Homestay in Malaysia

Thousands of homestay and holiday destinations in Malaysia

Homestay has always been a great way to immerse yourself in a country’s ‘real’ culture while at the same time, experience traditional life to escape the rigors of life. Opting for homestay while traveling to a country enables you to make friends that last a lifetime. Of course, the easiest way to find a suitable and good homestay for your upcoming trip is by searching through search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, Ask and many more. Say for example if you are looking forward to homestay experience in Malaysia, check out the official sites by Tourism Promotion Board. With a bit of hard work including surfing and researching for potential homestay sites, you can browse through tons of options based on the information listed in the web.

Real reviews from real guests

After surfing through all the information, check out forum and post a question to seek reviews from those who have experienced with that particular homestay of your choice. Finally, take into account reviews by others’ before deciding whether it is suitable for you. Be prepared to take risks because after all, homestay is also about traveling to some foreign land. Besides surfing the web for related information, the easiest way to find out everything about your homestay location and the price is through travel agents. Seek their professional advice.

Government promoting Malaysia homestay programme aggressively

Perhaps, you can ask around your community and talk to someone who has actually participated in a Malaysian homestay programme. Besides checking forum as suggested earlier, you can also read online message boards. After you deciding on the right homestay location, tourists are required to fill in and submit an application form. Be as honest as possible to allow agents to match you up with similar people and host family.

Apply a few months prior to your travel dates. Plan ahead because homestay requires time to set and match up with similar participants. Finally, prepare yourself for culture shock especially if this is your first trip out of your home country. The key to enjoy yourself is by trying to mingle around and make new friends while listening to local folks.

Insider guide to Local Malaysian Homestay

Homestays is one of the most common forms of accommodations in Malaysia today. This is one of the fastest growing sectors in the travel industry today. You would not expect any 5 star quality in these homes which are often extended by families and sole business owners.

Homestay accommodations are easily available in most states around Malaysia where you can engage a night’s stay at a local home. There are some that provides the whole house for rent which will accord you with all the facilities of a typical home and rates are usually around the RM150 to RM200 bracket. This is where you will usually need your own transport to get around the places. Most of the homestays usually offer standard facilities like kitchen and cooking equipments, refrigerator and living room with television sets and such.

Another homestay option is to stay with families. This is where you will engage to stay with a family where they usually offer a room out for rent. This means that you will be required to follow the common timing like meal times and lights out. Be aware that in most cases, you will be offered meals and such and hence, you normally do not get to choose the cuisine you prefer. If you are one who is choosy when it comes to food, then homestays might not be the best option for you. However, you can still choose to decline the food offered in the homes and instead head out to find your own meals.

You have to take note though that if you are staying with the families, you must be aware of the common practices there. In most cases, they will ‘educate’ you about the mannerism and the daily routines of the family where you will need to adhere to. This would include the likes of dressing, meals and other practices.

Most homestays are offered at places where there are attractions nearby where they are used as alternative and more affordable accommodation choices for travellers. However, if the location of the homestay is located far from the attractions, then some of the homeowners actually offer transport services to ferry you to the locations. Some of the operators also offer vehicles for hire where you can explore the specific destination on your own accord as well.