Sep 2, 2008
In deciding whether to buy an air-and-land package, be careful to ascertain whether fuel surcharge is included in the price
The high cost of aviation fuel has wrought havoc with the pricing of air-and-land packages. To destinations 12-to-14 hours away by air, fuel surcharges of as much as $400 are currently being added to the cost of a vacation package. But both airlines and tour operators pursue conflicting policies on whether to include those surcharges in the selling price; sometimes they do, sometimes they don't; and often a purchaser will discover only in the very last step of booking a package that a considerable sum -- almost as much as the basic package costs -- must be added to the price.
Thus, one-week packages from the U.S. west coast to Bali cost as little as $799 per person (from websites like www.escapesltd.com), but without fuel surcharge; the latter expense can increase the cost of the vacation by as much as $400 more per person. Security charges relating to 9/11 issues can add more.
Air-and-land packages to London and Paris come off the best in terms of their final cost to the consumer. Starting November 1 and continuing until the end of March, excluding only the Christmas period, one-week air-and-land packages to London are now selling for only $749 per person (round-trip air, six nights hotel) and to Paris for only $799. And the total cost of fuel surcharge, taxes and fees comes to only $175 per person. Thus, in effect, the total cost of a one-week air-and-land package to London is today $924 per person (from November 1 to March 31, excluding the Christmas/New Year's period).
That isn't bad; and although you'll have to be awfully careful about your meal, transportation and sightseeing expenses in costly London, you can still handle the round-trip airfare and six nights hotel accommodations for a reasonable sum, namely $924 per person, double occupancy. Go-Today.com continues to be a reliable source of such packages, and the cost of such an overseas trip remains a value, provided only that you travel (excluding Christmas) from November 1 to March 31.
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Thus, one-week packages from the U.S. west coast to Bali cost as little as $799 per person (from websites like www.escapesltd.com), but without fuel surcharge; the latter expense can increase the cost of the vacation by as much as $400 more per person. Security charges relating to 9/11 issues can add more.
Air-and-land packages to London and Paris come off the best in terms of their final cost to the consumer. Starting November 1 and continuing until the end of March, excluding only the Christmas period, one-week air-and-land packages to London are now selling for only $749 per person (round-trip air, six nights hotel) and to Paris for only $799. And the total cost of fuel surcharge, taxes and fees comes to only $175 per person. Thus, in effect, the total cost of a one-week air-and-land package to London is today $924 per person (from November 1 to March 31, excluding the Christmas/New Year's period).
That isn't bad; and although you'll have to be awfully careful about your meal, transportation and sightseeing expenses in costly London, you can still handle the round-trip airfare and six nights hotel accommodations for a reasonable sum, namely $924 per person, double occupancy. Go-Today.com continues to be a reliable source of such packages, and the cost of such an overseas trip remains a value, provided only that you travel (excluding Christmas) from November 1 to March 31.
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Labels: bali, deals, london, paris
Aug 7, 2008
New, second editions of Pauline Frommer's Guides are now in the bookstores, as this new budget series reaches 14 titles in
If you'd like to get an idea of how a good travel guidebook should be written, take a look at Pauline Frommer's write-up of a famous discount clothing store in Manhattan, in the new edition of her Pauline Frommer's New York. At this single "most overrated store in the city", she writes, " . . . the fabrics are the cheapest polyesters, the colors gaudy, the fit off, and even the labels themselves look different . . . I've seen otherwise sane, well-dressed women with their arms stacked full of clothes that shouldn't be worn outside the center circle at Ringling Brothers . . . "
The Pauline Frommer's Guides are the new budget series of the Frommer line, a string of guidebooks covering all the major destinations from a cost-conscious standpoint. In a city where the average hotel room rate now tops $300 a night, her New York guidebook contains gems of economy that can make all the difference on your own next trip. She finds B&Bs, little inns, private Manhattan apartments whose owners rent them to transient visitors, hotels just ten minutes away in Brooklyn, that charge as little as $115 to $125 for a double. And she describes each one with the detail that can only come from direct eyeball observation: "the linens on the beds are soft; there are extra rolls of toilet paper in the bathrooms; the furniture looks brand new and matches; and each room has a remote control, not only for the TV but also for the air conditioning . . . "
Pauline Frommer's London and Pauline Frommer's New York were named "Best Guidebooks of the Year" (2006 and 2007) by the North American Travel Journalists Association. I have no doubt that Pauline Frommer's Las Vegas (for which she slept a night apiece in no fewer than 40 hotels) and Pauline Frommer's Walt Disney World and Orlando and Pauline Frommer's Hawaii, will be up for similar awards in the days to come. There are also Pauline Frommer's Guides to Italy, Paris, Costa Rica, Alaska, and Washington, D.C. in the bookstores, and four more volumes on other destinations about to be issued in the next several months.
You'll have to pardon me for this recommendation of a guidebook series written in the grand old tradition, by walking the streets for weeks on end, by peering into the actual operations of travel facilities, by describing what you see with either honest enthusiasm or plain dismay, she has created important tools for travel. If you want to "spend less, see more" (the series slogan) on your upcoming trips, I'd suggest you look for a Pauline Frommer's Guide in the travel section of any bookstore.
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The Pauline Frommer's Guides are the new budget series of the Frommer line, a string of guidebooks covering all the major destinations from a cost-conscious standpoint. In a city where the average hotel room rate now tops $300 a night, her New York guidebook contains gems of economy that can make all the difference on your own next trip. She finds B&Bs, little inns, private Manhattan apartments whose owners rent them to transient visitors, hotels just ten minutes away in Brooklyn, that charge as little as $115 to $125 for a double. And she describes each one with the detail that can only come from direct eyeball observation: "the linens on the beds are soft; there are extra rolls of toilet paper in the bathrooms; the furniture looks brand new and matches; and each room has a remote control, not only for the TV but also for the air conditioning . . . "
Pauline Frommer's London and Pauline Frommer's New York were named "Best Guidebooks of the Year" (2006 and 2007) by the North American Travel Journalists Association. I have no doubt that Pauline Frommer's Las Vegas (for which she slept a night apiece in no fewer than 40 hotels) and Pauline Frommer's Walt Disney World and Orlando and Pauline Frommer's Hawaii, will be up for similar awards in the days to come. There are also Pauline Frommer's Guides to Italy, Paris, Costa Rica, Alaska, and Washington, D.C. in the bookstores, and four more volumes on other destinations about to be issued in the next several months.
You'll have to pardon me for this recommendation of a guidebook series written in the grand old tradition, by walking the streets for weeks on end, by peering into the actual operations of travel facilities, by describing what you see with either honest enthusiasm or plain dismay, she has created important tools for travel. If you want to "spend less, see more" (the series slogan) on your upcoming trips, I'd suggest you look for a Pauline Frommer's Guide in the travel section of any bookstore.
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Labels: budget travel, costa rica, disney, guidebooks, hawaii, italy, las vegas, london, new york city, orlando, paris, washington dc
May 20, 2008
Heard of those scattered bikes for hire in Paris? A similar system is now available in Washington, D.C
Ever since the capital of France installed a system of bicycle depots scattered about town -- enabling visitors or residents to unlock a bike (by swiping a credit card) and ride it to the next depot -- proposals have been made that the very same system be installed in U.S. cities.
That has now happened, in Washington, D.C., no less. And although the U.S. version isn't quite as widespread or convenient as the bikes of Paris, it's a start. Currently in the nation's capital, 120 bicycles are available in a total of 10 different locations. The program is known as SmartBike, and an annual membership fee of $40 enables you to check out bikes for three hours at a time.
On a recent trip to Seville, Spain, I saw one of these bike systems (numerous cities all over Europe have begun to emulate Paris' Velib program) in action, and was immensely impressed by the way local residents were substituting use of a bike for other forms of in-city transport. The sponsors of Washington, D.C.'s system hope they will eventually have 1,000 bikes available to you. Explanations about how to use the bikes are posted near each depot, and as you'd expect, a valid credit card is the key. You might try this out, and perhaps you'll also want to persuade your own city to install this very appealing new improvement to the quality of life.
That has now happened, in Washington, D.C., no less. And although the U.S. version isn't quite as widespread or convenient as the bikes of Paris, it's a start. Currently in the nation's capital, 120 bicycles are available in a total of 10 different locations. The program is known as SmartBike, and an annual membership fee of $40 enables you to check out bikes for three hours at a time.
On a recent trip to Seville, Spain, I saw one of these bike systems (numerous cities all over Europe have begun to emulate Paris' Velib program) in action, and was immensely impressed by the way local residents were substituting use of a bike for other forms of in-city transport. The sponsors of Washington, D.C.'s system hope they will eventually have 1,000 bikes available to you. Explanations about how to use the bikes are posted near each depot, and as you'd expect, a valid credit card is the key. You might try this out, and perhaps you'll also want to persuade your own city to install this very appealing new improvement to the quality of life.
Labels: cheap transport, paris, washington dc
Apr 21, 2008
A website called Rentalo.com is currently listing one-bedroom apartments in Paris, capable of housing up to six persons, for $134 a night
Evidence continues to accumulate that the most cost-effective means of visiting London, Paris or Rome is to schedule at least a one-week visit there and to stay in an apartment, not a hotel. An example is the current offer by Rentalo.com (one of the several major worldwide apartment rental firms) of one-bedroom apartments in the center of Paris for as little as $134 and $135 a night.
In a 17th century building on the Rue Jean Jacques Rousseau, two blocks from the Louvre and the Seine, a one-bedroom apartment with kitchen and living room features cable TV capable of receiving CNN, and high-speed Internet, for $135 a night (plus a small cleaning fee, if you desire to have a maid come in). Why so cheap? The apartment is in a five flight walk-up, and therefore only for vigorous people, who will be thrilled once upstairs to look out "sur les toits de Paris" ("over the rooftops of Paris"). Your landlord will usually require at least a one-week stay, but has been known to rent in slow periods for as few as four nights.
Elsewhere in Paris, a one-bedroom, one-bath apartment sleeps six (vai a king bed in the bedroom and two double sofa beds in the living room) on a quiet street near the Place de la Republique, a three-minute walk from a metro (subway) and a supermarket. The kitchen here includes a washing machine, dishwasher, iron, microwave, coffeemaker and toaster. And the price is $134 a night, with a three-night minimum.
It can't be sufficiently stressed that the rental of apartments in major European cities is an effective way to cut the cost of your European vacation. In addition to using Rentalo.com for finding these apartments, you can also go to Homeaway.com, to VRBO.com (now owned by Homeaway), to EVRentals.com, Zonder.com, and numerous local rental firms found by accessing information on the city in which they are found.
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In a 17th century building on the Rue Jean Jacques Rousseau, two blocks from the Louvre and the Seine, a one-bedroom apartment with kitchen and living room features cable TV capable of receiving CNN, and high-speed Internet, for $135 a night (plus a small cleaning fee, if you desire to have a maid come in). Why so cheap? The apartment is in a five flight walk-up, and therefore only for vigorous people, who will be thrilled once upstairs to look out "sur les toits de Paris" ("over the rooftops of Paris"). Your landlord will usually require at least a one-week stay, but has been known to rent in slow periods for as few as four nights.
Elsewhere in Paris, a one-bedroom, one-bath apartment sleeps six (vai a king bed in the bedroom and two double sofa beds in the living room) on a quiet street near the Place de la Republique, a three-minute walk from a metro (subway) and a supermarket. The kitchen here includes a washing machine, dishwasher, iron, microwave, coffeemaker and toaster. And the price is $134 a night, with a three-night minimum.
It can't be sufficiently stressed that the rental of apartments in major European cities is an effective way to cut the cost of your European vacation. In addition to using Rentalo.com for finding these apartments, you can also go to Homeaway.com, to VRBO.com (now owned by Homeaway), to EVRentals.com, Zonder.com, and numerous local rental firms found by accessing information on the city in which they are found.
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Labels: accommodations, apartment rental, europe, london, paris, rome, websites
The New York Times suggests that you start a typical tour of London by checking in to the $600-a-night Cadogan Hotel
The Sunday travel section of the New York Times gets more irrelevant and absurd with every passing week. In its edition of April 20, 2008, in an article suggesting how to spend 36 hours in London ("36 Hours London"), the opening words of the article -- think about it -- are "Check into the Cadogan Hotel . . . " Rates at the Cadogan Hotel start at £295 ($600) for a double room.
Then, in its weekly survey of practical travel matters by Michelle Higgins, who invariably uses examples taken from the top tier of utterly unaffordable hotels, the Times' down-to-earth adviser doesn't disappoint. Offering a lifeline to the suffering American tourist, she eagerly points out that the organization known as Leading Hotels of the World has announced a "guaranteed dollar rate" of $490 a night for a room with a queen-sized bed at the Raphael Hotel in Paris. To get this stunning bargain, you must provide a "discount code" and pay in full when booking.
Just when it seems that the Times' travel section can't get worse, it plumbs new depths. When will top editors at the Times restore reality to their Sunday travel section?
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Then, in its weekly survey of practical travel matters by Michelle Higgins, who invariably uses examples taken from the top tier of utterly unaffordable hotels, the Times' down-to-earth adviser doesn't disappoint. Offering a lifeline to the suffering American tourist, she eagerly points out that the organization known as Leading Hotels of the World has announced a "guaranteed dollar rate" of $490 a night for a room with a queen-sized bed at the Raphael Hotel in Paris. To get this stunning bargain, you must provide a "discount code" and pay in full when booking.
Just when it seems that the Times' travel section can't get worse, it plumbs new depths. When will top editors at the Times restore reality to their Sunday travel section?
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Labels: london, new york times, paris
Mar 4, 2008
To tour a chic Parisian apartment, go to Paris Apartment Tours and roam through the flats on display
The apartments listed for rent on www.parisianapartmenttours.com are certainly not the cheapest available in Paris. Some are reasonable in price; a great many are through the roof. But if you'd like to experience international real estate without leaving home, you'll have fun skimming through the amazingly comprehensive photos that appear in this super-elegant website. Some of the listings permit you to have a 360-degree view of the apartment; others simply sweep from one side of a room to the other; most give you a really adequate picture of what you're thinking of renting.To take a tour, click on "apartments," then click on the words "Virtual Tour" where they appear beneath the photos of most apartments.
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Labels: accommodations, paris
Dec 14, 2007
You really should know about those public bicycles in Paris, and suggest the same to your own municipal authorities
Paris is the latest European city to amass a fleet of largely-free bicycles (they are free the first half-hour, and then cost a nominal sum) that any member of the public may grab for anytime use. The city has installed some 20,000 bikes at some 1,500 stations around town, and all a tourist needs in order to rent one is an American Express credit card to mainly guarantee the condition of the bike (AmEx cards are thus far the only American-issued cards accepted at those bike stations).
Other cities have tried a similar idea with middling success -- Vienna's version featured vehicles that were deliberately cheap and uncomfortable to discourage theft. Stockholm's system, launched a year ago with the participation of Clear Channel Communications (the multinational ad firm), now has about 1,000 bikes circulating town, rented for small fees by rental cards, but the system may be sunk by rampant vandalism.
The French project, called Velib (www.velib.paris.fr; French language only), began in Lyon and is also sponsored by a company (JC Decaux) that profits from advertising on the bikes. You buy a membership at ATM-like kiosks for 1 euro. The first half-hour of use is free, and rates are about €1 per half-hour after that, and you can drop your bike off anywhere else 24/7 in town where there's a station.
They're designed as an alternative to taxis and other gas-guzzlers. Interestingly, because the system has been established with the full support of the city, the rental cards can also be pre-loaded with funds and used on traditional modes of public transportation as well.
Having access to reliable wheels may be useful for tourists who run afoul of those famous French transportation strikes, but there is an inherent risk to grabbing these free cycles: They don't come with helmets. Still, they are a major advance in the quality of life, and should be considered by your own city. How about it?
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Other cities have tried a similar idea with middling success -- Vienna's version featured vehicles that were deliberately cheap and uncomfortable to discourage theft. Stockholm's system, launched a year ago with the participation of Clear Channel Communications (the multinational ad firm), now has about 1,000 bikes circulating town, rented for small fees by rental cards, but the system may be sunk by rampant vandalism.
The French project, called Velib (www.velib.paris.fr; French language only), began in Lyon and is also sponsored by a company (JC Decaux) that profits from advertising on the bikes. You buy a membership at ATM-like kiosks for 1 euro. The first half-hour of use is free, and rates are about €1 per half-hour after that, and you can drop your bike off anywhere else 24/7 in town where there's a station.
They're designed as an alternative to taxis and other gas-guzzlers. Interestingly, because the system has been established with the full support of the city, the rental cards can also be pre-loaded with funds and used on traditional modes of public transportation as well.
Having access to reliable wheels may be useful for tourists who run afoul of those famous French transportation strikes, but there is an inherent risk to grabbing these free cycles: They don't come with helmets. Still, they are a major advance in the quality of life, and should be considered by your own city. How about it?
Write and read comments about this post.
Nov 1, 2007
Though they're starting with the lesser museums, the French have embarked on a experiment that eventually may eliminate charges for all their museums
Oh la la! It's one of the few occasions when the French have brazenly imitated the British. Starting January 1, many French museums and monuments will test a new admission policy: They'll be free.
But don't expect to waltz up to the Louvre with an empty wallet -- at least not initially; most of the eligible attractions are small (and yet it's a start). In Paris, the free museums will include Cluny's medieval goodies and Guimet's Asian art, where admission is usually $10 a pop. Those aren't normally on the first-time visitor's wish list, but they will please true fans of antiquities. And in a lesser concession, the esteemed Musée d'Orsay, stuffed with impressionist wonders, and the Centre Pompidou, famous for modern art, will now be open free of charge for one evening a week to visitors aged 18 to 25.
The ultimate goal, of course, is to spread culture to the general public. After six months, the French government will decide whether to continue or expand the plan.
London long ago made free admission a priority, and the gift continues to reward the public. It's estimated that some 30 million additional visits were made after the government eliminated admission fees starting in 2001 at major attractions like the British Museum, the National Gallery, the Tate Modern, National Portrait Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum, and a great many more.
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But don't expect to waltz up to the Louvre with an empty wallet -- at least not initially; most of the eligible attractions are small (and yet it's a start). In Paris, the free museums will include Cluny's medieval goodies and Guimet's Asian art, where admission is usually $10 a pop. Those aren't normally on the first-time visitor's wish list, but they will please true fans of antiquities. And in a lesser concession, the esteemed Musée d'Orsay, stuffed with impressionist wonders, and the Centre Pompidou, famous for modern art, will now be open free of charge for one evening a week to visitors aged 18 to 25.
The ultimate goal, of course, is to spread culture to the general public. After six months, the French government will decide whether to continue or expand the plan.
London long ago made free admission a priority, and the gift continues to reward the public. It's estimated that some 30 million additional visits were made after the government eliminated admission fees starting in 2001 at major attractions like the British Museum, the National Gallery, the Tate Modern, National Portrait Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum, and a great many more.
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Oct 22, 2007
France's programs of municipal bike rentals is spreading through the continent, and deserves attention from our own city officials
Though no U.S. mayor has yet suggested the same for downtown areas in America, the system of short-term municipal bike rentals launched in Paris several months ago, has now spread to multiple cities in Europe. In Seville, Spain, two weeks ago, I came upon a cluster of bike stations into which you inserted a credit card and thereupon obtained a bike to use for one or more hours. When you are finished with the bike, you take it to another cluster of bike stations, lock it to a modern-day hitching post, and your credit card is wiped clean of a $200 deposit needed to insure return of the bike. Obviously, multiple cities in Europe have now followed Paris' lead.
It's a fascinating new departure in municipal transportation, and last week Mayor Mike Bloomberg of New York City inspected one such cluster of bikes-for-hire in Paris, indicating that New York officials were looking into the possibility -- still fairly remote -- of emulating them in Gotham. Much more is required than simply installing metal stands for each such bike; clearly, a city needs traffic lanes reserved for bikers, of the sort that I saw in Seville.
But if your city would benefit from a similar system, enabling people easily and conveniently to make their way about the central area, you really should suggest that municipal officials contact Paris' city hall for information about the outcome of this interesting experiment.
Incidentally, the Paris system is now available to tourists visiting the city, as a result of a recent agreement honoring standard American Express credit cards as valid to use for such rentals. Prior to that agreement, only a credit card containing a chip in widespread use in Europe, not America, would work on the system, but this limitation has now been overcome. As of now, tourists to Paris are making a good use of the bike rental facility.
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It's a fascinating new departure in municipal transportation, and last week Mayor Mike Bloomberg of New York City inspected one such cluster of bikes-for-hire in Paris, indicating that New York officials were looking into the possibility -- still fairly remote -- of emulating them in Gotham. Much more is required than simply installing metal stands for each such bike; clearly, a city needs traffic lanes reserved for bikers, of the sort that I saw in Seville.
But if your city would benefit from a similar system, enabling people easily and conveniently to make their way about the central area, you really should suggest that municipal officials contact Paris' city hall for information about the outcome of this interesting experiment.
Incidentally, the Paris system is now available to tourists visiting the city, as a result of a recent agreement honoring standard American Express credit cards as valid to use for such rentals. Prior to that agreement, only a credit card containing a chip in widespread use in Europe, not America, would work on the system, but this limitation has now been overcome. As of now, tourists to Paris are making a good use of the bike rental facility.
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Labels: active, cycling, paris
Jul 3, 2007
Apartments -- not hotels -- offer the best values in Paris this year
A recent look at the website of Paris Attitude (www.parisattitude.com), my own favorite source of Parisian accommodations, serves to remind that in Paris and other European capitals, the short-term rental of an apartment can often cost far less than equivalent hotel rooms, especially if you are four or more persons traveling together. Paris Attitutude currently lists apartments throughout the city that rent for as little as $800 a week (housing four). And that's an all-inclusive price; only the use of the phone is not included.
In such an apartment occupied by four persons, you and your family can also save on breakfasts and occasional meals, while enjoying far more space than is usually available in a hotel.
Even in upgraded, top first class hotel-apartments (apartments with the services of a hotel), the saving can be considerable. At such upscale digs as an apartment-hotel in the Bastille area, cleaning is provided daily; bed linens are changed every three days, and towels each day. There is a twenty-four hour receptionist, and a bar on the premises. Yet such a studio when rented to four persons costs less than $200 a night (on at least a one-week rental), much less than you'd pay at an equivalent Paris hotel.
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In such an apartment occupied by four persons, you and your family can also save on breakfasts and occasional meals, while enjoying far more space than is usually available in a hotel.
Even in upgraded, top first class hotel-apartments (apartments with the services of a hotel), the saving can be considerable. At such upscale digs as an apartment-hotel in the Bastille area, cleaning is provided daily; bed linens are changed every three days, and towels each day. There is a twenty-four hour receptionist, and a bar on the premises. Yet such a studio when rented to four persons costs less than $200 a night (on at least a one-week rental), much less than you'd pay at an equivalent Paris hotel.
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Labels: accommodations, paris
May 8, 2007
Europe and the sinking dollar: What do we do now?
I'm not sure that the full impact of recent exchange rates -- $2 for a British pound, $1.35 for a single Euro -- has yet sunk into the psyche of Americans planning a European trip. Or that they've considered the radical new tactics that a cost-conscious trip there will require.
Because the average guesthouse room -- I'm talking a modest guesthouse and a double room -- is currently renting for £100 in London and for at least 100 € on the continent, the cost for lodgings is therefore $200 a night per couple in London and nearly $150 in Europe. Multiply those costs by 14 nights, and for a pair of Americans traveling together, the average two-week trip can start off with a $3,000 tab for lodgings alone.
So what's to be done? It's clear to me that the cost-conscious American must, from now on, seek out not hotel accommodations, not even guesthouse accommodations, but so-called "private homestays" -- a low-cost, $40-per-person room in a residence whose owners are simply supplementing their income by renting out an occasional room. If you'll go to www.happy-homes.com or www.athomeinlondon.co.uk, you'll find such $40 per person accommodations in London. You'll find the same for Paris at www.goodmorningparis.fr or www.bed-and-breakfast-in-paris.com; and in Rome at www.b-b.rm.it.
For years, many of our Frommer's travel guides to Europe have laid a heavy stress on alternative, non-hotel accommodations, and my daughter's recent series (Pauline Frommer's London, Pauline Frommer's Paris and Pauline Frommer's Italy) is especially full of internet services for private homestays, university accommodations, hostels, and guest-accepting convents and monasteries. And you can bet that I'll be returning to the private homestay in future issues of this daily blog.
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Because the average guesthouse room -- I'm talking a modest guesthouse and a double room -- is currently renting for £100 in London and for at least 100 € on the continent, the cost for lodgings is therefore $200 a night per couple in London and nearly $150 in Europe. Multiply those costs by 14 nights, and for a pair of Americans traveling together, the average two-week trip can start off with a $3,000 tab for lodgings alone.
So what's to be done? It's clear to me that the cost-conscious American must, from now on, seek out not hotel accommodations, not even guesthouse accommodations, but so-called "private homestays" -- a low-cost, $40-per-person room in a residence whose owners are simply supplementing their income by renting out an occasional room. If you'll go to www.happy-homes.com or www.athomeinlondon.co.uk, you'll find such $40 per person accommodations in London. You'll find the same for Paris at www.goodmorningparis.fr or www.bed-and-breakfast-in-paris.com; and in Rome at www.b-b.rm.it.
For years, many of our Frommer's travel guides to Europe have laid a heavy stress on alternative, non-hotel accommodations, and my daughter's recent series (Pauline Frommer's London, Pauline Frommer's Paris and Pauline Frommer's Italy) is especially full of internet services for private homestays, university accommodations, hostels, and guest-accepting convents and monasteries. And you can bet that I'll be returning to the private homestay in future issues of this daily blog.
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Labels: accommodations, budget, england, france, guesthouse, italy, london, paris
Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the
