Decent Budget lodgings

I really love to travel to other countries and explore different destinations. In my younger days I liked to stay in dorms in youth hostels and backpacker hostels. In such a place I expected a bed, a locker, a shared bathroom and a kitchen to cook in. Some youth hostels are in special places like an old castle in Munich. Some backpackers are in areas of superb natural beauty. One backpackers in Cairns I stayed in had a swimming pool outdoors. These days often a free internet is given in the accommodation price. These days I have to stay in a room for three or four people because I travel with my disabled son and my daughter. Due to my son being in a wheelchair we need to have a room on the ground floor if an elevator isn't available. I expect that the guest house is clean and Comfortable. It is awful when you have to wait around for ages to check in. Sometimes breakfast is included in the room price.

I have experienced that when I checked in at a backpacker's hotel in Kota Kinabalu. There was this couple asking for transfers, if what kind of breakfast do they have and some room ammenities. I was restraining myself from butting in and say to them, "Excuse me, I think you walked on the wrong side of the city. If you wanna sleep in a nice hotel walk at the other end of the city..." hahaha... Like you, I just want to see a decent bed and bathroom and a well maintained locker for my things...

When I stay in a budget hotel or a hostel I don't expect much. Budget accomodation is a lot cheaper than 5 star hotels, and I don't expect to find the same kind of things in a budget hotel. The reason why is a cheap is because you don't get all of the things that you get when you pay for an expensive hotel. I have stayed in budget hotel or hostels where the rooms where very, very simple. In one of those hostels the room was very small and only consisted or a bed a bed and two chairs. We had to share the bathroom with the other visitors. It was definately not a luxurious room, but it was very cheap, and we didn't really care, because we just wanted a place to spend the night.

I had traveled myself quite a lot, and used youth hostels and similar accommodation whenever it was possible. And experiences falls in range from awful to great. probably the worst place I have been is "hostel" in Playa del Carmen in Mexico. Place was look like abandoned army barracks. Doors couldn't be locked, windows were broken, there was no mosquito net (and it was quite necessary). There was no running water (you have to walk to the office, and someone had to come to open the valve), etc... On the opposite side was youth hostel in Granada in Spain, with perfectly clean two beds room, kitchen and dinning room. During the year, it is student dorm, but with standards of 4 star hotel. And it serves as youth hostel just in the summer. So, it depends where you travel, what is personal tolerance, and of course budget. But I still prefer hostels, since it's a great chance to meet interesting people. I have traveled with tent as well, and camping is another good alternative for budget accommodation. In Norway, for example, is legal to camp in public areas, with some restrictions and rules to be followed. There is a site I hear lot of good comments about, CouchSurfing. It's a simple concept that allows people to share a place to stay for a few days. It works both ways, you can invite people to stay at your place, or search for a place to stay at the place where you travel. Here is the link, so look at it, if you're interested: http://www.couchsurfing.org/