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We usually book our hotel rooms in advance, but we didn’t make such arrangements for the first 2 nights. Well, that was a big mistake. We started driving in the direction of Quebec City that evening, and decided to stop at the town of Kingston – the gate to the thousand islands – and naturally, because of the autumn season, all the hotels and motels were full. We couldn’t find a vacant room even in the next town, and the town after that. So we drove around with the kids till 22:00, eventually settling on a small lousy room, and hour drive from Montreal.
Take my advice – book in advance, especially if you are traveling with kids.
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We planned staying in Rabat for our first night of the trip. From searching on the web, I saw that there are variety of lodging options. Some are quite cheap and some aren't. One of the ways to stay in Morocco is in a Riad - a kind of boutique hotel or high level guesthouse which has up to ten rooms. I booked our first night through www.booking.com based on user reviews.
This site was quite essential to us during the trip - before reaching our next destination, we chose our next accommodation with it. I chose places with user ratings of 8.5 and above with an average cost of 50-70 Euros for a couple, including breakfast. Take into account that there are additional tax of a few Euros for night per person.
I'll give specific recommendations about Riads under each city.
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As always, we first wanted to check in at our hotel. It is a relatively new B&B named New Day. In order to reach it, you first need to go to the souvenirs shop on the main street, Via San Francesco number 18. The lady who owns the place, or her son, will lead you up the stairs, through and some twist and turns, to the hotel, which has three rooms in total as well as a kitchen, which is also the dining room, where they serve a very rich breakfast.
The place was decorated with a lot of thought of small details. The bed is large, the shower is well-equipped, and everything gives you the feeling of home. Even the dishes and silverware at breakfast. Recommended to those who plan on spending any time in Assisi, a single night or more.
The hotel states that it has free parking, but what they really mean is that you can park in the lot at the entrance to a cemetary for free. This lot is a bit outside of the city walls and requires a walk to enter the city.
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Happy and fed, we continued driving. The next stop, as usual was the hotel. Again, this was a hotel at the border of the city, named ILL PETTIROSSO. It's a small B&B with four rooms totally, built in a stone house, decorated cozily and warm.
We arrived at noon had to wait for a while until the man in charge arrived (siesta, you know...). The view from the hotel is lovely and includes the outskirts of the city, but mainly the Tuscan green around. We finally got a small kitchen where we could cook. Oh yes... And the best bath we had in this trip. Here's the room:
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We circled around the stunning Kotor Bay and spent the night somewhere not far from Herzegovina, by the shores of the bay, in a guest house which cost us €10 per person without any breakfast or television, but with a view that was worth every penny.
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10 km before Šibenik we got off the main road to Zalisnucka across from house number A138, we rented an apartment with a yard overlooking a picturesque bay and sea. The entire garden was full of roses and amaryllis blooming in red and pink.
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The following morning the owner gave us a ride to the gas station from where we took the Baz Bus to Wilderness. We stayed at Fairy Know Backpacker (http://www.wildernessbackpackers.com/backpacker_facilities.html) which also turned out be a really nice and spacious place. They also had a big map with all the attractions in the area, and a place to rent bikes for tours in the area or as a way for getting to the town center.