I had my fair share of unique accommodation arrangements while in England for the week, so I have decided to share my experience.

We started our stay at an Airbnb home just outside central London. Our host was so kind and even offered us a glass of wine upon arrival despite the fact that we were a few hours late, arriving in the middle of the night. We loved our stay and couldn’t have asked for anything more! I think it’s important to note that if you’re a picky traveler, you may need to be rather specific when it comes to booking a room via Airbnb. Keep in mind these are people’s homes and they live the way they would like to live. Some have cats or dogs, some may smoke in the house, some may have rowdy neighbours and busy streets, and these are all things to note when booking a room via Airbnb.

Our second stay was Newport, Wales. I believe we used www.booking.com for this hotel stay and it was above a restaurant. The area ended up being completely sketchy, but we were more worried about having a comfortable room than anything. The hotel was empty I believe so the lovely receptionist sent us to their ‘suite’.

The following couple nights we made way to a hostel in Newquay which was quite possibly the most stunning of accommodations during the week. We booked a double room via hostels.com and ended up having our own washroom and a gorgeous view of the ocean for extremely cheap.

On route even more south we looped around to Lands End and made our way back up to Truro for the night. I booked this hotel on www.lastminute.com and though I am a rather easy to please person, my boyfriend wasn’t so impressed with the accommodations. We were on top of a pub which was intended as the World Cup semi-finals were that night and we thought it would be nice to grab some food and beers in the bar then hit the hay upstairs after the game. The hotel manager was extremely unfriendly and after about 10 minutes of us reading the menu and ordering, he tells us that he’s closed the kitchen for the night and sent us down the road.

Our favourite stay was in Devon. Though we only spent one night along the coast in a cute little trailer park, the view was breathtaking and it was our cheapest accommodation by far. We had the entire caravan to ourselves, we also had access to a stove, microwave, fridge, etc.

When departing back to London to fly out, we stayed at the Hilton Hotel. In Canada the Hilton chain is extremely expensive and usually out of my price range. This hotel was wonderfully close to the airport and our car rental drop off location was conveniently located at the hotel. Though the price was much cheaper than Canada, the accommodations were still exactly the same, beautiful restaurant, swimming pool, workout room, cozy beds and wonderful customer service.

So, our favourite stay was in a caravan, our favourite room was in a hostel and our least favourite hotel was the one that we were the most excited for. It just goes to show you that it’s hard to judge a website before you’ve actually tested it out. Airbnb has provided many unsuitable accommodations I am sure, but for us, we seemed to have picked right! 🙂 So try not to be so picky when booking and be creative and money savvy where you can!

Want to know more about my England experiences?! Check out The Best Places to Live in Southern England