WillTravel

I don't expect any definitive answer to this question, as so much depends on tastes and circumstances and budgets.

I've been working on my trip to Andalucia this winter, centered around major cities. In most cases, it's possible to get a single room with a shared bathroom for as little as 20 Euros/night, a hostel dorm a bit less (not that much less, surprisingly), and a room with a private bathroom for 30 Euros/night. Approximate values, of course. The reviews at this level are not perfect, but it's pretty clear the accommodation is quite survivable.

I find myself being tempted to spend more, though, for something just a little nicer. Other than the thought "I want something nicer", I'm finding it hard to justify, though. Purely an internal battle, and not something others can solve.

How do you decide between inexpensive and acceptable accommodation, versus slightly nicer, even perhaps a bit luxurious, accommodation? Or maybe even spending 3x what you would need for base-level acceptability.

In these cases, locations are all pretty well where I want them, so that's not really the deciding factor.

wharvey

For me, if I am traveling with my partner, I will usually splurge a bit more than when I travel alone. I am one who is fine with basic acccomodations; I much rather spend the money on activities.

I rarely go for luxury unless I am using points/miles or getting a status upgrade.

jadecocoa

I would probably do basic for most nights and then upgrade to a "better" hotel for a few nights on a trip involving multiple nights in different cities. It gets tiring/dispiriting being on a rock bottom budget for a long period (more than 2 weeks). Less than 2 weeks I can manage. Edited to clarify: I'm not talking about splurging on luxury hotels but maybe just a private room after 10 days of hostel dorms.

Forrest Bump

I divide my night stays by continents: Asia and Africa I always do splurge (my money are better valued/bang for the buck), while EU/US/AUS don't feel it is worth since splurging means a substantial increase of what I pay with not equal correspondence of benefits.

Of course, general rule, exceptions do exist.

straniero

I do not have a general rule. On the Pacific islands, South Korea and other asian places (where admittedly I was alone) I slept only in hostels and had a great time.
in the US, my choice is always Hilton/Hyatt no matter if I travel alone or with my gf.
Europe, more like Hilton or similar.
It really boils down to what kind of experience I want to live.

EmailKid

What an excellent topic for us Budget Travelers ^

I too splurge on occasion, but generally only when I stay on points or in some country that has cheap hotels.

Going to Hong Kong in a week, and "splurged" for brand new Holiday Inn property in Kowloon because I'm paying with IHG points. Not all dates have availability, so am still looking at budget accomodation - no way am I willing to pay $150 US for a hotel @:-)

Splurged for Biz Class to HKG - well splurged for Biz upgrade, no way am I paying $5K for a ticket

A week in Hong Kong may be a little long, so will spend Thanksgiving with friends living in Thailand (likely will join them for lunch, but not splurge for American Thanksgiving meal, but eat Thai food). So, my backup plan was to use miles for the flight, but kept checking daily to see if I find a cheap fare to save miles for future.

Lo and behold, saw $400 r/t in biz on Hong Kong Air, and thought long and hard about it, but all of sudden Thai Airways dropped their (what seems like always - and going back at least four years I've looked) $350 to $192, so voted NOT to splurge but fly coach on a 2 - 3 hour flight. And will not splurge for a (relatively) cheap taxi from BKK to town, but rather take Airport Rail Link for less than five dollars.

And while I'm a big street food fan, will certainly splurge for a nice restaurant meal both in Hong Kong and Thailand.

WillTravel

Great responses. I thought about it some more, and a couple of things tend to push me towards wanting a nicer room in this case. 1) In winter, I want to be sure of having heat. This is not always a given in this region. Most places do say "heat" (or "calefaccion"), but whether it is turned on or to what extent may be a separate issue. 2) If one is sick or under the weather while traveling, it is much better to be hanging out in a comfortable room. 3) With shorter days, there may be more time spent in the room too.

MojaveFlyer

Let me just add, a bit late, to this discussion. When your habit is the cheap side (and I've sure slept in some lousy places in my time!) and you're OK with that, just stick to it. Then every now and then for whatever reason you stay in a "nice" hotel and it feels really good and awesome and you appreciate the luxury, at whatever level.

If you're comfortable in cheap places, you're much more likely to meet people like yourself with whom you'll enjoy socializing. The fancy places are much more lonely.

Anyway, it's really a question of what you want to spend your money on. I'd much rather splurge on food than lodging myself.

Dieuwer

Depends on your income.
When I was a student I would rarely splurge as €10 was a lot of money. Nowadays with my much higher income, I don't care if it is $100 or $200, as long as it is what I like. Hell, I just plunked down thousands in dollars to fly EK F.

EmailKid

Are you sure you're in the right forum mate

Dieuwer

Depends on your definition of "budget".

fozziedoggie

When my "S/O" tells me too :-:

Big4Flyer

I'm more likely to splurge on activities than on accommodations or food, and more likely to splurge on a particular activity based on how unique it is or how likely I am to have that opportunity again. For example, when visiting Alaska, I'll stay in a motel 6 if it means I can do a flightseeing flight with a glacier landing.

I figure in 10 years I'll remember the flight more than I would remember staying in a more upscale lodge.

investigator

I mix it up, but I'm more likely to splurge at the beginning of my trip to get acclimated and get a few nights of good sleep, and then stay in cheaper locations as my trip progresses. If I'm dealing with jet lag I'd prefer to stay somewhere for the first ~2 days that at a minimum is quiet, has a comfy bed and ac/heat, private bath, and is near to eating establishments.

RustyC

Interesting that most are talking about lodgings here rather than, say, paid J on the plane or some non-standard car rent. I actually ended up with a free upgrade to a VW Beetle convertible in LAS last week during a time that included one of the only all-day rains for the year and cold temperatures otherwise (still was able to take the top down a bit if the heat was blasting)

Every so often I'll go higher on lodgings in areas where those costs are favorable if I have good confidence there's some uniqueness or value to be had. In Colombo, Srfi Lanka, I once got the Galle Face (sort of a poor man's Raffles, but with a pool and right on the Indian Ocean) at $25 back in the late 90s. Was very historic and turned out to be a good choice.

Northeast Thailand has some excellent hotel values even at $15-20, but in Udon Thani I paid around $42 for the Pannarai, which gets a central location, buffet breakfast, nicer & more modern room and service staff that give you the wai and generally act like it's a 4-star place.

Used to be you could also sometimes roll the dice with Priceline's NYOP in Singapore at 3* or higher and get something nicer for not much more than the Bencoolen places.