What is a guesthouse?

When looking for affordable accommodation while traveling, you’ve probably come across the term guesthouse. In this article, we’ll talk in more detail about what it is and how a guesthouse differs from a hotel.

A guesthouse is a guest house whose owners live in it or nearby, and the rooms in the house are rented out to guests.

Unlike a hotel, there is no constantly operating reception here, so it is recommended to arrange check-in time with the owners in advance. The owners themselves take care of the house, or they hire assistants who also do not work all day, but come for a couple of hours, for example, to clean the guest rooms. There are no strict requirements for rooms here. In hotels, the size of rooms and their minimum furnishings are regulated, but in the case of guesthouses, everything is at the discretion of the owners. This is why accommodation in such places is cheaper, and the rooms themselves are much more modest than in a hotel. Essentially, it’s a large house with a territory, whose rooms are rented out to tourists. Each country or region has its own guesthouse characteristics.

Guesthouses in Europe

As a rule, European guesthouses have far fewer rooms than hotels, typically only 5–15. And unlike hostels, they are not always a budget accommodation option; like hotels, they come in different comfort levels, but there is no star rating here. You can only go by the room amenities and price.

Guesthouses on Islands

Unlike European guesthouses, on islands, the price may include not only accommodation but also meals, transfers, entertainment, etc. And there are more rooms; the room stock can reach 30–40. We recently wrote about guesthouses in the Maldives. The rooms themselves are usually very modest. In the cheapest guesthouses, your room might only have a bed and a mosquito net above it. By the way, hot water is also not always available in such places, so if this is important to you, clarify this point in advance. Otherwise, you might be in for an unpleasant surprise upon arrival. A big advantage of guesthouses is that their pricing policy is not rigid, and if you’re staying for more than a couple of days, you can even bargain.