Just days before my summer vacation kicks off with travel to France and the US on the itinerary, and I’m looking ahead to a trip to London in the fall for the World Travel Market (WTM). This leading travel industry event is a must for international travel trade professionals and an opportunity to meet, network, negotiate and conduct business under the same roof.

Photo credit: Google images
I attended the WTM for the first time last year and was completely unprepared for how big an event this was, especially considering that it was also the first year that sessions on social media and blogging were included on the schedule.  I did manage to get over my shock at the scale of WTM and do some meeting, greeting and networking. In fact, it is due to the networking with Tracey Friley of One Brown Girl done during this event that led to a blogger comaraderie between us and the Ultimate Travelista Weekend scheduled to take place during this year’s WTM in November.
Not only will I get to meet my fellow blogging travelistas IRL at WTM, I will even share accommodations with several of them who will be my roommates in the London apartment we will be staying in courtesy of Go With Oh, a European vacation rental agency. And while London has plenty of wonderful hotels to
choose from, my roommates, Carol Alvarez Cain, Tracey Friley, Tawanna Browne
and April D. Thompson and I made the right decision to Go with Oh.
Photo credit: Go with Oh

 

Here are five reasons why:
  1. Save money – It is much less expensive to rent accommodations than stay in a hotel.
    This is especially true if you are traveling with a large group, as the five of us will be to attend the Ultimate Travelista Meetup and WTM, or if you are traveling as a family, as I and, Tawanna of Mom’s Guide to Travel and NY City Mama, Carol, often do.
  2.  Live like a local – I must admit, that while I will miss the wonderful continental breakfasts that are available at hotels, I won’t miss the feeling of playing beat the clock to get there. Part of living like a local means I can go to the neighborhood grocery store, and while there buying food for breakfast that I will prepare for myself whenever I deem it necessary to drag myself out of the
    bed, I have more of an opportunity to mix and mingle with the people who live
    there
    than I might if I were staying in a hotel.  Living like a local probably also means making my
    own bed, doesn’t it? Hmmm…
  3. More space – I really like Tracey, and based on my social media encounters with April, Carol and Tawanna, I really like them, too. However, I appreciate the fact that, unlike in a hotel room, an apartment is spacious enough so that everyone to have a bit of space to themselves if needed. In addition to having 3 bedrooms, our apartment has a large living area, so there is definitely a bit of elbow room.  It’s also nice to have an environment that is a bit like home, with a living area where you can relax, a kitchen to cook your own meals and a washer and dryer. Again, things I can also really appreciate when I travel with my family.
  4. Flexibility – When renting houses and apartments for holidays, you must often arrive and depart on a certain day, and stay a minimum of one week. Go With Oh! apartment rentals allow much more flexibility. You can arrive any day of the week you choose, and stay as long as you’d like.
  5. Options – Go with Oh offers so many options. Choose the number of bedrooms
    you want, the appliances and amenities that you absolutely have to have, you
    can even find accommodations that are specifically suited to families.  And if after weighing all of the options and looking at the apartments that meet the criteria you decide you would much rather stay in a hotel, you can book it with Go with Oh. See what I mean.
    Options.

Thanks in advance to Go with Oh for providing such wonderful accommodations for our stay in London. I will post more updates about the trip as we get closer to the date. In the upcoming weeks,  Tawanna will tell us 5 Things to Look for in the Ideal Travel Roommate.  In
the meantime, don’t miss April’s 5 Point Wish List for the Perfect London Apartment on the blog The Absolute Travel Addict.

Disclosure:  This post is sponsored by Go with Oh, who is providing our London accommodations during World Travel Market 2012.