Service for finding housing abroad. Rent an apartment abroad for a long time

Do you want to live in a real Parisian apartment? What about a villa by the sea? And in a house in the mountains? Now I will tell you how to rent an apartment in Europe.

Do you want to live in a real Parisian apartment? What about a villa by the sea? And in a house in the mountains?

When planning my next trip, I came across the fact that the prices for hotels in Italian cities or in Paris are very high. I don't want to live in hostels with others. What to do?

Now I will tell you how to save money on living in Paris. For you, it can be Vienna or any other city around the world, the main thing is to understand the search algorithm.

My wife and I need accommodation for 10 days in Paris in September. A hotel search gave us a minimum price of €500-€1000 for 10 days (I searched 50 days before the trip). These are mostly hostels or inferior hotels.

And now let's see the apartments through. We pass, we fill, as in the picture above.

How is rent paid?

  1. You leave an application
  2. if the owner confirms, then you transfer money Airbnb service+ a small commission with a bank card. The owner has not received the money yet!
  3. Upon arrival, if within 24 hours you have not received any claims regarding the apartment, on the second day the owner receives payment from the service (you do not need to pay anything).
  4. Perhaps I will block the amount of a deposit for an apartment of about 100 Euros (read the conditions of a particular apartment)

I check the box “Entire house / apartment” so as not to live with the owners in the same apartment. Immediately we are offered accommodation 2 times cheaper than in a hotel!

Here look at the number of reviews, if there are no reviews, then I would not recommend this apartment.

We are looking for an apartment closer to the center using the map in the upper left corner.

Looked after such a wonderful apartment in the center! I want to live like a real Parisian. (I have changed the dates on the picture, as I have already booked the apartment for my dates).

What you should pay attention to?

The internet is important to me. See the number of reviews, read them (can be translated through translate.google.ru). Star ratings should aim for five.

Pay attention to the time of arrival and departure, try to guess the time of arrival in the city. Look at the amount of the deposit, it will be booked on your card upon arrival. Read the cancellation policy. Strict - this means a refund of 50% of the amount at least a week before arrival, minus the service fee.

Are you satisfied with everything? Then we write a letter to the owner:

We write a request, a little about yourself (by the way, I advise you to fill out a questionnaire about yourself on the site, so you will increase the likelihood of approval of the request). If you are bad with English, then your text can be translated through translate.google.ru .

And now a note for the thrifty! Bargain! I booked for 10 days and after approval I asked for a discount, said that I was ready to pay right now. The hostess agreed and dropped the price from €650 to €500!
So I saved 6000 rubles!

Once approved, the host will invoice you at a reduced price. In the message section and to your mail you will receive a button for ordering at this price. Let's move on to payment:

We look at the conditions of booking, the price.

Now I will tell you how throw off about €20! Search Google for “airbnb coupon”, in the search settings specify “24 hours in advance”, that is, coupon pages that appeared today.
So you might find a discount coupon. I found for €21:

This coupon is valid for September 2012. In total I threw off €171 (about 6800 rubles!)

Everything else is standard. We fill in the data of a Visa Classic or MasterCard bank card. We pay, receive the reservation by e-mail and print it out. This reservation can be used for visa confirmation (where fax payment is not required, for example Spain or Italy).

Register now for .

Practice, look for apartments and houses around the world. Accounts with age and history have a higher priority for owners.

How do I save on hotels?

Everything is very simple - look not only on booking.com. I prefer the RoomGuru search engine. He searches for discounts simultaneously on Booking and 70 other booking sites.

Gathered in one place links to all sites for booking travel accommodation that I know. Here you will find out how easy it is to spend the night in almost any city in the world at an adequate price or even for free! Or really find unusual place where you will remember your stay for a long time.

The post includes the largest database of hostels in the world, the largest hosted rental service, websites for booking unusual designer hotels, accommodation in exchange for help around the house or pet care - in general, options for every taste. Choose!

Classic: hotel aggregator sites

Personally, I open these sites first of all when I am going somewhere on a trip. As the name implies, they combine information from various booking systems, such as: booking, hotels, ostrovok (one of best prices in Russia), agoda (good for traveling around Asia), trivago, expedia and many others.

Aggregators compare prices, look for discounts and special offers, where you can find not only hotels, but also hostels, guest houses It's very convenient to have everything in one place.

Read also:

Free accommodation

The best way to understand a country and its people is to get to know the locals, and even better, live with them for a while. Such opportunities are given by international hospitality sites, when people invite guests to their homes. Just don’t see them as just a free overnight stay, rather it’s a cultural exchange, interesting communication, an opportunity to improve your languages ​​and find new friends around the world.

Source: instagram: @myinterior

Accommodation in exchange for housework

These sites should not be considered only as a way to stay overnight for free, but as a new unusual experience and an opportunity to help people and the ecology of the planet for a week, a month, or maybe more. The bottom line is that you work several hours a day, and in return you get room and board.

Source: GettyImages

Cool and unusual hotel rental services

If you want to live in a lighthouse, in a treehouse, visit eco-friendly or vegetarian-only hotels, try out glamping (glamorous camping) or just show off, then there are special sites for this.

✔ and - here you can buy someone else's reservation at a discount. Someone could not go and sells their reservation on the site. You are getting good discount, and the person - money for a non-refundable number.

2-room apartment, 65 sq.m., renovated and furnished

Yesterday 17:08

A modern complex with an excellent location, a protected area (24 hours a day + video surveillance) and developed infrastructure. Without leaving the territory of the complex, you can enjoy swimming in the pool, fitness, sauna, playground.Shops, cafes, restaurants and the most...

3-room apartment, 100 sq.m., renovated and furnished

Yesterday 17:08

Vacationer's dream! Before the purest sea only 350 meters. Spacious apartment with everything you need for living. The nearest shop, market, children's and sports grounds are only 50 meters away. Cozy area with a barbecue gazebo and a swimming pool. A 10-minute drive from Mini City, Aquapark, Aquarium...

Yesterday 17:02

Lovely ground floor 1+1 apartment in Besthome 11 - a fantastic modern residence built in 2012, located in an ecologically clean and quiet area of ​​Oba, Alanya. Just 300 m along the pleasant spa street and you are already on the ideal sandy beach! Nice area with a gym...

3-room apartment, 120 sq.m., 6th floor, renovated and furnished

Yesterday 17:02

The residential complex "Atlas II Residence" is located just 100 meters from the cleanest beaches mediterranean sea, in the heart of the resort area Mahmutlar of the city of Alanya. All city infrastructure is within walking distance. The perfect place for family holidays. The apartment has: 2 bedrooms 2...

3-room apartment, 80 sq.m., 2nd floor, renovated and furnished

Yesterday 16:59

Cozy apartments are located in the very center of Kemer within walking distance to the sea and the embankment of this beautiful town with an abundance of restaurants, cafes, equipped beaches and everything necessary for a comfortable summer holiday. The apartments are fully furnished, contain...

2-room apartment, 60 sq.m., renovated and furnished

Yesterday 16:58

Are you dreaming of a quiet and cozy place to relax?? This option is just for you! It has everything you need for a comfortable life. The sea is within walking distance. Only 600 meters. The apartment is cozy, clean, for rent the first season. Equipped with all necessary appliances, utensils and linens. In her...

2-room apartment, 60 sq.m., 2nd floor, renovated and furnished

Yesterday 16:57

The completed construction project OBA SUITES is located in one of the most popular areas of Alanya - Oba, just 100 meters from the beach and a few steps from the city center. Restaurants, shops, market once a week within walking distance. This is a five-story building with two-room apartments and duplexes. Two-room...

2-room apartment, 65 sq.m., 1st floor, renovated and furnished

Yesterday 14:41

Apartments in a luxurious residential complex with a wonderful view of the Taurus Mountains. The excellent layout of the apartments, the magnificence of the surrounding nature make this offer very interesting for the most sophisticated buyer. The complex is located in one of the most popular resort towns mediterranean...

4-room apartment, 180 sq.m., renovated and furnished

Yesterday 14:40

Cozy villa with a private garden and a swimming pool for 6 people in Fethiye area famous beach Calis is five hundred meters from the sea. Comfortable family holiday in Turkey/Fethiye with children. Detailed description 3 bedroom and 2 storey villa for rent has a private pool and a large private garden. Beautiful villa in a...

2-room apartment, 60 sq.m., renovated and furnished

Yesterday 14:40

Holiday apartments just 400 m from the beaches of Konalti!. The complex is located next to the market on Tuesdays, not far from the bread factory with the freshest and most delicious bread in the area. There are many supermarkets, banks, post office, ATMs, city bets and public transport stops within walking distance. Total area...

Leasing a property in Greece: The minimum rental period for a property is 3 years and must be documented. Holiday rentals (minimum 40 sq.m.): The minimum rental period is one (1) month. Rental of furnished apartments (minimum area - 80 sq.m.): minimum rental period is one (1) month, maximum rental period is three (3) months. Leasing of professional premises: the minimum duration of the lease of professional premises is 3 years and must be documented.

More often than not, scammers ask you to pay up front to get the truth about new options that are emerging. And then they serve “breakfasts” every day, diligently delaying your waiting time to view a luxury apartment that costs only 10,000 rubles a month in the city center. But the information, most likely, will not be provided to you.

2-room apartment, 50 sq.m., 2nd floor, renovated and furnished

Yesterday 14:39

Discounts for early booking. One bedroom apartment, living room with open American kitchen. The apartment is equipped with everything necessary for comfortable rest: household appliances (air conditioners in all rooms, mini fridge, washing machine, stove for 2 burners, etc.), furniture, bed...

Accommodation in a hotel is often an unaffordable luxury for a student who has decided to study abroad. Moreover, not every university has at its disposal dormitories and apartments to accommodate foreigners. And the only way out in this case is renting an apartment or room in the country of study.
In fact, everything is not as dramatic as it might seem at first glance. It might be cheaper to live in a university dormitory, but the option of renting private accommodation is much more profitable than staying in a hotel. We have selected several effective ways to find inexpensive and comfortable housing abroad, which you can read about below.

Services for finding housing abroad

ResourceOfferscountriesPeculiarity
2,000,000 191 Online search platform for short-term private housing rentals around the world
7,000,000 246 One of the largest guest networks for finding free accommodation and new experiences abroad
80,000 200 An online service that allows you to rent city apartments, rooms and even small private houses for a couple of days
1,000,000 190 An online platform that allows you to rent a private room, apartment or exotic villa for the price of a hotel room
26,000 170 The service offers a search for hostels, cheap hotels and hotels B & B "s (bed and breakfast)
33,000 170 A site for finding inexpensive hostels around the world, which, if there are any difficulties with settling in a hostel, will return the money and pay an additional 50 USD
4,000,000 180 A site of free ads where you can successfully find housing, furniture and even a car

Effective ways to find apartments abroad

  • Use of accommodation search and booking systems
  • You can refer to specialized sites, which are many on the Internet. On such resources, you can find ads for renting small rooms, apartments, and even entire houses. It is important to understand that the cost of renting on different sites may not be the same. Therefore, even having met an interesting offer, it is worth checking the availability of similar offers on other sites.
    Interestingly, some services offer discount coupons for using their services. For example, the Airbnb online platform gives 25 USD, which can be used on the next booking of accommodation. The main advantage of such services is the ability to find the most interesting options housing that reflects the local flavor, which can not be found in boring hotel rooms.
  • Hostel Search
  • Staying in a hostel may seem like a good idea if an applicant is only staying in a new city for a couple of days (or a week) to take university entrance tests. You can find decent deals through hotel booking systems or special services like hostelworld. A hostel is far from always a typical hostel with concrete walls and the feeling of an ordinary communal apartment. There are quite decent places, beautiful historical buildings with a convenient location and the presence of separate rooms and even amenities. The only question is the price.
  • Finding accommodation through hospitality websites
  • Couchsurfing (couchsurfing) allows travelers to save on living in a new country, meet new people, exchange customs and traditions. Hospitality sites are expanding horizons by giving ordinary people the opportunity to get free shelter for a few days and have fun in the company of new acquaintances. All you need to do is register on one of these services, fill out your profile there, upload good photo and tell about yourself. The main thing is to be open and friendly, and then you won't have to wait long for invitations from other couchsurfers.

    What should be considered when looking for an apartment?

    Before you book and pay for the selected room or apartment, you should consider a few nuances:
  • Surcharge
  • The full cost is not always displayed on the accommodation booking site apartment rental, therefore, when meeting with the landlord, the client can expect a real “surprise” in the form of a tax levied on the tenant. In order not to get into a similar situation, you should contact the owner of the apartment in advance and clarify all the details before the transaction.
  • Feedback from other users
  • If an apartment is found on one of the special sites, it is quite logical that there are reviews from other users who have already visited this landlord. On the pages of the service, the description and photos can illuminate the home from the favorable side, but in reality, often everything turns out to be much more prosaic. That is why you should carefully read the reviews of other users, if there are many of them and they are all positive, in this case you can rent the selected apartment without fear and doubt.
  • Additional services
  • Before concluding a transaction, you should once again check whether the additional service(daily cleaning, internet access, breakfast, change of towels and linen, toiletries) in the total cost of renting an apartment. You may have to pay for these services separately, and you can find more on the site profitable offer at the same price.
  • Favorable location
  • A suitable apartment for the price may be located far from the center, so you still have to spend money on travel to public transport. Isn't it easier rent housing closer to the center (as a rule, the price differs by 5 USD -10), so as not to waste time and nerves, getting from the outskirts of the city?
  • Payment Methods
  • To rent apartments using specialized services, you need a credit card, not a debit card. Otherwise, you can lose the reservation just a week before the expected settlement.
  • Presence of a security deposit
  • On many apartment booking services, you can find a similar item that obliges the client to have credit card a certain amount of security in case the property of the owner of the apartment is damaged. This money is simply frozen in the tenant's account, and after the eviction becomes available to the cardholder again.

    How is the process of renting a home abroad different?

    If you need to rent housing abroad, you need to figure out in advance what lies behind this process. Many nuances apartment rental significantly different from those that exist in the CIS countries. What you should be aware of when renting a home abroad:
    • Contract signing. In European countries, this is an absolutely normal practice, as the landlord and tenant are protected by law and in case of any disagreement, the dispute is regulated by the contract. In the CIS countries, it is not often possible to meet a landlord who wants to register his activity and pay taxes from it to the state treasury, so the tenant remains absolutely unprotected, because the agreements are made orally.
    • Long-term apartment rental the real estate agent's commission is paid by the landlord;
    • Damage to property. If you want to rent an apartment with furniture, you need to be rather scrupulous about their safety, since damage to the property of the owner of the apartment can be a real reason for premature eviction.
    • Interestingly, in some countries No pet ban applies in rented housing, even if it is written in the contract. Therefore, it is important to know your rights and be able to defend them.
    • Long term lease. In some European countries (Germany, France), the lease period starts from two years, this is due to the fact that in this way the tenant demonstrates his seriousness and solvency.
    • Tenant protection. If the tenant has a signed contract in his hands, it is almost impossible to evict him from the apartment ahead of schedule (if there are no gross violations), nothing can be done with housing during this period (sell or rent to someone else);
    • The need to pay an initial deposit. The tenant must pay the landlord an initial deposit, which is equal to a maximum of three monthly rents (utility payments are not included in this amount).
    • Provision of documents and personal data. The tenant is obliged to provide the landlord with all the necessary information about himself: passport data, personal profile, income statement, as well as recommendations from previous landlords (if any).

    How not to fall for the hook of scammers?

    Apartments for rent was and remains one of the most profitable forms of business. There are a lot of easy money lovers working in this industry who know how to extract money from a client. Therefore, it is important to know a few rules that will help protect against the actions of scammers:
  • Signing a formal contract
  • There are cases when fraudsters rented apartments for a couple of days, during this period they found those who wanted to rent housing on a long-term basis, signed an agreement with them (not legally binding), took an advance payment and disappeared from sight forever. You need to conclude a contract only with a notary or a lawyer; a wet seal must be affixed to the form.
  • Checking the form of the landlord
  • When booking accommodation through booking services, you need to carefully review the owner's profile, and contact him to clarify the amount of payment, the date of settlement and other details. If the ad is in doubt, you should ask the interlocutor to provide additional photos of the apartment.
  • Payment for renting an apartment through verified sites
  • Payment should be made only through the website of the booking service, even if the owner of the apartment asks to send money to his personal account. It is better to pay the site a commission than to lose funds from your bank card.
  • Data privacy
  • You should not disclose information about your payment card to third parties (card number, CVV code, pin code) and other information.
    If you want to rent a home abroad on a long-term basis, you should be prepared to shell out the amount of several monthly installments, which is quite a lot. As for the short-term rental of apartments (from 3 days to 2 weeks), in this case it is also necessary to have an initial deposit, which will become a guarantee of solvency and careful attitude of the tenant to the property of the host.

    One of the defining moments of any trip lasting more than a day is the choice of a place to stay for the night. Portal "ZagraNitsa" decided to acquaint readers with the best rental services in Europe. Tiny rooms and inedible breakfasts in the first available hotels are canceled!

    Pre-booking accommodation (subject to a scrupulous choice) makes traveling, whether it be a vacation or a business trip, more comfortable and safer. So-called "mashups" (aggregator sites) will help you find suitable options, through which you can rent hotel rooms, apartments or villas around the world. International services allow you to compare offers from several booking systems and rent a room, room or other accommodation for a specific date. Vivid examples of such sites are Booking and Hotels.com: there is an impressive database of objects of various price categories and locations.


    Photo: preferredhotels.com

    "Booking" and "Hotels" are convenient for instant confirmation of the reservation. But as practice shows, you should not flatter yourself and it is better to play it safe. Reservations through online services - due to technical failures or for some other unknown reason - are sometimes not confirmed at the hotel. It's good if there are free rooms, because otherwise you will be left without a place to sleep.

    The cost of a room in the same hotel on different aggregators may differ and be higher than the price on the official website of the hotel. If you want to save money, it's always a good idea to surf the different platforms looking for the best deals.


    Photo: hotel-madison.com

    Healthy alternative to hotels - rent from locals

    An excellent option for lovers of diversity and authenticity would be to rent a house from local residents. You can chat with a foreign host and plunge into the atmosphere of the country. Living in a standard hotel, you will not get such pleasure.

    On many sites, you can leave comments and participate in the rating of hotels, homeowners and the apartments themselves. Feedback from ex-clients will help you make a choice. These comments are especially valuable when the service is not responsible for the accuracy of the information.

    The most popular hosted rental services in Europe are Airbnb, Homeaway and Wimdu. They offer a wide range of both simply cozy apartments and more exotic options. You can find a chalet in the mountains, a villa on a picturesque seashore or a small family castle.

    Home Exchange - exchange vacation

    You can stop for a couple of days in a foreign city or country without money. Participation in the Home Exchange program will help you find a room, an apartment and even a house for free living with the owners or during their absence. So the trip will cost at least half the price.


    Photo: solotravelerblog.com

    The practice of exchanging vacation homes originated in Europe and the United States over 50 years ago and is gaining popularity every year. No wonder, because this is one of the easiest and most affordable ways to join the daily life of a foreign country, make new friends and exchange cultural values ​​with them, see the most interesting sights. To join the club, you need to pay an annual membership fee. The number of trips is not limited.

    Hospitality sites are a kind social networks, where participants are ready to give strangers a roof over their heads or just keep them company for a walk around the city. To become a host, you need to have your own housing (confirmation will be required) put up for exchange.

    Europeans are mostly friendly, but not ready for a journey into the unknown. They want to clearly understand who they are visiting, and are not averse to conducting reconnaissance. To do this, they communicate online for a long time (six months to a year): they correspond or conduct “live” conversations via Skype.

    It is better to find out all the details with a preliminary acquaintance. Share photos (personal and home) and detailed description apartments/houses. Ask any questions that will help you get comfortable in a foreign city. By the way, residents of the United States and Europe often plan vacations in advance, so you rarely see last-minute options for an exchange vacation.