Kind of like the movie” The Holiday” ( Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet swap houses).
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Don’t know the movie but it sounds like a great plot line. I have never swapped houses however. But have had some wonderful stays in beautiful places.
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Hm… I like that idea, but have a few questions (sorry - can go to PM if we should).
Do you have to have special insurance for this? Do you worry about your valuables? Do people get well vetted before they join? I’d love to trade houses for a week ish with some people I know, but the idea of doing it for people you don’t is a little scary to me.
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PM sent. I have no special insurance, but the site does provide insurance, and I remove jewelry from easy access, but the art stays on the walls, not that I have anything especially pricey. An essential sense of trust in humanity, if with precautions, is essential. I’m an old hippie with a Quaker background, so doing this is in keeping with my general approach to life.
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We visit family a lot (including cross country drive annually), often stay in hotels. Sometimes Airbnb etc for a longer stay with big group. I am in registered with many different chains - Hilton, BW, Marriot, Hyatt, IGH .. and BookingDotCom. Mostly I try to accumulate points with Hilton, though that really is only in the range (over time) of $10/night savings, so I often explore various options for best price.
I do like having the Hilton app on my phone, easy to use / check places. Typically price is about the same as other methods, which annoys me a bit since we are loyal-isg customers and should get discount 
. The Hilton member benefit that I like is that usually we get a more liberal cancellation policy (night prior vs 3 day or 7 days in advance). But it is always good to check because recently there was a case I checked out of curiosity - I think it was a NYC location recommended in an article or something. Hilton app price was significantly higher than other online booking methods.
TIP - Make a cellphone contact for each loyalty membership, put the member# in the Notes section. It can come in handy when needed at registration on the phone. (When on website and app, tis usually auto-remembered, still good to sometimes have at your fingertips.)
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Prior to Covid, I traveled to the UAE fairly frequently for work. AMAZING breakfast buffets, but no pork, so chicken sausage/bacon.
They catered to pretty much every cultural background, so you could get foods typical for American, European, Asian, etc.
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The Homewood Suites we like in NY has mostly same breakfast buffet each day, a big assortment including special diet items. In addition to the usually baked goods and eggs and sausage (chicken I think), corn tortillas and stewed chicken (with salsa etc) are always there. Also chia pudding and overnight oats, I think both with oat milk. I think it is a smart move, can cater to families groups with a variety of dietary preferences.
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I’ve stayed in a Homewood Suites a few times in a certain city and while not pretending to have 10/10 food, I would think most can find something suitable to eat.
The one thing that I mostly find terrible in these otherwise adequate hotel breakfasts is baked goods like muffins or bagels. Blah.
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We stayed at the Aiden by Best Western in Sedona last year. H and I got up early and went to Sedonuts because I’d heard a lot about it and wanted to try their donuts. Got a half dozen to go. Went back to the hotel and stopped in the breakfast and they had the best pastries I’d ever seen at a “free” hotel breakfast. Luckily we were on a road trip because several of those pastries also ended up in our cooler to supplement later mediocre breakfasts.
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Sounds interesting. Do you only exchange homes with the people who stayed with you or can you exchange with others?
I have family members in the south of France (great place to visit) and family members in NYC (great place to visit). They have done house exchanges for vacation - the France people going to NYC at the same time the NYC people go to France! Unfortunately we do not live in a hugely desirable spot for them to visit, lol.
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