sciconf

Traveling with 2 adult kids. Italy, Switzerland, and London.

Thinking of economy stay, wondering about Youth Hostels for the party of 4? Any safety concerns? Can you lock the cabin - would there be an attendant/gate keeper?

Any other places to consider?

CosmosHuman

Some youth hostels have family rooms, some are en suite. A long, long time ago I was a member of the Youth Hostel Association. www.hiusa.org is their site. Hostels and pensions are all over the EU. A lot of the pensions are family run. Family rooms maybe available. Breakfast is usually included.

CarlTheWebmaster

I�ve had a lot of luck finding inexpensive lodging using booking.com including apartments, single rooms, and particularly three-star (absolutely clean and fine and cheap) hotels all over Europe. Easy to search, many can be cancelled with no penalty, worth a look.

realworld

Are the single rooms on Booking like an AirBnB? Same accommodations as AirBnB or VRBO, but cheaper? What has been your experience with them? Private entrance? Or does it vary? Interaction with others at the place?

CarlTheWebmaster

I've booked everything from complete apartments to a single dorm-like room with small en suite Shower/WC. And I like that Booking.com shows both those and chain and boutique hotels.

Price varies, but recently I got a lovely apartment in France at a better price than on the rental management company's website, and for a single room in Davos during Ski season I paid CHF 300 for six nights with breakfast (mediocre, but edible). Not per night, total. I thought that was a steal.

I don't have a lot of interactions with others, but I've not chosen the sort of lodgings where that would be likely.

Generally I almost always look at booking.com first and usually I find something close to what I want (location, price, amenities, availability, cancellation).

realworld

Thanks, appreciate that. That is an amazing price in Davos.

TravellingChris

We've done hostels in Western Europe as well as private homes, and we have visited all three destinations you mention. Many hostels do offer private rooms that can sleep multiple adults and are significantly better value than a hotel room. We do most of our accommodation bookings through booking.com or hostelworld.com: both sites have a great deal of useful information.

We booked accommodation in private flats through booking.com on a recent trip to the UK and Italy and overall really enjoyed the experience. (We opted exclusively for private accommodation because the trip was last-minute and most hostels were booked up.) At each place we had our own bedroom (obviously) though toilet and kitchen facilities were shared with other guests--not so different from some budget hotels! Most fellow guests were courteous and there were no issues sharing a kitchen to prepare our own meals. We had our own set of keys to the outside and bedroom doors and encountered no problems coming and going while we were there. The downside when compared with a hostel is that the host is unlikely to be on-site should there be any issues. A cleaner may come once a day but you may never meet the host.

farci

I have had excellent accomodation from Booking.com, but it's worth getting competitive prices from Airbnb and other suppliers for each destination. Booking.com was very helpful when the booked room was inaccessible when we arrived. They refunded payment immediately