Sleeping on a budget.

Now, a long time ago, I used to think this was a good budget deal. $2. $2. Now, for $10, you get a bed and a kitten tossed in for no extra. But that's not a good value either, these days. What I'm talking about when it comes to budget accommodations is an alternative to this.

When I go all the way to Europe, I don't want to stay in American-style high rise hotels. I go all the way to Europe to enjoy a European style hotel. These are not necessarily cheaper than the big hotels. They're just a better experience for me.

If this is roughing it, sign me up. I'm in a little village in Switzerland. I'm standing on my balcony looking at avalanches on the far side of the valley. I can hear the peasants downstairs in the bar after a long day of cutting hay. They're playing the spoons and yodeling and drinking their beer.

You’re in a little town where everybody has the same last name. I mean, this is Switzerland. That's where I want to be, you know.

A two-star hotel in Paris? Great idea. I don't need a four-star hotel. It's just little extras that give them the excuse to charge more that I will not appreciate in my style of travel.

I like a little family-run place, a mom and pop place. This is run by Stephane and Francoise.

It's on a pedestrian-only street with a market outside every morning, seven blocks from the Eiffel Tower.

It's so French, when I step outside of the morning, I feel like I must have been a poodle in a previous life.

This is the kind of charming little hotel that I love to go to. The kind I love to list, and they're always centrally located. To me, that central location is critical. I don't want a view. The view comes with noise. Europe is very noisy late at night. I want to be on the back. It's less expensive and it's quiet, you know?

So think about quiet, think about safe neighborhood. You know, think about night noise. But do you need over-the-top facilities? I don't, you know, I just need a good, friendly, safe, comfortable place.

This is the level of hotel comfort that I like. This is what we have on our tours. This is good enough for me. For some people, they need more. And you can find a different style of travel. But that takes you away from what you traveled so far to see.

Bed and breakfasts are a big deal. They used to be very charming in the old days. I mean, it was a chance to get to know a family.

You know, I remember going to this Mrs. Farrell's place in the far west of Ireland and the west coast, where they stand on the bluff and gaze out at the Atlantic and say, “The next parish over is Boston,” you know, and Mrs. Farrell was always just so excited that Ricky from Seattle was here, you know.

But, these days, bed and breakfast is really, you know, Airbnb-type sites, right? And the charming little ladies that are renting out a room really have been pushed aside, and they just farm it out to some company that rents them en masse, and they've got this...

It's like an atomized hotel taking over a neighborhood. It's still an efficiency. I think Airbnb offers a great... you know, it's an amazing system and its competitors.

So you got Airbnb, you got hotels. I would say wherever you're traveling, the more you put in a room, the cheaper it gets per person. And I do want to remind you, if you are on a tight budget, there's lots of accommodations that are renting by the bed rather than by the room: dormitories.

The Y, the mountain lodges... They’re called Matratzen lager, you know, mattress lofts, and hostels, youth hostels. When I'm hiking around Mont Blanc, I'll stay in a mountain lodge or hostel every night.

And, you know, of course, inside is a very rustic, mountain lodge where people share a dorm. You could pay extra for two people. You could pay less for eight people in a room. And the focus is the conviviality. All the people coming together. My favorite moments were having a beer after a long day of hiking in the front yard, right there.

I got to remind you that there are big institutional hostels that serve, you know, industrial strength rooms with the efficiency of a member's kitchen. And a lot of people think, “Well, hosteling, can I still do that?”

Well, they took the word “youth” out of the system. Now it's just called Hosteling International. So, you know, if you're alive, you are young enough to hostel.

And it's just an option. And there are people that are on a very tight budget. And the only way to travel in Europe on a tight budget is to take advantage of these kind of options.