One of the most difficult things about traveling is figuring out where to stay.

Sometimes there are too many choices and sometimes there are not enough places to choose from. As a cultural traveler, I prefer to stay in a local neighborhood where I can check out the local lifestyle and enjoy authentic food.

After staying in plenty of hostels and accommodation options that provide little privacy, it’s very nice to have a private flat to come back to.

9Flats.com

I recently booked my accommodation through 9Flats.com when I was in Seoul, South Korea.

9 Flats is a search engine for flats, apartments, guest houses, and home-stays in local areas of the world. As of now, you can search through 31,529 places around the world – so basically any major city on the planet you’ll be able to find quite a few options.

The site is simple and easy to use. You just type your destination into the homepage along with the dates specified and a search comes up showing all the listings. You can then click through the list, check out photos, and narrow down the search for the perfect apartment or room for your stay.

Instead of booking hotels in touristy areas of town, you can find places to stay that are within local neighborhoods, or even with verified locals (if you choose a home-stay).

After arriving in Seoul, I showed up at the apartment that I had booked and was greeted by the owner. The owner quickly showed me around, explained how to use the heater (it’s cold in Korea!), the washing machine, and a few other amenities around the house.

It was a great little apartment located in the international Itaewon shopping district of Seoul.

Here’s a shot of the bathroom, it had a “Perter Rabbit” theme – even on the toilet seat, pretty cool!

One of the great things about having an apartment to yourself is having a full kitchen, a fridge and a washing machine!

As a lover of tea, I was happy to find a convenient water boiler and tea pot in the apartment. Since the weather in Seoul can be freezing, I did a lot of hanging out drinking tea.

I thoroughly enjoyed my stay having a private apartment in Seoul. I was able to check out lots of interesting areas of town, get through the bustling crowds in the city, and then come back to rest in a quiet private apartment!

I was sponsored for free accommodation with 9Flats.com – I handled all the logistics and did all the booking and arranging myself. If you are looking for easy to use, great service, and lots of cool places to stay when you travel, I’d honestly recommend checking out 9Flats.com.