The Accommodation Paradox: Apartment or Hotel?

I’ve been traveling in fairly offbeat/exotic places for a solid chunk of time now, and one thing I find myself talking to folks about over and over is how I choose a place to stay. Now keep in mind that, despite having closed the hostel chapter of my life (temporarily, at least), I don’t crinkle my nose at staying at places that wouldn’t be considered luxurious. Quite the opposite – as a story collector, I often find that a night or two at a grotty “hotel” in a random corner of the planet (I’m looking at you, Casa Iguana on Little Corn Island, Nicaragua) can yield some incredible memories that dazzle at cocktail parties. And while I admire the long term travelers who stay at such places without qualms (as being thrifty with accommodation is one prong of a strategy that allows those folks to stay on the road for so long), putting in my time at my 9-5 for 11 months a year financially allows me to spend a moderate amount of coin to ensure relative creature comforts while on the road.

That was a long preface. Brevity is not a strong suit for me, clearly.

We had a pretty killer airbnb apartment in Istanbul.

What I’d actually like to talk about is how I go about deciding between apartment rentals (via sites like airbnb or VRBO) or hotels. Internet accommodation aggregation sites like Tripadvisor, Hotels.com, Agoda, and Booking.com have allowed easy comparison of hotels, and airbnb presents apartment, house, or room rentals based on aggregated user reviews. Interface wise, I prefer the latter. We live in a time where we no longer have to read reviews of hotels in guidebooks like Lonely Planet – where, let’s be honest, hotel owners will often grease wheels for positive reviews. I personally trust reviews written by my fellow travelers without incentive more than those written by someone being paid to do so (either by Lonely Planet for writing a guidebook, or by a hotel owner via a free night’s stay).

So, when it comes down to booking the place, I ask myself a few questions:

Do I know a lot about the place I am traveling?
Is there reliable tourism infrastructure?
Do I speak the language?
Have I done my research about the place?

Can you read this? If no, consider a hotel while in Georgia.

The more of these I can answer “yes” to, the easier it will be for me to rest assured staying in an apartment rental. If I speak the language and can rely on public transportation in the area, I won’t need to use a concierge at a hotel to get recommendations for restaurants or things to see. And if there’s tourism infrastructure present, I’ll likely be able to use tourist information offices or tourist-geared publications to use as a guide. And, let’s be honest, despite my little tirade on Lonely Planet above, if there’s a guidebook available for the place traveling (and it has good reviews, and is relatively recent), then I’ll probably have it stashed in my day pack.

This airbnb was not slummy at all on the inside, I promise. (Tbilisi) — This airbnb in Tbilisi was not slummy at all on the inside, I promise.

What is it about my slummy looking accommodation pics? While the Erebuni Hotel (Yerevan, Armenia) may have been unfriendly, it was not as sketchy as this picture makes it look. — What is it about my slummy looking accommodation pics? While the Erebuni Hotel (in Yerevan, Armenia) may have been unfriendly, it was not as sketchy as this picture makes it look.

In my most recent trip to the South Caucasus, I ended up booking an apartment in Tbilisi, and a hotel in Yerevan. After doing my research, I found that I was likely going to be more comfortable in a hotel in Yerevan – I had devoted more time to learning the Georgian language, because I was going to spend more time there, and had read many blogger reports discussing the relative lack of development in Armenia compared to Georgia. On top of all this, I wanted to ensure I had a positive experience – and while I looked quite a bit for an apartment rental in Yerevan, I didn’t find one that really spoke to me. As a traveler with a regular 9-5, I only have so much time to spend globetrotting every year, and that time is precious to me. Therefore, when I pick a place, I want it to be as close to my ideal as possible – and I couldn’t find that ideal in an apartment rental (on airbnb or any other aggregator, to be honest) in Yerevan.

No language or infrastructure to speak of? I got a lot of help finding this ger camp in the middle of Selenge Province, Mongolia.

Apartment rentals and hotels are, of course, not the only two types of accommodation out there. I have camped, stayed in gers (Mongolian yurts), and couchsurfed in my past trips. But generally the choice I face these days is between these two. This question also really only speaks to the traveler who is active and sightseeing, etc. I definitely don’t have this debate when I am heading on a trip whose primary purpose is relaxation. My typical rule for those types of trips is: beach or bust.

On Little Corn Island we went from this immaculate bungalow... — On Little Corn Island, Nicaragua we went from this immaculate bungalow…

...to this. It looks better than it was - the "mosquito net" was purely ornamental. — …to this. It looks better than it was – the “mosquito net” was purely instrumental.

That said, there are of course exceptions to this rule – case in point, on my honeymoon this summer, my soon to be husband and I will be spending a week on the island of Gozo, just west of Malta. Malta is heavily touristed, and we could have easily opted for a hotel with quick and easy beach access. Instead, we found ourselves drawn inland, and are staying inland in a farmhouse rental with a fully furnished kitchen. So while we were originally called to Malta because of a cheap flight and a desire for some heavy beach time, we ultimately were charmed by other qualities of the destination that took us inland.