In terms of travel, Belarus is a very special country. Here, the cheapest hotels can be found on the website of the local district executive committee, and they may not be at all on international sites. There may not be hostels in many large cities here, but something very similar to them can be found at local train stations. In terms of travel, Belarus is like David Lynch’s films (kind of cool, but with a quirk). Therefore, it needs a special approach. Well, let’s figure it out? Below I will tell you about 8 life hacks that will help you save on hotels during your trip to Belarus.
Tip #1. Replace hotels with apartments
Yes, I know – the advice is banal. But in Belarus it works almost perfectly. In many cities of our country, hotels are divided into two categories – too expensive and too Soviet. This is especially true in relatively small cities (such as Pinsk, Polotsk or Turov). But a good apartment for a day can very often be rented for pennies. For example, in the same Pinsk there are very inexpensive options with prices below 10 euros! Here, for example, is one such apartment.
You can find such prices on the website Sutochno.ru . This is a Russian site that has recently become a local analogue of AIRBNB. At the moment, there are at least 5 ads in the same Pinsk with prices in the region of 10 euros. But this is one of the most beautiful cities in Belarus!
Tip No. 2. Sites with ads.
There are quite a lot of them in Belarus. This and Kufar Real Estate, and Domovita, and the so-called “Flea market” Online. Offers in the field of daily rent of apartments are placed on such sites. And the prices there are always quite nice.
But these sites have several important disadvantages. It is often possible to rent an apartment here only by phone; apartments do not have objective reviews, and the sites themselves do not deal with controversial issues. Simply put, if the landlord suddenly forgets about you, you will have nowhere to complain.
Tip number 3. Rest rooms of railway stations
I call them “People’s storage rooms.” They are cheap, they are located in the very center, but they also look like rooms in a pioneer camp.
Another disadvantage here is that you do not pay for the whole room, but for the “ROOM IN THE ROOM”. That is, theoretically, someone can move in with you. But in practice, this is a rather rare phenomenon. There are usually few people in such restrooms.
How to book a similar accommodation? To do this, you need to go to the website of the Belarusian Railway to find the right station and write out the phone number of the “Rest rooms”. One call and the room is yours. Consider them a kind of Belarusian equivalent of a hostel.
Tip No.4. Aggregators
My wife Tanya
If you like to live in hotels and are ready to consider only them, then go to the Hotellook website. This is a hotel aggregator that compares offers from different sites and shows you where the room is cheapest. Simply put, on a Daily basis.ru, Ostrovka and Agoda, the same room in a hotel can cost completely differently. In order not to overpay in vain, look for hotels through such aggregators. With the saved 5 euros, it’s better to buy champagne for yourself (for children).
Tip No. 5. Promo codes
They are available at almost all major venues. The trick is simple: enter the magic word – and your number immediately becomes 8-20% cheaper. I collect current promotions and discounts in separate articles, which you can find at the links below. Here they are:
- Promo codes of the Islet website
- Promo Codes Are Available Daily.
- And Yandex Travel promo codes.
As they say, use it for your health. And be sure to write in the comments if any promo code is outdated. I usually keep a close eye on this, but there are nuances.
Tip No. 6. Executive committee websites
I first learned about this after my trip to the urban village of Mir, where several budget hotels could be found ONLY on the website of the Korelich district executive committee.
The same focus works in other cities (especially in relatively small towns). You’d be surprised how many hotels there are in our country that Booking hasn’t even heard of. If in Sparta weak and ugly boys were thrown off a cliff, then in Belarus weak and ugly hotels are usually dumped on the websites of executive committees.
An example from the website of the Korelich Executive Committee.
Okay… I’m just kidding. In fact, you can also find quite good options there. All you need is to go to the website of the local district executive committee before your trip and find the “Tourism and Recreation” tab there. It may be called something else, but I’m sure you can handle it.
Tip No. 7. Sanatoriums
My room at the Rainbow sanatorium
Not everyone knows, but in many sanatoriums you can rent a “Room without treatment”. The method is not ideal, but for mass appeal, I also decided to add it to this collection.
Tip No. 8. Cream
Slivki.by This is the most famous Belarusian discount website. I usually order sushi through it, but it is also suitable for searching for hotels (especially if we are talking about hotels in Minsk). Just enter the word “Hotels” in the search and see what offers are there at the moment. As an example, I will show you a nice hotel on the Minsk Sea for 55 BYN (16 €) per day.
There are relatively few options for hotels on the “Cream”. Plus, many hotels are located somewhere outside the city. But it is also worth checking this option. There are really cool offers here too.
Afterword
I hope my article will help you find a good and inexpensive hotel for the duration of your trip to Belarus. Well, to make your chances of luck higher, subscribe to my Instagram. This cleanses karma and attracts streams of magical Qi energy. Is it done? Then see you again. My big article about Minsk will be published on this blog soon.
