Caribbean - How to find Mom and Pop Hotels


Hobo Travel Tips Newsletter: Caribbean - How to find Mom and Pop Hotels
Tip: How to find list of Mom and Pop Hotels
Issue: 189
Location Published From: Port of Spain Trinidad and Tobago in Caribbean Islands
Issue: 188 -- Top Travel Sites of 2005 - Bogota Colombia

Issue: 190 -- Grenada - Fort George - Travel Tip - The Cluster


Letters to Editor


TABLE OF CONTENTS

~ NEWSLETTER INFORMATION
~ HOBO TRAVEL QUOTES
How I feel today...
~ HOBO PHOTO GALLERY
This weeks pictures.
~ HOBO DAILY TRAVEL LOG a.k.a. Blog
Travel Blog! A daily web diary of my travels.
http://www.hobotraveler.com/blogger.html
~ HOBO STEW (A Dish of Meat and Vegetables)
Caribbean - Entering the Caribbean Islands.
~ TODAY’S TRAVEL TIP
How to find list of Mom and Pop Hotels

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~ HOBO TRAVEL QUOTES - Back to top
How I feel today, or a start down
the proverbial travelers path.

People don't take trips . . . trips take people.
- John Steinbeck

~ BACKPACKER JARGON

Backpacker Theory
- What is a backpacker and what is not a backpacker,
I have been using this term a lot to explain whether the Lonely Planet writers
for Caribbean were backpackers or tourist. There are long term travelers that
discuss at times the difference between tourist and travelers, or what is a
backpacker. There is confusion in terms also between the backpacker that
climbs or treks into the mountains and the ones that travel the world.

~ HOBO

Cookee
- The second in command to the main stew-builder.

http://www.hobotraveler.com/hobo.php

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~ HOBO PHOTO GALLERY - Back to top

A lot of photos - The world unedited...

COLOMBIA
Flight to Colombia
http://www.hobotraveler.com/189_01_flight-to-colombia.shtml
Colombia Art
http://www.hobotraveler.com/189_02_colombia-art.shtml
Colombia Culture
http://www.hobotraveler.com/189_03_colombia-culture.shtml

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
Trinidad Food
http://www.hobotraveler.com/189_04_trinidad-food.shtml
Tobago Beach
http://www.hobotraveler.com/189_05_tobago-beach.shtml
Tobago Crown Point Beach
http://www.hobotraveler.com/189_06_tobago-crown-point-beach.shtml
Tobago Hotel
http://www.hobotraveler.com/189_07_tobago-hotel.shtml
Tobago
http://www.hobotraveler.com/189_08_tobago.shtml
Charlottsville Tobago
http://www.hobotraveler.com/189_09_charlottsville-tobago.shtml
Chaguaramas Sailboat Hold or Port near Port of Spain Trinidad
http://www.hobotraveler.com/189_10_chaguaramas.shtml
Chaguaramas Marine
http://www.hobotraveler.com/189_11_chaguaramas.shtml
Scarborough Tobago
http://www.hobotraveler.com/189_11_scarborough-tobago.shtml
Tobago Fort
http://www.hobotraveler.com/189_12_tobago-fort.shtml
Scarborough Trinidad
http://www.hobotraveler.com/189_13_scarborough-trinidad.shtml

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~ HOBO DAILY TRAVEL LOG - Back to top

Andy-- s Travel Blog! A daily web diary of my travels.
Daily photos more or less.
http://www.hobotraveler.com/blogger.html

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~ HOBO STEW (A Dish of Meat and Vegetables) - Back to top

ENTERING THE CARIBBEAN ISLANDS
Coming from and going to…

I Left Bogotá, Colombia and flew by plane for 232 Dollars U.S.A.
to Port of Spain, Trinidad, I then slept in the airport and got up early
and flew to Tobago for 200 TT or about 33 U.S.A. Dollars. I will leave
in the next two days for the Island of Grenada, then I think to Barbados,
there is a couple of Islands by the name of Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines that are hiding, I need to figure out the path to see them,
I must it appears refer to the map on the LIAT Airlines flights to
suss this out.

OOPS - LAST NEWSLETTER PROBLEMS.
I tried to send a newsletter out in HTML, for the
TOP TRAVEL SITES OF 2005...
It was a crash and run for the hills.
Click here to see the last newsletter:
http://www.hobotraveler.com/newsletterhobo188insert.shtml

CARIBBEAN

I am not sure, life is confusing, I am spending all my time trying to sift
through the Lonely Planet Caribbean to find reasonably priced Hotels in the
Caribbean Islands, makes a person love and appreciate the Island of
Thailand where life is much easier. I am in my initial attack on the
Islands of the Caribbean; I have started with Trinidad and Tobago,
quite by accident because I came to meet Craig who has just started
some long-term trip, hard to say where it will lead.

Craig is now electing to become a self-appointed road victim to save
1000 Dollars U.S. Air Fare, he will - maybe - travel from Trinidad to
Salvador, Brazil by land, on the future will know.
http://www.travelvice.com

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

Probably a number 3 or 4 on the list of places I would say to come
and visit. The only possible reason to visit is for what is suppose to
be one of the worlds biggest parties here called CARNAVAL in the
month of February. I would like to attend, however, hard to say, I am
looking for a three story balcony hotel here, whereby I could throw
water balloons and call down to girls, I have yet to find the proper
place, they look more like fortresses than hotels, that have them
ring-the-bell-to-enter security systems that slows down all the locals
from forced entry. The prices will skyrocket and everyone warns us
about danger; however who knows, maybe there is a way to live
here for a few days and sleep. The party starts later in February
and I could fly back easily to stay here, however the Hotel situation
is bleak and every day is going to be the 100 Dollars a day Tourist
budget and not a Hobo Budget. I am pointed at the star on the wall
of 30 dollars per day budget, hard to know if possible, and will bounce
for sure up to 50 dollars per day. I think the guidebook writers all lived
on the 100 Dollar per day tourist budget and should stop saying
anything about budget, they lost the path.

BOW - Bikini On Weekends - Trinidad

Bikini On Weekends, said the man when we asked, where are the
Bikinis, this is not a beach paradise or at least not any mass exodus
for the beach by Bikinis.

Chris requested more photos on the blog of Bikinis, however hard to find
unless I take five photos of the same girl, hard to be nonchalant when
you point the camera at the same Bikini repeatedly.

I am search of a beach, over 10 days in Trinidad and Tobago and my
tan is not in the competition. No great lounging on the beach to be found
and the mood is move on down the road, no travelers gathering in groups
and hanging or - Liming - as the local slang says for sitting around and
doing nothing, the popular world pastime.

We have found only a small chatting by the travelers in a Bar next to
Pigeon Point on the Island of Tobago, very close to the Airport. It appears
to be a 1 in 100 ratio of tourist to backpackers. This makes sitting around
and listening to the other travelers explain how to travel almost impossible
to find. I am looking for the core, the hard travelers, the persons on a path
through this area. Craig skipped it, I am on a path, and however it will be
difficult, maybe for 50 U.S.A., per night and lonely priced value for the
money because when Craig leaves I will have no conversation.

HOME STAY

This is my thought, need to desert the Hotels and find some homes to sleep
in, built in conversation with the owners and life would be priced right.

ONWARD TICKET WOES

It is a moral call, do I make a fake e-ticket and see if it flies for my onward
ticket, and do I buy the onward ticket and lose it if I want to stay longer on
Grenada. How does a person wander through the Caribbean, this seems to
be a Travel Agents dream vacation, they can nail you on a wall and throw
darts. Every time they throw a dart, they get another hundred dollars. The
whole systems of tourism seems to say, you must screw with the system to
enjoy the place, this is not acceptable and scares the wits out of most
travelers, easier to skip than to deal with, South America is easy,
beckoning and calling for the mass of world travelers.

I will bet I do not want to stay in Grenada and buy the onward ticket to
Barbados for 50 more dollars, I will lose the money if needed, I have
no choice.

As of today, I think I am about to live with this Caribbean Airlines,
look at the Map of their routes.
http://www.hobotraveler.com/2006/01/caribbean-island-hopping-airlines.html

MAP- Maybe it will not break...
http://www.liatairline.com/destinations.html

The seem to have two pages the same:
http://www.fly-liat.com
http://www.liatairline.com

In search of Bikini Beach.

NOTE: I need three guidebooks for the whole Caribbean Area
to travel cheaply, maybe...
Lonely Planet, Roughguide and Footprints

Today’s tip
How to find list of Mom and Pop Hotels

Life is Good!
Andy of HoboTraveler.com

Just another day in Paradise!
PLAN YOUR ESCAPE...
Be a Hobo, and leave your mark.
X
Hobotraveler.com was HERE!


Article written by Andy the Hobotraveler.com
On Year 9 of Hobo trip around the world.
Budget Travel, Jobs, and Adventure, etc
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~ TODAY’S TRAVEL TIPS - Back to top

How to find list of Mom and Pop Hotels

A Mom and Pop hotel is owned by Mom and Pop, it is a family owned hotel,
not a franchise or resort, prone to give you a good value. The best ones will
not have a reservation system, and rent rooms on a first come, first serve
basis, more or less about as organized as Mom and Pop are when it comes
to using the internet. Reservations normally mean double the cost for room,
less value for the buck, no local culture and living inside the tourist bubble.

Maybe you could scream,
- I am in the resort and I cannot get out -

The internet is becoming silly, the good pages are being replaced by the
swindle pages with only one goal, to convince you it is necessary to have
an expensive room, book it online, and pay a lot of money. I am in favor of
a booking service and it is needed, however it does not exist, I want to
book a room in a person’s home or in the local Mom and Pop Hotel.

Tips reach a critical mass or a critical need period occasionally, I am
oblivious to certain travel skills until I am using the skill daily.
I need cheap rooms in the Islands of the Caribbean.

GOAL: Search for cheap hotels in the Caribbean.

1. I need to isolate the Island.
- Next Island on my list is Grenada, I am in Trinidad, therefore,
Grenada is the search word, and I had to check a few times
the correct spelling.

I will put in the google.com search:
http://www.google.com

Grenada

That would bring up confusion…

- Grenada Hotel

More confusion…

- Grenada Guesthouse

- Grenada Caribbean Hotel

More and more confusion, and scam pages, until you give up and book
a too expensive hotel or beg the travel agent to keep you safe and sound
in the resort womb, no local culture for you, life is easy on a 100-200 dollar
a day budget. I personally am on the 30-50 day budget here in the
Caribbean and hoping it works, only the future will tell, I may bug out,
as this life is not my chosen beach life so far…

OK

Maybe we need to spell it different; maybe we need to use the word
Caribbean to limit the searches, however all is confused, difficult
and time consuming.

Any word that is Hotel, Guesthouse, Inn, Bed and Breakfast is
going to find the same mess more or less. Hotel booking services
are working against you when trying to find the family owned place. The
smart web sites are targeting these accommodation words like
- hotels -, you have to escape these webpages.

2. Find some cheap hotels with a guidebook.

- Choose the city.
- Go to the library or use your guidebook, choose the city you wish to visit,
and then find the name of three to four of the cheaper hotels.
For Grenada, I have found St. George as a city.

The Target City:
St George

The Target Country:
Grenada

The Hotel sample listed in my Lonely Planet guidebook:
Mitchell’s Guesthouse
Tropicana Inn
( Only two, not much hope.)

I WILL SEARCH IN GOOGLE.COM FOR THESE WORD:

George Grenada Mitchell Tropicana

The abbreviations or the words, Guesthouse and Inn are not
needed and will cause problems, we are trying to find a page that
has both the Mitchell and the Tropicana in the page, if I had another
guidebook I could maybe add a couple more, in the Library in you
home country this would be easier, I am in the field as always, on
the road, and hustling to find a good value room.

I am in set of Islands made for travel agents, a dream set of islands
perfect for them, the onward tickets force you to leave, everything
forces you to pay, the art of travel here is to slow down the pace
and travel from hotel to hotel and not from island to island. I always
travel from hotel to hotel, not from city to city.

SEARCH HELP:
If you want to search for a phrase in Google.com, you put in quotes:
“Tropicana Inn” + Grenada

This may bring up a list, frustration is the enemy, I am paying three
dollars per hours to use the internet in the Chaguaramas Sailboat port
of Trinidad, I am working to get ahead of schedule, the more time
devoted to finding rooms, the better my Caribbean tour.

GO FOR THE COUNTRYSIDE

Mom and Pop Hotels often are in strange places, they suddenly said,
- Pop, let us start a Hotel -

TheY take a few rooms and start to rent them, add a couple more,
build up and about, soon they have 10 rooms, this type of
accommodations can be located anywhere.

TAXIS - A taxi will try to take you his - commission hotel - choice,
however if you say, I want a room for 10 dollars, they maybe take
you to a cheap room, this is a gamble on your travel skills.
The price will change for the location, 10 dollars is a lot of money in
Thailand, however very low for the Caribbean. I will ask for 10,
try to settle on 15, and know it is possible I am forced to pay
40 per night for the Caribbean. I may be sleeping in the airport...

A man in Riga, Latvia said to walk into a restaurant
or bar and say in the Caribbean,
- I need a room -

This is go find a Home Stay in a real Mom and Pop or with the
divorced wife of the bartender, some benevolent person, or
just an adventurous person… who like your face.

Home Stay seems to be the only hope so far for the future of
Backpacking with a good value for the buck in the Caribbean.
Is the Caribbean sold to the travel agents? It is possible the only
way to travel the Caribbean is to buy a cheap boat for fewer than
10,000 dollars.

This tip is about learning to search in Google.com, group a few
common words together and look for the page that list out all the
words you chose.

Good Luck, the Caribbean is not for the weak of wallet person,
however this tip works for anywhere on the planet, it is possible
to find a nice, made by Tom, Dick and Harry as they traveled
around your chosen country.

Life is good.
Have fun! Life is Good!

As always, these are suggestions. Please realize I am
giving guidance, and there are always other opinions.
“One mans paradise, is another mans hell”
This way we do not all go to the same place.


Article written by Andy the Hobotraveler.com
On year 9 of Hobo trip around the world.
Budget Travel, Jobs, and Adventure, etc
Subscribe to Free Newsletter at:
http://www.hobotraveler.com
You may publish this article for Free
on the internet If this box stays attached.

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-- bout me. I- m alive and doin- fine.-
I’m alive and doing fine.‘
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Issue: 188 -- Top Travel Sites of 2005 - Bogota Colombia

Issue: 190 -- Grenada - Fort George - Travel Tip - The Cluster