Where do you stay when you're travelling?

It's a question I am asked all the time, and one that doesn't always have a simple answer. Some want to know if I have a secret spot somewhere that they can try out. Some ask because they want a deal and are hoping that I know of one, and some have never really travelled before, and can't fathom not staying in a name-brand hotel, so are just curious.

But, there is no one answer to that question, as where I stay changes every trip I take. It is based on how long I am travelling for, where I am going, how much money I have to spend, whether I am alone or with friends, and many, many more factors.

For example, on a recent adventure, I stayed in a hostel, a hotel, a riad, a tent and a guest house — all over only 10 days!

My room at the Piccadilly Backpackers Hostel in London

I flew into London and knew that I wanted to stay in the city centre so I could easily walk, or take the tube, to the sights that I wanted to see. I also knew that because it was the middle of July and the most expensive time of year to travel in Europe, a hotel was not an option for me. I was travelling alone, and only spending one night in the city, so knew I would be fine with just crashing in a hostel.

I managed to get a bed in a four person female dorm (not usually my first choice) in the Piccadilly Backpackers (see image above) — located less than a block from the Piccadilly tube station and square of the same name — for 35 GBP (approx. 70 CAD). Not cheap when you look at the conversion, but still cheap for central London. The room was simple and clean. The communal showers had hot water, decent water pressure, and there was free wi-fi in the common area. It was safe, central and easy to find. The perfect crash pad.

The next night, I needed a place to stay near Gatwick Airport, as I had a really early flight the following day. I ended up staying at the Ibis Hotel near the airport for 35GBP (approx. 70 CAD) — the same price as my centrally located hostel. What I got here, however, was a modern, clean hotel with all the amenities, my own room, TV, wi-fi, and room service. It's amazing the difference being 20 minutes out of the city will make!

Since I started travelling when I was really young and on a shoestring budget, my first instinct is to always look for the cheapest place to sleep. But when I decided to spend a week in Morocco solo, I knew that throwing out a few extra dollars every night would get me a stunning room in a historic riad. (Plus, I am a Flashpacker now. I don't have to travel on a shoestring budget anymore!)

The view of the plunge pool from my first room at the Hotel du Tresor Riad

I found an incredible place to stay through my Lonely Planet guide (it comes in handy when booking from afar!), and made the Hotel du Tresor (highly recommended — message me if you want more info.) in Marrakesh my home base.

A traditional riad, the hotel was a series of whitewashed rooms draped in Moroccan carpets, pillows, lanterns, and art, that surrounded an internal courtyard with a plunge pool. The pool was what sold me on the place when I looked at it online because it was private, secluded and would be a must-have on +45 days. My room was 35 Euros (approx. 50 CAD) a night which included an impeccably decorated space with AC, a private bathroom, use of the pool, free breakfast, and an incredibly kind group of staffers who helped me navigate the country.

The view from my bed in the Bedouin tent.

After a few nights in the riad, I spent one night in a Bedouin tent in the desert.

Something to note: The desert does NOT cool off at night in the heat of summer.

It was like sleeping in a sauna. There was no breeze, no AC, and the walls, floors and ceiling of the tent were draped in thick carpets making it pretty stifling. There were four of us that slept on small mattresses on the ground. The shared facilities were a three minute walk from camp and as basic as it gets (aka, a hole in the ground and a bucket with some water in it).

The night was part of a mini-tour I was on, and included dinner and breakfast. The meals and sleeping part of the tour probably works out to being about 40 CAD.

My room at the Hotel La Petite Suede in Agadir, Morocco

After the desert, I spent two nights in a guesthouse in a beach town called Agadir. The place I stayed was called the Hotel La Petite Suede and cost me 110 Dh a night (approx. 14 CAD). This got me a large, safe room with my own bathroom, and a simple breakfast of baguettes, jam and coffee in the morning. There was no AC, but there was a large window, and it was only a five minute walk to the beach.

(NOTE: I was in Morocco in the offseason and the prices I paid could be doubled, or even tripled in the high season.)

Here are a few things to consider when you are trying to figure out where to stay:

Proximity. Do you want to be able to walk to all the tourist sights? Public transportation, or renting a car is not always cheap, and sometimes paying a few extra dollars to stay in the centre of a city will save you money in the long run.
Do you want to meet people? Then DON'T stay in a hotel. You need a hostel, or a guest house with a common area.
How long are you really going to spend in your room? What's the point of dropping a bunch of cash on a room you are only going to sleep in? If you aren't planning on spending much time at your hotel, then maybe you should be looking for a more standard, cheaper option.
What do you really need to feel safe/comfortable? Is having a TV, AC, free WiFi, or even a bathroom to yourself must haves, or are they things that you can do without? The price of rooms is often cut in half if you are willing to go with a fan instead of AC.

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Though I usually avoid tours at all cost, after some urging from my travel buddy — and since were only going to be in London for a few days — I agreed to take the classic Red Bus Tour. We boarded the double-decker bus first thing and spent the morning being whisked past some of the most iconic buildings and monuments in the city.

By the afternoon, I was only half listening to the tour guide’s non-stop narration of the city scenery when I caught the end of a sentence "…visit the state rooms of Buckingham", as we passed by the iconic symbol of London itself.

“Whoa! What did he say!?” I asked my friend.

“Those white tents over there,” she pointed, “are where you line up to visit Buckingham Palace.”

Visit Buckingham Palace… VISIT BUCKINGHAM PALACE!!!!

How did I not know that a normal person could actually go INSIDE the Queen’s official London home!?

I reached over and yanked hard on the yellow wire, signaling to the driver that I wanted off.

“Hurry!” I yelled at my friend jumping out of my seat, “we gotta go visit the Queen’s house!!”

She looked at me bemused and smiled apologetically at the tour guide who, for the first time all day, had paused his monologue and seemed a bit taken aback by my enthusiasm.

Jumping out of the bus, we practically ran towards the white tents covering a twisting line of tourists patiently waiting for their turn to see how the Royals lived. My friend sighed when she saw the line, but I determinedly took my place at the end of it.

I didn’t care how long I had to stand there, I was getting into that palace.

For a month in the summer, when the Queen and her court head to Balmoral Castle in the Highlands of Scotland (Fun Fact: If the queen is at the palace, the Sovereign’s Standard is flown, if not the Union Jack flaps proudly in the wind), the lavish and historic State Rooms of one of the few working palaces in the world are open to the public.

For those of you that have walked through the halls of the palace in Versailles or the Hapsburg summer palace in Austria, you might be wondering why this is such a big deal.

A palace is a palace right? WRONG

What makes a visit to Buckingham so incredible is that it is actually someone’s home — an incredibly wealthy someone. The rooms are clean, kept, and full of priceless furniture, art, and other treasures. They have not been looted or vandalised by mobs during uprisings (like Versailles) and are painstakingly taken care of by over 450 members of the Royal Household.

No mater what your opinion is of Royalty, there is something amazing about walking through rooms that generations of rulers from all over the world have dined in, danced in, and lived in.

The Royal Arms on the bronze entrance gates, 1905          Bromsgrove Guild — *The Royal Arms on the bronze entrance gates, 1905 Bromsgrove Guild*

The line moved surprisingly fast and after only about thirty minutes, we entered through the Ambassadors’ entrance, normally reserved for foreign ambassadors, senior government officials, and high ranking members of the armed services.

After walking through a narrow passageway, we stepped into the breathtaking Grand Entrance, all marble, columns, sculpture, and red plush carpeting.

Peeking through the windows, I could see a stone-filled square, called the Quadrangle, where the Queen receives exalted guests, and through that, the inside of the gates that, until that moment, I had seen only from the other side.

*The Grand Staircase, Buckingham Palace*

After walking up the stunning grand staircase literally made out of marble and gold, we entered the rooms on the first floor.

My mouth gaped open stupidly from that moment on, as we slowly wandered from room to room taking in the elaborate curtains, patterned walls, gilt mirrors, painted murals, and master works of art (the frames alone could have kept me travelling for years).

We passed through Drawing Rooms, The State Dining Room, The Ballroom, and The Throne Room — I could have stayed in there forever (seriously, I tried to keep my eye out for a place to hide).

Oh, the photos I would have taken if only I was permitted to! There is no taking photos in the Queen's house. (The interior photos used in this post are photos-I-took-of-photos found in the ‘Official Souvenir Guide’ by Derry Moore).

It took a lot, but (after a few hours) my VERY patient travel companion finally managed to drag me out of the palace and into the fresh air of the royal backyard. The 40-acre garden stretched out in front of me as I stood for a moment enjoying the Queen’s patio.

My mind instantly flashed to a picture that I had seen when I was younger of Princess Diana, Prince Charles, a young Prince William, and an even younger Prince Harry sitting on the grass together smiling.

The sides of my own lips turned up at the enchanting memory, which was broken as my friend tugged me down the stairs towards a path that led through the garden and ultimately back to the other "normal" side of Buckingham’s walls.

(Insert exaggerated sigh here)

What. A. Day.