Homestays also have a practical appeal. With Cuba’s limited hotel inventory, homestays are often the best option. One boutique travel company, Pelorus, pairs guests with specific hosts and neighborhoods, depending on their interests — food, music or retracing family roots. “Homestays allow us to be more flexible,” Jimmy Carroll, the company’s co-founder, said.
Of course, there is also the benefit of going further off the grid.
Iya Romantei, a rustic 1950s cabin with tatami floors and firewood stacked outside the front door, is a hotel in Japan’s Iya Valley, an ancient forested landscape six hours from Tokyo. It’s also the home of Yasuki Shinomiya. Inside, guests sleep on futon mats and gather around the sunken irori hearth for home-cooked meals. Favorite activities include raiding the “sake shrine” (a comprehensive collection with more than 300 bottles) and soaking in the outdoor goemonburo (coal-fired hot tub) while enjoying plunging views of the surrounding mountains.
Since 2012, more than 30 nationalities have logged entries in Mr. Shinomiya’s guest book, and guests range in age from 2 to 80. An Australian woman came recently, he said, after booking one night at a fancy hotel in Tokyo. The reason for the detour? “She wanted to feel nature.”
On a trip to Granada in October, 30-year-old Jeanne Volomi chose a particular homestay because the owner had a son the same age as her own. “He got language immersion and a roomful of toys to play with. It was pretty ideal,” said Ms. Volomi, who lives in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Toys weren’t the only draw: the two-story house was tucked in the quiet Albayzin district, with plenty of space and a patio overlooking the entire city. Before booking, Ms. Volomi asked the homeowner to send her a short video of herself walking through the house, which she did.
“I feel like people are looking for safety,” Ms. Volomi said.
In June, Wild Frontiers created an itinerary that whisks travelers off to a remote corner of the Altai Mountains in southern Siberia. During the 11-day “Altai Adventure” tour, guests spend the night in basic pine huts alongside their host, a 42-year-old Altaian wolf hunter named Valerii Orgunov. (Meals are served in a separate felt yurt that once belonged to Valerii’s grandparents.)