During nine months of travel through Asia my partner and I almost never booked hotels ahead of time. Through much stress, sweat, and maybe even a few tears, we developed a very efficient and simple method for quickly finding cheap, clean, and comfy accommodations when arriving to a new city. We used the following strategies primarily in Asia, but they should work perfectly well in other parts of the world. Developing countries are under constant construction and make for some great competition which works in the travelers favor. Some of these strategies may not work as well in peak tourist season, or in extremely popular travel destinations, but in nine months in Asia we didn’t have a single problem finding a good place to sleep using the following tried and true methods:

1. Pre-Plan.
Before arriving at your destination use a guide book, online resource, or ask other travelers where most of the hotels are located in a city. In most cities there is a general area where most of the backpacker     accommodations are concentrated; this makes a good starting point. Often time there will be people waiting at the bus/train station to take you there for free if you take a look at whatever hotel they are hawking, which I would only recommend if you are easily able to walk away if you don’t like what you see.

2. Window shop.
Chances are good that the hotels listed in Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, etc have raised their prices and slipped in service soon after gaining notoriety. Sometimes this is not the case, and if you find the perfect room for a good price, by all means stay there. In many cases however, brand new hotels will have been built nearby, capitalizing on the overflow of backpackers to the area. These brand new places are often just as nice and even cheaper!

3. Beware of copy cats!
Be aware that if you would like to stay in a hotel listed in a guide book, it is quite common for a number of guesthouses to open in the same city with the same name. They are capitalizing on the success of this hotel and the unavoidable confusion that arises when arriving into a new city as a foreigner. Often these copy cats are not the same quality as their namesake, but this is not always the case. Just be clear with your driver when you arrive, some are paid to take you to one of these copycats (and make wild claims that the hotel you wanted got burned down last week, “but my friend has place to stay!”). They can be extremely persistent, in these situations don’t be afraid to just walk away and start over with a new driver or just walk to your destination if possible.

4. Compare.
Take fifteen minutes to go from hotel to hotel and ask to see a room. If you don’t like the first room you see ask to see another, often times they will show their worst room first and see if you will take the bait. If you have a travel partner, leave them at a cafe with the bags and go alone, this way if the owner is pressuring you to stay with them, just mention you left your bags outside and off you go! Plus without your bags you are more mobile, and hotel staff assumes you are just price checking and they will show you the nicer rooms for a better price.

5. Bargain!
A hotel wants your business, and especially if they do not have many customers they will lower the price dramatically. During the off season, one hotel in Jaisalmer, India did not have a single customer and we managed to stay in their suite, a literal palace, for $5 a night; so gorgeous! In Asia, bargaining is a part of the culture, do not feel you are ripping the hotel off, they expect to be bargained with.

6. Don’t settle for less.
Now lets say you have settled on a price and gotten in your room. You soon discover your toilet won’t flush, there is a smell you did not notice before, or the walls are paper thin and the street noisy with cars honking at cows! Go to the front desk and ask to see a new room (“same same, but different” works well in Thailand). Chances are they were holding out on you. There is a much better room they will give to you for the same price, just ask to see a new room, when they inevitably try to raise the price, say you were happy with the old price and almost every time you’ll end up in a nicer room for the same price as the cheaper room. In Delhi, India we went from $5/night tiny, loud, smelly room with a small fan, and no working toilet to $5/night air-conditioned, 4x as big, two beds, a TV, and a brand new bathroom just by giving them the hint that we might go to another hotel.

With these tips you will save yourself from arguments with your travel partner and other such stresses that come when trying to find a place to stay while abroad. Having a plan of attack when arriving into a new city is essential especially when faced with a sea of hawkers just waiting to take advantage of you as you step of the bus/plane/train/boat. If anyone is reading this and has traveled in other parts where these strategies work please leave a response! I would love peoples input on what has worked for them and what parts of the world they were traveling.

Written by: Jessica Siebenmorgen & David Jackson