Originally Posted by SanDiego1K

I've been avoiding Europe due to high hotel prices. Prices people are reporting in Paris and London make me choke. What makes it worse for me is that those are city hotels where the purpose of my travel would be to enjoy the city and not spend a substantial amount of time in the hotel. Paying such prices in order to have a comfortable room in which to sleep is unacceptable to me. In the past year we've had amazing trips to Asia including Vietnam and Malaysia where we did not skimp in any way. We're in Australia now where the US dollar is strong against the Australian dollar. We're paying roughly $2000 US per night for all inclusive stays at Saffire Freycinet and Southern Ocean Lodge. We do have an upcoming trip to Albania that will end in Vienna. There, I'm using points and an upgrade cert for a suite at the Park Hyatt Vienna, a beautiful hotel.

This reminds me of our start to our international travel life as cash strapped young professionals. After a couple European trips, we pivoted to central America where we had wonderful economical trips to Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador and more. Fortunately, we knew nothing of luxury travel and were willing to chose inexpensive accommodations. My point is we were mindful of where to travel in order to stretch our travel budget.