How I save money on Accommodation When Traveling

Whether you are traveling for business, or leisure having a place to stay is very essential and you can definitely save some bucks using the following filters which I use as a Nigerian Travel Blogger before deciding to spend money on accommodation. If you are lucky all you might be spending money during your stay somewhere new might just be your flight ticket.

1. Friends and Family                                                                                                                                                  After deciding on my destination, the next thing I do is find out if I’ve got any friends or family in my proposed destination. I am not picky and if abiding by a few house rules saves me some money, I would totally go for it. I have stayed with Friends of Friends. 😛

When I was in Johannesburg I stayed with a friend of Bolanle my high school classmate , she and her fiancee at the point went as far as picking me and dropping me off at the airport, I not only saved money for 4 Nights of accommodation, I saved about $100 which I would have spent on transportation.

Bringing it home, when I was exploring South West Nigeria, I stayed with one of my best friend Kofoworola’s Mum, not only did I save money for 3 Nights, I gained extra pounds, from being consistently overfed.

2. Couchsurfing

The Idea of staying with a complete stranger half way across the world probably doesn’t sound safe to you but then, oh well！traveling itself is not safe，might as well stay home. CS is a community of travelers who welcome other travelers in their city into their homes for free.

I have done this in Capetown with Rakeesh and Frank, Cairo with Shadad, Mombasa with Angela, Kigali with Fraterne, Alexandria with Mezo to mention a few, bringing it to Nigeria, my sister and I had a 7：00 flight to Accra，we stayed with an awesome Indian guy Anup who stays in Ikeja, Lagos. I have stayed with Sarah in Abuja, with Mohammed in Abuja, —in Calabar etc. I have also hosted few people from different countries.

Couchsurfing has a dedicated safety team and you can check your prospective host‘s or guest’s references before deciding to stay with them or allow them into your space.  If you are not convinced，you can simply use the application to find hangout buddies or amazing friends like Yasser who I met in Cairo and who helped me travel seamlessly through Egypt.

3. Air B n B

Lets just say Airbnb is CS with a business model to it, here locals all over the world put up spare rooms or their vacant houses for rent to traveler and make some income out of it. I have tried Airbnb and it is my go to option when Number 1 and 2 above does not come through.

You can use my link to get up to $40 off your first booking， I also get $15  for everyone who uses my link hence helping me save money on accommodation.  Kindly use my link just like Diusor, she has helped me save money, who knows, you might get an honorary mention 😆 . Here are a few photos from places I have stayed.

 

4. Hostel 

Just before I got on the Airbnb bandwagon, hostels used to be my thing. Hostels because they are really affordable and you could get a room for as low as $10 a night, also because you meet amazing travelers with whom you might just end up exploring whatever city you are in together. I tried Observatory Backpackers in Capetown and it has been one of my bests so far.

5. Hotel

Hotels are usually my last resort, I however search far and wide to ensure I get affordable deals. I am not a luxury traveler, hopefully someday I will，till then budget all the way. The last one I stayed at was the Ife Grand Resorts which was very recently and I loved it.

Sharing cost on accommodation is also great，I shared with Lillian in Cotonou and we had an awesome time. I ended up spending less than 10000Naira on accommodation for our weekend trip.

My mentions of people who have helped me saved on accommodation will be incomplete without Azaino，my first time in Abuja was a thrill thanks to him.

So guys there you go，here are a few ways I  cut down on accommodation budget while traveling as Nigerian Travel Blogger. If you have any tips and tricks，I will love to know.