Hi everyone 🙂 Since I got so many questions about renting a house during our Budapest vacation, I decided to finally make a post about it.
Hotel rooms generally don’t make me very happy. I find spending days on and around a bed extremely boring. I’m always looking for a kitchen. Even if I don’t prepare a lavish breakfast, I want a kitchen where I can put together some oatmeal, yogurt, fruit, and boil two eggs. I don’t want to wake up in the morning, get dressed, and leave my room to have breakfast.
These desires and financial considerations eventually led me to renting houses during my overseas vacations. And I’ve been very, very comfortable. As you know, I can’t eat out for all three meals. My body always craves home-cooked food.
I generally prefer exploring cities on foot. Of course, this means I get tired. I like to come home early in the evening to relax, read a book, and watch TV, but staying in a 15-18 m² hotel room isn’t very enjoyable. As a Cancer, I’m a little too fond of the comforts of home 🙂
Also, having a kitchen at my disposal allows me to cook some meals at home. This is quite economical. I find a market near the house I’m renting even before I arrive. As soon as I get off the plane and settle into the house, I go to the market and buy enough food for the number of days I’ll be staying. Salad ingredients, eggs, cheese, bread, fruit, ready-made or easy-to-cook meals, etc. After stocking the refrigerator, the rest is easy.
Kitchen situation in houses
Before renting houses, I carefully read the description about kitchen equipment. I make sure there is a refrigerator, stove, and coffee maker. In the houses I’ve stayed in so far, everything needed for basic necessities was there. From knives to graters, they were quite well-equipped kitchens.
The kitchen of the house where I stayed in Amsterdam.
Our breakfast at our home in Amsterdam 🙂
Location of the Houses
When choosing, I prefer areas close to the center but where more locals live. This way, I stay away from the noise and witness the lifestyle of the local people. This is my favorite part 🙂
Besides, since there’s a map on the rental website, I can easily see the neighborhoods from there.
The house I stayed in in Budapest was also in a historic building.
Cleanliness and Hosts
I haven’t come across a dirty house yet. They’re even cleaner than hotels. Hosts are generally very helpful. When choosing a house, I read reviews from previous guests. I choose houses with high ratings and reviews.
Another thing I look for first is not sharing the house with the host. I use this as the first filter when searching on the site because some people only rent out a room or an entire floor of their house. I choose houses with separate doors and windows, where I have my own key.
How do we rent houses?
I rent houses through www.airbnb.com, just like I book a hotel.
I select the city I want to go to, use the separate apartment filter to search, choose apartments with good reviews and ratings that fit my budget, and then follow the payment steps to finalize the reservation. Since the apartments are single units and don’t offer multiple rooms like hotels, I pay immediately to avoid losing the apartment I like. Some apartments have very strict refund policies, while others are flexible. It’s worth checking these depending on your situation.
The apartment I stayed in in Budapest was highly recommended. It was truly beautiful. The link is below. Because we went during Christmas, the markets were closed, so I couldn’t do much grocery shopping, but we still managed to scramble some eggs and have a lovely breakfast.
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/6123549
This was the place I stayed in Amsterdam. It was a bit small, but since the neighborhood and the food were great, and I was in love with Amsterdam, I didn’t dwell on it too much 🙂
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2830788
If there are any other topics I haven’t thought of, please write them in the comments below, and I’ll try my best to answer them 🙂 My next stop is Athens in a month 🙂
Buying tickets early in the morning and renting an apartment makes international vacations much cheaper than domestic ones, and we get to see different cultures and cities 🙂
Update November 6, 2011 –
When I wrote this, there was no such thing as Covid-19 in our lives, and I was constantly traveling 🙂 Reading it now makes me feel strange. Why did I open this post to update it? Because I keep getting questions on Instagram about the places I’ve stayed, but now it’s all domestic 🙂
My approach to renting houses remains the same as described above, nothing has changed, but Airbnb now has more hotel listings than house listings. I recommend paying attention to this detail when choosing a house.
I’m writing this from the house we rented in Istanbuldere, Sapanca. It’s a fantastic location and house for a visit in the fall.
The kitchen has everything we need for two days, and the house is spotless.
I’m also copying the Instagram account and Airbnb link for this house below.
https://www.instagram.com/maviladinagacev/
January 10, 2023 Update
It’s quite interesting to return to this post from time to time. The last time I updated, I was a tourist in Sapanca. After seeing this house and the beauty of Istanbuldere, we decided to settle in Sapanca. Right now, I’m writing these lines sitting in the living room of my own house in Sapanca. Life is very interesting 🙂
Why did I return to this post? Because I wanted to add links to some houses I really love, even adore. Meanwhile, Covid seemed to be over, but then a lot of other viruses emerged. Life seems a little harder for everyone now. We’re struggling with an incredible economic crisis. Let’s see what state we’ll be in when I update this post again. I’ve made a note of it for posterity 🙂
Although our travels have decreased compared to before Covid, we still travel occasionally.
I don’t add houses I didn’t like to this list. I only add those I was happy with.
We got married in Athens, and stayed in two houses there, but since they were just okay, I didn’t include them here.
We went to Tuscany for our honeymoon and that house was perfect. It was a wonderful experience for us. I loved the antique furnishings and its location amidst the vineyards.
Montepulciano – The price for a 4-night stay was almost the same as two nights’ stay in a hotel in Türkiye.
You need a car to stay at this house. We rented a car. I don’t know of any other transportation options. Perhaps the host can help you.
We went to Tuscany for our honeymoon and that house was perfect. It was a wonderful experience for us. I loved the antique furnishings and its location amidst the vineyards.
Montepulciano – The price for a 4-night stay was almost the same as two nights’ stay in a hotel in Türkiye.
You need a car to stay at this house. We rented a car. I don’t know of any other transportation options. Perhaps the host can help you.
I just noticed the links in the attachments. The house in Tuscany is cheaper than the one in Göztepe 🙂
September ’23 Chios Island
The last time we went to Chios Island, we stayed in a hotel in the center. This time we stayed in a medieval house in a medieval village called Kalamoti. It was wonderful.
The village is a bit too quiet. If you have a car, it’s very easy to get to the more touristy villages. There are markets etc. within 2 km.
I hope this information was helpful, lots of love to everyone 🙂
