites you can use to find holiday apartments are:

Airbnb
Vrbo
Home to Go
Trivago
Expedia
Booking.com

Aparthotel

An aparthotel combines the independence and comfort of a private apartment with the services of a hotel. The place offers a kitchen, more space, and a homelier living environment than a standard hotel. Additionally, an apartment hotel is a much more economical option for long stays than a regular hotel.

Bed & Breakfast

Bed & Breakfast or B&B are private homes with a few guest rooms for accommodation. The hosts typically reside on or near the property and provide breakfast each morning. That creates a homely environment for the guests.

Guest House

It’s basically a small hotel and is usually owner-operated. The host might live on the premises. It’s generally a larger property than a B&B, with more than five bedrooms, and they offer other meals apart from breakfast.

Homestay

It is a form of lodging where visitors stay with local hosts. You stay in someone’s home as their guest, in one of their bedrooms, for a fee.

There are specialised websites such as:

Homestay.com
Homestayin.com
Homestayweb.com

Resort

A resort is an establishment that offers guests various services and amenities, such as accommodations, food and drink options, a swimming pool, sports, entertainment, and shopping. Resorts are typically located in scenic or tourist areas.

Villa

A villa is a spacious house, typically situated in the countryside or close to the coast, featuring an exterior patio and a front garden or terrace. Villas have a rich history dating back to the Roman Empire, where they were referred to as “Roman villas.”

Caravan

A caravan is any structure adapted for human habitation that can be moved from one place to another by being towed or transported on a motor vehicle or trailer.

Apps to locate places where you can park are:

Caramap (Europe & USA)
Park4night

Cottage

The holiday cottage, known by various names across cultures, is a small holiday house often located in rural areas. They are cosy homes typically used as summer or holiday homes and can be booked with or without meals.

Cottages are common in Britain and Ireland, and also found in other countries. They may be called by different terms, like “cabin” or “shack” in Australia, “stuga” in Sweden, or “hytte” in Norway.

Specialised websites in cottages are:

Holidaycottages.co.uk
Sykescottages.co.uk
Airbnb.com

Motel

Motels are another type of accommodation, similar to hotels, but usually have fewer amenities. Initially designed for motorists, motels are mainly located near highways or main roadways with ample parking areas for motor vehicles. They are more oriented towards travellers on the road who require a quick and convenient place to stay for the night.

Ski Chalets

A chalet is a wooden Alpine-style building commonly found in mountain resorts worldwide. The architecture is adapted to Alpine lifestyles and cultural heritage, and the term chalet comes from the Swiss and French Alps.

Capsule Hotel

Capsule hotels, also known as pod hotels in the Western world, are a type of hotel that originated in Japan. They offer basic, cheap overnight accommodation to guests who do not need or cannot afford more expensive, conventional hotel rooms.

Each guest stays in a teeny-tiny functional room called a “capsule”, which is essentially a bed-sized pod that can be closed off with a door or curtain. The capsules are arranged in rows and stacked on top of each other. An original option, but not suitable for claustrophobics!

The first capsule hotel in the world opened in 1979 and was called the Capsule Inn Osaka.

Campsite

It’s a place where people camp while on holiday, usually with facilities like toilets and washing areas. It may include a collection of tents, huts, or other temporary structures used for lodging. One of their main advantages is that they tend to be very cost-effective.

You can find a campsite using the following websites:

Eurocampings (Europe)
Camping.info (Europe)
Camping-directory.co.uk (UK)
Go Camping America (USA)
Campsaustraliawide.com (Australia)
Dare2go.com (South America)

Bungalow

It’s a house that typically has only one level, sometimes with a smaller upper storey set on the roof. It’s a type of architecture originating in the Bengal region of South Asia.

Inn

When you’re on holiday or travelling, an inn can provide a comfortable place to stay. Although inns are typically smaller than hotels, they have a more rustic/homey design and are often more quaint and charming. However, their primary purpose is the same as that of hotels – to offer travellers a place to rest.

Boatel

As it sounds, it’s a boat that serves as a hotel or hostel.

Log Cabin

Log cabins are a popular form of self-catered holiday accommodation, generally located in beautiful rural locations, such as on a working farm or in a lush woodland setting. Typically, they consist of a small, rustic structure made of logs. Log cabins have a long history and are often associated with first-generation home building by settlers in Europe and America.

Types of Accommodation specific to certain countries

In some countries, they have other unique types of accommodation like:

Riad (Morocco): a traditional Moroccan house built around a central courtyard, often converted into an intimate hotel or guest house.
Igloos and Ice Hotels (Finland, Norway, Sweden, Canada) are constructed from ice and snow in areas with sub-freezing temperatures.
Cortijo (Spain): Characteristic of Southern Spain, it’s a type of rural property usually consisting of multiple buildings, a large patio, and cultivated lands.
Parador (Spain): Spanish government-operated hotels, frequently located in former castles, monasteries, or other beautiful historic settings.
Palazzo (Italy): ‘Palazzo’ refers to a type of building commonly found in Italy that usually served as a grand residence. Palazzo style architecture is a 19th and 20th-century architectural style that takes inspiration from the palaces built by wealthy families during the Italian Renaissance.

Free Accommodation Types

Are you travelling on a budget? Consider free accommodation types. I can’t speak from experience, but they’re worth mentioning:

House exchange, also known as home swapping, is an arrangement where two parties agree to exchange homes for some agreed time.
Couch-surfing, or couch crashing as it is sometimes called, it refers to spending the night with a host who typically provides basic accommodation (such as a sleeping couch) at no charge. As a downside, think that you will have to adapt to the owners’ schedules, and you will not have privacy.

Now that you’ve learnt about the different types of accommodation and hopefully decided which one fulfils your needs better, you can return to Step 5 — Book of the Accommodation on the Step by Step page to keep planning your trip.

If you already completed that section, you can proceed to Travel Logi stics.

I hope this article has been helpful to you.

Please leave a comment below or fill out the contact form if you have any questions or need help; I’ll reply as soon as possible 😊