Hovelstay for True Budget Travel

If you are tired of reading about "budget" travel places where a room may cost well over $100 a night, consider booking a stay through a new Website called www.hovelstay.com. This site offers three levels of accommodation, in locations all around the world.

For example, you can spend the night on a llama farm in Israel and niteract with the animals during the day. (That sounds lovely.) Of course, you may be sharing your spartan quarters with a number of strangers. Or in pricey Sydney, Australia you can sleep in someone's paved, covered back garden for $15 per night. Renting a tree house in Guatemala will set you back just $11 a night.

At the lowest level of lodging, toilets and bathing facilities are likely to be shared, and sleeping space may not include a real bed. There are two higher levels, but none of the properties listed costs more than $99 per night.

This is an interesting, fun concept, but as with all these sites where you are dealing with individuals and not established companies, be sure to nail down the details in advance. And if you happen to have a shed, barn or other building on your property that isn't earning its keep, consider listing it for penny-pinching travellers.