TripAdvisor - Great for Holiday Rentals As Well

When love getting bargains, and even more when we stay for cheap or free in a hotel.  But sometimes we just don't have the points, or can't find good prices in certain expensive cities or locations.  In those cases we've often used private rentals, of houses or apartments.  There are some incredible deals to be had when staying and the places we've used have been nice and even quite luxurious, and saved us hundreds of dollars or more!

There are lots of websites that offer private rentals, just search on google and you will find lots of competition.  Some owners list on multiple websites to get wide advertising.  

But did you know TripAdvisor offers private rentals?  Maybe like me, you've always used the review section on TripAdvisor to get an idea of where to stay in hotels, but you should also know that you can use it for private rentals.  

Our Private Rental Apartment in Mellieha, Malta $700/week!

We took a friend with us so we needed a place large enough for 3 of us.  In Malta the lowest price we could find for a decent hotel, was at least ~$160/night.  Since we were staying for 7 nights, we would have to pay well over $1,000/week and then we would have to pay more since we would have to eat out for most meals.  

On the Ferry to Gozo Island

So we started looking for private apartments for the week.  We settled on one which cost $700, far cheaper than what hotels were charging!  It included 2 bedrooms, a huge living room, including a kitchen, a private balcony, and a pool right outside.  To top it off we were right on the Mediterranean, with jaw-dropping views.  

Camino Island, Malta

Our Apartment

Interestingly, once we arrived the British man who is the caretaker realized that we were there and didn't have a hire car.  So, he looked us over, and I guess he liked and trusted us, and said that whenever apartment owners come into town they can rent a car from a local agency for AUD$14/day.  They don't usually offer this to visitors like us, but in this case he did.  So that gave us cheap transport for the week.  That was better than the public transport options, and Malta is still big to get around though it's not a huge island.

The 'Hidden' Refrigerator Was a Nice Touch

1 of the 2 Bedrooms

The Living Room

The 2nd of the 2 Bedrooms

Private Patio

All in all, Malta was an unexpected surprise.  We knew it would be good, but had no idea how nice the people would be, nor how scenic and rough the landscape would be.  It was a stark contrast to the lush tourist areas we usually visit.  Britain has long held influence with Malta, so a surprising number of people know English, which makes it easy to get around.

If you get the chance to go don't miss it.  We were able to get reasonable flights from London for about $40 one-way, making our trip even more of an overall bargain. 

Next time you're thinking of a holiday, and can't find reasonable accommodation prices, try using a private rental on TripAdvisor!