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USATODAY.com - Hostels attracting older travelers

If you're not down with that Schrager... USATODAY.com - Hostels attracting older travelers.

Travel Lodging Sites

With America lacking a true pensione class of accomodations, travelers to the states often think they're stuck with the chains, whether the high-end Hyatts and Marriots in major cities or the roadside blocks a la Motel 6 (I'm a Super 8 man myself.) But the fact is you've got options when planning where to bunk down. America has an extensive network of bed and breakfasts, homey owner-operated lodgings of all styles and locales. There's a well-established yet underutilized network of hostels in the states too, with some particularly fine one strung along the California coast. Hip and snazzy boutique hotels have cropped up over the past decade, in tandem with the renaissance of American cities coast to coast; in San Francisco the Joie de Vivre group has a bunch of top properties, none of them marred by the messy labor strife in the SF hotel industry.

One given: you should never pay rack rate. There's a reason the name evokes medieval torture chambers. That's the beauty of name-your-price booking sites like Hotwire and Priceline, which got started pitching airfares but have proven invaluable resources for travelers, who can pick a zone and a star class and make a bid for a bed. You won't know where you're sleeping until after you're bid's taken, but the zone and class categories help narrow it down greatly. For a great resource of bidding info compiled by heaps of fellow travelers, check Bidding for Travel, a BBS of hotel reviews and recent bids, accepted or not. Reading the site's FAQ and Hotels lists might be the wisest budget move of your trip.

Finally, there's nothing like visiting a city as a temporary resident, and no better way than to rent a house or apartment directly from an owner. At Vacation Rental by Owner, you'll do just that, with ample listings to choose from, whether a studio in the Latin Quartier, white-stone house in the Greek islands or a Victorian flat with private garden in the Haight. You'll get a bookshelf, a guestbook, private keys and full privacy, and you won't even need to buy sugar for your am coffee.