Rooms for shoestring travelers
This item appears on page 28 of the January 2014 issue.
While I am no longer trying to get the cheapest place in town on trips, five accommodations stand out as great bargains. You can find these places on Google and TripAdvisor or in Lonely Planet guides.
• Hotel Terrasol (Barricada Avenue, Granada, NICARAGUA), at $40 a night for a double, including a light breakfast, offers air-conditioning and cable television (American networks) plus a great restaurant and fantastic service. If you want a full breakfast for a little extra, order it when you check in. I last stayed there in February 2010, my tenth visit.
• On a visit to Asia in April 2011, I stayed at two places I’d recommend, the first being Shadow of Angkor II Guest House (Wat Bo St., Siem Reap, Siem Reap Province, CAMBODIA). It offered a beautiful room with a balcony, nice furniture and a TV with 80 channels (many in English) plus air-conditioning and, in case of a power outage, cross ventilation. There was even a pool. A double went for $41.50 a night.
• The other was Madame Cuc’s 64 (64 Bui Vien St., District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM). For $20 a night, we had a double room with TV (Vietnamese programs only) and A/C as well as Vietnamese breakfast and dinner.
Madame Cuc, who lives in Saigon, owns a number of small hotels that are all known by their street numbers. When not visiting friends in Orange County, California, Madame Cuc makes the rounds of the hotels, herself. She proved to be friendly and helpful. The staff there arranged our train tickets to Hanoi.
• In April 2013 I stayed at two different places while visiting UZBEKISTAN. In Samarkand, instead of taking us to the hotel we requested, the taxi driver dropped us off at the Bed and Breakfast Bahodir (Mulokandov 132, Samarkand, Uzbekistan), a charming, rustic place with doubles for $30, including breakfast. Dinner, if ordered on check-in, cost $3 per person extra. When walking out the front door, I only had to turn right for a fantastic view of the Registan.
• In Bukhara, Hotel Amelia (1 Bozor Hoja St., Bukhara, Uzbekistan) was accessible by car but also within walking distance of everything in the city. With doubles at $32.50 a night, this place was wonderful. The TV had stations in English, French and Italian. Breakfast was a buffet in a centuries-old room, which was maintained well and had never needed restoration.
CARL BOYER
Santa Clarita, CA