I wrote this post nearly two years ago but after posting it I realised that I didn’t actually answer the question. I had a friend ask me lots of questions and was quite embarrassed by the lack of information I gave. I take pride in giving honest opinions and sharing real travel tips so decided to give it a quick update! Read below and find out how I went to Morocco for less than £250!
I would be lying if I said that I usually spend a fortune on these holidays. Of course some holidays you have to close your eyes and just pay up – which is why I usually go away for my birthday. But just like you, I like a good old bargain. So if I can go on holiday for free, I will. However, whilst we still have to pay for our holidays I want to tell you how to go to Morocco for less than £250 (because it is possible).
1. Fly Out During Non-peak Periods to Morocco
So, I went to Morocco in November and it worked out at only £59 pounds for my return flights… bargain right? I booked my flights with easyJet via Skyscanner. It’s still relatively warm in November; around 20 degrees. Hey if that’s not warm for you that’s your business! I’m English and get excited when I feel a little sun on my skin.
It’s also a time when it’s less busy with tourists – which for me is always a plus.
Yes, take shorter breaks – less than 5 days are always good (for me); and if you can fly out on a Friday evening, you only need to take one working day off. Smart eh? However, I know some people are not set up like that. The reason I say do short breaks is so you can squeeze as many holidays into one year and it saves you money!
I went to Morocco for 3 nights (Wed 23 Nov – Fri 25 Nov) and so only took three days annual leave. To be honest I wasn’t going for a full packed activities holiday! I wanted a chilled cheap holiday like Morocco, that I know I can visit again and again.
3. Book Your Hotel In Advance
I am sorry I didn’t tell you where I stayed! I stayed at the Opera Plaza Hotel Marrakech and booked via Booking.com. I paid on arrival and it was only £138 for the 3 nights (for two people)! This included a very generous buffet breakfast! When you split that between two people that is £69!
The Hotel is 4* and is located in front of Marrakech Train Station and the city’s Royal Theatre, this stylish hotel offers an outdoor swimming pool, 3 restaurants, a nightclub and free Wi-Fi in all areas. Amenities include an informal restaurant and 2 stylish bars. There’s also an outdoor pool with a terrace and sun loungers.
If you would like a 15% discount then click for it now!
4. Give yourself a budget
Yes, again another one that I need to practise. Sadly I don’t have budgets because I think when you’re on holiday you should enjoy yourself as much as possible, but again if you have a budget you shouldn’t overspend and if you are smarter than me you will budget! This holiday I don’t feel like there was a need to budget. I hardly spent any money which is good!
Take all the clothes you need for your holiday so all you don’t need to spend money on buying clothes, just on food and transport. I said before that the hotel I stayed in had breakfast, which I stuffed myself with so wasn’t really hungry until late afternoon. This saved me a lot of money.
It may seem like I didn’t do an awful lot, but honestly, the 3-day break was honestly needed for me! I mainly had girl chat and took the time out for myself! If you need a quick warmish break this is the one for you! I, of course, would like to go back again one day, and see more of Morocco.
Have you ever gone on holidays for a quick getaway on the cheap? Let me know in the comments below!
The hotel you stay in can make or break a holiday! I and Char from Memories & Musings were interested in finding out what type of hotel traveller you are – bougie, budget or boutique (no judgements here, we promise). So we have collaborated together and have asked a few bloggers what their hotel rituals are.
I myself have stayed in many hotels, all of which fit into all three categories. And as I no longer live with the parents, and must pay my own bills. I now like to enjoy a bougie stay, whilst remaining within budget!
The first thing I usually do when I get to a hotel is a room tour and if there are any tiles I check those because they let you know how clean a hotel is! Trust me if your tiles are dirty – your bathroom hasn’t been cleaned in a while! Yuck!
As I said before, I’ve stayed in all kind of places lol! I will have to write a separate post for that but I think the most favourite hotel I’ve stayed in must be the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore. Why? Because it has an amazing infinity pool – and if you haven’t seen it I would suggest adding to your bucket list. If I can I would love to go back to Vegas with bae and stay at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel or Bali and stay at AYANA Resort and Spa.
To book my hotel stays I usually tap into Booking.com it has so many benefits, one being that you can pay for the hotel when you arrive. The other important benefit is being able to share discount codes with your friends and family. If you would like and if you would like a discount then head over to Freebies & Deals.
I am a photographer, writer and traveller with a love of discovering new places, relaxing under sunsets and can’t resist scouring out a good rooftop bar when away! seeninthecity.co.uk
What is your favourite kinda hotel type? Budget, bouji, boutique?
Boutique
Are you loyal to any chains? e.g Hilton, Marriott… Or do you like trying new places?
I like trying new places
What is the first thing you do when you get to your hotel? e.g unpack, room tour, open the mini-bar?
The first thing I do is open every cupboard and drawer and properly explore the place, running around like a madwoman checking I haven’t missed anything! I then like to toast on the balcony with a bottle of wine and check out the view.
What is the best hotel you’ve stayed in and why?
Loews Hotel in Miami, the service was absolutely amazing, views incredible and it was thirty seconds from a white sandy beach. They delivered a local food platter to the food and a make our own mojito kit which was a really nice and unique touch.
Hotel bucket-list? Where is the place you’ve always wanted to stay?
Always wanted to stay in one of the igloo hotels in Iceland or the Tree House Hotel in Sweden
Do you have any websites you use to book your accommodations?
Jewel Jamaica Grande, Montego Bay – received a free upgrade because it was my birthday. The view, spectacular & the room came with complimentary butlers
What is your favourite kinda hotel type? Budget, bouji, boutique?
Bouji & Boutique
Are you loyal to any chains? e.g Hilton, Marriott… Or do you like trying new places?
No, I like to try new places.
What is the first thing you do when you get to your hotel? e.g unpack, room tour, open the mini-bar?
Check the view, followed by room tour
What is the best hotel you’ve stayed in and why?
Jewel Jamaica Grande, Montego Bay – received a free upgrade because it was my birthday. The view, spectacular & the room came with complimentary butlers ☺️
Hotel bucket-list? Where is the place you’ve always wanted to stay?
Maldives
Do you have any websites you use to book your accommodations?
Arts Barcelona – beds are out of this world, service is amazing, good food and cocktails, room standard is the best I’ve seen in a European City for a standard room.
What is your favourite kinda hotel type? Budget, bouji, boutique?
Bouji
Are you loyal to any chains? e.g Hilton, Marriott… Or do you like trying new places?
I’m open.
What is the first thing you do when you get to your hotel? e.g unpack, room tour, open the mini-bar?
Check the room service menu.
What is the best hotel you’ve stayed in and why?
Arts Barcelona – beds are out of this world, service is amazing, good food and cocktails, room standard is the best I’ve seen in a European City for a standard room.
Hotel bucket-list? Where is the place you’ve always wanted to stay?
Over the water villa with a private pool.
Do you have any websites you use to book your accommodations?
I love to travel and to fit more trips in the year I am always looking for affordable luxury deals. I like home comforts but I am reasonable with expectations and would quite happily stay in a more basic hotel when I know I won’t spend much time in the room.
What is your favourite kinda hotel type? Budget, bouji, boutique?
Boutique
Are you loyal to any chains? e.g Hilton, Marriott… Or do you like trying new places?
Not loyal! Although I love the Lux chain for a treat!
What is the first thing you do when you get to your hotel? e.g unpack, room tour, open the mini-bar?
Room tour for insta of course haha! Then usually go straight out exploring.
What is the best hotel you’ve stayed in and why?
Lux Mauritius – service out of this world.
Hotel bucket-list? Where is the place you’ve always wanted to stay?
If I revisited Singapore then Marina Bay Sands
Do you have any websites you use to book your accommodations?
I’m not loyal. ??I’m most interested in location, price, and great service.
What is your favourite kinda hotel type? Budget, bouji, boutique?
Boutique hotels are usually a happy medium between broken-down budget hotels and everything’s overpriced for no reason luxury hotels.
Are you loyal to any chains? e.g Hilton, Marriott… Or do you like trying new places?
I’m not loyal. ??I’m most interested in the location, price, and great service.
What is the first thing you do when you get to your hotel? e.g unpack, room tour, open the mini-bar?
Check for bed bugs. *Germophobe alert* Then wipe. everything. down. with Lysol wipes. ☣️
What is the best hotel you’ve stayed in and why?
I don’t remember the name but it’s a hotel in the Dongdaemun neighbourhood in Seoul, South Korea. The heated floors in this hotel convinced me that I need heated floors in my future home! It was the fastest way to warm up after braving the brutal winters in South Korea.
Do you have any websites you use to book your accommodations?
Sometimes, I call the hotels directly to book or use their website to book a stay.
I am a London based travel and lifestyle blogger who believes you don’t need to quit your job to travel the world. I love 6 am flights, cancelled plans, 90s R&B and white wine.
What is your favourite kinda hotel type? Budget, bouji, boutique?
BOUJI ON A BUDGET ALL THE WAY!
Are you loyal to any chains? e.g Hilton, Marriott… Or do you like trying new places?
As Chris Brown would say… “These HO-TELS ain’t loyal”. I like to mix it up and stay at different places (unless its my usual airport Travelodge pre-trip).
What is the first thing you do when you get to your hotel? e.g unpack, room tour, open the mini-bar?
I ALWAYS do a room tour because I need to let everyone know how I’m living back home. However, I only do this on Snapchat as I don’t want to end up on the cast of TAKEN 4.
What is the best hotel you’ve stayed in and why?
Okay so I have two answers for this: Dubai – The Five Palm had me feeling like IG royalty. Vegas – The Trump. So I had a very good reason for putting this on the list… but I got upgraded to a suite for free and the bathroom was bigger than my appetite when I hear the word buffet.
Hotel bucket-list? Where is the place you’ve always wanted to stay?
The Shangri La in Paris because the views of the Eiffel tower are insane.
Do you have any websites you use to book your accommodations?
I usually book on Expedia via Quidco as I’ll get cash back and they usually have free cancellation which works out well if I find a better offer.
I had planned to write while I was at Coachella (yeah – like that was ever going to happen). This was a very good idea at the time but then I realised I was enjoying myself way too much and just like that it turned out that I didn’t do a damn thing. Well, I did do something I ate good American food (Bubble Gum Shrimp try it), enjoyed the festival; gambled in Vegas; explored Arizona and caught a good old tan. (I do love catching a tan).
It’s been about a month since I went to Coachella and the reason why I haven’t written anything is simply that I have been debating what I should write about first. I asked my lovely followers what they wanted to hear first between Vegas and #Beychella! I knew the answer was going to be Beychella, but I always like to hear from you guys first. It’s always important for me that I deliver content that you value!! I am pretty sure I will have to write a few articles about the festival itself, so if I haven’t covered everything you want to know, be sure to put your requests in the comments section below!
Since I have been back from America, the question I get asked is “how was COACHELLA” LOL! My immediate response is and always will be that “it was AMAZING”, because it if I’m honest it really was. Coachella in one word was amazing. Now don’t get me wrong there are several other words I can use to explain how the festival was, but I wanted MyBreakingViewers to be the first to know my actual initial thoughts. Now, before I get into the glitz and glam, I thought it would be good to give a personal overview of what Coachella is because I don’t expect everyone to know.
SIDE NOTE: Even if you do know what Coachella is, it may still be useful for you to read this section because I share some general tips for the event itself!
I
like to think all my readers know what Coachella is, but if you don’t
do not worry… because MyBreakingViews is going to explain it all to
you….
Coachella
is a huge festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio. The festival
itself goes on for three days (Fri – Sun). There are two weekends, of
which I attended the second week. People often have asked me was I
prepared for the second week being that I saw the first week on social
media. The answer to that my dear friends, is no. Watching the
performances on social media, online whatever the platform, is
completely different to experiencing it in person. Trust me!
YThe event has different artist perform at different stages, the Coachella stage being the main stage for headliners (on this occasion it was artists like The Weeknd, Kygo, Beyoncé, Eminem, Cardi B etc.) All other artists are spread around the polo ground. (To give you a more visual idea, for those of you that live in the UK – its like a 3-day Wireless concert but with lots of heat!)
How was Coachella?
As I said before the event was AMAZING. I was in 45 degrees heat daily (I adore the sun). I saw most of my fave artist, was able to explore LA for the first time. Catch a bus to Vegas for a few days and see the famous Grand Canyon.
Coachella provided me with so many opportunities. This of course was only because I wasn’t about to take an 11-hour flight for just the weekend. BUT and there is always a BIG but… I must be honest with my readers and tell you that the event is also extremely exhausting!!! You are constantly on your feet for 6-9 hours a day (this can be dancing, walking to another stage for the next performance). Not to mention you are on the desert, so when the sand starts to blow around your breathing this in and to make matters worst you are dehydrated because of the heat. Tip.. make sure to have something that covers your face like a bandana.
This, of course, is honestly not to put you off, I would never want to that because it really is a lifetime experience that I would recommend for anyone to go too. We have to enjoy ourselves and create long-lasting memories. The performances where just OH MY GOSH I saw The Weeknd (old time fave), Daniel Ceaser, SZA, Khalid (my new crush), Kygo, Ibeyi, Migos, Miguel, HAIM, 6LACK, Cardi B not to mention the incredible Beyonce!!!
Booking Coachella….
I purchased my ticket on 5th January 2018. I’m not sure when the next sale date will be but I will keep an eye out. I had no single idea what I was doing next LOL. People think I plan my holidays … I wish I did, I would most properly save a considerable amount of money! I honestly just do things on a whim and hope for the absolute best and usually, I get that! *Clean hearts always win*
Anyways, I must remind myself not to drift!!
The festival ticket cost me around $504 dollars (I can’t remember the exact figure sorry guys!) which roughly worked out around £373. The tickets without the shuttle bus sold out quickly (but are cheaper). Second tip guys…. if you are going to organise your own travel, my advice to you would get on the website on time and have more than one person looking! The website www.coachella.com is straight forward but the tickets sell fast. I met people that got a taxi of Uber from Palm Springs, which worked out around $40 dollars a day. If you know someone that can drive then this could also work out, but then you must think about who’s going to drive and parking etc.
Shuttle Bus
I know the shuttle bus picks people up from Los Angeles, but as I was staying in Palm Springs; it’s something you would have to research. LA is quite far from Indio, so I would suggest staying close to the festival as possible. After walking 6 hours in 35 – 40 degrees you are completely exhausted, and your feet are in so much pain. Word of advice ladies wear comfy shoes! I saw ladies in heels which is a a big NO NO! And when I say comfy, don’t go and buy Dr Martens like me 2 days prior your leavening date, thinking you can rock them all day. It does NOT work!!
I
ended up purchasing the ticket with the shuttle bus, which in my
opinion worked out well because we had a shuttle bus that picked us up
every day, dropped us back home and it was only an 8 min walk from our
hotel! I liked the shuttle bus because it was another expense that I
didn’t have to think about, whilst you’re out there you must think about
buying food and importantly staying hydrated, which is another expense.
I also met some lovely people on the bus, which was nice and with a
British accent, it’s always very easy to make friends.
Booking Flights…
You would never believe that it didn’t occur to me that I would need to buy clothes, book a hotel and yeah of course FLIGHTS. You guys know how much I love Skyscanner right? If you don’t get to know. I have used them for pretty much every holiday I have gone too. They should really start paying me!
I was able to get a fight for £480 which was good considering I didn’t book my flight until two weeks prior to the event. Hey, now before you judge me… I’m very lastminute.com when it comes to flying out. I was also contemplating if I should go because of the expense, but I realised if I booked earlier I would have said saved so much money. Another tip… if I was you, I would book my flight in Feb I saw flights for £250 pounds just didn’t purchase because I thought I could get it cheaper. Guys get that barging quick!
I
would also suggest planning where else you are going to go… depending
where you are coming from that is. If you are coming from outside
America, you are looking at a 6 -12 flight, so its worth exploring LA
or other states around the West Coast. I went to Vegas and Arizona for a
few days (route 66), but I will save the stories for another post.
Can’t give everything away, now can I?
Booking The Hotel…
My friend pre-booked the hotel and we paid when we got there. We stayed in Courtyard by Marriott Palm Springs, which was about 40 mins drive from Indio. I met people that camped, but I personally wouldn’t camp in such heat. I like to take my make up off, have a nice shower and have a bed at the end of the night. That is just me. You may want to camp, but I don’t think it’s any cheaper.
There
are also Airbnb options, which I know a few people also used. I’ve
heard horror stories of people getting kicked out or worst case the
booking gets cancelled last min. I’m sorry I need a bed, so I can’t
afford for such events!! I would say, it’s best to agree where you want
to stay with whoever you are going with, then agree how far you want to
be from the festival, then work out the costs and book from there.
Please note.
that although the event itself is quite an expense; it’s not always the
best option to go for the cheapest method. I much rather
comfortability. I didn’t realise how drained I would be from walking
around all day. So, take the advice that you will need to re-charge.
I
hope I’ve answered most of questions and if I haven’t, be sure to leave
a comment below and I will make sure another post answers your
questions!
In the meantime, SHARE YOUR TIPS!!! Is there any festivals you’ve been to that you can suggest to MyBreakingViews.
