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Here we list a number of very inexpensive alternative accommodations options. How inexpensive? How about $25 for a night’s accommodation in a crew house? Or, better yet, how about an altogether free bed? In several of the options we profile here, a bed comes more or less for free for members or couchsurfing or house exchange organizations. Memberships in home exchange networks begin at as little as $40 per year.

These accommodation options don’t tend to get a lot of press. They fly below the radar of traditional hotel and guesthouse listings. For this reason, we especially feel the need to publicize them here.

In our listing here we include crew houses, the non-profit Servas homestay organization, couchsurfing networks, home exchanges, and volunteer farm work. We’d love to add more options as well, and we respond well to input. So let us know if we’ve overlooked some cheap (or free) alternative form of accommodations in the Caribbean.

Crew Houses

Crew houses are intended to provide accommodations for yacht crews. They tend to be quite informal, casual, bunkbed sorts of places. They give priority to yacht crews and would-be crew members, though many will provide accommodation to non-crew visitors if space permits. Following are three crew houses we’ve come across in our research, all on St. Maarten.

Crew houses resemble youth hostels, and are often crowded with crews on leave. It would not be inappropriate to suggest that they might not be the quietest places to bunk. Weigh privacy and noise considerations when considering the crew house option.

St. Maarten

Lagoonies Crew House. 599-557-5221.

Smilers Crew House. smilerelona@hotmail.com. 599-544-2601.

Guy’s Crew House. gts@megatropic.com. 599-522-6133.

Servas

Servas is an international NGO (non-governmental organization) that promotes fellowship and cross-cultural exposure through homestays. Think of Servas as an early incarnation of couchsurfing, and one with an explicit message of peace and harmony.

Taking advantage of Servas is simple and easy. Americans applying to join the Servas International Travel Program pay $85 per year along with a deposit to obtain host lists.  Deposits begin at $25 per year for a list of five countries (or regions). $50 gets you between six and 10 country or region lists, while $75 yields between 11 and 15 country or region lists.

Servas homestays usually last two nights. Terms are negotiated by parties in advance.

There’s a distinct ethos to the Servas experience. It may not be for everyone. Hosts are expected not merely to provide a place for guests to stay, but also to introduce guests to the spirit and culture of their hometowns. For travelers looking to unwind in solitude, Servas is possibly not the best option. 

Here is a list of numbers of Servas hosts around the world.

Couchsurfing

Couchsurfing is a great way to meet locals and other travelers while on the road and basically spend nothing whatsoever on accommodations in the process. It’s very simple to get registered with a couchsurfing site.

Here are four couchsurfing sites.

Couchsurfing
Hospitality Club
Global Freeloaders
Stay4Free

Home Exchange

Another huge money-saver is home exchange. Home exchanges work quite simply. Interested parties register with agencies and arrange house swaps with other registered members. Some home exchanges are simultaneous (with home swaps coinciding neatly) while others are asymmetrical (with home swaps staggered).  During asymmetrical exchanges, locals opening up their homes oftenstay nearby while their temporary guests are visiting, and are thus able to serve as resources.

All the home exchange participants we’ve chatted with rave about the experience. Like most of the options listed here, this one isn’t for everyone. For those who are incredibly fastidious about their homes, perhaps home exchange isn’t a route to happiness. But for those with a more relaxation approach to their places of residence—or for those able to quarantine their most precious or fragile possessions during exchange periods—home exchange may indeed be a great option.

Here are some home exchange Web sites, arranged from cheapest to most expensive.

International Home Exchange Network (membership from $40/year)
Exchange Homes (membership from $45/year)
Digsville (membership from $45/year)
HomeForExchange.com (membership from $59/year)
Homeforswap.com (membership from $59/year)
INTERVac (international membership from $95/year)
HomeLink International (membership from $110/year)
HomeExchange (membership from $100/year)

Volunteer Farming

World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) operates an interesting program whereby visitors interested in learning about organic farming or simply willing to help out on a farm are offered free accommodation and meals in exchange for their labor.

Currently, there are a few WWOOF volunteer opportunities throughout the Caribbean—in the Bahamas, Barbuda, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, and Puerto Rico.

Check out the International WWOOF Network for more information.