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Home Swap vs. Hotel Accommodations

A home swap can give you the kind of vacation that hotels will never be able to. Coming home to a house rather than a hotel room at the end of the day can give your vacation a very unique and relaxing quality.

However, some potential home swappers are still confused about how the process works and why it is so different than just renting a hotel room or a vacation bungalow.

Obvious Price Differences

The first difference is obvious and very large: the price. Most home swap websites require that you pay a membership fee but then let you post your listings and respond to others for free. When you decide on a home swap and go to that person's home while they go to yours, no money changes hands. The only costs associated with being in a home swap house are the normal daily expenses: food, laundry, phone, and entertainment.

The cost factor alone is enough to qualify home swaps as completely unique. However, there are many other large differences between home swap and renting for your vacation. Even the largest hotel rooms cannot possibly replicate the feeling of being at home. Their very nature — rooms stacked on top of rooms — precludes their feeling like a home.

Home Swap Responsibility

Exchanging a home also differs from renting a hotel room in that you are responsible for picking up after yourself in most cases. If your swap partner and you have come to an agreement that involves hiring cleaning services during your respective stays, then you will obviously just leave it to them to clean. In most swaps, though, you are responsible for keeping the place tidy and leaving it exactly how you found it.

More Locations Available

One of the most advantageous differences between home swaps and hotel rentals is the fact that home swaps are located everywhere; they are not limited to just downtown or near tourist attractions. You may find a home swap house in the middle of green pastures, miles away from the usual touristy haunts. If you are looking forward to experiencing a different side of your destination, this is a great way to do just that.

Swap homes also offer you a level of privacy that you don't get in a hotel. There are no loud children running past your door screaming all night (unless you brought some with you) and no housekeepers knocking on your door at 7 a.m. The home that you stay in is all yours for the duration of your vacation.

Home Swaps Can Make Friendships

You may even find yourself making some life-long friends through the home swap program. The people that you swap homes with and their neighbors — your neighbors during the swap — may turn out to be terrific people who you stay in contact with. You may even do future swaps with them. This is something that simply doesn't happen when you stay at a cold, impersonal hotel. Home swaps give you so many benefits — don't you think it's time to look into it for your next vacation?