bthere inflight magazine keys to the city

Internet-savvy companies are now making house-swapping, homestays and 'un-hotels' available to budget-conscious travellers. Jenny McNeely explores the best of both worlds.

Tired of impersonal hotels? A new breed of accommodation providers have realised that there really is no place like home, offering house-swaps and homestays for the traveller who wants to live like a local.

Swap in the city

Zoe Hine launched Swap My City Pad (swapmycitypad.com) after being made redundant. The recession that kick-started her business also made it an instant success, due to increasing budget concerns; her focus on urban apartments ensures indulgent weekend city breaks don’t have to be a thing of the past.

The website features a ‘My City’ database, where members can leave tips to create an instant guidebook that travellers can dip into before or during a trip. The huge success of sites like TripAdvisor, eBay and Twitter mean that we’ve come to trust what we read online, and we look to our peers for advice and knowledge.

You can even join particular networks based on your profession; if you only wish to swap with fellow dentists, you can do so.

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