Budget travel

Top 10 budget beach hotels and hostels in Bahia, Brazil

December 4, 2013

Porto da Barra, Salvador’s favourite city beach. Photograph: Alamy Pousada Estrela do Mar, Salvador Porto da Barra beach sits at the entrance to the magnificent Baía de Todos os Santos, one of the largest bays in the world, dotted with 50 tropical islands. This is one of the great city beaches, Salvador’s equivalent of Ipanema […]

Top 10 budget beach hotels in the Dominican Republic

November 6, 2013

The Dominican Republic is not just about merengue music and package holidays. It’s a big island (more than twice the size of Wales, and second only to Cuba in the Caribbean) so there’s plenty of room for variety and genuine Dominican life, unlike on smaller islands that are monopolised by tourism. With the all-inclusive resorts […]

Thailand’s top 10 beach hotels and places to stay on a budget: part two

October 15, 2013

Mango House, Koh Lanta You’ll find Mango in the only remaining non-tourist fishing village on popular Koh Lanta. Set in a traditional wooden house on a small pier, rooms are bright with large balconies and sumptuous sea views. Beaches are on nearby islands a short boat ride away or a 15-minute bike journey. They have […]

Kerala’s top 10 budget beach hotels, homestays and guesthouses

October 2, 2013

Bohemian Masala, Varkala beach Budget accommodation doesn’t get much better than this. Bohemian Masala offers an imaginative alternative to the somewhat homogenised options on Varkala beach, a backpacker colony teetering on the edge of a cliff that has spectacular ocean views. Brush the banana leaves aside in its lush tropical garden and pass under the […]

Top 10 budget beach hotels in Malaysia

September 26, 2013

Colourful Motel, Pantai Cenang, Langkawi It is difficult to imagine a more idyllic escape than Langkawi, 104 tiny islands that shoot up out of the deep blue Andaman Sea, offering divine beaches, coral-reef diving, jungle walks and accommodation that caters for every budget, from total luxury to funky backpacker hostels like Colourful Motel. The motel […]

Greece: top 10 budget beach hotels in the Peloponnese

August 27, 2013

Simos Camping, Elafonisos The small island of Elafonisos, just off the south-east corner of the Peloponnese, used to be a well-guarded secret. It’s two beaches of perfect white sand, said to rival those of the South Seas, were only mentioned in hushed whispers. The secret is now out, but it is still mainly Greeks who […]

South Italy’s best budget beach hotels

June 19, 2013

Although destinations such as Capri and the Amalfi coast have long been on the tourist map, other stretches of southern Italian coastline still have an insider’s cachet. Even Puglia, which has become a popular low-cost flight destination for off-season sun-seekers, has its secret bays and deserted strands. The challenge, in a country which despite the […]

Andalucía’s 10 best budget beach hotels

April 11, 2013

Hotel California, Malaga This old gem is just east of Malaga’s town centre, beyond the bullring, in an avenue of once-grand villas. Playa Caleta, the main city beach, swings around the bay, a block in front, though modern high-rises cause you to play hide and seek with sea views. Behind the bottle-green facade of the […]

Jamaica’s best beach hotels and accommodation on a budget

March 20, 2013

The Rockhouse, West End, Negril If you’re after the cliff-edge drama of the West End, but don’t fancy slumming it, the Rockhouse is probably for you. Some of the West End’s most upmarket hotels are so antiseptic and uptight you’d hardly know you were in Jamaica, but the Rockhouse has managed to combine modern boutique […]

Eastern Caribbean’s top 10 beach accommodation on a budget: from Antigua to the British Virgin Islands

March 1, 2013

Galley Bay Cottages, Antigua Tucked away on a hillside in a quiet area of north-west Antigua – and a stone’s throw from Giorgio Armani’s cliffside estate – Galley Bay Cottages are a rare find on an island where pricey all-inclusives and super-high-end resorts seem to dominate. These four one- and two-bedroom cottages have great sea […]