These days you can ditch hotels and stay in a real house just about anywhere in the world - find the one that best suits you with our guide . Host with the most . The concept of a homestay holiday is that rather than renting an empty house or apartment , you stay at a reasonable cost in the home of your hosts . Web-based company Homestay.com lists options for single people , couples and families in cities , established holiday areas or farther afield . At best , homestays are offered by hosts who want to help you understand their country or district . We can all find the Dordogne or Lake Garda on a map but this gets you closer to the real region faster and cheaper . More information : www.homestay.com . Dive in : This light-filled apartment and swimming pool in Los Angeles can be rented through onefinestay.com . Rich pickings . Rent posh private apartments in some of the world ’ s most glamorous cities while the owners are out of town . These luxury homes are on offer through the website Onefinestay.com in London , Paris , New York and Los Angeles . The firm ’ s latest venture is a deal with travel firm Carrier to offer accommodation complete with flights , transfers and financial protection . More information : www.onefinestay.com . Head for the west coast : Take a trawl online and you could be hitting the surf on a board before you know it . Bed-and-breakfast extravaganza . An online company that started out as a website offering airbeds for rent on living room floors in San Francisco , with breakfast thrown in , now claims 800,000 listings in towns and cities worldwide . Its name , Airbnb.com , remains unchanged in homage to its origins , and with so many listings , no doubt the occasional inflatable mattress still features . These days , it is people wanting to raise cash from their spare room who form the great majority of hosts . But a thorough search of Airbnb will yield yurts in Mongolia , castles in the Alps , treehouses in New England , igloos in the Canadian Arctic and innumerable boats ( where an airbed doubles as a life raft , naturally ) to stay in . Back in San Francisco , where it all started , search through thousands of listings ranging from £7 per night on a sofa to £500-plus for a whole apartment . More information : www.airbnb.com . Diverse : Airbnb.com offers an array of accommodation , from spare rooms to igloos or even a Mongolian yurt . Home from home . Book a villa or city apartment , then sit back and relax in the knowledge that even though you are paying far below top whack , every little thing will be fine . Owners of the thousands of properties listed on the Housetrip.com site are so confident you ’ ll be happy , they take payment 48 hours after guests arrive . If you get there and are dissatisfied , the company will find an alternative or give you a refund . More information : www.housetrip.com . Ethical getaways . The squeaky-clean agency Responsibletravel.com specialises in ethical travel by connecting tourists with local travel companies all over the world , particularly in developing countries . Homestays are at the core of its business culture , whether that means sleeping in a Masai hut in a Kenyan village or getting to know your Indian hosts in a palatial old merchant ’ s haveli in Rajasthan . Other options include staying on a coffee farm in Costa Rica and hanging out in the Australian outback . Nearer to home , you can share in the life of Berber villagers in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco ( avoid Ramadan , 30 days from June 18 ) or stay with a family who grow herbs at an eco-home in Slovenia ’ s Soca valley . More information : www.responsibletravel.com . Far away : Stay in a Masai hut in a Kenyan village ( above ) or a haveli in Rajasthan with Responsibletravel . Get put up for free . Finally , the social-networking and ‘ hospitality exchange ’ website Couchsurfing.org enables registered users to contact host members and stay with them , free , for a day or two . This may be on a sofa , though more commonly a spare bed is offered . Guests then ‘ surf ’ on to their next venue . The ‘ free ‘ part is not necessarily as important as sharing briefly in the life of the host , who will typically take you on a tour of their city and introduce you to friends . Although no fee is paid , it is common for the guest to bring a gift or invite the hosts out for a restaurant meal . The scheme suits travellers on a tight budget interested in engaging with locals rather than fellow residents of backpacker hostels . More information : www.couchsurfing.org .
Travellers are increasingly ignoring hotels for 'homes away from home ' Homestays , with and without hosts , are available for all budgets . Sites like Homestay and AirBnb are catering to this different style of travel .