If you’ll soon be embarking on an extended-stay vacation, it’s important to know your options. Since most travelers are used to cramped, overpriced hotels, the thought of renting a vacation cottage never even occurs to them. However, contrary to popular belief, vacation cottages are not exclusively the domain of the super-wealthy. As such, if you’ll be staying in your destination for weeks instead of days, a cottage rental may prove to be in your best interest. These cozy cottages hold quite a few notable advantages over traditional hotels.
1. More Space
Unless you want to spring for a grand suite, you’re likely to find yourself in an uncomfortably cramped room when lodging at a traditional hotel. The more people you’re traveling with, the more apparent this lack of space is going to be. This is particularly true in the case of families. On the flip side, a roomy vacation cottage ensures that your entire travel party has ample room to spread out and stretch their legs. Furthermore, everyone will have their own bed and sleeping area. Spacious waterfront vacation rentals are ideal for traveling families, corporate gatherings and other large travel parties.
2. Doing Things at Your Own Pace
When staying at a traditional hotel, guests generally have to conform to a set schedule. For example, if the hotel offers onsite meals, your travel party will need to dine within the time frame set by hotel management. Breakfast buffers, in particular, are notorious for opening early and closing within two to three hours, much to chagrin of anyone who enjoys sleeping in. However, at a vacation cottage, what you say goes. Since you’ll have a fully-loaded kitchen at your disposal, you can prepare any dish you desire and eat it whenever you want. Additionally, if your cottage is in a secluded location, you won’t have to worry about being reprimanded for noise pollution.
3. Better Value
Unbeknownst to most travelers, vacation cottages generally represent a better value than hotels. While it’s true that many cottages carry a higher per-night fee than most hotels, cottage renters ultimately wind up getting more for their money. To wit, if a cottage rental is $50 more per night than a standard hotel room, the abundant space, seclusion and other amenities should prove well worth the additional cost.
If you’ll only be staying in a certain locale for one or two nights, traditional hotels can make convenient lodgings. Conversely, if you’ll be staying for weeks – or months – something more homey is in order. With this in mind, take care to peruse local cottage rentals in advance of your next lengthy travel excursion.