In part 1 of this post, I featured a hotel in Thailand (Ko Lanta) and Nepal (Pokhara) that we had found to be great finds for under $40 per night. (Link back to Part 1). I have selected hotels that are under the $40 per night level, as this is the expense level I try to keep to, when long term traveling. This amount is about where I feel I need be, to get some comfort and character, but also be sustainable for long term travel. In part 2 of this post, I am looking at a hotel in two more of my favourite long term traveler friendly countries – Vietnam and Bali (Indonesia).

Bali 

Puri Bening Hayato, Toya Bungkah

We found this hotel while doing a cross island scooter trip a couple of years ago, and  I have done some investigation to make sure it still exists! This was a very old hotel, and in h=need of a bit of repair at the time, but at $25 per night it was cheap, spacious, and in another wonderful location. Toya Bungkah is located on the side of Lake Batar, and both the lake and town are located in the crater of the active volcano, Mt Batar. To reach the town you travel down into the crater from the road that runs around the volcano rim at kintamani. The town is located in a fertile market garden area, and drying onions where the dominant smell when we visited. The hotel had excellent views from our 3rd floor room, both to the volcano behind us and the lake and rim wall in-front. In addition, it was an older, 70′s style complex, with big rooms, and adjoining balconies. And we were the only guests! It was cheap, retro, and located in a surprisingly non-balish corner of Bali! limited information available at http://hotelpuribeningbali.com/

Lake Batar

Overlooking the carpark!

  Vietnam

Sea Star Resort, Phu Quoc Island

Vietnam is probably the ultimate for hotel rooms under $40.00 per night, in-fact I can only think of 1 hotel I have stayed in, in two visits to Vietnam that cost more than $40.00! But for comfort, friendly family run service, and amazing location, the Sea Star Resort, Phu Quoc Island rates as the best in my opinion. This resort has a series on bungalows, set in 3 or 4 rows facing the the beach and ocean. The front row is right in the sand of the beach, and the second row, where our $40 bungalow as, was a mere 5 meters or so from the beach, with access and views between the front ones, to the beach. In addition, Sea Star has an excellent restaurant located under the palm trees beachfront, that served as good a local food as any of the restaurants in town. They rented motor-scooters for only a few dollars a day, and happily suggest routes and day trips to enjoy. Absolutely recommend the Sea Star resort, and refer as many people as possible to their website for more information – www.seastarresort.com

Sea Star Resort

Restaurant at Sea Star Resort

These two posts cover 1 cheap but nice hotel in each of my favourite countries. I hope this gives either comfort, lead or food for thought if you are heading to any of these places. I think I might keep this series going for a few more posts, and see if I can share some info on a few more places I have stayed under $40. keep you posted!