A budget traveller has proven that it is possible to bag an overnight stay abroad for less than the cost of a pint.
But you’ll need to go with a very open mind.
Curtis Mitchell Jones, 27, recently visited Kazakhstan where he managed to book a one-night stay for a mere €5 (£4.20).
To put this bargain into context – the average pint now costs around £5 in the UK.
Despite booking a single bed, Curtis, from Newcastle, was even given a bonus upgrade to a double.
But the hotel was not without its quirks and challenges.
Curtis says his room had some eye-popping features including a detachable toilet seat, a bathroom that looked like it had “dissolved a human”, a broken TV and exposed plumbing.
But the 27-year-old stressed that while the room had its problems, the staff were “lovely”.
“It was the cheapest room I could find and given I was arriving at 5am, I didn’t really want to spend much on a place I’d only be spending a few hours in,” Curtis, who works in marketing, told Luxury Travel Daily.
While Curtis admits that his expectations for the budget stay were not high, he thought it would be a little more comfortable after viewing the hotel online.
And he says he didn’t expect to be kept company by cockroaches as he attempted to get some shut-eye.
The self-confessed seasoned traveller said: “I wasn’t expecting much, but based on the photos I had expected a little more – they’ve got a good photographer.
“I was meant to have a single bed, but they gave me a double, so there’s that.
“The WiFi didn’t work though so I was disconnected from the world, I only had the roaches to keep me company.
“The hosts were very nice and helped me organise a cab to the train station – can’t complain about that side of things.
“The lock only worked on the room if the key was in it, though, which was fine when I was there but meant when I went out I had to carry my valuables on me or leave them in an unlocked room.”
Unbelievably, this wasn’t Curtis’s cheapest stay.
He previously paid just €3 for a dormitory bed in Mexico.
He said: “That was far worse – it was a dorm bed with some very questionable people staying in it.
“I’m pretty sure the staff stayed up with some of the guests smoking crack until about 3am.
“I had two nights booked there, but left after one – it was truly abhorrent.”
READ MORE: ‘We spent £400,000 on a catamaran to live at sea – it isn’t all cocktails and sunsets’
