Small places to stay, and how to enjoy them.
Choosing a cabin or guesthouse, reading the booking terms, getting deposits back, judging rewards schemes, and filling the long evenings with cards and board games.
- 01Choosing
How to Choose a Small Lodge, Cabin or Guesthouse
Small places are wonderful when they suit you and frustrating when they do not. A few honest questions before booking save most of the disappointment.
- 02Terms
Reading Booking Terms Before You Pay
The booking terms decide what happens when plans change. Ten minutes reading them is the cheapest insurance you will ever buy for a trip.
- 03Money
Deposits, Security Holds and Getting Your Money Back
Most disputes with small hosts are about money, not rooms. Knowing what each payment is for, and how refunds travel, prevents nearly all of them.
- 04Rewards
Loyalty Stamps, Points and the Fine Print on Free Nights
A free night is a lovely thing. Whether a rewards scheme actually gives you one depends on conditions that are easy to miss.
- 05Evenings
Card Games for Long Cabin Evenings
When the rain sets in and the signal drops out, a single deck of cards is the best thing you packed. Here are games that suit two players, a group, or one person by the fire.
- 06Evenings
Board Games for a Rainy Stay
A wet day in a cabin can be the best day of the trip, if you plan for it. Board games turn waiting for the weather into something the whole group remembers.