March 4, 2009

By Henry vW and Whitney 

Eurocheap.com, whose tagline is “we've been there”, not only compiles a large, carefully maintained database of hotels across Europe – it sends correspondents and bloggers hiking across the continent to inspect rooms, ask about breakfast service, and sniff out value.

“Our business is our recommendations,”  Tom Meyers, the founder and Editor-in-Chief, explained, as we sat at an over-sized wooden table in EuroCheapo's lower East Side office. “We're really focused on budget travelers making the most out of their budget in Europe.”

“This is the moment for budget travel,” says Marketing Director Pete Meyers. “Prices are going down across Europe, and with the recession, people are really looking for value again. We used to worry about the word 'cheap' and its implications for the quality ofthe hotels we review and inspect, but we worry about that less now.”

EuroCheapo.com doesn't just list all the hotels their correspondents have visited and inspected: their team sorts through inspected hotels, and only lists reviews for the hotels meeting their strict requirements for value and frugality. “Everything you see on our site is pre-searched,” says Tom. “Our hotels aren't just the cheapest. They're the hotels with the most value. We're listing memorable, affordable places to stay.”

And EuroCheapo is more than just a search engine for carefully-reviewed, inexpensive hotels. Meredith Meyers, Senior Editor and Master Blogger, recommends that users read EuroCheapo's city guides, transport tips (for example, how to get from the airport to your hotel in a given city), and their new flight section (to help American neophytes learn about Europe's ultra-cheap flyers). “Our blog is updated 5 days a week by our correspondents, including, for example, '5 free things you can do in Brussels', or 'ways to see the Louvre for free.”

As you may have noticed, everyone on the EuroCheapo team, which hails from Ohio and Michigan, is related: Tom and Pete are brothers, and Meredith married Pete. Maybe that's what makes them such a fun team to hang out with. “We try not to talk about work when we go out,”says Meredith, “but these two” – pointing to Tom and Pete –“sometimes end up doing it anyway.”

For More Interviews from Travelers and Others, chek out:

Interview With The Guys and Gals at EuroCheapo.com! -March 4, 2009 

Interview With Karen from EuropeALaCarte Blog -March 5, 2009

Interview with Shannon, who runs the Institute of International Education's website! -March 11, 2009

Interview with Brooke from Brooke vs. the World website -March 16, 2009

Interview with Nick from BudgetGlobeTrotting.com -March 17, 2009

Interview with Justin from Corporate Whore No More website -March 18, 2009

Interview with Gary from Everything Everywhere website -March 19, 2009