5
13 Comments

How do you deal with accommodation during business travel?

Hi fellow hackers!

I’m interested in learning how you usually solve your business travel accommodation?

I’m travelling frequently for both short-term (1-14 days) and mid-term (couple of months). I usually go with a hotel for the short term travel and I usually stay in a colleague’s flat (if available) during longer term travels, simply because it’s much cheaper than hotel.

How do you deal with accommodation? Why? What are the biggest pains you’re facing?

Thanks for your feedback :)

  1. 2

    It used to be hostels, now I'm mainly looking for coliving spaces when I stay for >14d. The biggest pain is committing to an itinerary ahead of time - so instead I do everything last minute, sometimes missing out. Another is not knowing what to expect from the Internet connectivity.
    Are you in Europe?

    1. 1

      Interesting, so is co-living space something like a coworking, but for accommodation?
      Why is it better than e.g. hostels? :)

      Yep, mostly EU.

      1. 1

        The coliving definition is hazy nowadays, I'd say it gives you a bed (in shared or private room), a communal kitchen, and a workspace (with hotdesks and wifi). Along with it comes community and economies of scale, and a whole lot of flexibility.
        Hostels have shorter stays (less meaningful interaction) and are focused on vacationers as opposed to digital workers (no tables/call rooms). WiFi is hit-or-miss and kitchens are usually afterthoughts.
        Try some of these on for size: Nine Coliving, Sun and Co, Sende. I have a feeling they're untapped reservoirs of digital talent for remote incubators.

  2. 2

    I usually stay in hostels as great value and most of the good ones do separate rooms.

    1. 2

      Depending on what’s your budget I guess, but yeah I utilise hostels too sometimes. What’s your usual per-night budget?

      1. 2

        About €50 - €70 a night

        1. 1

          Isn’t that quite a lot for a hostel?

          Unless your destination is a major city.

          1. 1

            Not really when it's a room in a good hostel.

  3. 1

    Usually, on business trips, the employer chooses the accommodation and pays its cost. But I recently got a promotion and now I can choose my own hotels, within reasonable limits. So, when my business trip is scheduled in Orlando, I always choose Westgate resorts. I really like these hotels: their location, interiors, nature, service, everything is on top. So, I wasn't only in 2 of them. We'll have to fix this. If my friends are making business trips to Orlando, I always recommend that they pay attention to these hotels (https://www.westgateresorts.com/hotels/florida/orlando/ ). Thus, I see them as my second home. And my business trip turns into a real vacation.

  4. 1

    A friend of mine travels to the same place a few times a year so he has a deal with a hotel for a discount price for both him and his staff. Other times he uses Airbnb for his staff, it's a great way to meet local people too.

    1. 1

      Thanks!
      Yeah I can imagine if you have the option to negotiate a good deal with a hotel, then that’s powerful :)

      Do you know what’s the typical length of such business trip?

      1. 2

        Usually 4-7 days. Most hotels make a lesser profit by partnering with booking sites. So it makes sense for a person to check the price, then contact the hotel directly to do a direct booking and get a further discount if possible or bargain for a free breakfast. Hotels prefer direct bookings compared to booking from third party sites.

        1. 1

          wow I’ll definitely try that out next time I’m traveling! Thanks :)

          I’m curious about the negotiation process :D

  5. 1

    This comment was deleted 4 years ago.

Trending on Indie Hackers
How I grew a side project to 100k Unique Visitors in 7 days with 0 audience 49 comments Competing with Product Hunt: a month later 33 comments Why do you hate marketing? 29 comments My Top 20 Free Tools That I Use Everyday as an Indie Hacker 18 comments $15k revenues in <4 months as a solopreneur 14 comments Use Your Product 13 comments