May 17th, 2012
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Like a lot of people, as a student I spent many vacations ?hostel hopping? across different countries. Now that I work, I?m often required to travel for business, and last month I went on an assignment to Boston. On the surface, my job sounds amazing; I get to see some great cities like Boston pretty much for free. ?But what people don?t realize is that a ?fun business trip? is largely an oxymoron. If anyone knows something less exciting than being stuck for 8 hours in a conference hall with people whose primary topic of conversation revolves around ??return of investments? and ?cost per units? then please let me know (by posting a comment below).
This time I swore it would be different, as it was left up to me to book my accommodation. My company did suggest a few low priced hotels but after some careful consideration, I thought I would break the mold and book a hostel instead.
My logic behind staying at a hostel went like this:
My company provides a daily expense to pay for food and accommodation but this would only just have covered a cheap hotel, located out of town. Meaning it would have taken about 1 hour to travel into the center where I would be working. Admittedly, 1 hour is not an excessive amount of time to travel to work (particularly if you are from a big city) but if you are new to an area, or on an important assignment, being late is not an option and getting up early is never fun, no matter where you are.
By breaking the costs down further, I worked out that if I stayed at a budget hotel I wouldn?t have any money left to expense food (but only the room itself), and the price wouldn?t even include breakfast. Therefore, some costs from the trip would come out of my own pocket, a situation I wanted to avoid if at all possible.
Lastly, despite the monetary cost (which I understand would not be a concern for all business travelers), the main reason I was put off about staying in budget hotel is because they have as much character as a concrete wall (ironic because many are held together by concrete walls). I could already picture it; bored, humorless businessmen in suits, eating in silence, no one looking to at each other for fear that they would have to divulge a shred of personality.
So, after a bit more research I finally booked 40Berkeley. Firstly, it was an affordable private room, leaving me with enough money to expense all my meals, and some left over for the local pubs too (I?m sure my liver didn?t thank me for that). As breakfast was included in the price, I was able to start my day right, with a full stomach, which is perfect for a long day at work.
Since I was not in a rush to get ready and find my office, which was only 10 minutes from the hostel, I had more than enough time to see the main tourist attractions in the evening.
For me though, the highlight was the fantastic atmosphere; no boring guys in business suits (other than me). ?Instead, I had friendly and helpful staff, some of whom took me out in the evening and showed me some amazing places to eat and drink, which I would never have discovered by myself!
I went to Boston for business and didn?t have high expectations for a fun trip. But due to my choice of accommodation it felt more like a vacation. I highly recommend hostels and 40Berkeley for any business traveler.
Submitted by Ollie ??
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