Brokelyn

Your wish is our command. The raffle prizes are rolling in, and we’re starting off with one of our biggies—a combo prize at that: a one-night staycay in bucolic (and hipper-by-the-day) Ditmas Park. The main attraction is a night at Rugby Gardens bed and breakfast, one of the swankiest of the “swank Victorian B&Bs” requested of us, and a place you won’t want to leave… except maybe to sample some of the fares on nearby Cortelyou Road. Which brings us to the rest of the DP combo. Read the rest of this entry »

So we’ll be speaking at a panel at SXSWi next month called “The Broke Diaries: Using Blogs and Twitter to Live Cheaply” but have been seriously lollygagging on booking a room. As a result, all the hotels within walking distance of the conference were sold out, and way too expensive anyway. The plan: something between couch-surfing and a house rental, but the ask-everyone-on-Facebook route didn’t work. But yesterday, our pals over at LearnVest ran a post about a site called Airbnb (sorry but who thought of that impossible-to-remember name?) where you can book a room in someone’s house for less than a hotel. There was a cute room in an artist’s home for $33 a night available during the conference, but we wound up splurging on a $55-a-night room in the home of a wholesome-looking couple named Courtney and Joep. It has a private bathroom, plus a deck overlooking an organic garden, plus wifi, plus coffee, plus personal-training sessions with Courtney if we want them (that’ll be extra), plus a new travel tip for our SXSW panel. We have to drive to the conference, but… score! Not everything on this site is budget-oriented though. They have housboats in India, igloos in Switzerland, castles in England. Check it, Brokesters.

[via LearnVest]

The eye-catching Rugby Gardens.

Visits from parents, friends and random relatives who’ve never been to New York are great. You get to spend quality time with those who knew and loved you before you became a cool New Yorker, and you’re guaranteed at least one free restaurant meal. What’s not so fun is cramming your entire family into your apartment. Thankfully, Brooklyn is home to a host of Bed and Breakfasts (Breakfasti?) that are a charming and inexpensive alternative to high-priced hotels.

Our B&B research entailed riding nearly every subway line in the borough in search of the comfiest beds and chicest decors. Focusing on abodes with rates topping off at around $150/night, we nixed the pricier pads, like Bed and Breakfast on the Park and Akwaaba Mansion (as well as those with hideous wallpaper and funny smells), to bring you some of Brooklyn’s best lodging options. After all, grandma may think your barista/drummer/tattoo artist/poet of a roommate is adorable, but she doesn’t want to share a bathroom with him. Read the rest of this entry »