You won't be shocked to hear that most vacationers that travel rather stay in a hotel to get away from their "normal life home routine." To me staying in a homestay is already a day out the "normal life routine." But, hey that's just me! Travelers that stay at a hotel relatively want to be catered to and treated as if they are kings and/or queens. I definitely get it. Not everyone wants to clean up or cook for themselves while trying to destress from life at home. What most people don't know when staying at a homestay is that more times than not, there actually is daily housekeeping and sometimes cooking available. You just have to read before booking which homestay you choose! You can also communicate with your host before you even book your private vacation home to see if its the right fit for you!
When we chose to stay in a homestay or hotel it depends on many different factors. Many times it depends on where we are traveling to. In undeveloped countries, we prefer to stay at a hotel with the kids if it seems safer than a homestay. If we're traveling on a budget, we'll stay at a homestay instead of an expansive hotel. If we want to experience what it means to live like a local rather than a tourist, then we chose a homestay. If the homestay is far from activities or sites we want to experience and we have to rent an overpriced car, we prefer to stay at a hotel that may offer transportation services or close to public transportation. If the hotels cost about the same difference as a homestay then we feel as if why not just stay in a hotel and choose to be pampered for the same price.
On our recent trip to Martinique we choose to have a local homestay. Why? Because the hotels and home-stays price range were charging at the same rate and most of the hotels on the island looked like a local Caribbean home rather than a hotel. The home-stays actually looked more exceptional, cleaner, and up to our standards. It completely made sense to just get a full private house for the same rate!
Our peaceful local stay in the hills at the Luminous Quiet Family Bungalow was one of the greatest choices we made. Our spacious house gave us the privacy and serenity we needed! When arriving to Martinique, a family member of the homestay was waiting with a sign at the airport to bring us home, which we didn’t expect! Felix who knew excellent English drove us to get a rental car at the airport and then we followed him straight to our temporary home. We were grateful for this gesture because our GSP wasn’t working so we would have never made it to the house in the dark our first night in Martinique! With that being said, this home does require a car to get to unless you want to pay overprice taxis on the island. The airport is about a 30-40 minute drive away depending on traffic.
Upon arrival, we immediately felt at welcomed at home. Guy(the owner of the homestay) gave us a tour of our home and made sure we had everything before leaving out. We had no reason to doubt we would need anything else for our stay because our temporary home literally had everything our normal house would! We had kitchen utensils, beach chairs, a clothes iron, pots & pans, a refrigerator, and more! We cooked daily in the comfort of the kitchen and enjoyed the blissed of the wide open windows that over looked the mountains. Staying in a homestay this trip saved us lots of money on food. We spent about 60-70 euros on groceries for our stay to make breakfast everyday and a few dinner meals. Normally, going out to eat as a family by the beach or Le Marin our bill would cost 40-60 Euros! Not only did we save but we didn’t have to wake up at the crack of dawn to get free breakfast if we stayed in a hotel.
We choose to stay in Sainte-Anna because we're beach lovers and looked forward to sunbathing. Sainte-Annas beach is only a 9 minute drive away from the house which is located on the Caribbean side of the island. You'll be able to find many restaurants along the beach and souvenirs shops. If you choose to go so the Atlantic side of the island, it is also about a 9 minute drive away from the other direction of the house. On this trip we only choose to go to the Caribbean side for the calm and clear waters. Just know it is an option, staying at the location of this homestay! Going back towards the airport is a local town called Le Marin where the grocery store, restaurants, the boating docks, and a shopping mall is located. Le Marin is only about a 6 minute drive away! This home was in the perfect location if we just wanted to stay in the area because it had everything we needed! We did leave the area of Sainte-Annas a few times to explore other little towns and was still able to be back in under an hour!
If your traveling to Martinique for the best beaches and want a peaceful local Caribbean stay, book a homestay in Sainte-Anna at this beautiful Luminous Quiet Family Bungalow! You can book directly on Homeaway or Expedia website for your private vacation home!
“Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.”
– Seneca
