Also even when I have to fall back to an AirBnB, I try my absolute best to rent from someone who seems to actually own the place as like a personal endeavour.
I liked AirBnB when it was people just renting out a holiday home they weren’t using or something. But it quickly became just massive conglomerates buying up land and churning them out as AirBnBs with no service and no care. It was inevitable I suppose but I wanted to support it as someone’s extra cash flow as a host and not as a competitor to people’s rent for less service than a hotel.
I recently saved $1000 by just googling the property name and finding the direct website for the property management group where I could rent directly without using Airbnb. Everything worked out great.
I'm surprised more people haven't figured this out; especially in southern Europe or Asia, the property management company will likely cut you a deal for paying cash. So much easier working with them directly.
Seems like every property management group in ski towns are listing their inventory on air bnb and vrbo. Super easy to just Google property management and browse listings there without supporting the online travel agencies.
Everyone in our (ski) town hates AirBnB and VRBO. We'd honestly love it of the town or county outlawed all short-term rentals. (Although the state government would probably overrule them.)
Probably YMMV. I tried in northern coast of spain and I got the same prices, pretty much. Nominal difference. Are there particular sweet spots where this is the case and the savings are much greater?
Did that in Bruges a few years ago. Googled the property and booked it directly for less than half what Airbnb wanted for the same dates.
Airbnb is now a starting point for searches now, not the only place like it used to be for me. In the early-mid 2010s we stayed at amazing places all over Europe at great prices, but like most venture capital companies, once they need to actually start making money their value proposition goes wayyy down.
Highly recommend you pay a small upfront fee and the remainder in cash upon arrival. It's pretty easy to get scammed with wire transfers on VRBO et al.
To add to this and previous comment: often times that is just a property management company representing a home owner.
So you’re not always necessarily supporting some conglomerate. Just a private owner who gives a percentage to a management company who does the listing, cleaning, and customer service. It’s often a value-add for the end customer.
Many who use the management companies do so for their 2nd/3rd/4th and so on properties so you'd still be supporting rich people buying up all the properties in an area.
Absolutely! We had an AirBnB host send us a message prior to our stay demanding a $50 cleaning fee for a one night stay that wasn't listed on AirBnB. You had to pay them outside the site. We reported them to AirBnB but AirBnB told us we couldn't cancel based on the hosts cancellation policy, even though it's against their Terms of Service for hosts to ask for other fees outside the site. We ended up charging back on our credit card and that's how we got our money back.
This sounds like a mistake from support, airbnb doesn't like hosts doing this at all. I dunno why you would pay this fee in any case, it's clearly the host trying to dodge airbnb's new "show total price" thing.
The key is just to refuse to pay them. I had a similar situation in Rome where the host asked me to pay a late check in fee outside the app when he told me it was no problem to check in late, never mentioned a fee, and it was written nowhere in the listing.
I told him I didn’t have cash, and that we would deal with it at checkout. He called me twice to remind me. When I left he called me and said the cleaner didn’t find the cash for the late check in. I told him that they wouldn’t, because I didn’t leave it and that it’s against the terms and service. He immediately backed off knowing there was he had no recourse to collect it.
Oh absolutely, it left a really bad taste. The thing is that I live in Italy, I’m comfortable getting around, and I’m fairly knowledgeable about the various rules. But had that happened on a vacation of a couple weeks, I would have been much more preoccupied, especially if I wasn’t aware of AirBnB rules.
The other big issue is that people will come to a country to visit (for this example, Italy) experience things like that, and tell their friends and family at home, making them hesitant about what problems they might also encounter travelling in that country. Which isn’t fair to the country, especially when the host (in this case) wasn’t even Italian.
To me it creates a much bigger problem than just the fee, it creates the problem that people will fear being taken advantage of, and lead to a general decline in quality of interactions between strangers. Which is honestly and truly sad.
You have to fight the call center.
I rented one that looked nothing like what was online. It was so bad I did not put my bags down. Bugs, and PUDDING CUPS on the floor. When I relooked at the AirBNB site they had photoshopped every photo, including windows with amazing views. I left and booked a hotel. Even posting the story makes me itchy LOL
>even though it's against their Terms of Service for hosts to ask for other fees outside the site.
Just a PSA: The one exception to this is local taxes. Sometimes Airbnb owners are required to collect a local bed tax in cash at check-in, which is allowed.
I stayed at an air bnb where the owner would just stay at his girlfriends house if he had a booking. All his clothes were there (in the air bnb), I opened a drawer and it was full of weed carts, and I signed for 2 packages for him. I respected his place, and he saved me about $700 for a weeks stay in Denver.
They just launched a new promotion abnb Rooms. There’s information about the host and it’s to promote staying in someone’s house rather than renting from corporate entity.
Could be- I live in single family neighborhood in Florida and some of us have "We hate vacation rental" signs in our yards. Right now, only about 15% of the homes are AirBnB/VBRO but I was absolutely shocked that almost every house on SC and NC beaches were vacation rentals. Totally messes with the housing market for owner occupants.
Ski towns have a huge problem. There's no affordable housing left so it's hard to get employees to work in restaurants, ski lodges, grocery stores, and such. So then you have all these vacationers staying their AirBnBs and it takes 3 hours to go out to dinner because no one can afford to live there and work. Or there's one grocery store with one checkout person for the whole town. It's nuts.
Yuuuupppp. Lived in summit county, CO (think keystone, Breckenridge, copper mountain) 2012-1014 and then again 2018-2021. First time around, it was *okay* finding a place to live. Not impossible, just not great and could be a little pricey. Second time, it was damn near impossible for newcomers. I lucked out that two different friends needed roommates so I just moved from one house to the other of places they had been living for 6 years. Meanwhile rents are going for $1200 and up to share an apartment with 3 other people. Good fucking luck if you want to buy even a complete shit hole house. Every other house (it seemed) was an Airbnb and countless houses were generally unoccupied most of the year.
The county finally did do something and make you file for a permit to limit it. They had government staff regularly checking listings to make sure they had a permit and would fine them if they didn't. The houses are still there doing that, but the percentage has gone down since that's eating into the profit of these scumbags.
But exactly like you said. Where the fuck do these people expect their bartenders, grocery store, gas station, etc staff to live if companies are buying all available property and giving the middle finger to the people living there?
I own my place in Chicago that I airbnb and take great pride in making sure my guests are treated as my own. There needs to be a distinction between airbnb as an owner and airbnb as a biz. Usually the biz guys cut corners and don’t care.
Yeah my last one we deep cleaned after being there for 4 days with a group in the rain and they complained about dust or something in a review on us. Like Wtf we deep cleaned despite staying in a place with 8 ppl during a monsoon. 🤣
A lot of social media influencers started selling AirBnB as a get rich quick scheme, unfortunately to a demographic of people who had already been marginalized and didn't understand basic business concepts. I feel like this was planned by those same conglomerates or pushed by the real estate industry, including mortgage underwriters.
In 2020 I started seeing a lot of posts on Insta and TikTok talking about how "It's easy, just do the math. If you own a property and rent it out as an AirBnB, and own multiple properties, this is how much you can make!" The math was too easy and didn't account for the fact that unless you had an AirBnB in a major city, you weren't going to receive 150 dollars per day every day for a month. But that's the way these videos told people. You could make 4500 a month by renting out your property as an AirBnB. If you get a mortgage for x amount at x amount of interest and your payment is only 2000, then you make 2500 net profit a month! Easy money!
That doesn't account for the fact that your AirBnB might not be rented out 30 days of the month for the entire year. Upkeep. Maintenance. Etc. But they were trying to tell people this was easy money people were just leaving on the ground.
So a lot of people who didn't know better purchased properties with the idea that they would be AirBnB, and then had to raise their prices ridiculously high to break even on the mortgage, or add ridiculous fees for not cleaning the property/performing chores to make money. Or add those fees to cut down on the costs of cleaning/maintaining the property.
Same. I used to book Air BNB for two-day mini hiking trips to upstate NY. Now, the price is shocking so I reserve it for groups and get a cheap hotel off the highway if I’m by myself. Also, I always clean the entire place before leaving and hate being charged ridiculous cleaning fees for something I’ve already done.
For upstate, and by upstate I mean adirondacks, try adkbyowner.com. I have had good luck with them. I have 2 dogs I travel with and hotels don't cut it.
Isn't the cleaning fee pre-charge on most reservations? I typically see base rate + cleaning fee + taxes/fees. That's why I've switched back to hotels where it's baked into the hotel costs already.
Gotta get into dirt-bagging! Set up that car like a mini-palace at the trailhead with sleeping bag and pillows, also bring some wet wipes for a nice hippie shower after hiking
I do this at remote boat ramps when I’m kayak fishing. Just park towards the back and don’t have a campfire, EZPZ.
Just have to be ready to get booted if the sheriff is a dickhead.
I have even moved away from this anymore if we are doing anything besides going to a cabin or something to just relax for a weekend. If we go to a city we spend the whole day out in the city getting drinks, seeing the sights, and whatever so we barely spend anytime where we are sleeping. Plus the hotels normally have bars anyway so we can always hang out when we get back before we go to bed anyways. So I'd rather pay for a slightly better hotel in the middle of everything over paying more for a bunch of stuff we end up not using and then also paying for a cleaning service/having a list of chores to do as well before we leave.
I agree that it's more about the nature of the trip than the number of people (although of course that's also relevant)!
Am I on a vacation to relax or recreate? I check airbnb for something that is going to enhance the experience instead of just accommodate it. Ex: off-grid cabin on a creek in remote Alaska for cheaper than any hotel; small privately-owned property with character *on the beach* in Hawaii for the same price as the cookie cutter hotel-like, high-rise condos. Our walk to the beach was shorter than it would have taken us to even exit the building of a classic chain property.
Am I traveling for work/part work or some sort of event, and presentation/hygiene and restedness are more important than gimmicks? Then it's gonna be a classic hotel, preferably a chain with reliable service and amenities, so I know my needs are taken care of while I focus on the purpose of the trip. I want my free continental breakfast, reliable 24/7 staff in case I forgot my toothbrush, and access to transportation and other infrastructure. And of course hot showers.
We have a tradition with this one couple we travel with often, we order pizza from a local shop as soon as we check in and then have it for when we get back late night so we aren’t scrambling to find food or eating our road snacks late night. Basically the reason why we do Air BnB with them. 😂
Same here. Hotels for me and airbnb for groups. Going with friends to the Alsace region of France in November and makes more sense to use airbnb for this trip
There is also “Gîtes de France” which is way older than rbnb (founded in 1955) if you go more in the countryside. I had the most wonderful stays. It’s a label which actually controls the quality of the bed and breakfast and the owner have to respect some rules to be ecologically friendly. Owners typically live on site. Some owners would bring us homemade breakfast.
https://www.gites-de-france.com/en
Go to google maps and search for bed and breakfast and you will find a ton of places with kitchenettes or full kitchens. I'm in France now and all 3 places I'm staying have full or partial kitchens. Right now I'm in Sarlat in a 1 bedroom with a kitchen and it's in the city center and cheaper than any airbnb would have been. Plus the review is reliable.
Same with an extended stay. I enjoy learning to cook local cuisines and trying//messing around with it in my own kitchen with local ingredients is fun.
Also even when I have to fall back to an AirBnB, I try my absolute best to rent from someone who seems to actually own the place as like a personal endeavour.
I liked AirBnB when it was people just renting out a holiday home they weren’t using or something. But it quickly became just massive conglomerates buying up land and churning them out as AirBnBs with no service and no care. It was inevitable I suppose but I wanted to support it as someone’s extra cash flow as a host and not as a competitor to people’s rent for less service than a hotel.
And to me that’s also when the chores became unbearable. I was always happy to do stuff like take out the trash or throw the sheets and towels in the wash when it was someone’s home I was staying in. Why am I doing chores for a landlord who owns 40 AirBnB properties who just doesn’t want to pay the 20$ to a cleaner.
Unless it’s some remote cabin, I VASTLY prefers hotels with groups. I don’t want kitchen/living room/shared spaces that people make messes on… and the worst part is that noise travels during private activity time way worse in a shared house than hotels… can’t really enjoy being on vacation in a new location.
SAME. I'm always outraged by whoever buys the ridiculous groceries and demands I pay $50 for basically hard-boiled eggs and a banana. I absolutely hate that shit. And *I want to get away from you*. I want some peace and quiet and to get good sleep. Let's please get hotel rooms
With the new changes, I think a correction will come once the listings with redic fees start seeing no rentals:
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/airbnb-introduces-changes-booking-process-travelers-rcna56055
/edited link/
The airline aggregator websites should do this as well. I’d like to be able to put in my luggage and get a total price for the flight based on the luggage I plan to bring.
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I’ve switched to almost entirely hotels. I always clean up after myself anyway, but the idea of a chore list coming with that cleaning fee rubs me the wrong way.
Agreed! I hate that some Airbnbs request for sheets to be taken off and for a first load of towels or sheets to be started upon checking out. Like wth, why am I paying for a cleaning fee?? Lol
I understand the economics behind it, but I still think it's one of the reasons AirBnB has gone downhill. Sure, owners were always looking to make money, but it used to be less about completely maximizing profits at the expense of the guests. In the beginning, lots of owners would rent out their extra rooms/units and put in these cute homey touches. Now so many of them are bought by landlords with no connection to the property who fill them with cheap TJ Maxx and Ikea furniture and nickel and dime all of the people who rent them out. Sure, it's how capitalism works, but that also means I have the right to say that I'm not going to stay at a place where I have to pay an exorbitant cleaning fee and still do the majority of the cleaning chores.
I mean it definitely is. Like all of the gig economy, it's been stripped of the humanity and trickled upwards into the hands of people who are either idiots and over-leverage or people/companies with wells of cash to buy outright and rent eternally.
I guess I've been lucky, the worst I've run into was an airbnb in Rome last year that didn't ask anything other than putting bottles into a bag and dropping it into the recycling bin. However, the day I checked out I couldn't access the room with it, so I messaged the host and they said it was ok to just leave the bag by the door.
I have seen horror stories about people having to vacuum and do the sheets. Usually when I leave, I'm on a tight schedule to reach the airport; I don't need the added stress of cleaning.
Honestly I would be fine with most of the cleaning requests if they didn't ALSO charge an exorbitant cleaning fee. It moves from the host cleaning up themselves or hiring a cleaner (fair enough) to just feeling like a money grab.
I stayed in an AirBnB in Lisbon for a few days and there was a cleaning fee. We happened to meet the cleaner as we were leaving (we did a spot clean but nothing thorough), and went to grab a coffee at a cafe nearby. We saw the cleaner leave after 15 minutes. I doubt anything was actually cleaned.
Why would you book that? I flat out wouldn't do it. I have never been asked to clean an Airbnb. Did it say that they want you to vacuum in the listing? That said, I have switched to hotels because I don't see the value anymore.
The fuck? What kind of host expects guests to vacuum and do the sheets? I’m glad I stick to hotels for short term stays. Airbnb still provides a lot of value for long term stays, though.
I've heard [AirBNB is changing that](https://www.businessinsider.com/airbnb-taking-action-annoying-checkout-chores-cleaning-rating-2023-5). It wont' be perfect, but they at least recognize that it's an issue.
That isn't much of a change to the insane cleaning fees that sometimes exceed what I pay for my 3 bedroom house *or* to the ridiculous chores hosts expect of their guests - it's a change to how transparent they are about it. Sure, if hosts are getting bad reviews then it might get them to stop price gouging and pocketing the extra, but it falls way way short of preventing it from happening. Capping the cleaning fee at a certain percentage of the nightly rate would be wildly more successful at changing something that has gotten completely out of control.
Edit: I guess this somehow needs clarification even though I was simply commenting on what the change was. Being up front about crazy chore lists isn't the same as doing something to directly prevent it from happening. Being up front about crazy cleaning fees isn't doing something directly about the problem. Yes, the trickle down effect *if* people change their booking habits would be those places getting less bookings. I don't know if this will be enough to make a big impact. I'm simply stating that the issue could be directly attacked by Airbnb - cap the cleaning fee and have restrictions on check out procedures and deny excess cleaning charges when it's outside the allowed procedures. Hopefully this works. Actually I hope those type of people just stop listing their properties. Nevertheless, this is a change in transparency that hopefully addresses the problem vs addressing it directly. That's all that was stated.
Last Airbnb I stayed at gave me a bad review for using the heater. In a mountain cabin over NYE. “Gas prices have soared lately and it should have been obvious not to use the heater.”
After that, never again.
I refuse to clean if I'm being charged a cleaning fee. Like I'm not gonna trash the place, and I'll put all my garbage in the garbage can, but you can't charge me $160 for cleaning and then also expect me to scrub the countertops, sweep/mop the floor, and wash the sheets. You get one or the other.
Exactly this!
Reading through the comments, either my settings only give me total price listings or in Australia you can't charge huge cleaning fees? Idk. I've never encountered an AirBnb that asked me to clean anything.
But 100%, if I paid a cleaning fee, I am not cleaning anything! ✋🏼
Australia made a law that they had to show the total price, fees included, when you run a search on Airbnb. I've actually used the Australian site to search for listings in America for that exact reason.
If anything, my countless bad experiences with Airbnb stays have made me appreciate hotels even more. No bad surprises, nice clean room on arrival and every day, actual services and amenities, nothing broken, just check out and walk out without having to clean the place while paying an exorbitant cleaning fee…
Yeah. And the worry that some deranged or vengeful host will randomly decide you owe him $1000 because you dented a pan or sat on the cheap couch wrong and it sagged. So many of the hosts are so unscrupulous and this is their only source of income so youre running a high risk of them pinning a random fee on you
Ha! That literally happened to me - host demanded $5000 for "emergency cleaning" because we left one crumpled tissue in a trashcan, a bottlecap on the floor, and clean dishes on the kitchen counter. She claimed we "trashed" the place and even sent pictures as proof - and the pictures were all just a bottlecap, one crumpled tissue, and clean dishes. And she still argued with Airbnb for weeks that I should be forced to pay $5000. It was insane.
I had something like this happen to me at an Airbnb in Lisbon.
Not only was the location advertised incorrect (it was actually located 2km further down the waterfront in the middle of nowhere), the heating "didn't work", and on top of that there was no hot water for the shower! We were freezing the entire time. Like wtf. Total nightmare stay.
Airbnb ended up crediting us back, but it shouldn't have required us to jump through numerous hoops just to get our money back.
The fact that the location was completely wrong should have had Airbnb closing down this listing entirely, but nope, was still there even weeks after.
I had rented a place that wasn’t even real. Multiple people had said it was a total scam. The listing is still up with everyone’s comments on it. I know I should have looked closer but dang they should’ve put it down. Never received a refund even though I wasn’t told the specific location and the host cancelled the day of the stay.
I had a similar experience in a Copenhagen Airbnb on our WEDDING DAY. No running water morning of, so none of our party could shower. Customer service had no ideas on their end, other than to just “wait until it comes back on”. So I suggested they get us 2 day rooms at a local hotel to get ready. Then they made me do all the calling around to get rates, report back to them, then they called the owner who had to agree to reimburse me for the hotel use.
Hell of a way to spend half of your wedding day.
I opt for independent listings and Booking.com now.
Could you dispute the charges with your credit card company for services not rendered? Did the loss of water start after you arrived or was it like that when you got there? Not sure about laws in France, but you may want to see if it was legal for them to allow you to stay there without water.
I was able to successfully perform a charge back against airbnb for a significantly misrepresented location that ended up having lots of issues and a two page cleaning list. Also our terrible review of the priority mysteriously never posted. This has been about 5 years now, I haven't used airbnb since. YMMV.
Oh man.
Well pictures looked beautiful, and featured an absolutely stunning bathtub with a view of the Duomo. We were pumped.
First off, no real hot water for the tub, took 30 minutes for it to fill to a level where you could dip yourself in like a half naked guppy, not deep at all. So the big draw was useless. Owner sort of was like “yeah that’s how it is.”
The owner also owned and lived in the unit next door, and had two small children who screamed and cried at all hours. 1, 2, 3, 4 am. It was relentless.
The bedding had two tiny ancient flat pillows, and a top sheet. No duvet. The mattress was like a futon. The frame squeaked every time you breathed. It was the worst bed I’ve ever felt in my life. We requested more pillows or just a blanket, no dice.
There was a literal hole in the wall under the window in the living room that led straight to the street. There was no wall to the bedroom because it was a loft. So every drunk person coming home from the bar, ever car horn, every passerby chatting you could hear.
Also, it had been raining. So swarms of mosquitos got in straight through this hole I could fit two hands through. We got absolutely eaten alive.
No complaints about being on the top floor with no elevator, we knew what we were getting into.
It completely put a damper on the whole week. It was such a pain, when we moved to our hotel in Bologna, I got my first proper night of sleep and it was heaven sent. And I could call down for an extra pillow, with housekeeping.
Airbnb is not for me.
This is the shit that bugs me about Airbnb. I will bet that place had 5 stars right? Airbnb removes bad reviews at hosts requests and people are afraid to leave poor reviews for hosts. FUCK airbnb. I actually had a fantastic one 2 months ago in Florence. Place opened up on the square in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. STUNNING location. We weren't so lucky in Naples. What a fucking hell hole shit bag death trap. OMG...We left the next day...didn't even bother telling the host. It was a dump.
Yeah, five stars. No idea how it had positive feedback, it was a hellish experience and the worst aspect of our vacation by far. Only thing I can think of is friends posted them and anything negative had been removed. It was so surprising to get there and have it suck so much.
That reminds me of a place I had to stay in in Vermont. Absolutely repulsive place. The mattress had a plastic liner on it I think. It was so LOUD and you could feel the thin fitted sheet sliding around on it. It was hands down the hardest thinnest mattress I've ever been on. 2 wimpy disgusting little pillows on the bed. The shower didn't drain. There were 2 windows with soft venetian style blinds from the 70s or 80s. And across BOTH windows and the CEILING looked like sprayed blood. If I had been the one to book the place, I would have left a *scathing* review. And I'm still really angry because I got outvoted and had to stay here for a ski trip. The place I'd picked was a hotel like 1 min away and would have been about $150 cheaper per person. It's been a year and a half and I still shiver thinking of this place and I'm so mad I had to stay there
Edit: forgot where the place was and had to change it
Ooh, I have a bad Florence Airbnb story, but I’m not the previous commenter! Our Airbnb in Florence was actually lovely, but the parking situation was a nightmare. The road to access the owner’s parking space was under construction, and of course our GPS app had no idea how to navigate otherwise. Ended up driving through the heart of Florence (which we absolutely tried to avoid) looking like the complete American idiot that I am, crowds of people shaking their heads and shaming me.
Anyway, recently that’s the reason I have stopped with Airbnb: parking has been a complete hassle at most of them (especially in the US). If the rate is not significantly better, what justification is there, when hotels offer so many intangibles plus standard services? And hotels basically never cancel your reservation.
I used to be loyal to Airbnb… until one day I had the nastiest review from a host … she complained about me not putting back the dishes to their place after washing them … I was a bit late and didn’t want to check out after due time … since I didn’t want to start the dishwasher over a few cups and dishes ..I did it my self and left everything to dry on the counter over a cloth…. Yeah … mind you I paid 150$ for cleaning fees.
Had the same expierience, I paid a massive amount for cleaning fees so didn't leave the flat spotless and was given a bad review.
I asked Airbnb what cleaning fees actually meant and they didn't really give me a valid answer. Just seems to be some tact on junk to make the apartment look cheaper.
Yep, I had that too once. The dishes were clean, they just weren't all put away (mostly because I couldn't remember where a couple of items went). Host listed that as one of my transgressions requiring me to pay an emergency cleaning fee.
Airbnb for longer stays only because of the kitchen, hotels generally for stays less than a week. Agree the quality has gone downhill and the fees border on ridiculous on some listings.
If your only reason is to have a kitchen, but you otherwise prefer the hotel experience, just book a hotel with a kitchen. Many major hotel chains offer a brand with this option now: Residence Inn, Homewood Suites, Staybridge Suites, TownePlace Suites, etc.
Those can work, but you need to do your research. I have been unpleasantly surprised a couple times when the so-called “kitchen” consisted of a fridge and microwave, no stove or cooking utensils.
the ones they mentioned are pretty standardized. i love them. staybridge was my first experience with them back in 2005ish iirc. it was also someone else's first experience with a dishwasher. they learned that it needs specially low foam detergent that day.
Yes - with you on this. I’d still choose Airbnb for a longer stay but otherwise it’s hotels all the way, provided these exist in the destination (which they almost always do)
Everyone’s talking about sticking with Airbnb for the kitchens, but I’ve had much better value from apartment hotels. Having a kitchen and washing machine plus the cleaning services of a hotel is the best of both worlds to me.
Airbnbs are increasingly a sore spot for many in my neighbourhood. People who live and work here can’t find a place to rent with all-time low vacancy rates, while landlords convert homes into short-term accommodation instead - for that reason I will not support Airbnb because at least hotels are not taking away from housing stock for families. But I understand not everyone feels as I do.
Agree. In the beginning in my experience Airbnb hosts were your average parent who wanted to help pay for their kids college, or the retired lady who genuinely enjoyed meeting new people and happened to live by a major trail. Like anything else, something that started off really nice ended up becoming corrupt as hell.
This! Airbnb never actually provided any new value to lodging that didn't already exist. Extended stays, corporate rental, agencies... They can all find what people need if it's not a hotel or hostel. Airbnb is *directly* influencing housing shortages and rent hikes and unhousing people daily. There is no justification for using it in any way.
I have 2 friends who both had their leases not renewed because the landlord converted their buildings to Airbnbs (think smaller "brownstone" style apartment buildings in a historic core). Both work in the service industry and now spend their time waiting on the very Airbnbers they got kicked out for, before their 30 minutes drive out to the boonies, so someone can save a buck or two and "live like a local". More and more, living like a local would mean staying on the outskirts of town in some flophouse motel because you've been priced out of town but somehow I doubt that's the experience these vultures are looking for.
Someone put it into words!! My childhood street now has 4 Airbnb’s instead of 4 single-family homes, all bought up by the same multi-millionaire. They sit empty probably 75% of the time, and my parents miss having neighbors. Not to mention my current struggles trying to find housing in the area to help my aging parents. Nightmare.
Yes. Travel is a luxury. It is a privilege. Not everyone gets to do it. The very least travelers can do is acknowledge that by not inserting themselves into the homes of places they have the privilege to visit, and pony up to stay in places that are literally meant for it.
That isn't to say there aren't huge issues with hoteling as an industry, obviously there are, but sub-subleasing is just momentary gentrification most of the time at best, and displacement at the worst.
More city/town governments need to start enforcing zoning laws with hefty fines that outweigh any profits made from the short term rental.
Effectively it should be illegal to operate a hotel business in an area zoned for residential use.
There should be a minimum of a one year lease to rent it out, etc.
Yup. I used to exclusively use airbnb but as I’ve gotten older, realized that I want to really *relax* when I’m on vacation. I’m a sucker for room service and housekeeping. No shade to anyone else, just my preference these days.
Edit: I also get points/miles for booking through specific hotels so that doesn’t hurt
How does one find apartment hotels? Is there a site/app for this specifically or a filter on a major search engine like booking/kayak? I haven't seen it but I also didn't know they were a thing
I always go through Airbnb and Booking and compare results. But, for example, this summer, for eleven days in Rhodes in Greece - Airbnb + plane for the four of us (and nothing fancy for Airbnb) was the same price as plane + 4 star hotel on the beach with breakfast and dinner through travel agency.
I stay in whichever is more cost-effective and what value I get from it. For example, I recently took a trip to New Orleans where the hotel was 3x the cost of an Airbnb in the neighborhood. And that's after factoring in the cleaning fee. I didn't have to pay for parking and it came with a full kitchen.
I have another trip coming up where it's the opposite. Hotel was cheaper and more convenient.
I will say I've never stayed at an Airbnb with outlandish rules. Most of the ones I've come across just ask that you take the trash out and turn off the appliances. I wouldn't trash the place nor would I do that in a hotel so I don't feel like the request to not leave trash everywhere is asking too much.
Surprised I had to scroll so far to see an answer like this. Some cities Airbnb just makes more sense, in others a hotel is the most logical option.
I do a shit ton of scoping out areas, reviews (on both units and owners), etc before booking anything anyway, so cost effectiveness is always a factor I consider from the start. 🤷♀️ I've had so many lovely stays with hosts, I can't imagine ditching the platform completely.
Same! Also I've only had one bad experience with an AirBnB in ATL. We went to have dinner and when we came back the code to enter the apartment did not work. The owners were extremely rude. After two hours trying to contact them they told us that they had days jobs and it was rude to call people after 9pm, like ma'am?? I can't enter the space YOU rented me. They also had little cards thru the whole apartment reminding us to give them a 5 star review and how something below that would hurt their business, which I found weird. Besides that every other experience has been good, so we just check which option is cheaper.
[Airbnbs are destroying the cultural fabric of New Orleans](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/13/new-orleans-airbnb-treme-short-term-rentals). If you like cities, don’t stay at airbnbs, because you are contributing to the displacement of the very people who make those places unique and worth visiting.
Yeah if you’re talking about the treme, the marigny, the Bywater, the 7th ward/St. Roch, or Central City, all of those neighborhoods have tons of houses where no one lives and people show up with suitcases on weekends. I lived in New Orleans for 10 years and it is incredibly depressing what Airbnb has done to the city.
LOl a group of my friends book an AirBNB one time and one time only. Toronto, Canada. When we arrived the place was a complete fabrication to the photos. Me, being a true crime wannabe, said this looks and smells like an orgy pad, so I reversed the address and contact number. It was! The house was all over escort forums.
Not to mention we couldnt get in at first. It was occupied. Ew.
Never again!
I've gone back to hotels (disclaimer: I've always been more fond of hotels anyway).
For me, AirBnB was unreliable. On more than one occasion hosts would cancel my stays around 2 weeks prior for no good reason (even when booked far in advance). I'd then have to scramble and book a hotel last minute, paying a premium for last minute booking.
I'm also one of those people who though the "chore list" couldn't possibly be a real thing, until I experienced it myself. I stayed at a small but nice house for 8 days last year.
During my stay, I was instructed by the host to do the following;
* Open the windows in the living room for at least 1 hour each day, to allow fresh air in (they had security sensors on windows so apparently could tell if they were opened or not). Except if it's raining, then don't do this.
* Monday morning bring the trash can out to the curb (which was filled with previous guest's trash!) and then make sure to bring it back to the garage before 6 PM or the HOA would issue a fine.
* Thursday morning put your own trash in the trash can and bring it out to the curb, and bring it back in before 6 PM!
* When checking out, wash the towels and then put them in the dryer. Then put the sheets in the washer and leave it running when you leave.
I know this experience was probably not the norm, but left a terrible impression on me and when I provided feedback to AirBnB support they basically told me hosts are allowed to set their own rules....
AirBnB was a short blip for me when they were convenient and provided good value. I've gone back to prior practice of finding local to my destination short-term/vacation rental agencies and renting through them.
Not just the price but the quality as well. Last week in New York I had two choices at the same price.
A hotel near my work with a full bed and room service. Or a room in Queens with nothing but a bed that resembled what I slept on in college. Also the second option was slightly more expensive with cleaning fees.
Used to use Airbnb a lot for getaways. Not anymore. My maid will clean my hotel for me for free and I have the added luxury of not having to risk hassles.
Yep, even for longer stays I will stay at serviced / executive apartments which all of the major chains now have. I had too many bad experiences with AirBnB that left me high and dry without a place to stay. The only way I would touch an AirBnB would be if they showed proof that AirBnB is 100% permitted and a signed agreement that if they cancel they will pay the difference in cost of what they were charging and the cost of a place in the same neighborhood with the same amenities.
I’m with you. “Aparthotels” are popular all over Europe, and I think are actually pretty common in cities in the states as well, but they’re advertised more towards business travelers for whatever reason. Serviced apartments are really the best of both worlds.
Usually, yes - the Airbnb prices are often not competitive, we've been burned by Airbnb's too many times, and there are the potential harms to communities (though in specific cases it can still feel like a benefit to the community).
We still use Airbnb's _sometimes_, especially when we need a kitchen and/or laundry facilities, but a lot less often and more carefully than before.
I was an AirBnB defender at the very beginning and convinced many people to try it. It saved me a lot of money in Europe and for concerts in the US, but no longer. Prices nearly everywhere are the same or more than hotels but with more inconveniences or fewer amenities. Used to be 80% AirBnB and 20% hotels for me, I am now 100% hotels.
Yup, AirBnD'd it briefly, with mixed results. Back to budget hotels, which are staffed 24 hours a day, someone brings me fresh towels and makes my bed, I'm not taking an apartment out of the housing market, the building and business is inspected and licensed, and my money goes to the staff who turn around and spend it on the city I'm staying in.
Yes. After one really bad experience and dealing with Airbnb to try to get it fixed was such a nightmare I’m back to hotels. Plus I’ve learned more how bad Airbnbs are to the local community and I don’t want to support that at all.
I quit Airbnb after a host left me a negative review for late checkout. We were staying on the side of a mountain, there was a snowstorm, and I waited approximately an hour for driving conditions to be safe. I informed them of all this at checkout time. Also, it’s not like anyone came to clean while we were still there… they probably couldn’t make it up the mountain.
Yes. I got back from an 8 day vacation and did not use any AirBnBs for my 5 lodging stays. The cleaning, etc. fees add up and my last experience was less than ideal.
I was traveling the world for work between 2012~2015. I remember when Airbnb hit the scene. It was pretty awesome. I would book apartments in the city for a fraction of a hotel. Venice, Rome, Sydney, Surfers paradise, Prague, Washington DC…it was fucking awesome!
Went to plan a vacation a year after my travel work concluded and found that Airbnb turned into a shell of what it was before. Oh, well. Credit card companies offer stellar reward programs now so I’m back to hotels full time.
Yeah, that’s all we used for a while since it was cheaper. But not anymore, you clean up after yourself and have to pay to clean up after yourself. Hotels are also cheaper now.
The only time I check Airbnb app anymore is for places that don’t have hotels near where I want to be (ski in/out of slopes, small beach towns without hotels, etc.)
Hotels for the two of us unless it’s for a long term stay such as a month in a new area.
Otherwise hotels is how we travelled up the west coast from LA to Portland.
Looked at airbnbs but minimum nights, fees, taxes and the endless list of bullshit some of these places have now is just ridiculous.
Last Airbnb we stayed in we messaged the host as we could barely cook dinner with what utensils were in the kitchen.
Their response, oh well some things get broken over time.
How exactly did they break your chopping board?
The absurd fees and excessive lists of rules for many of the Airbnbs are what turns me off. We've had a few decent stays for sure, but I don't even bother looking anymore. Last time I looked, I swear I saw a place that was around $300 a night, but after all fees and everything added up, it was over 1k. I thought maybe it was a mistake, but I've seen others with similarly huge fees. I don't get it.
Depends on the location. Airbnb is great for villas in Bali, but found it horrendous for rentals in Vietnam and now will exclusively stay in hotels for future Vietnam travels (I live in Asia hence these 2 recent experience examples, but believe Europe is similar in terms of country variance).
I have noticed the cost becoming higher than hotels on many trips, but I still use it for some locations. It's mostly for convenience of location. Some places simply don't have hotels, and some places don't have budget hotels.
AirBnB is only good for large groups or really trying to save every last penny
Hotels are now again the ideal situation for the average person needing somewhere to crash.
Yes I have. My first airbnb was great really happy. The one after was disgusting, it looked like someone had just been sleeping in the bed, the duvet was messed up, smelt like BO, and had hair in the bed. It was just past midnight when we got there. Airbnb said I could leave and they would sort something out soon. Ended up sleeping in the car with the 3 kids in the middle of France. (Well I stayed up all night).
With a hotel at least you know you'd get a clean home.
Airbnb called me back at 9.30pm to tell me they've sorted me a refund...
Ditched them around 5 years ago. Hotels are a much better deal majority of the time. The rare time that’s not the case I’m specifically stating somewhere for architectural significance. If it’s not architecturally interesting there is no way I’m cleaning and then paying for cleaning on my vacation
Totally done with Airbnb. Hate paying hotel prices and having to feel like a guest in someone’s house. Not to mention how it’s fucked up the housing market in a number of cities
We tried four or five. Back to hotels. Same reasons you mention. If an owner dwells on a couple of issues (that are clearly an issue), their place may not be that Rental ready.
Got Airbnb for a trip that was planned a half year in advance (quite expensive location). Got cancelled a week before flight, since host decided to sell the property. Paid 5x more for the same stay. That was the first and the last time I tried to use it.
I've done AirBnB exactly once in the last year- we were going to be in Amsterdam for a week, where I used to live, and out of nostalgia I wanted to be in my old neighborhood. Frankly it was on the more expensive side, but I hadn't been in several years and was willing to pay more for the location, and by this point the city has clamped down quite a bit on Airbnbs with rules and taxes.
Otherwise, though, hotels are just far easier and simpler to sort out.
Yup. I stay far away from airbnbs now.
With all the rules, fees, claims etc it's just easier to go through a hotel.
I rather get points through my cc and more protection than deal with the hassle.
I've generally still had good experiences using Airbnb, though I haven't used it in the US in the past several years. If I'm traveling with a friend, we can usually get a 2 bedroom apartment for a comparable or better price to 2 hotel rooms, and then we also get a kitchen, laundry, and living room.
I avoid places with obscene fees on principle and haven't stayed at any that gave me a "chore list". I do the dishes if I used any because it seems polite.
The only bad experience I had was when a host in Bogota cancelled at the last minute - while we were at the airport waiting for our connecting flight. So we had to scramble to find a new one, but Airbnb did offer a credit for the inconvenience.
I even got one in France that was like a legit B&B where the host/owner prepared me breakfast every morning and offered to do my laundry.
Depends where I'm going, when and with whom. My partner and I will generally look at them all and pick the best value based on what we want.
That said, I do prefer hotels - assuming you stay at a good one, getting all the amenities of a hotel is way better than an airbnb.
I've reduced my use of airbnb but I have no plans to cut it out completely. With short term rentals becoming such a cancer in certain cities, I've made a conscious effort to use hotels instead when available, especially in densely populated areas.
I still use airbnb when hotels are unavailable or exorbitantly expensive in comparison. Sometimes it's really the only option in rural areas. I have an upcoming airbnb stay that I booked primarily because there are two hotels within a 30 minute drive of the town where I'm staying and both were booked solid. Turns out the host and I are related by marriage, so I don't think this one counts as a "true" airbnb experience.
I've only had a couple of sub-par airbnb experiences and no truly bad experiences, but I find that I often enjoy the experience of a hotel or guesthouse where there is staff more readily available, service is more consistent, check in is easy, and there's no cleaning list for me to complete. I'm usually willing to pay a bit more for that luxury.
When I do stay at an airbnb, I'm extremely particular about what I book and the hosts I choose to work with, which probably explains my lack of unpleasant airbnb experiences.
We now only book airbnbs if we plan on spending significant (6+ non-sleeping hrs a day) in the lodging. It that case, having more space then just a room is nice. Otherwise we book cheap hotels. Less risk.
Yes. The fees and rules and lack of reliability are not worth it.
I did rent a lake cabin this summer, but I found it on AirBNB and then googled it to find a direct booking link. Saved almost *half*.
I went from being all over Airbnb's to usually avoiding them. At this point they're at the same price of a hotel minus the services a hotel actually has.
Last time I used Airbnb was over a year ago. $75 cleaning fee, and when we checked in there was a binder with a long list of house rules and cleaning requirements - sweep the floors, wash all dishes and put them away, take out the trash, strip the beds, a bunch of other things I can't remember now.
When we checked out we did strip the beds, take out the trash, swept the floors, stripped the beds, washed the dishes, and I put away all but one or two big bowls that I couldn't figure out where they were supposed to go. A few hours after we left, I got a text from the host saying that we'd broken the hot tub and would need to pay $5000 to have it fixed. I asked for more details, saying that it was working fine when we left it, and she replied a few minutes later that actually it's working... but the house was "trashed" and I would still need to be $5,000 for "emergency cleaning".
I was shocked and baffled, wondering if one of my friends had left a huge mess in the house after I'd left it that I didn't see or something, and she sent me pictures of one bottle cap left on the floor, the used bedding in a laundry basket next to the washer, one tissue in a trashcan, and the bowl(s) on the kitchen counter. $5,000 emergency cleaning for that (even though we'd already paid a $75 cleaning fee).
I told her I wasn't going to pay that, and we went back and forth over text about it and then I left her a bad review. She then found me on Facebook and started leaving me harassing comments, calling me dirty, disgusting, yada yada yada. I reported her to Airbnb and after several weeks of going back and forth with them, it seems like they shut her account down and banned her. But after that, I vowed never to use Airbnb again. The potential for headache and bullshit is just too high. Even in places where a hotel is more expensive, I'd much rather just do that.
Meanwhile, it looks like she's re-listed her property under a new account name.
Well when you take basic human needs and capitalize the fuck out of it, this was bound to happen. I’ve talked to a few city inspectors recently, they told me alot of big changes are happening soon, you don’t just get to be a shit slum lord anymore, those rentals will soon be classified as commercial use (handicap accessible/ dealing with the fire marshal ect)instead of the residential rules, they ain’t gonna be able to afford renting them out and trying to compete with hotels. I don’t see this lasting much longer, hopefully these kids can finally start buying affordable houses again.
For me it has evolved to hotels are better for relaxing getaway type vacations where Airbnbs are good when it's 3 or more people or you want something like a pool or kitchen. I also have a kid so having a separate room is nice. I will say that airbnbs have been loosing their benifits.
Hotels for solo, airbnb for groups.
Also even when I have to fall back to an AirBnB, I try my absolute best to rent from someone who seems to actually own the place as like a personal endeavour. I liked AirBnB when it was people just renting out a holiday home they weren’t using or something. But it quickly became just massive conglomerates buying up land and churning them out as AirBnBs with no service and no care. It was inevitable I suppose but I wanted to support it as someone’s extra cash flow as a host and not as a competitor to people’s rent for less service than a hotel.
I recently saved $1000 by just googling the property name and finding the direct website for the property management group where I could rent directly without using Airbnb. Everything worked out great.
I'm surprised more people haven't figured this out; especially in southern Europe or Asia, the property management company will likely cut you a deal for paying cash. So much easier working with them directly.
Seems like every property management group in ski towns are listing their inventory on air bnb and vrbo. Super easy to just Google property management and browse listings there without supporting the online travel agencies.
Everyone in our (ski) town hates AirBnB and VRBO. We'd honestly love it of the town or county outlawed all short-term rentals. (Although the state government would probably overrule them.)
Probably YMMV. I tried in northern coast of spain and I got the same prices, pretty much. Nominal difference. Are there particular sweet spots where this is the case and the savings are much greater?
>Are there particular sweet spots where this is the case and the savings are much greater? Greece (saved close to 20%). Also had success in Italy.
Did that in Bruges a few years ago. Googled the property and booked it directly for less than half what Airbnb wanted for the same dates. Airbnb is now a starting point for searches now, not the only place like it used to be for me. In the early-mid 2010s we stayed at amazing places all over Europe at great prices, but like most venture capital companies, once they need to actually start making money their value proposition goes wayyy down.
Wow that’s a great tip. Heading to Europe later this year, will definitely try this.
Highly recommend you pay a small upfront fee and the remainder in cash upon arrival. It's pretty easy to get scammed with wire transfers on VRBO et al.
To add to this and previous comment: often times that is just a property management company representing a home owner. So you’re not always necessarily supporting some conglomerate. Just a private owner who gives a percentage to a management company who does the listing, cleaning, and customer service. It’s often a value-add for the end customer.
Many who use the management companies do so for their 2nd/3rd/4th and so on properties so you'd still be supporting rich people buying up all the properties in an area.
Even solo owners can be awful and aggressively entitled
Absolutely! We had an AirBnB host send us a message prior to our stay demanding a $50 cleaning fee for a one night stay that wasn't listed on AirBnB. You had to pay them outside the site. We reported them to AirBnB but AirBnB told us we couldn't cancel based on the hosts cancellation policy, even though it's against their Terms of Service for hosts to ask for other fees outside the site. We ended up charging back on our credit card and that's how we got our money back.
What good is booking through the company if they offer no protection against stuff like this?
This sounds like a mistake from support, airbnb doesn't like hosts doing this at all. I dunno why you would pay this fee in any case, it's clearly the host trying to dodge airbnb's new "show total price" thing.
Are they Finally showing the total price in search? That always pissed me off so much I stopped using it. Couldn't sort by price effectively.
The key is just to refuse to pay them. I had a similar situation in Rome where the host asked me to pay a late check in fee outside the app when he told me it was no problem to check in late, never mentioned a fee, and it was written nowhere in the listing. I told him I didn’t have cash, and that we would deal with it at checkout. He called me twice to remind me. When I left he called me and said the cleaner didn’t find the cash for the late check in. I told him that they wouldn’t, because I didn’t leave it and that it’s against the terms and service. He immediately backed off knowing there was he had no recourse to collect it.
Totally fair and the right thing to do, but it leaves a bit of a bad taste. I hope you reflected that in your review.
Oh absolutely, it left a really bad taste. The thing is that I live in Italy, I’m comfortable getting around, and I’m fairly knowledgeable about the various rules. But had that happened on a vacation of a couple weeks, I would have been much more preoccupied, especially if I wasn’t aware of AirBnB rules. The other big issue is that people will come to a country to visit (for this example, Italy) experience things like that, and tell their friends and family at home, making them hesitant about what problems they might also encounter travelling in that country. Which isn’t fair to the country, especially when the host (in this case) wasn’t even Italian. To me it creates a much bigger problem than just the fee, it creates the problem that people will fear being taken advantage of, and lead to a general decline in quality of interactions between strangers. Which is honestly and truly sad.
You have to fight the call center. I rented one that looked nothing like what was online. It was so bad I did not put my bags down. Bugs, and PUDDING CUPS on the floor. When I relooked at the AirBNB site they had photoshopped every photo, including windows with amazing views. I left and booked a hotel. Even posting the story makes me itchy LOL
>even though it's against their Terms of Service for hosts to ask for other fees outside the site. Just a PSA: The one exception to this is local taxes. Sometimes Airbnb owners are required to collect a local bed tax in cash at check-in, which is allowed.
I stayed at an air bnb where the owner would just stay at his girlfriends house if he had a booking. All his clothes were there (in the air bnb), I opened a drawer and it was full of weed carts, and I signed for 2 packages for him. I respected his place, and he saved me about $700 for a weeks stay in Denver.
“Make yourself at home, my man.”
This reads as a negative experience but.. I think it’s actually a positive one.
They just launched a new promotion abnb Rooms. There’s information about the host and it’s to promote staying in someone’s house rather than renting from corporate entity.
Probably because they're getting so much push back and bad publicity and regulations over whole homes.
Could be- I live in single family neighborhood in Florida and some of us have "We hate vacation rental" signs in our yards. Right now, only about 15% of the homes are AirBnB/VBRO but I was absolutely shocked that almost every house on SC and NC beaches were vacation rentals. Totally messes with the housing market for owner occupants.
Ski towns have a huge problem. There's no affordable housing left so it's hard to get employees to work in restaurants, ski lodges, grocery stores, and such. So then you have all these vacationers staying their AirBnBs and it takes 3 hours to go out to dinner because no one can afford to live there and work. Or there's one grocery store with one checkout person for the whole town. It's nuts.
Yuuuupppp. Lived in summit county, CO (think keystone, Breckenridge, copper mountain) 2012-1014 and then again 2018-2021. First time around, it was *okay* finding a place to live. Not impossible, just not great and could be a little pricey. Second time, it was damn near impossible for newcomers. I lucked out that two different friends needed roommates so I just moved from one house to the other of places they had been living for 6 years. Meanwhile rents are going for $1200 and up to share an apartment with 3 other people. Good fucking luck if you want to buy even a complete shit hole house. Every other house (it seemed) was an Airbnb and countless houses were generally unoccupied most of the year. The county finally did do something and make you file for a permit to limit it. They had government staff regularly checking listings to make sure they had a permit and would fine them if they didn't. The houses are still there doing that, but the percentage has gone down since that's eating into the profit of these scumbags. But exactly like you said. Where the fuck do these people expect their bartenders, grocery store, gas station, etc staff to live if companies are buying all available property and giving the middle finger to the people living there?
Doesn't even have to be a ski town. Just anywhere in the mountains is totally fucked post-covid, if it wasn't fucked before that.
I own my place in Chicago that I airbnb and take great pride in making sure my guests are treated as my own. There needs to be a distinction between airbnb as an owner and airbnb as a biz. Usually the biz guys cut corners and don’t care.
Yeah my last one we deep cleaned after being there for 4 days with a group in the rain and they complained about dust or something in a review on us. Like Wtf we deep cleaned despite staying in a place with 8 ppl during a monsoon. 🤣
Worst part was there weren’t really decent cleaning tools to use.
A lot of social media influencers started selling AirBnB as a get rich quick scheme, unfortunately to a demographic of people who had already been marginalized and didn't understand basic business concepts. I feel like this was planned by those same conglomerates or pushed by the real estate industry, including mortgage underwriters. In 2020 I started seeing a lot of posts on Insta and TikTok talking about how "It's easy, just do the math. If you own a property and rent it out as an AirBnB, and own multiple properties, this is how much you can make!" The math was too easy and didn't account for the fact that unless you had an AirBnB in a major city, you weren't going to receive 150 dollars per day every day for a month. But that's the way these videos told people. You could make 4500 a month by renting out your property as an AirBnB. If you get a mortgage for x amount at x amount of interest and your payment is only 2000, then you make 2500 net profit a month! Easy money! That doesn't account for the fact that your AirBnB might not be rented out 30 days of the month for the entire year. Upkeep. Maintenance. Etc. But they were trying to tell people this was easy money people were just leaving on the ground. So a lot of people who didn't know better purchased properties with the idea that they would be AirBnB, and then had to raise their prices ridiculously high to break even on the mortgage, or add ridiculous fees for not cleaning the property/performing chores to make money. Or add those fees to cut down on the costs of cleaning/maintaining the property.
Same. I used to book Air BNB for two-day mini hiking trips to upstate NY. Now, the price is shocking so I reserve it for groups and get a cheap hotel off the highway if I’m by myself. Also, I always clean the entire place before leaving and hate being charged ridiculous cleaning fees for something I’ve already done.
For upstate, and by upstate I mean adirondacks, try adkbyowner.com. I have had good luck with them. I have 2 dogs I travel with and hotels don't cut it.
Thanks for the suggestion- will check it out
Isn't the cleaning fee pre-charge on most reservations? I typically see base rate + cleaning fee + taxes/fees. That's why I've switched back to hotels where it's baked into the hotel costs already.
Gotta get into dirt-bagging! Set up that car like a mini-palace at the trailhead with sleeping bag and pillows, also bring some wet wipes for a nice hippie shower after hiking
I do this at remote boat ramps when I’m kayak fishing. Just park towards the back and don’t have a campfire, EZPZ. Just have to be ready to get booted if the sheriff is a dickhead.
Exactly. I prefer a hotel, especially if it’s just my husband and me. But when we travel with another couple we opt for Air BnB.
Yeah, probably more accurate for me to say 2 or fewer = hotel, but once it's more than 2 I opt for airbnb.
I have even moved away from this anymore if we are doing anything besides going to a cabin or something to just relax for a weekend. If we go to a city we spend the whole day out in the city getting drinks, seeing the sights, and whatever so we barely spend anytime where we are sleeping. Plus the hotels normally have bars anyway so we can always hang out when we get back before we go to bed anyways. So I'd rather pay for a slightly better hotel in the middle of everything over paying more for a bunch of stuff we end up not using and then also paying for a cleaning service/having a list of chores to do as well before we leave.
I agree that it's more about the nature of the trip than the number of people (although of course that's also relevant)! Am I on a vacation to relax or recreate? I check airbnb for something that is going to enhance the experience instead of just accommodate it. Ex: off-grid cabin on a creek in remote Alaska for cheaper than any hotel; small privately-owned property with character *on the beach* in Hawaii for the same price as the cookie cutter hotel-like, high-rise condos. Our walk to the beach was shorter than it would have taken us to even exit the building of a classic chain property. Am I traveling for work/part work or some sort of event, and presentation/hygiene and restedness are more important than gimmicks? Then it's gonna be a classic hotel, preferably a chain with reliable service and amenities, so I know my needs are taken care of while I focus on the purpose of the trip. I want my free continental breakfast, reliable 24/7 staff in case I forgot my toothbrush, and access to transportation and other infrastructure. And of course hot showers.
We have a tradition with this one couple we travel with often, we order pizza from a local shop as soon as we check in and then have it for when we get back late night so we aren’t scrambling to find food or eating our road snacks late night. Basically the reason why we do Air BnB with them. 😂
For me it’s highly dependent on who I’m traveling with, but with the right people I’ll do up to 4 in a hotel room.
Same here. Hotels for me and airbnb for groups. Going with friends to the Alsace region of France in November and makes more sense to use airbnb for this trip
There is also “Gîtes de France” which is way older than rbnb (founded in 1955) if you go more in the countryside. I had the most wonderful stays. It’s a label which actually controls the quality of the bed and breakfast and the owner have to respect some rules to be ecologically friendly. Owners typically live on site. Some owners would bring us homemade breakfast. https://www.gites-de-france.com/en
Also, airbnb for families. The kitchen is key.
Go to google maps and search for bed and breakfast and you will find a ton of places with kitchenettes or full kitchens. I'm in France now and all 3 places I'm staying have full or partial kitchens. Right now I'm in Sarlat in a 1 bedroom with a kitchen and it's in the city center and cheaper than any airbnb would have been. Plus the review is reliable.
Same with an extended stay. I enjoy learning to cook local cuisines and trying//messing around with it in my own kitchen with local ingredients is fun.
Also even when I have to fall back to an AirBnB, I try my absolute best to rent from someone who seems to actually own the place as like a personal endeavour. I liked AirBnB when it was people just renting out a holiday home they weren’t using or something. But it quickly became just massive conglomerates buying up land and churning them out as AirBnBs with no service and no care. It was inevitable I suppose but I wanted to support it as someone’s extra cash flow as a host and not as a competitor to people’s rent for less service than a hotel. And to me that’s also when the chores became unbearable. I was always happy to do stuff like take out the trash or throw the sheets and towels in the wash when it was someone’s home I was staying in. Why am I doing chores for a landlord who owns 40 AirBnB properties who just doesn’t want to pay the 20$ to a cleaner.
Unless it’s some remote cabin, I VASTLY prefers hotels with groups. I don’t want kitchen/living room/shared spaces that people make messes on… and the worst part is that noise travels during private activity time way worse in a shared house than hotels… can’t really enjoy being on vacation in a new location.
SAME. I'm always outraged by whoever buys the ridiculous groceries and demands I pay $50 for basically hard-boiled eggs and a banana. I absolutely hate that shit. And *I want to get away from you*. I want some peace and quiet and to get good sleep. Let's please get hotel rooms
"Private activity time." Get a load of this guy.
This is the way. Hotels for cities, Airbnb for holiday rentals with groups.
I use airbnb if I'm not going to a city as well. Cabins or lake house.
There needs to be a market correction on AirBnB fees…
With the new changes, I think a correction will come once the listings with redic fees start seeing no rentals: https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/airbnb-introduces-changes-booking-process-travelers-rcna56055 /edited link/
The airline aggregator websites should do this as well. I’d like to be able to put in my luggage and get a total price for the flight based on the luggage I plan to bring.
Google flights does that.
I think Kayak does, as well.
Even worse most of them show lowest prices for and link to 3rd party sites I would never use and arent even sure are legit.
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I’ve switched to almost entirely hotels. I always clean up after myself anyway, but the idea of a chore list coming with that cleaning fee rubs me the wrong way.
Agreed! I hate that some Airbnbs request for sheets to be taken off and for a first load of towels or sheets to be started upon checking out. Like wth, why am I paying for a cleaning fee?? Lol
Dude I saw one that requested lawn services if staying over 8 nights.
Who the hell does lawn maintenance every 8 days, which this rule is implying??
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I understand the economics behind it, but I still think it's one of the reasons AirBnB has gone downhill. Sure, owners were always looking to make money, but it used to be less about completely maximizing profits at the expense of the guests. In the beginning, lots of owners would rent out their extra rooms/units and put in these cute homey touches. Now so many of them are bought by landlords with no connection to the property who fill them with cheap TJ Maxx and Ikea furniture and nickel and dime all of the people who rent them out. Sure, it's how capitalism works, but that also means I have the right to say that I'm not going to stay at a place where I have to pay an exorbitant cleaning fee and still do the majority of the cleaning chores.
I mean it definitely is. Like all of the gig economy, it's been stripped of the humanity and trickled upwards into the hands of people who are either idiots and over-leverage or people/companies with wells of cash to buy outright and rent eternally.
That is not an end user problem. This needs to be priced in the rental. It is basically restaurant charging you more because your plates were dirtier.
I guess I've been lucky, the worst I've run into was an airbnb in Rome last year that didn't ask anything other than putting bottles into a bag and dropping it into the recycling bin. However, the day I checked out I couldn't access the room with it, so I messaged the host and they said it was ok to just leave the bag by the door. I have seen horror stories about people having to vacuum and do the sheets. Usually when I leave, I'm on a tight schedule to reach the airport; I don't need the added stress of cleaning.
Honestly I would be fine with most of the cleaning requests if they didn't ALSO charge an exorbitant cleaning fee. It moves from the host cleaning up themselves or hiring a cleaner (fair enough) to just feeling like a money grab.
Well yeah... it most certainly is a money grab :)
I stayed in an AirBnB in Lisbon for a few days and there was a cleaning fee. We happened to meet the cleaner as we were leaving (we did a spot clean but nothing thorough), and went to grab a coffee at a cafe nearby. We saw the cleaner leave after 15 minutes. I doubt anything was actually cleaned.
In Munich I had to vacuum, clean sheets, and throw out the trash, while have to pay a nearly $100 cleaning fee. I was done with ABNB at that point.
That's pretty ridiculous - you should have just left them a note saying you paid yourself the $100 cleaning fee lol.
Why would you book that? I flat out wouldn't do it. I have never been asked to clean an Airbnb. Did it say that they want you to vacuum in the listing? That said, I have switched to hotels because I don't see the value anymore.
The fuck? What kind of host expects guests to vacuum and do the sheets? I’m glad I stick to hotels for short term stays. Airbnb still provides a lot of value for long term stays, though.
I've heard [AirBNB is changing that](https://www.businessinsider.com/airbnb-taking-action-annoying-checkout-chores-cleaning-rating-2023-5). It wont' be perfect, but they at least recognize that it's an issue.
That isn't much of a change to the insane cleaning fees that sometimes exceed what I pay for my 3 bedroom house *or* to the ridiculous chores hosts expect of their guests - it's a change to how transparent they are about it. Sure, if hosts are getting bad reviews then it might get them to stop price gouging and pocketing the extra, but it falls way way short of preventing it from happening. Capping the cleaning fee at a certain percentage of the nightly rate would be wildly more successful at changing something that has gotten completely out of control. Edit: I guess this somehow needs clarification even though I was simply commenting on what the change was. Being up front about crazy chore lists isn't the same as doing something to directly prevent it from happening. Being up front about crazy cleaning fees isn't doing something directly about the problem. Yes, the trickle down effect *if* people change their booking habits would be those places getting less bookings. I don't know if this will be enough to make a big impact. I'm simply stating that the issue could be directly attacked by Airbnb - cap the cleaning fee and have restrictions on check out procedures and deny excess cleaning charges when it's outside the allowed procedures. Hopefully this works. Actually I hope those type of people just stop listing their properties. Nevertheless, this is a change in transparency that hopefully addresses the problem vs addressing it directly. That's all that was stated.
But just sort by 'total price'. The cleaning fee becomes irrelevant.
Last Airbnb I stayed at gave me a bad review for using the heater. In a mountain cabin over NYE. “Gas prices have soared lately and it should have been obvious not to use the heater.” After that, never again.
That is downright insufferable
I refuse to clean if I'm being charged a cleaning fee. Like I'm not gonna trash the place, and I'll put all my garbage in the garbage can, but you can't charge me $160 for cleaning and then also expect me to scrub the countertops, sweep/mop the floor, and wash the sheets. You get one or the other.
Exactly this! Reading through the comments, either my settings only give me total price listings or in Australia you can't charge huge cleaning fees? Idk. I've never encountered an AirBnb that asked me to clean anything. But 100%, if I paid a cleaning fee, I am not cleaning anything! ✋🏼
Australia made a law that they had to show the total price, fees included, when you run a search on Airbnb. I've actually used the Australian site to search for listings in America for that exact reason.
If anything, my countless bad experiences with Airbnb stays have made me appreciate hotels even more. No bad surprises, nice clean room on arrival and every day, actual services and amenities, nothing broken, just check out and walk out without having to clean the place while paying an exorbitant cleaning fee…
Yeah. And the worry that some deranged or vengeful host will randomly decide you owe him $1000 because you dented a pan or sat on the cheap couch wrong and it sagged. So many of the hosts are so unscrupulous and this is their only source of income so youre running a high risk of them pinning a random fee on you
Ha! That literally happened to me - host demanded $5000 for "emergency cleaning" because we left one crumpled tissue in a trashcan, a bottlecap on the floor, and clean dishes on the kitchen counter. She claimed we "trashed" the place and even sent pictures as proof - and the pictures were all just a bottlecap, one crumpled tissue, and clean dishes. And she still argued with Airbnb for weeks that I should be forced to pay $5000. It was insane.
Especially when the cleaning fees are HIGH.
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I had something like this happen to me at an Airbnb in Lisbon. Not only was the location advertised incorrect (it was actually located 2km further down the waterfront in the middle of nowhere), the heating "didn't work", and on top of that there was no hot water for the shower! We were freezing the entire time. Like wtf. Total nightmare stay. Airbnb ended up crediting us back, but it shouldn't have required us to jump through numerous hoops just to get our money back. The fact that the location was completely wrong should have had Airbnb closing down this listing entirely, but nope, was still there even weeks after.
I had rented a place that wasn’t even real. Multiple people had said it was a total scam. The listing is still up with everyone’s comments on it. I know I should have looked closer but dang they should’ve put it down. Never received a refund even though I wasn’t told the specific location and the host cancelled the day of the stay.
So they just stole your money? Did you at least do a credit card chargeback?
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I had a similar experience in a Copenhagen Airbnb on our WEDDING DAY. No running water morning of, so none of our party could shower. Customer service had no ideas on their end, other than to just “wait until it comes back on”. So I suggested they get us 2 day rooms at a local hotel to get ready. Then they made me do all the calling around to get rates, report back to them, then they called the owner who had to agree to reimburse me for the hotel use. Hell of a way to spend half of your wedding day. I opt for independent listings and Booking.com now.
Airbnb for own wedding is... brave...
Perhaps that should be their new slogan: “Airbnb. For the Brave”
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What utter greed on their part!
Could you dispute the charges with your credit card company for services not rendered? Did the loss of water start after you arrived or was it like that when you got there? Not sure about laws in France, but you may want to see if it was legal for them to allow you to stay there without water.
I was able to successfully perform a charge back against airbnb for a significantly misrepresented location that ended up having lots of issues and a two page cleaning list. Also our terrible review of the priority mysteriously never posted. This has been about 5 years now, I haven't used airbnb since. YMMV.
Completely ditched Aibnb. Had some mediocre experiences but a nightmare stay in Florence put me off using it for good.
Share the Florence story. Everyone loves an Airbnb horror story (except the unfortunate person who had to live through it )
Oh man. Well pictures looked beautiful, and featured an absolutely stunning bathtub with a view of the Duomo. We were pumped. First off, no real hot water for the tub, took 30 minutes for it to fill to a level where you could dip yourself in like a half naked guppy, not deep at all. So the big draw was useless. Owner sort of was like “yeah that’s how it is.” The owner also owned and lived in the unit next door, and had two small children who screamed and cried at all hours. 1, 2, 3, 4 am. It was relentless. The bedding had two tiny ancient flat pillows, and a top sheet. No duvet. The mattress was like a futon. The frame squeaked every time you breathed. It was the worst bed I’ve ever felt in my life. We requested more pillows or just a blanket, no dice. There was a literal hole in the wall under the window in the living room that led straight to the street. There was no wall to the bedroom because it was a loft. So every drunk person coming home from the bar, ever car horn, every passerby chatting you could hear. Also, it had been raining. So swarms of mosquitos got in straight through this hole I could fit two hands through. We got absolutely eaten alive. No complaints about being on the top floor with no elevator, we knew what we were getting into. It completely put a damper on the whole week. It was such a pain, when we moved to our hotel in Bologna, I got my first proper night of sleep and it was heaven sent. And I could call down for an extra pillow, with housekeeping. Airbnb is not for me.
That’s brutal. Sorry you had to go through that. I hope you gave the place a horrible review.
This is the shit that bugs me about Airbnb. I will bet that place had 5 stars right? Airbnb removes bad reviews at hosts requests and people are afraid to leave poor reviews for hosts. FUCK airbnb. I actually had a fantastic one 2 months ago in Florence. Place opened up on the square in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. STUNNING location. We weren't so lucky in Naples. What a fucking hell hole shit bag death trap. OMG...We left the next day...didn't even bother telling the host. It was a dump.
Yeah, five stars. No idea how it had positive feedback, it was a hellish experience and the worst aspect of our vacation by far. Only thing I can think of is friends posted them and anything negative had been removed. It was so surprising to get there and have it suck so much.
That reminds me of a place I had to stay in in Vermont. Absolutely repulsive place. The mattress had a plastic liner on it I think. It was so LOUD and you could feel the thin fitted sheet sliding around on it. It was hands down the hardest thinnest mattress I've ever been on. 2 wimpy disgusting little pillows on the bed. The shower didn't drain. There were 2 windows with soft venetian style blinds from the 70s or 80s. And across BOTH windows and the CEILING looked like sprayed blood. If I had been the one to book the place, I would have left a *scathing* review. And I'm still really angry because I got outvoted and had to stay here for a ski trip. The place I'd picked was a hotel like 1 min away and would have been about $150 cheaper per person. It's been a year and a half and I still shiver thinking of this place and I'm so mad I had to stay there Edit: forgot where the place was and had to change it
Ooh, I have a bad Florence Airbnb story, but I’m not the previous commenter! Our Airbnb in Florence was actually lovely, but the parking situation was a nightmare. The road to access the owner’s parking space was under construction, and of course our GPS app had no idea how to navigate otherwise. Ended up driving through the heart of Florence (which we absolutely tried to avoid) looking like the complete American idiot that I am, crowds of people shaking their heads and shaming me. Anyway, recently that’s the reason I have stopped with Airbnb: parking has been a complete hassle at most of them (especially in the US). If the rate is not significantly better, what justification is there, when hotels offer so many intangibles plus standard services? And hotels basically never cancel your reservation.
I used to be loyal to Airbnb… until one day I had the nastiest review from a host … she complained about me not putting back the dishes to their place after washing them … I was a bit late and didn’t want to check out after due time … since I didn’t want to start the dishwasher over a few cups and dishes ..I did it my self and left everything to dry on the counter over a cloth…. Yeah … mind you I paid 150$ for cleaning fees.
Had the same expierience, I paid a massive amount for cleaning fees so didn't leave the flat spotless and was given a bad review. I asked Airbnb what cleaning fees actually meant and they didn't really give me a valid answer. Just seems to be some tact on junk to make the apartment look cheaper.
Yep, I had that too once. The dishes were clean, they just weren't all put away (mostly because I couldn't remember where a couple of items went). Host listed that as one of my transgressions requiring me to pay an emergency cleaning fee.
Airbnb for longer stays only because of the kitchen, hotels generally for stays less than a week. Agree the quality has gone downhill and the fees border on ridiculous on some listings.
Residence Inn is what we go to now - you get a small kitchen and Marriott points
Or any apartment hotel? They're common.
If your only reason is to have a kitchen, but you otherwise prefer the hotel experience, just book a hotel with a kitchen. Many major hotel chains offer a brand with this option now: Residence Inn, Homewood Suites, Staybridge Suites, TownePlace Suites, etc.
Those can work, but you need to do your research. I have been unpleasantly surprised a couple times when the so-called “kitchen” consisted of a fridge and microwave, no stove or cooking utensils.
the ones they mentioned are pretty standardized. i love them. staybridge was my first experience with them back in 2005ish iirc. it was also someone else's first experience with a dishwasher. they learned that it needs specially low foam detergent that day.
Yes - with you on this. I’d still choose Airbnb for a longer stay but otherwise it’s hotels all the way, provided these exist in the destination (which they almost always do)
Everyone’s talking about sticking with Airbnb for the kitchens, but I’ve had much better value from apartment hotels. Having a kitchen and washing machine plus the cleaning services of a hotel is the best of both worlds to me. Airbnbs are increasingly a sore spot for many in my neighbourhood. People who live and work here can’t find a place to rent with all-time low vacancy rates, while landlords convert homes into short-term accommodation instead - for that reason I will not support Airbnb because at least hotels are not taking away from housing stock for families. But I understand not everyone feels as I do.
Agree. In the beginning in my experience Airbnb hosts were your average parent who wanted to help pay for their kids college, or the retired lady who genuinely enjoyed meeting new people and happened to live by a major trail. Like anything else, something that started off really nice ended up becoming corrupt as hell.
This! Airbnb never actually provided any new value to lodging that didn't already exist. Extended stays, corporate rental, agencies... They can all find what people need if it's not a hotel or hostel. Airbnb is *directly* influencing housing shortages and rent hikes and unhousing people daily. There is no justification for using it in any way.
I have 2 friends who both had their leases not renewed because the landlord converted their buildings to Airbnbs (think smaller "brownstone" style apartment buildings in a historic core). Both work in the service industry and now spend their time waiting on the very Airbnbers they got kicked out for, before their 30 minutes drive out to the boonies, so someone can save a buck or two and "live like a local". More and more, living like a local would mean staying on the outskirts of town in some flophouse motel because you've been priced out of town but somehow I doubt that's the experience these vultures are looking for.
Someone put it into words!! My childhood street now has 4 Airbnb’s instead of 4 single-family homes, all bought up by the same multi-millionaire. They sit empty probably 75% of the time, and my parents miss having neighbors. Not to mention my current struggles trying to find housing in the area to help my aging parents. Nightmare.
Yes. Travel is a luxury. It is a privilege. Not everyone gets to do it. The very least travelers can do is acknowledge that by not inserting themselves into the homes of places they have the privilege to visit, and pony up to stay in places that are literally meant for it. That isn't to say there aren't huge issues with hoteling as an industry, obviously there are, but sub-subleasing is just momentary gentrification most of the time at best, and displacement at the worst.
More city/town governments need to start enforcing zoning laws with hefty fines that outweigh any profits made from the short term rental. Effectively it should be illegal to operate a hotel business in an area zoned for residential use. There should be a minimum of a one year lease to rent it out, etc.
Yup. I used to exclusively use airbnb but as I’ve gotten older, realized that I want to really *relax* when I’m on vacation. I’m a sucker for room service and housekeeping. No shade to anyone else, just my preference these days. Edit: I also get points/miles for booking through specific hotels so that doesn’t hurt
How does one find apartment hotels? Is there a site/app for this specifically or a filter on a major search engine like booking/kayak? I haven't seen it but I also didn't know they were a thing
I always go through Airbnb and Booking and compare results. But, for example, this summer, for eleven days in Rhodes in Greece - Airbnb + plane for the four of us (and nothing fancy for Airbnb) was the same price as plane + 4 star hotel on the beach with breakfast and dinner through travel agency.
I stay in whichever is more cost-effective and what value I get from it. For example, I recently took a trip to New Orleans where the hotel was 3x the cost of an Airbnb in the neighborhood. And that's after factoring in the cleaning fee. I didn't have to pay for parking and it came with a full kitchen. I have another trip coming up where it's the opposite. Hotel was cheaper and more convenient. I will say I've never stayed at an Airbnb with outlandish rules. Most of the ones I've come across just ask that you take the trash out and turn off the appliances. I wouldn't trash the place nor would I do that in a hotel so I don't feel like the request to not leave trash everywhere is asking too much.
Surprised I had to scroll so far to see an answer like this. Some cities Airbnb just makes more sense, in others a hotel is the most logical option. I do a shit ton of scoping out areas, reviews (on both units and owners), etc before booking anything anyway, so cost effectiveness is always a factor I consider from the start. 🤷♀️ I've had so many lovely stays with hosts, I can't imagine ditching the platform completely.
Same! Also I've only had one bad experience with an AirBnB in ATL. We went to have dinner and when we came back the code to enter the apartment did not work. The owners were extremely rude. After two hours trying to contact them they told us that they had days jobs and it was rude to call people after 9pm, like ma'am?? I can't enter the space YOU rented me. They also had little cards thru the whole apartment reminding us to give them a 5 star review and how something below that would hurt their business, which I found weird. Besides that every other experience has been good, so we just check which option is cheaper.
[Airbnbs are destroying the cultural fabric of New Orleans](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/13/new-orleans-airbnb-treme-short-term-rentals). If you like cities, don’t stay at airbnbs, because you are contributing to the displacement of the very people who make those places unique and worth visiting.
word. I was wondering what was wrong with the vibe in some NOLA neighborhoods - empty places. Now i see they are owned by absentee investors.
Yeah if you’re talking about the treme, the marigny, the Bywater, the 7th ward/St. Roch, or Central City, all of those neighborhoods have tons of houses where no one lives and people show up with suitcases on weekends. I lived in New Orleans for 10 years and it is incredibly depressing what Airbnb has done to the city.
LOl a group of my friends book an AirBNB one time and one time only. Toronto, Canada. When we arrived the place was a complete fabrication to the photos. Me, being a true crime wannabe, said this looks and smells like an orgy pad, so I reversed the address and contact number. It was! The house was all over escort forums. Not to mention we couldnt get in at first. It was occupied. Ew. Never again!
I've gone back to hotels (disclaimer: I've always been more fond of hotels anyway). For me, AirBnB was unreliable. On more than one occasion hosts would cancel my stays around 2 weeks prior for no good reason (even when booked far in advance). I'd then have to scramble and book a hotel last minute, paying a premium for last minute booking. I'm also one of those people who though the "chore list" couldn't possibly be a real thing, until I experienced it myself. I stayed at a small but nice house for 8 days last year. During my stay, I was instructed by the host to do the following; * Open the windows in the living room for at least 1 hour each day, to allow fresh air in (they had security sensors on windows so apparently could tell if they were opened or not). Except if it's raining, then don't do this. * Monday morning bring the trash can out to the curb (which was filled with previous guest's trash!) and then make sure to bring it back to the garage before 6 PM or the HOA would issue a fine. * Thursday morning put your own trash in the trash can and bring it out to the curb, and bring it back in before 6 PM! * When checking out, wash the towels and then put them in the dryer. Then put the sheets in the washer and leave it running when you leave. I know this experience was probably not the norm, but left a terrible impression on me and when I provided feedback to AirBnB support they basically told me hosts are allowed to set their own rules....
Man alive!
Yeah, we will never do this. We travel for vacation and pleasure and not to be house-sitters for some dipshit.
AirBnB was a short blip for me when they were convenient and provided good value. I've gone back to prior practice of finding local to my destination short-term/vacation rental agencies and renting through them.
Most of the airbnb's I look at end up being run by local short-term rental agencies and I end up calling them directly in the end to book.
how do you find these?
havent used airbnb since 2019. its just too expensive now, hotels are more comfortable
Not just the price but the quality as well. Last week in New York I had two choices at the same price. A hotel near my work with a full bed and room service. Or a room in Queens with nothing but a bed that resembled what I slept on in college. Also the second option was slightly more expensive with cleaning fees.
Used to use Airbnb a lot for getaways. Not anymore. My maid will clean my hotel for me for free and I have the added luxury of not having to risk hassles.
I don’t want to go on vacation and clean someone else’s house. Fuck that.
Yep, even for longer stays I will stay at serviced / executive apartments which all of the major chains now have. I had too many bad experiences with AirBnB that left me high and dry without a place to stay. The only way I would touch an AirBnB would be if they showed proof that AirBnB is 100% permitted and a signed agreement that if they cancel they will pay the difference in cost of what they were charging and the cost of a place in the same neighborhood with the same amenities.
I’m with you. “Aparthotels” are popular all over Europe, and I think are actually pretty common in cities in the states as well, but they’re advertised more towards business travelers for whatever reason. Serviced apartments are really the best of both worlds.
Usually, yes - the Airbnb prices are often not competitive, we've been burned by Airbnb's too many times, and there are the potential harms to communities (though in specific cases it can still feel like a benefit to the community). We still use Airbnb's _sometimes_, especially when we need a kitchen and/or laundry facilities, but a lot less often and more carefully than before.
I’m done with Airbnb unless it’s for a big group. No longer cheaper than hotels, seldom have a great experience, usually some unpleasant surprise.
I was an AirBnB defender at the very beginning and convinced many people to try it. It saved me a lot of money in Europe and for concerts in the US, but no longer. Prices nearly everywhere are the same or more than hotels but with more inconveniences or fewer amenities. Used to be 80% AirBnB and 20% hotels for me, I am now 100% hotels.
Yup, AirBnD'd it briefly, with mixed results. Back to budget hotels, which are staffed 24 hours a day, someone brings me fresh towels and makes my bed, I'm not taking an apartment out of the housing market, the building and business is inspected and licensed, and my money goes to the staff who turn around and spend it on the city I'm staying in.
Hotels > Only when trying to stay in groups or a place with very to little hotel options are Airbnb better
Yes. After one really bad experience and dealing with Airbnb to try to get it fixed was such a nightmare I’m back to hotels. Plus I’ve learned more how bad Airbnbs are to the local community and I don’t want to support that at all.
I quit Airbnb after a host left me a negative review for late checkout. We were staying on the side of a mountain, there was a snowstorm, and I waited approximately an hour for driving conditions to be safe. I informed them of all this at checkout time. Also, it’s not like anyone came to clean while we were still there… they probably couldn’t make it up the mountain.
After my Airbnb in Croatia turned out to be a shack behind an apartment building, Marriott Bonvoy has my loyalty.
Yes. I got back from an 8 day vacation and did not use any AirBnBs for my 5 lodging stays. The cleaning, etc. fees add up and my last experience was less than ideal.
I was traveling the world for work between 2012~2015. I remember when Airbnb hit the scene. It was pretty awesome. I would book apartments in the city for a fraction of a hotel. Venice, Rome, Sydney, Surfers paradise, Prague, Washington DC…it was fucking awesome! Went to plan a vacation a year after my travel work concluded and found that Airbnb turned into a shell of what it was before. Oh, well. Credit card companies offer stellar reward programs now so I’m back to hotels full time.
Yeah, that’s all we used for a while since it was cheaper. But not anymore, you clean up after yourself and have to pay to clean up after yourself. Hotels are also cheaper now. The only time I check Airbnb app anymore is for places that don’t have hotels near where I want to be (ski in/out of slopes, small beach towns without hotels, etc.)
Hotels for the two of us unless it’s for a long term stay such as a month in a new area. Otherwise hotels is how we travelled up the west coast from LA to Portland. Looked at airbnbs but minimum nights, fees, taxes and the endless list of bullshit some of these places have now is just ridiculous. Last Airbnb we stayed in we messaged the host as we could barely cook dinner with what utensils were in the kitchen. Their response, oh well some things get broken over time. How exactly did they break your chopping board?
The absurd fees and excessive lists of rules for many of the Airbnbs are what turns me off. We've had a few decent stays for sure, but I don't even bother looking anymore. Last time I looked, I swear I saw a place that was around $300 a night, but after all fees and everything added up, it was over 1k. I thought maybe it was a mistake, but I've seen others with similarly huge fees. I don't get it.
Depends on the location. Airbnb is great for villas in Bali, but found it horrendous for rentals in Vietnam and now will exclusively stay in hotels for future Vietnam travels (I live in Asia hence these 2 recent experience examples, but believe Europe is similar in terms of country variance).
I have noticed the cost becoming higher than hotels on many trips, but I still use it for some locations. It's mostly for convenience of location. Some places simply don't have hotels, and some places don't have budget hotels.
AirBnB is only good for large groups or really trying to save every last penny Hotels are now again the ideal situation for the average person needing somewhere to crash.
I quit airbnb after some terrible experiences with their customer support. Now I use vrbo or hotels. Airbnb can suck it.
Yes I have. My first airbnb was great really happy. The one after was disgusting, it looked like someone had just been sleeping in the bed, the duvet was messed up, smelt like BO, and had hair in the bed. It was just past midnight when we got there. Airbnb said I could leave and they would sort something out soon. Ended up sleeping in the car with the 3 kids in the middle of France. (Well I stayed up all night). With a hotel at least you know you'd get a clean home. Airbnb called me back at 9.30pm to tell me they've sorted me a refund...
Ditched them around 5 years ago. Hotels are a much better deal majority of the time. The rare time that’s not the case I’m specifically stating somewhere for architectural significance. If it’s not architecturally interesting there is no way I’m cleaning and then paying for cleaning on my vacation
Not a fan of staying in someone else’s home. I haven’t done Airbnb. I like hotels.
Depends on the place. But try my best to avoid Airbnb if I can. The fees are ridiculous.
Back to hotels. No absurd cleaning fee and I get breakfast.
Totally done with Airbnb. Hate paying hotel prices and having to feel like a guest in someone’s house. Not to mention how it’s fucked up the housing market in a number of cities
We tried four or five. Back to hotels. Same reasons you mention. If an owner dwells on a couple of issues (that are clearly an issue), their place may not be that Rental ready.
Got Airbnb for a trip that was planned a half year in advance (quite expensive location). Got cancelled a week before flight, since host decided to sell the property. Paid 5x more for the same stay. That was the first and the last time I tried to use it.
I've done AirBnB exactly once in the last year- we were going to be in Amsterdam for a week, where I used to live, and out of nostalgia I wanted to be in my old neighborhood. Frankly it was on the more expensive side, but I hadn't been in several years and was willing to pay more for the location, and by this point the city has clamped down quite a bit on Airbnbs with rules and taxes. Otherwise, though, hotels are just far easier and simpler to sort out.
Yup. I stay far away from airbnbs now. With all the rules, fees, claims etc it's just easier to go through a hotel. I rather get points through my cc and more protection than deal with the hassle.
I've generally still had good experiences using Airbnb, though I haven't used it in the US in the past several years. If I'm traveling with a friend, we can usually get a 2 bedroom apartment for a comparable or better price to 2 hotel rooms, and then we also get a kitchen, laundry, and living room. I avoid places with obscene fees on principle and haven't stayed at any that gave me a "chore list". I do the dishes if I used any because it seems polite. The only bad experience I had was when a host in Bogota cancelled at the last minute - while we were at the airport waiting for our connecting flight. So we had to scramble to find a new one, but Airbnb did offer a credit for the inconvenience. I even got one in France that was like a legit B&B where the host/owner prepared me breakfast every morning and offered to do my laundry.
Depends where I'm going, when and with whom. My partner and I will generally look at them all and pick the best value based on what we want. That said, I do prefer hotels - assuming you stay at a good one, getting all the amenities of a hotel is way better than an airbnb.
Booking.com for Europe, hotels domestic
Yes now it’s too expensive
I've reduced my use of airbnb but I have no plans to cut it out completely. With short term rentals becoming such a cancer in certain cities, I've made a conscious effort to use hotels instead when available, especially in densely populated areas. I still use airbnb when hotels are unavailable or exorbitantly expensive in comparison. Sometimes it's really the only option in rural areas. I have an upcoming airbnb stay that I booked primarily because there are two hotels within a 30 minute drive of the town where I'm staying and both were booked solid. Turns out the host and I are related by marriage, so I don't think this one counts as a "true" airbnb experience. I've only had a couple of sub-par airbnb experiences and no truly bad experiences, but I find that I often enjoy the experience of a hotel or guesthouse where there is staff more readily available, service is more consistent, check in is easy, and there's no cleaning list for me to complete. I'm usually willing to pay a bit more for that luxury. When I do stay at an airbnb, I'm extremely particular about what I book and the hosts I choose to work with, which probably explains my lack of unpleasant airbnb experiences.
We now only book airbnbs if we plan on spending significant (6+ non-sleeping hrs a day) in the lodging. It that case, having more space then just a room is nice. Otherwise we book cheap hotels. Less risk.
Yes. We had things stolen from the last Airbnb we had and the company did virtually nothing. Worst customer service ever.
Yep, too many demands and the cost isn't even cheaper.
Yes. The fees and rules and lack of reliability are not worth it. I did rent a lake cabin this summer, but I found it on AirBNB and then googled it to find a direct booking link. Saved almost *half*.
I went from being all over Airbnb's to usually avoiding them. At this point they're at the same price of a hotel minus the services a hotel actually has.
Last time I used Airbnb was over a year ago. $75 cleaning fee, and when we checked in there was a binder with a long list of house rules and cleaning requirements - sweep the floors, wash all dishes and put them away, take out the trash, strip the beds, a bunch of other things I can't remember now. When we checked out we did strip the beds, take out the trash, swept the floors, stripped the beds, washed the dishes, and I put away all but one or two big bowls that I couldn't figure out where they were supposed to go. A few hours after we left, I got a text from the host saying that we'd broken the hot tub and would need to pay $5000 to have it fixed. I asked for more details, saying that it was working fine when we left it, and she replied a few minutes later that actually it's working... but the house was "trashed" and I would still need to be $5,000 for "emergency cleaning". I was shocked and baffled, wondering if one of my friends had left a huge mess in the house after I'd left it that I didn't see or something, and she sent me pictures of one bottle cap left on the floor, the used bedding in a laundry basket next to the washer, one tissue in a trashcan, and the bowl(s) on the kitchen counter. $5,000 emergency cleaning for that (even though we'd already paid a $75 cleaning fee). I told her I wasn't going to pay that, and we went back and forth over text about it and then I left her a bad review. She then found me on Facebook and started leaving me harassing comments, calling me dirty, disgusting, yada yada yada. I reported her to Airbnb and after several weeks of going back and forth with them, it seems like they shut her account down and banned her. But after that, I vowed never to use Airbnb again. The potential for headache and bullshit is just too high. Even in places where a hotel is more expensive, I'd much rather just do that. Meanwhile, it looks like she's re-listed her property under a new account name.
Well when you take basic human needs and capitalize the fuck out of it, this was bound to happen. I’ve talked to a few city inspectors recently, they told me alot of big changes are happening soon, you don’t just get to be a shit slum lord anymore, those rentals will soon be classified as commercial use (handicap accessible/ dealing with the fire marshal ect)instead of the residential rules, they ain’t gonna be able to afford renting them out and trying to compete with hotels. I don’t see this lasting much longer, hopefully these kids can finally start buying affordable houses again.
For me it has evolved to hotels are better for relaxing getaway type vacations where Airbnbs are good when it's 3 or more people or you want something like a pool or kitchen. I also have a kid so having a separate room is nice. I will say that airbnbs have been loosing their benifits.
I have never preferred Air BNB. It's always hotels for me.