Accommodation is the second biggest expense in travelling, but with smart planning (yeah, sure) and a bit of luck one can find very cheap and pleasant roof (bed?).
I am in Gaiman now and if Trelew had one hostel that I could find through search engines (hostelworld, booking, etc), Gaiman does not. The place is, however, full with B&Bs. I was able to find 3 to book online, and addresses for another 3 with phone numbers.
All accommodation was for 3 person and way too expensive, so I decided to look at the place and try to negotiate the price as it is off season. A bit risky as it is weekend (I remember my own notes!), but I knew that in the worst case I could come back to Trelew: it is only 30 mins bus ride.
We head to the tourist information office where I was given a list of 6 B&Bs in town and - happiness- prices were twice lower than online!
The problem was that is is off season half of these places were closed. One I did not like as it was on the road, another had beautiful garden, but room was just ok, and third could be accessed only when tea house attached to it was open fromm 3pm. We were there at 10.30am!
When we came back at 2pm the place was still closed, so we headed to the previos "ok" place for tea and bed for me (a girl I was with was here only for tea). Of course, my room was taken. Tough luck.
Finally was able to get (rather roll after all tea and cakes we've taken) to the third place. I negotiated the price and had double room for 350 $ with big breakfast and garden. Bingo!
This is a bit extreme situation as I usually do not stay in such expensive places (my personal record - 55 $ per night in cafayate). Normally rules for accommodation search are as follows:
1. Always book for weekend, holidays and in big cities (saves legs on walking)
2. In the North (of Argentina) one can just walk in (but see #1) and get the room. I have a book for discounts for some hostels, but the book does not work when booking online. Also walk in prices can be lower as booking engines take 10-15% commission.
3. ALWAYS book in the South (of Argentina/Chile), otherwise everyhting will be full and only very expensive places will be available.
4. I usually book through hostelworld and select the cheapest hostel with the highest rating (over 80% and with more than 100 reviews). At the end it might not be that cheap, but when converting to pounds the difference will not be even seen in the price!
5. In small towns, Tourist information office can be very useful: they can give an advice or arrange cheap stay in the place that you would never find yourself.
6. Couchsurfing is even cheaper (well, it's free) and I think I am ready to try it soon. The only disadvantage is you would not meet another travellers.
I do not even have any photos of my hostels. So here's a photo of crazy crowd from Salta's stay:
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I am in Gaiman now and if Trelew had one hostel that I could find through search engines (hostelworld, booking, etc), Gaiman does not. The place is, however, full with B&Bs. I was able to find 3 to book online, and addresses for another 3 with phone numbers.
All accommodation was for 3 person and way too expensive, so I decided to look at the place and try to negotiate the price as it is off season. A bit risky as it is weekend (I remember my own notes!), but I knew that in the worst case I could come back to Trelew: it is only 30 mins bus ride.
We head to the tourist information office where I was given a list of 6 B&Bs in town and - happiness- prices were twice lower than online!
The problem was that is is off season half of these places were closed. One I did not like as it was on the road, another had beautiful garden, but room was just ok, and third could be accessed only when tea house attached to it was open fromm 3pm. We were there at 10.30am!
When we came back at 2pm the place was still closed, so we headed to the previos "ok" place for tea and bed for me (a girl I was with was here only for tea). Of course, my room was taken. Tough luck.
Finally was able to get (rather roll after all tea and cakes we've taken) to the third place. I negotiated the price and had double room for 350 $ with big breakfast and garden. Bingo!
This is a bit extreme situation as I usually do not stay in such expensive places (my personal record - 55 $ per night in cafayate). Normally rules for accommodation search are as follows:
1. Always book for weekend, holidays and in big cities (saves legs on walking)
2. In the North (of Argentina) one can just walk in (but see #1) and get the room. I have a book for discounts for some hostels, but the book does not work when booking online. Also walk in prices can be lower as booking engines take 10-15% commission.
3. ALWAYS book in the South (of Argentina/Chile), otherwise everyhting will be full and only very expensive places will be available.
4. I usually book through hostelworld and select the cheapest hostel with the highest rating (over 80% and with more than 100 reviews). At the end it might not be that cheap, but when converting to pounds the difference will not be even seen in the price!
5. In small towns, Tourist information office can be very useful: they can give an advice or arrange cheap stay in the place that you would never find yourself.
6. Couchsurfing is even cheaper (well, it's free) and I think I am ready to try it soon. The only disadvantage is you would not meet another travellers.
I do not even have any photos of my hostels. So here's a photo of crazy crowd from Salta's stay:
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