We delight in discovering the new ways – found by countless travelling legends out there – of making good use of Crashpadder. Now, it seems, we’re helping postgraduate students save money and find cheap student accommodation whilst they’re carrying out their research for a Masters or a PhD in far-flung libraries. There are lots of people out there only too happy to squeeze money out of hard-working and hard-up students, so we’re very pleased to be able to offer an affordable and honest alternative.

The BL Reading Room: not a Crashpad. Yet.

Normally, travelling research students would be wrestling with a backwards university accommodation service, or scouring the internet for an elusive cheap hotel. Well – I mean “cheap” for certain values of “cheap”, to use a mathematical expression. No hotel is Crashpadder cheap. No hotel is Crashpadder quality. Instead, now students can find a place to stay that’s better and cheaper than a budget hotel or B&B. We’re also dashed easy to use. Instead of wading through the inefficiencies of a university accommodation service (making overseas telephone calls along the way) with Crashpadder it’s just a question of a few clicks.

Per esempio: only last week, I was at a party at the Big Cheese’s house in London, thrown in honour of Crashpadder members, and I got talking to a delightful postgraduate student couple from the States. They had journeyed to the UK to conduct research at the British Library, amongst other esteemed institutions.

When they were planning their stay, they had encountered a major obstacle in the form of the lamentably high cost of London accommodation. And lament they did. But then, behold, they were introduced to Crashpadder by a friend, and lo, there was much rejoicing. Not only did they find affordable accommodation in Stockwell, within easy reach of the library resources they needed, but they had a friendly host who was able to show them the best transport links - and he even brought them along to an awesome party! Where there was much rejoicing.

Oxford: Crashpadder has lots of rooms here, or it's an easy day-trip from a Crashpad in London.

Crashpadder is a great resource for students travelling to conduct research on their Masters or Phd. For a start, we have rooms that are well connected to many important research centres, but without the high prices that normally accompany such proximity. London itself is of course a global research hub, but it’s also within reach of the Universities of Oxford (50 minutes from London Paddington by railway, or 1 hour or so by coach from Victoria Coach Station) and Cambridge (50 minutes from London Kings Cross). We’ve also got loads of rooms within reach of the libraries and museums of New York and Edinburgh.

Postgraduate students are arguably even more hard-up than undergrads, but we know that they invariably care and believe strongly in what they are doing, so it’s great that Crashpadder is able to help out. After all, like them, we believe very strongly in our mission: to put a bit of extra cash in the pockets of both travellers and hosts, and to let everyone have an enriching collaborative experience. Travellers win; hosts win; the environment wins. Who loses? Corporate hotel dinosaurs.

Crashpadders like our PhD friends show us that more and more people are (often literally) waking up to the value provided by Crashpadder. Great rooms: friendly hosts: easily booked: cheap: no fuss. It’s so good you could write a thesis on it. Maybe.

Read the rest of The Postgrad Crashpadder: reducing your research travel bill »