Kuala Lumpur is undergoing a construction boom that is giving the city one of the best skylines in Southeast Asia. With so many apartment towers going up there are plenty of short term apartment rentals on the market. I had a 4 night stay in the city, so I had a look on Airbnb for that visit. I found this studio in the city centre, and knowing where the location was I booked it. The room was advertised for $24.48 USD per night, so after adding cleaning and service fees it was $29.18 per night. This is an apartment review and what to expect when booking an Airbnb in Kuala Lumpur.

The studio apartment is located near Bukit Bintang, which is one of the best areas to stay in KL. It’s a five minute walk from the monorail line, which connects to KL Sentral and the airport train. The building itself is new and in good condition.

One of the things I don’t like about Airbnb is the checking in process, especially if it involves waiting for someone to let me in. I usually check what the process is before booking. In this case it was an easy process, with someone there to let me in and show the room. Also important to have someone check you in to make sure the internet is working. As this was going to be my office I didn’t want to waste any time with broken passwords.

The studio looked as it was advertised, being a clean and modern space.

While the room was nice I couldn’t help but head straight to the window to see the view. From here you can see Bukit Bintang shopping area, and the towers of the Kuala Lumpur City Centre. The apartment towers directly in front obscured the view of the Petronas Twin Towers. By the look of the prices on Airbnb I suspect there is a premium for apartments with view of the towers, so I probably saved a few ringgit.

Anyway back to the room. I had a comfortable queen-size bed and power outlets and tables on either side. The room had air conditioning as well as a ceiling fan. I found I didn’t need the A/C on overnight, which I prefer.

A nice bathroom with a walk-in shower and plenty of room around the sink.

A little kitchenette useful for breakfast and reheating food. I don’t cook, and with the delights of Malaysian food outside I wouldn’t anyway. This would be more problematic if it was a full time rental. There is also a mini fridge and a kettle.

There is a pool on the 6th floor which has a good view of the other side of the city.

There is a also a gym next to the pool.

While I wish the windows were a bit wider, I still got an excellent view of the city from my bed at night. KL is on the way to having a skyline like somewhere in an East Asian metropolis. The glow of the LED lights at night and knowing what is being built nearby had me thinking that KL might look like this in the future:

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I sleep with the curtains open here as sunrise in KL is around 7am, which feels late compared to my 6am sunrise starts in Saigon.

While Airbnb don’t reveal the exact address until after you booked, I could tell from the location circle they show you that the studio was near one of my favourite cafes in KL.

Overall this was a great stay in KL. Check out availability here, or view all Kuala Lumpur apartments.

If you’re new to Airbnb you can get a credit towards your first booking here: Airbnb signup credit.

And if you just want to book a hotel, search for hotels in Kuala Lumpur here.

I had a week in Prague and I ended up splitting my time between two apartments, mainly because I had credits in my Airbnb and Wimdu accounts to use. The first place I stayed at was in central Prague. This apartment was in the Zizkov neighbourhood, which is up a hill behind the main train station. I had never been to this part of Prague before (probably because it is behind the station) but I’m glad I did this time. Zizkov is a neighbourhood with lots of old-world charm, without the tourist crowds that the historic old town gets. If you are new to Prague then read up on where to stay in Prague before you go.

It took me about 15 minutes to walk here from the main station, much of it uphill. The apartment is in an old apartment block on the top floor. The landlady lives next door in a separate apartment so there was no drama in getting the key.

The apartment featured a bedroom with a lounge area, a separate kitchen and dining area, a bathroom, and a hallway. The rate for this worked out to around $35 USD per night.

I bought breakfast supplies for the kitchen but as usual, I didn’t disturb the stove.

The toilet and shower were clean and respectable.

I loved the balcony where the landlady tended to a little garden.

There is a laundry service available at €2 per wash.

The landlady was friendly and welcoming to me. She brought over a freshly-baked cake and some of her tomatoes. She provided maps of Prague and borrowed a new copy of Rick Steves Prague. If you are looking for more things to see then check out this guide to Prague.

Overall I enjoyed my stay in this apartment and getting to explore a neighbourhood of Prague I might not have visited otherwise.

Look for more apartments at Wimdu.

If you would still rather stay in a hotel search for more hotels in Prague.

I often get asked how I go about finding accommodation for longer stays so I have compiled this list of accommodation resources.

For short stays (anything up to a week) I usually use Agoda or Airbnb. The purpose of this article is for short-term apartment rentals (1 to 3 months) suitable for slow-travelling long-term travellers and digital nomads looking for a working base.

For long-term stays (like a one-year lease) we are getting into expat territory, but you could still use some of these tips to find a place.

I have listed below useful accommodation sites and I will update this as more resources become available. Feel free to email me any suggestions.

Short-term apartment rental sites

Out of all the apartment booking sites Airbnb has become the go-to choice for nomads. The appeal of Airbnb is that you are staying in real homes as opposed to a holiday rental apartment that feels like a hotel.

I’ve used it a few times in Bangkok when I have wanted a break from hotels and I found deals like this apartment for $18 a night.

I’ve been using Airbnb to stay at places for a week at a time but I haven’t used it for monthly rentals. For tips on monthly rentals, Ian from tropicalmba.com wrote this comprehensive guide on negotiating up to 50% off the listed price.

Of course, Airbnb is not the only show in town for renting private apartments.

Roomorama list private rooms and apartments, and they also have an introductory offer for new users. Get $20 off with the code: TWENTYFORME.

Tripping.com is a comparison site that compares the biggest vacation and short-term rentals sites, which will save you searching through all the sites.

Forums

Forums are a useful place to find monthly rentals and the most active forums are Facebook Groups. If you are looking for a specific destination do a search in Facebook for “digital nomad [city]”, “expat [city]”, or “[city] housing” and see what groups are there.

For example a search for “Bali housing” found Bali (South) Housing and Accommodation. This is a group that lists short and long term private rentals, often by members who are looking for someone to take over their lease.

Home Swaps for Digital Nomads around the world is another Facebook group that is useful if you have a home to swap.

Beyond Facebook, Nomad Forum has a housing category where you can ask about availability or look for inspiration for a place to stay.

In that forum I found this spreadsheet of apartments for nomads.

House sitting

House sitting is an alternative for longer stays on a budget. In exchange for looking after pets and plants you get to stay in someones house for free. This works best if you are flexible with time and location.

The experiences I’ve read make housesitting sound a like a destination idea generator. For example Simon and Erin stayed at a farm in the middle of nowhere, Spain. In addition to looking after dogs they had to look after horses as well. It was an adventure they would not have otherwise found if it wasn’t for housesitting.

I’ve noticed that people who have the most success at house sitting are couples (or at least couples are blogging the most about it), and you must be comfortable with looking after pets.

Apart from housesitting for friends I have never house-sat via a brokering service. I did try but I found I was too selective with my locations (I wanted an apartment in the middle of Barcelona next week rather than the middle of nowhere in 3 months time).

TrustedHousesitters.com is the biggest of the home sitting sites. As a house sitter you pay an annual fee and the owner selects the house sitter, so your profile page needs to be a compelling sales page of why you would be the ideal person.

If you want to improve your chances on landing a dream home sitting job then check out the ultimate guide to housesitting, which is written by a friend of mine who is a seasoned housesitter.

Digital nomad accommodation

The resources I’ve listed so far are traditional travel booking sites. With more people taking up the location independent lifestyle there is now sufficient demand for accommodation that is tailored for travellers who are digital nomads.

Anyplace – A platform that provides flexible-term housing (month-to-month, no leases) in cities across the globe.

Concierge services

Going beyond listing a room in a house, Chiang Mai Buddy is a concierge service that helps digital nomads get set up in Chiang Mai. They will find accommodation for you as well as other services like getting a mobile service and motorbike hire.

For this list I have compiled booking sites that I use, and I’ve also included other accommodation options to consider.

Hotels

For reserving hotels I prefer Agoda for most of my hotel bookings. Here is why I use them.

There are hundreds of online booking sites which all seem to claim have the cheapest hotel rates. No hotel site that can claim that they are always the cheapest, so I have used the following metrics to select a hotel booking site:

– Has a lowest price guarantee.
– Has a loyalty program.
– Has a user-friendly user interface.

Agoda fills those requirements for me. They have a best price guarantee so they will match any booking offered by another site for the same hotel and dates.

My current system of hotel booking is to search on Agoda, and then do another search on Hotels Combined, which is a meta search site that lists the results of the top hotel booking sites.

I do this to make sure there isn’t a crazy price discrepancy between the major booking sites. I then book with Agoda as they have my billing details and I can accumulate reward points. They also bill in my selected currency so it saves me a international currency charge on my credit card.

Agoda also have daily deals, like this special I got on a 4* hotel in Hong Kong, as well as discounts on cheap guesthouses. I also like their user interface so I am happy to use and recommend their booking service.

Specialty booking sites

Not every hotel, resort, or villa is listed on an online travel agent. Here are some sites for inspiration:

Holiday villas and apartment in France and Italy

Overwater bungalows.

Apartments

AirBnB has become the first site I check when I want to stay in an apartment, or if I’m trying my luck for a better deal in an expensive city. I once found a studio in a shiny-new apartment tower in Bangkok for $18 a night. Those kind of deals are hard to find but it’s worth having a look, just in case.

Hostels

The biggest booking sites for hostels are Hostelworld and Hostelbookers. My default site for hostels is usually Hostelbookers, which I use as there is no booking fee. However, now that Hostelworld has bought out Hostelbookers, Hostelworld has scrapped their $2 booking fee, so they now appear to have the edge with more properties in their inventory. I’m not sure how they plan to differentiate the two sites, or if they will be merged altogether in the future.

The problem with both of these booking sites is that they don’t list how much a single room is. Instead they will list it as a private room, but then you have to click through to find out that the private room listed for $10 is the price if four people are staying in a four bed private room.

These days I am also using Agoda for hostel hunting as they list hostels, guesthouses, and hotels in the same search. In their search results they list if it’s a dorm (and how many beds), and a private room is listed as the total price, not per person.

If you are looking to specifically stay in a hostel then also check out hihostels.com as the HI/YHA hostels aren’t included in the hostel search engines.

House Sitting

House sitting is a popular options for long term travellers and digital nomads, especially if your travel plans are flexible. A house sit job usually involves staying at the house while the owners are away so that you can look after the pets, water the plants, or just give the appearance that someone is still in the house for security reasons. In the case of pet sitting you will be looking after their babies (so to speak) so you will need to prove yourself to be a pet lover. This is a great option if you are nomadic and miss having a pet to look after.

I have house sat for friends but haven’t done it through an intermediary site yet. It seems that people who have the most success finding places are couples.

A well regarded site in the blogosphere is TrustedHousesitters.com. As a house sitter there is an annual fee to join, so make sure you write a comprehensive biography with references if possible, and include lots of photos.

If you want to travel the world house sitting I have friends who have been doing that, and they wrote a book on the ultimate guide to housesitting

House Swapping

If you have a home you could try HomeExchange, which allows you to connect with members of the site and arrange to swap homes. The site has an annual membership fee and guarantees a swap in the first year, so you would make your money back in one swap. Things to consider include if your home is in a desirable location for someone to want to stay there, and matching dates with a house swapper. Like with house sitting, this requires a little planning and flexibility in your travels.

Free Accommodation

Couchsurfing is a travel community where members offer their spare bed (or couch) to fellow members for free. It’s a great way to meet people and save money. I’ve used it a few times when I have been stuck finding suitable accommodation.

Couchsurfing is not recommended if you need to get work done as there is a social element to this, and locking yourself in a room of your guest to work isn’t very sociable. I stayed with some friendly hosts in the US who were happy to play tour guide in their neighbourhood; places I wouldn’t have seen by staying in a hotel.

Sleeping In Airports is a handy site that reviews airports around the world and includes tips on where comfortable seats or hidden away corners to snooze are.

I’ve stayed overnight in airports when I had an early flight which would have meant leaving the hotel at 3 am. I would rather just go to the airport overnight to read or work. The worst airport was London Luton (and shame on me because I did it twice) and the best airport overnighter was at Singapore Changi, which is a destination in its own right.