hostels in caribbean??
Replies: 6 - Last Post: Mar 24, 2013 2:26 AM Last Post By: mgtraveler
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hostels in caribbean??
although one can get cheap flights from NYC to the Caribbean, i have avoided going simply b/c one night in a hotel costs as much as the flight one way. Does anyone now if these days any hostels or cheap guesthouses or hotels exist in any of the islands. just to give you an idea of what i mean by cheap i am used to paying no more than 10-22 dollars per night for accommodation.thank you :)
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If your budget is $10 - $22 dollars per night you are going to need to keep avoiding it. The Caribbean is not particularly cheap and doesn't really cater to the backpacker budget. The best single source for the cheapest beds in the Caribbean that I've found is Hostel World. There actually aren't many hostels at all in the Caribbean, but that site also lists other forms of cheap lodging. A lot of islands will have a guest house or two in the $40 - $60 range. A budget hotel room on most islands usually starts close to $100 on most islands, after paying for taxes. I'm not saying that cheaper beds don't exist, but that's a pretty good "rule of thumb". Depending on the island, it may even be difficult to stay for under $100/night.You will be much more likely to get beds in your budget range on the Caribbean coast of Central America as opposed to the touristed islands of the Caribbean. Some of the cheaper islands in the Caribbean include Jamaica and Dominican Republic, so you may want to focus a lot of your research on those two places.
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Hostelbookers can be also useful to find cheap accomodation in the Caribbean (and other places worldwide). Look for all the options available at all the locations available at each country. Some of them aren't cheap but others are...4
I know that cheap guesthouses exist in west Jamaica, as I have paid 18-24 dollars for a basic room as a single person and paid 30-60 dollars double occupancy for slightly nicer rooms with a/c or an ocean view, plus a few more dollars' tip. There's lots of other places I've seen online in the eastern part of the island, like reggae hostel.5
Like Alexandra...I have never been to the Caribbean because it is so bloody expensive. In most countries throughout the world I can get by for 5-12 dollars per night...
In many countries on a few dollars or the cheapest I ever paid was 16 cents at altitude in Nepal.
Can anyone answer "Why" the Caribbean is soooo bloody expensive???...Surely the local populations are rather poor compared to the west from what I gather...
..why are they not offering a room for the night to budget back packers?....
I guess I just don't get it.... perhaps I should move down and open a hostel...
For me I feel the Caribbean is a loose/loose scenario. I don't like the prices, there is no sense of adventure, I hate sand in my crack so I don't go to beaches and
I dont do drugs.... where is the upside?..... Id rather be in Africa ,Asia or the Middle east...
Looking forwards to your answers...
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I think the relatively high prices are due to a large number of factors, including: (1) the fact that like all small islands, virtually everything is imported, and much of it is from the USA or Europe which automatically makes it more expensive than the costs for materials and supplies in those parts of the 1st world; (2) the islands and populations are relatively small which makes the importation of items less cost effective; (3) imported goods are heavily taxed as a revenue source for the local governments; (4) the proximity to the US creates a sufficient level of demand to keep the prices relatively high; (5) almost all the capital for investment is coming from foreigners (locals don't have the large sums necessary to finance significant sized businesses) who are looking for sufficient "bank for their buck" in order to invest, and therefore they don't tend to invest in properties like hostels; (6) quality properties on or near the beach are very costly because of supply and demand; (7) the land in many parts of the Caribbean is very mountainous and expensive to build on; (8) most of the islands are separate small "nation states" which further limits the economies of scale; (9) the cost of island hopping is expensive (insufficient demand to keep lower priced ferries in business; island hopping tourists travel by cruise ships and hotel based tourists do little island hopping) so it doesn't encourage backpacker travel.There are a few guest houses on some of the islands, which are cheaper than hotels, but the absence of high volumes of budget travelers and the lack of local capital make these options pretty limited. Most locals are living in very small, simple wooden or block houses that aren't really conducive to taking in tourists. It is sufficient for their needs but not for taking in guests.
If you look at the cost of island lodging and food around the world you see many similar situations where the costs are much higher than on the mainland, other than some of the islands in Asia that are part of much larger and cheaper cost of living countries. For example, why are Tahiti, the Maldives and the Seychelles so expensive? Why are costs on Mediterranean islands usually fairly expensive? I will say that the beaches in the Caribbean are far, far better than Mediterranean beaches.
As for the upside, if you are from North America, the upside is that you don't have to spend 20+ hours flying and the enormous airfare to fly to Asia or Africa or the Middle East.
