where one sleeps has zero to do with what one does
"hotel" does not cover all the possibilities
language barriers can be transcended
these days, can connect directly with locals in advance
(can also do so through various 3rd party suppliers)
Originally Posted by
CDTraveler
I strongly disagree. I've traveled on 4 continents and hotels are pretty much hotels. Guests are taken care of to greater or lesser degrees, they're not out shopping in the local markets seeing what local cuisine, and hygiene, and social customs are really like. They're not experiencing the same inconveniences as the locals - spent time in the Philippines a while back: locals had to deal with daily shut downs of the electrical grid, but hotels with their generators insulated guests from that experience. Try cooking for the family with random power outages, or keeping food fresh.
Local family centered culture in hotels? Again, it's limited. You're not going to learn local playground etiquette there. How many other mothers of small children will you meet?
Then there's language barriers. You suggested "asia" "india" "bhutan" "europe" "south america" and "mexico" - what languages does the OP speak in addition to English? How well do you connect with local culture if you don't speak the language? I speak 2 languages in addition to English and can struggle along in 2 more, but I still don't claim expertise on those cultures. I can look in the window of them, but am still not of them.
Originally Posted by
CDTraveler
AirBnB or the like would be one way to connect with people.
couchsurfing.com and others remain focused on that, vs goals of airbnb corporate owners/investors
vast majority of hotels (elsewhere) do not target american/european/western. guests do not have to be local (but can be common on weekends/holidays) but instead be guests from the region or another region besides west. expat communities also vary.