- Always book first night of accommodation before arriving in a new country or city. Research the review and location before booking.
- I usually choose a smaller hostel or guest houses because I like quieter hostel and mostly because I can meet people easier.
- Earplug and sleeping mask are essential for sleeping whenever and whereever.
- I set my personal budget of max $15 CAD daily accommodation prices . If it does not meet my max criteria, then I search for Couchsurfing as 2nd option.
- Often times, it is easier to use Couchsurfing in first world country. 3rd world country, I rather find myself a hostel or guest house or Airbnb. I often make food for my host as a way of saying thank you.
Resources:
The following links are the ones that I used the most often. There are many more out there, but I choose only the ones that is the most popular.
Check with Tripadvisors.com to find out the reputation of the accommodation before you proceed to book.
- Hostelworld.com
- Hostelbookers.com
- Booking.com
- Agoda.com (for South East Asia)
- Airbnb.com
Couchsurfing.org is a community based free accommodation provided by hosts around the world. Your bedding situation is not always guaranteed, sometimes you have to use your judgement to find out if the free stay is worth it. I only use Couchsurfing in First World Countries where accommodation is notoriously expensive.
And if you are just starting out, and you don’t have references and don’t have any review?
First, Setup your profile and talk about yourself as much as possible. It doesn’t matter if you think you are boring and you have nothing to say, I am pretty sure there is something that you love that you can write about it.
Second, send emails to all your friends or the CS system usually shows what friends of yours are on CS, you can ask them to write you a reference.
Third, starting hosting people yourself. It is the best way to make friends from around the world and also you get excellent verified reviews from fellow couchsurfers.
Note: with Couchsurfing, you only need to provide people what you can provide. If you don’t have a bed but you have a space for people to crash on? Perhaps a couch, perhaps a corner of the living room? It doesn’t matter. Some space is better than having no space. However, you are inviting strangers to your house, so just use your common sense, if the guests are not welcoming, it is perfectly okay to ask people to leave.