Airbnb

I love traveling and I used to love hotels just as much as I love traveling. It wasn't until summer my freshman year in high school that my love for hotels started to waver. I lived in a hotel for about a month while my family hunted for a house. Living in a hotel for longer than a week started to have it's downfall. No kitchen which meant eating out everyday, we had to do laundry in the laundermat and worst of all, we were essentially living out of our bags the entire time.

I stumbled upon Airbnb about 2 years ago and for my national trips, I've been booking on Airbnb. I have yet to book an international stay but they have some pretty swanky (and very resonably priced apartments!) So far I don't have a single complaint. Some places do ask for a sercurity deposit (but for some reason, I've never had to pay one) and a moderately priced cleaning fee (some don't since I'm actually staying in someone's apartment). I start my search with the location/date of my visit and then I click the whole house/apartment to myself. I don't know know how I feel about just renting a room quite yet. Maybe eventually I'll give that a shot. I pay less than I normally would for a hotel, I have a kitchen (laundry too if I need it) and best of all, wifi and a parking spot! This was the view of the apartment I recently rented in Portland:

I loved it so much that I even looked up the price of an availble unit in the same building. I can actually afford it which makes moving to Portland very tempting.
More pictures of the lovely studio here.

While the apartments are as luxurious as some hotels, it's definitely nice to have some extra cash in the pocket. Plus it makes pretending to be a local much easier!