If You Travel, This Is For You

1. Hotels Where We Have Stayed (and Recommend)

Updated: June 23, 2024

This page is a work in progress. At the moment, these are only some of the hotels where we have stayed and that we would recommend. Come back later for more (there must be 200+ hotels).

Bulgaria

1. Sofia
   • Hotel Central Club – very central hotel close to everything including the train station and bus station.
2. Bansko
   • Winslow Infinity Aparthotel – great aparthotel on the outskirts of the town, a 10-minute walk from a lot of places and things.

Czechia

1. Ostrava
   • Hostel Moravia – a good value hostel with a nice kitchen. Private rooms are available. A short walk away from the train station.

Greece

1. Thessaloniki
   • Boho Rooms – nice, modern, clean rooms in a very central location. They have self-check-in.

Hungary

1. Budapest
   • Wombat’s City Hostel Budapest – a very central and very big hostel. Great place for a couple of days. Very big common room, and a good value for money breakfast.

Japan

1. Okinawa
   • Grand Cabin Hotel Naha Oroku – amazing capsule hotel in Okinawa.
   • Weekly Harbourview Mansion Main Building – affordable apartments in Okinawa. A great location.
   • Good Life Apartment – very good small apartments in Okinawa. Very central location.
2. Tokyo
   • Tokyo Central Youth Hostel – very central hostel with private rooms in Tokyo. Great view from the 18th and 19th floors.
   • 上野Bellaホテル – great value-for-money hotel in a lively and central area of Tokyo. Located on a quiet street. Only a few minutes walk away from a big metro and train station.
3. Fukuoka
   • APA Hotel Hakata-higashihie-Ekimae – a great hotel for a short stay in Fukuoka (small rooms). Right under the hotel is a metro station which is very convenient. Super professional service.
   • Sumiyoshi apartment – if it’s cheap, and you need a cheap place to stay in Fukuoka, take a look at this apartment. If it’s not cheap, take a look at other options.

Kosovo

1. Prishtina
   • Bus Station Hostel – great private rooms very close to the bus station and a 20-minute walk from the city centre. Bathrooms are shared.

Kuwait

1. Kuwait City
   • Ramada Encore by Wyndham Kuwait Downtown – great value-for-money hotel in Kuwait. Hotel with a central location. Walking distance from the airport bus, shopping malls, and Kuwait towers.

Lithuania

1. Kaunas
   • Mr Jo’s hostel – comfortable hostel short walk away from the Kaunas bus station and train station. Shops, cafes, and the city center are a short walk away only.

North Macedonia

1. Skopje
   • Skopje Arch Residence – super-central apartment in Skopje, right next to everything and only a 10-minute walk from the bus station.

Serbia

1. Belgrade
   • Atelier 1 Apartment – a good apartment with a very central location. It can be loud because of a nearby club (also at 2 AM). It’s “halfway under the ground”.

Slovakia

• Poprad
  • Hostel CafeRAZY – a very central and good hotel in the heart of the old town. Very clean and comfortable rooms. A short walk away from the train station.

South Korea

1. Busan
   • Top Motel – cheap hotel in Busan for a short stay. The best thing is that it’s right next to the ferry terminal and train station.
2. Seoul
   • Spring Light – cheap and good guest house near Seoul station.
   • Incheon Airport Airtel – a cheap and good hotel near Incheon Airport (Seoul International Airport).
   • SR Hotel Bucheon – great hotel for a great price in Bucheon, 40 – 60 minutes from the most popular areas of Seoul. Amazing area – lively, with lots of shops and restaurants, parks, airport bus and metro.

Thailand

1. Bangkok
   • Baiyoke Sky Hotel – tallest hotel in Bangkok – it’s good, central, and affordable. Their breakfast is well worth the money (I normally don’t like hotel breakfasts, especially in Asia – I just like to eat my oatmeal porridge).
   • BU Place Hotel – amazing value for money. Affordable, central, and well-kept, with a nice pool, gym, and sauna.
   • Jellybean The Blocks Hostel Sukhumvit 10 – good, modern, and cheap rooms in a great location (we haven’t stayed or seen the dorm, only the private rooms).
   • Smile Inn – a good and cheap guest house in Bangkok, near Wat Saket. Great place for 1 person. I have spent more than 2 weeks in that place.
2. Hua Hin
   • Thipurai Beach Hotel – simple but good budget hotel 2-minute walk from the beach. Located on a quiet street. I have spent 10 days in this place.
3. Koh Samet
   • Samed Big Tree – small, quiet, and modern guest house.
4. Koh Chang
   • White Sand Princess Hotel – oldish, but well-kept hotel with great location.
5. Rayong
   • The Feeling Hotel – amazing value for money. Modern and cheap, near shops and cafes. Away from the beach though.

Taiwan

1. Taipei
   • Shanger Hotel – a very good cheap hotel, one of the cheapest in Taipei. Close to a metro station.
2. Hualien
   • 花蓮前站-艾莉小屋電梯民宿 – great guest house, near the train station. Quiet and central location.

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2. Travel Apps That We Use

Flights:

1. Kiwi – one of our favorite apps. We love the Nomad feature. We mostly book flights directly from the airline, but search on Kiwi.
2. Skyscanner – another flight search engine that we use a lot.
3. OnwardTicket – rent an onward ticket in 60 seconds.

Hotels, hostels, guest houses:

1. Booking – our number 1 choice where we book rooms.
2. Agoda – we use Agoda in Asia. It’s often, worth comparing what’s available on Agoda vs Booking. The price difference can be huge.
3. Airbnb – we used to use Airbnb for long stays, 1 week or more. As of 2020, we often book long stays with Booking, Agoda or directly (less often, as it can be very time-consuming to find contacts).

These 3 have been our favorites since 2012.

Transportation:

1. Grab, and Uber – two of our favorites in Asia for taxi rides (and food delivery).
2. 12go.asia – our number 1 choice where to book buses, trains, and ferries in Asia.

Money and travel insurance:

1. Revolut – our number 1 choice for banking since 2017.
2. Safetywing – travel insurance we’ve used a lot. Since 2024, we have used Revolut insurance.
3. XE Currency app – this is where we check currency exchange rates.
4. Expenses OK – an app we use to track our expenses.
5. Apple Wallet app – for banking, boarding passes, concert tickets, etc.

Other services:

1. Airalo – this is our internet abroad. Since 2021, we have used Airalo every day, in tens of countries. The only country I’ve had problems with Airalo was Tajikistan (in 2022 and 2023; I didn’t get internet at all). Get a discount with a code KASPAR694 (I’ll get a discount too).