How to find accommodation as a nomad

Finding a good base is half the nomad life. Accommodation is usually the highest single cost of every stay, and the difference between a great month and a frustrating one often comes down to where you sleep and work.

Here are 5 tips, with numerous examples, for finding accommodation. You'll find tips for budget-friendly stays, quick bookings, and unique accommodation. Additionally, you'll find recommendations for finding community-focused stays and family-friendly accommodations.

🌱 Travel health insurance for digital nomads

🎯 Where to search: platforms compared

Every platform serves a different kind of stay. Here is the honest overview before we go into the details.

💸 How to pay less for monthly stays

The single biggest lever in nomad accommodation is the length of stay. Almost everything gets cheaper when you commit to a month or more:

• The 28-night threshold on Airbnb: Most hosts offer automatic weekly and monthly discounts, often 20 to 50 percent off the nightly rate once your stay crosses 28 nights. Compare the total for 27 and 28 nights before booking, the longer stay is sometimes cheaper in absolute terms.
• Find on the platform, negotiate directly: Use Airbnb or Booking to find places you like, then check if the property has its own website or is listed with a local agency. Booking directly often removes 15 to 20 percent in platform fees. Keep first-time bookings with unknown hosts on the platform for protection.
• Ask the "stay longer" question: Local agents and hosts almost always offer a lower price for 3-, 6-, or 12-month commitments. It costs nothing to ask what the monthly rate would be.
• Travel in shoulder season: The same apartment can cost half as much one month before or after high season. If you're flexible, let the price calendar pick your dates.
• Book the first week, hunt on the ground: In many destinations, the best deals never make it online. Book one week, then spend two afternoons viewing places in person. This works especially well in Latin America and Southeast Asia.

💶 How to find affordable stays?

When looking for affordable accommodation, it usually requires investing a bit more time in the search and accepting a lower standard of stay. In other words, it is hard to find an affordable, luxurious place within 30 minutes of research.

• Facebook groups: When you know your next destination, join all kinds of Facebook groups, from expat groups to rental and real estate groups, and digital nomad groups in this destination. Read through the posts and get an overview of prices and availabilities.
• Coliving spaces: Prices vary widely. International coliving networks are usually not budget-friendly. Search for an individually run coliving space and local chains instead. Please note that coliving space is often used synonymously for hostels, hotels, and homestays that offer free wifi and a desk. If you are looking for community-focused spaces, check out their social media profiles and reviews, and reach out to them. Good spaces should have community managers and host community events. Platforms like Coliving.com help you compare spaces and prices by destination.
• Local serviced apartment agencies: Searching for serviced apartments in your next destination might be an alternative. It usually takes a bit more time for them to reply, and you will find yourself in an email ping-pong, which can be frustrating, but I have found many great deals through local agencies, for example in Mexico, Panama, Portugal, and Spain.
• Local real estate agencies: Similar to local serviced apartment agencies, you can reach out to real estate agencies, as many also offer rentals. For example, when staying in an expensive place like Tulum, Mexico, booking through Airbnb can be way more affordable if you reach out to real estate agencies and negotiate a deal with them.
• TrustedHousesitters: This platform lets you create a profile and connect with people around the world who are looking for housesitters while they are away. Sitter memberships cost roughly €115-€225 per year, and the two cheaper plans include a booking fee of about €10 per sit. Being a housesitter doesn't cost you anything beyond that, but it requires some housework, such as walking the dog, feeding the cat, or watering the plants. This platform is an excellent way to keep costs down. However, the availability of housesitting stays in your next destination might be limited.
• Flatio: A platform that helps you find mid-term accommodation without burdensome deposits, complicated lease contracts, and hidden fees. Discover Flatio, an easy-to-use booking platform for mid-term rentals.

• Workaway: If you don't mind giving a helping hand for a few hours a day while keeping your accommodation cost low, you might want to look into Workaway. The platform allows you to connect with a global community of individuals and businesses that offer accommodation for volunteer roles.

• Adopt a Backpacker: This service is mainly used in Australia, but the platform is expanding. Similar to Workaway, you exchange a few hours of volunteering work for accommodation.

🚀 How to find quick bookings?

If you are more time-sensitive than budget-sensitive, you might want to hire a virtual assistant. Or browse through Airbnb listings and set the filter to instant bookings.

• Virtual assistant: If you think your hourly income is higher than the hourly expenses of a virtual assistant, you might want to hire someone who helps you with travel planning.
• Airbnb instant booking: Set the Airbnb filters to instant booking to avoid the request-message and email ping-pong. Airbnb instant bookings are quick and easy, but you might pay in terms of quality and cost.
• Hotel booking platforms: If you just want to book accommodation quickly, search on your favorite platforms. Sometimes, staying in an international chain might help to ensure a minimum quality standard.

💎 How to find unique stays?

Unique stays are the rare-to-find gems that often require time and budget to seek out.

• Small Luxury Hotels: Beautiful stays, Instagrammable properties, and award-winning restaurants will be found in the selection of Small Luxury Hotels (SLH). It is definitely worth searching on the platform if you want to book something really special.
• Airbnb: From yurts to tiny homes, chalets, mansions, tree houses, and beachfront villas, you can find real gems on Airbnb. It is mostly a matter of price and availability.
• Virtual assistant: If you want to save time or you just don't enjoy the actual search for the perfect accommodation, consider delegating this task to a virtual assistant.
• Recommendations: Ask your friends where they booked their honeymoon, or find out where your parents splurged on their first vacation after all the kids finally moved out. You can also join digital nomad Facebook groups and ask for unique stay inspiration.

🥰 How to find community-focused stays?

When your focus is finding community-focused stays, you are a little less location-independent, as your destinations depend on others and their effort to offer community-focused stays, for example in coliving spaces.

• Coliving spaces: Well-run coliving spaces are more than just a loud hostel with a common area and wifi. In fact, real coliving spaces focus on community. They give you a tour, introduce you to their community, host events, and make sure you can work in a productive environment.

• Coliving networks: If you like the idea of hopping between destinations while staying within the same community and standards, consider membership-based networks. Outsite runs coliving houses in nomad hotspots across Europe, the Americas, and Asia, with a membership model that lets you move between locations. Palma Coliving in Mallorca is an example of an independent, community-first space that has been nominated as the best nomad coliving space for several years in a row.
• Coworking spaces: If you love working around other nomads but prefer to live by yourself, look for accommodation near the coworking or coliving space you plan to join. Great coworking spaces are community-focused; they make sure you become part of their community, and they host social events too.

• WiFi Tribe: With WiFi Tribe, you can sign up for 4, 6, or 8-week stays in one of their chapters. You travel in a group of digital nomads and remote workers, either in just one chapter or you continue traveling with other members.

🍼 How to find family stays?

I can't tell from my own experience as I don't travel with children. But I have befriended digital nomad families and colleagues traveling as nomad families.

• Slow travel: One difference between my solo-traveling nomad friends and my nomad family friends is the pace of travel. With babies and toddlers, the travel speed slows down already, and the frequency of destination hopping becomes less when kids enroll in school. Many nomad families base themselves in family-friendly hubs with international or online schooling options and travel from there.
• Rent a local home: It is easier said than done, but in countries like Mexico, Panama, and Southeast Asia, renting a house for a month or longer is pretty easy as it doesn't require much paperwork. When renting locally, a deposit may be required. Without protection in place, there is always a risk of losing the deposit.
• Rent through Airbnb: An advantage when renting a place through Airbnb and co is the protection you have through the system. Although the process of cancellations, refunds, and complaints can be nerve-wracking too, you can at least talk to someone in case of an emergency. Airbnb rentals are good options in the USA, Europe, and Australia.
• See the place before committing: You can also travel to a destination, prebook a hotel for your family, and go on a house hunt once you've arrived. It is easier when you've already researched the neighborhoods and districts you want to live in. Contact local serviced apartment agencies and local real estate agencies beforehand and schedule appointments if possible.

✅ What to check before you book

Nomads don't book like vacationers. A place can be beautiful and still unusable if you can't take a video call. Check these before you pay:

🏡 Conclusion

Finding the ideal accommodation is tricky, and with prices rising globally, travel booking has become less fun. If you have the financial resources to outsource this task, consider a virtual assistant. If you travel on a budget, choose one of three: cheap, fast, or great. It is very unlikely to find an affordable gem within 30 minutes of research.

My partner's accommodation priorities, for example, are clean and quiet. This means we often stay a bit farther from the nightlife and bar districts. We would rather commute or walk longer distances for a quiet place in a calm neighborhood. On the other hand, we make sure that we have at least one awesome coffee shop within walking distance. What are your accommodation priorities?