Bali Accommodation

In less than two weeks I will be jet setting off to Bali for 7 days of sea, sun, sand and relaxation with few temples, rice fields and monkey forests thrown in. Because I have been so busy the past couple of months with travelling around Turkey and Greece and trying to find a job back home I have only just booked my accommodation! Yikes, I know right 12 days to go and only now remembered.

So as usual I use Booking.com to find my perfect accommodation whether it be a hotel, hostel or cute boutique B&B. The past few days I have been browsing, looking at a few different locations in Bali to stay like Kuta, Legian, Seminyak and Uluwatu. I ended up finding this gorgeous small hotel in Kuta just off the main road called The Pavillion Hotel Kuta.

I am staying in a superior double room with pool access. The room for 7 nights is costing me 1,559,006 RP converted to Australian that is around $150, per night around $21.40 AU which is incredibly cheap as this is around the cost of a bed in a 6-8 bed dorm hostel in Europe.

The reason I choose this hotel and not a larger, more known upscale hotel/resort is 1) I’m on a budget 2) I prefer to stay clear of chain hotels and resorts (Pullman, Hilton) as they lack in my opinion and expereince, good quality service due to 100’s of people check in and out everyday 3) Why spend hundreds on $ a day for a room you barley spend anytime in? 4) This hotel has amazing reviews on Booking.com and other websites 5) The pool area totally sold me as it’s just so gorgeous and picturesque

  

– The Pavillion Hotel Kuta –

* All pictures are owned by The Pavillion Hotel Kuta.

Greek Island Hopping

This is the tour I am most excited about as I have always wanted to visit the Greek Islands. I found this tour through their sister company’s website Sail Croatia. This tour “Greek Island Hopping” by MedExperience is a small group tour (max 30 pax) that island hops around 4 Greek islands starting in Athens. This tour runs every second day between June and September. The main focus of this tour is to travel between islands on a low budget while having fun swimming in crystal clear blue waters during the day and partying with your group of new friends at night till sunrise. Down below I have

Cost:£399 ($830AU)

11 days/10 nights (3rd-13th September)

1 Country / 4 Islands 

– Santorini

– Ios

– Paros

– Mykonos

Transportation: Ferry

Accomodation:

Athens- Athens International Youth Hostel

Santorini- Santorini Camping

Ios- Sunrise Hotel

Paros- Siroco’s Rooms & Studios

Mykonos- Paradise Resort

Accommodation- Turkey and Greece

Now that I have finalised, where I’m going in Turkey and Greece and my dates. I have planned and booked all my accommodation in Istanbul, Bodrum and Athens. I booked all my accommodation through the website Booking.com.

Istanbul

Istanbul is such a busy city with a lot of different areas/suburbs within the city and where you stay depends on the experience you want in Istanbul. I was stuck between two areas Faith and Taksim. Faith is in the old town part of Istanbul near all the mosques and sights, but I have researched and found that it is a very busy tourist area to stay. Where’s Taksim is more of an urban local area with a lot of bars and restaurants and where locals live giving you a more authentic experience.

At the end, I decided on Taksim because hostels were a lot cheaper and the public transport between Taksim and the rest of Istanbul is good. The hostel I chose for Istanbul is rather expensive, but I choose based on good location near public transport, quality of hostel and ratings.

Bunk Taksim is costing me $155 for 4 nights between the 16th-20th August, staying in a 6 bed female dorm with en-suite and balcony. Breakfast costs $8 per day, which is quite expensive, so I’m not sure yet if I will pay for breakfast at the hostel. The hostel has great reviews with 8.8/10 from 915 reviews.

 

Bodrum

Bodrum is quite a small town so there wasn’t much to choose from but the prices did vary from dirt cheap to expensive. I ended up finding this adorable small family run hotel called Mavi Ada Pension only 20m from the beach and right in the town centre the reviews for this hotel were incredible with 8.9/10 from 100 reviews. The room itself is quite basic but what sold me was the location, view from the roof balcony and the reviews. For 3 nights between 20th-22nd August and the 29th August its only costing me $144 which is incredible for the location. The room is a single bedroom with en-suite and balcony and includes free Turkish breakfast.

Athens

Athens was super easy considering the amount of accommodation available but the first hostel I found was in the most amazing location that I didn’t even bother looking at others. Its about 200m away from the Pantheon and Acropolis of Athens! The hostel is called Athens Studios and I choose a 6 bed mixed dorm room with en-suite and balcony with free breakfast. For 2 nights the 30th August and the 3rd September its $35 per night. Again, it has great reviews of 8.2/10 from 550 reviews.

All up for 9 nights its costing me $369 which is on average $41 per night.

Accommodation Update

So I have my accommodation for London sorted and also booked my accommodation in Rome prior to my Contiki Trip (which I forgot about, whoops).

In Rome I decided to stay at the hotel the Contiki starts at as it just seemed easier. The hotel is called Santa Costanza its $320 for the 2 extra nights.

London I am staying at Palmers Lodge- Swiss Cottage Hostel. I choose this hostel as it had good reviews 8/10 also location looks good and its close to an underground station. Again, I decided to go off the services and facilities in the room than the price. I am staying in a 12 bed female dorm with en-suite, breakfast is extra. For 5 nights its costing $203.91AUD.

My Accommodation

I booked most of my accommodation today via website booking.com.

I decided to book hostels instead of hotels because I am travelling alone and it would be a lot easier to meet people my own age at hostels rather than hotels. Plus, it’s a lot cheaper which gives me more money to shop!

The hostels I chose are defiantly not the cheapest I based my choice of hostel on location and rating (7.5-10/10) and I decided to pick my dorm rooms on quality of services in the room rather than price.

Paris I am staying at St Christopher’s Inn Gare Du Nord Hostel. As the name suggests the hostel is virtually right next to the Gare Du Nord station. Its rating was 7.9/10 which is pretty good out of 2000 reviews. The room I decided on was a 4 bed female dorm with a en-suite with free breakfast. I decided on this dorm as this would be my first time using a hostel and to be honest, I’m quite scared as I’m unsure of how to do things like how long to spend in the shower?Do you dry and change in the shower or toilet or dorm? Is it okay to turn lights on in the morning or at night if people are asleep? Just mainly worried about courtesy and what’s not okay. In this dorm for 5 nights is $273.46AUD.

In Edinburgh I’m staying at the Code-Pod Hostel. I chose this hostel as it has a great location close to the shopping area of Edinburgh but a short walk to the Old Town of Edinburgh. It’s always a very new dorm and the facilities look incredible in the photos plus it has a great review on 8.9/10. I chose a 6 bed mixed dorm as there were no female only dorms available and it was between a 4 bed dorm for an extra $8 a night and it didn’t seem worth it.Free breakfast is included. There were no en-suites but what I learnt from the reviews is each floor (2 dorm rooms 4-6 beds) shares a bathroom which isn’t a lot of people so should be quiet. In this dorm for 3 nights is $192.44AUD.

My hostel in London I haven’t found yet is there are so many and the quality and price of hostels in London vary quite extremely. Will update with London hostel when booked.