Stayed at an Airbnb last year where I left a ~4 star review taking off one star because of excessive noise from the bus stop outside (otherwise positive). Couple months later I get an email saying my review was removed for violating Airbnb policy. Had to contact support where they told me the host had submitted (fake) WhatsApp screenshots of me asking them for money to post a positive review and so they removed my review. No matter what I said customer support refused to reinstate my review. The most alarming thing is that they removed my review without any input from me. Interestingly, the property had added additional co-hosts where that property was their only property after my stay. Presumably these are fake profiles they used to file the dispute so it wouldn’t impact their main account.
In any case, I am never staying at an AirBnb again. Be aware that any rating on AirBnb can be easily manipulated by the host.
Also if you have status at a hotel, perks like room upgrades and late checkout are invaluable.
AirBNB was great when it first started out. It was basically people renting out a room in their home for a night or two, for far cheaper costs than hotels and in areas where a hotel wasn't as readily available. It was a good way for those folks to make some cash on the side and helped the traveler find convenient low cost housing for a couple nights
Unfortunately companies and people decided they could buy up properties and start a business selling out rooms, prices skyrocketed and it no longer became worth it. I just stick to hotels now (or hostels if I ever decide to backpack through Europe or something)
It was worth it back when it was people renting out a spare room in their house or their whole apartment when they were away for a small bit of cash on the side, there was a mutual understanding that you are staying in another individuals private space with all the rules and caveats that come with that, so the pricing will reflect the arrangement. For me, this made the inconvenience worth putting up with in most cases.
Now that booking an AirBnb costs as much as a hotel room and the service has been overrun by landlords looking to use it as their primary rental income though? I'm booking a hotel every time. If I'm paying hotel money I want hotel service and convenience.
The last time I used Airbnb, we rented 2 rooms in a guy's house for a few days. At first, the guy seemed okay, only a minor reminder about leaving dishes out. I left a fairly positive review, but when it came time for his review of us he implied we were racist for not keeping eye contact and conversation with his roommate. I never saw the roommate, and my husband is the kind of introvert who doesn't initiate conversations, especially when alone. It was ridiculous. We were also told that we had access to the rooms, bathroom, and kitchen and not to go into any other part of the house.
I'll stick with hotels.
In Montreal an Airbnb cought fire and killed 6 guests and one tenant because the owner converted a house to multiple Airbnb ignoring all regulation (including fire marshal rules)
English article: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-old-port-fire-1.6788756
The province ended up banning Airbnbs but I don't know the details of the bag
I did AirBNB once and it was probably the last time.
Wife really wanted to stay there as someone suggested to not stay on the main strip. So we got this cabin up a mountain. When I say up a mountain I really mean that. Unbelievably steep and the car barely made it. Room was to have a hot tube, sauna, and cable TV. After a 10 hour drive we get there up the craziest road I’ve ever driven and decide to just relax and watch some TV and microwave some food we picked up.
Microwave didn’t work, well shit, let’s heat it up on the stove top and turn the TV on. Remote doesn’t have batteries. Well fuck let’s eat and sit in the hot tub. Hot tub is broken. Well what about the sauna. Well it’s the size of a shoe box and looks like death trap. Decide to just go to sleep and get going early.
Wake up go do some sight seeing and pick up some batteries for the remote. We get back to the cabin and hear a hissing sound. Water line had burst behind the fridge and I can’t find the shut off valve as it’s locked behind a door. Call the guy and he tells me a emergency plumber will be stopping by late. While we are waiting we try the TV’s again and one of them won’t even turn on the other will but it’s locked and can’t watch anything. Plumber shows up at 11:30pm. Fixes it about 12:30 am.
Next day just eating a bagel and I walk by the sink and the floor partially collapses. I let the guy we are renting the room know what I think about his place and we leave a day early and get a hotel room. Room was slightly nicer and everything worked. Was 2 mins walk away from what we were going to and perfectly quiet and we didn’t have to spend 15 mins on death road.
While I agree that hotels are generally better than Airbnb, I have always had really good luck with Airbnb. I traveled across the EU staying almost only in Airbnb's and it was great. It also let me kind of see what the housing market was there if I ever wanted to move. Also one of my hosts in Amsterdam firmly believed in the "bed and breakfast" portion of Airbnb, and cooked breakfast in her kitchen for us every morning and had all kinds of great info about the city. Plus she had an old orange cat that liked to sit at the breakfast table with us.
Fuck airbnb
While I agree that owners destroying communities by renting out available housing, there is a very easy way to combat it - enforce the local laws on vacation rentals.
I was just in a VRBO where the owner had clearly registered the place with the city, posted plaques in the house and window showing the units license, etc. and proved they paid the appropriate taxed to the city (which can be used to solve other problems like homelessness.
I am absolutely a fan of having a whole place to myself and my family, with a washer and dryer that's free, with a kitchen so we don't have to spent a fortune eating out for every meal. I think the crazy rules and cleaning up before the cleaners is ridiculous, but those are known before you get there, so if you continue with the property knowing those rules, that's on you. You can cancel.
Yeah, all you need is one shady AirBNB experience to forever turn you off to the idea. I had a horrible one in 2018 and haven’t stayed at one since.
I agree with other posters—I’ve had some better experiences using similar services to rent like entire villas for large work groups, but other than that I don’t think it’s worth it.
Hotels don't make you clean their rooms spotless before you leave or have a random pile of hidden fees either, those things always spoils the mood. Plus, you also get to see your points go up if you stay in a hotel.
I didn't actually mind abnb until they started raising prices to match hotels. I mean that's their whole point isn't it? Cheap lodging.
I don't mind cleaning after myself and following some reasonable rules as long as I can stay there for cheap (compared to a hotel anyways).
I rarely go for airbnb if I don't find a good deal, whether in terms of price, location, architecture etc. Sometimes there are good properties on airbnb. And yes, a lot of it is just run by buisnessmen and rich landlords. But there are also decently located cheap apartments sometimes.
If I travel alone and need to be on budget and only need a bed I can always go for a good dorm.
Since I work at one, I stay at hotels free (within my brand) so I can't say I have much experience with airbnb. I do feel they cater to very different markets though, I don't necessarily begrudge the existence of airbnb, even if they are kind of our competition.
OTAs on the other hand, can all get fucked.
I like having Airbnb there as an alternative to remind hotels where we'll go if they don't treat us nicely.
Airbnb hosts hiring maids so you have to check out early but still making you do all the cleaning 🤡
I usually prefer hotels too, but I’ve never had this issue. What I don’t like is the extra fess they add though. Makes it hard to compare prices since “per night” has almost no reflection on how much total cost of the stay.
When I was in Rome I had a beautiful apartment for $70 per night with a terrace garden, a balcony, a grill, a full kitchen, a private laundry room, locals cafe, locals bakery. You don’t any of those things with a hotel, and yet mediocre rated hotels in that area were like 5x more.
True story
Yes, an hotel room is more expensive than an Airbnb but the convenience makes up for it.
It depends on what you want. For my family, having space for the kids to hang out and play, inside and out, is a huge plus. Also we like to cook some of our meals while on vacation.
I've rarely had problems at airbnbs in Canada and while traveling. Had one host claim we broke her hot tub by "setting the temperature too high" lol, but we told her to go ahead and go through airbnb arbitration and she dropped it immediately. A few places that weren't as nice as the pics, that's a given, but never been straight up scammed personally so I don't know what I'm doing right!
Hotels are definitely boring though and I guess that can be a good thing, but then I would've never experienced eating papaya and smoking weed while staying at a metal hut in a beautiful tropical garden right off a Costa Rican beach while hanging out with about a dozen kittens!
I use Airbnb only when I couldn't find hotel who accepts my dog.
I concur
My kids are coeliac so we have a greater need to cook meals for ourselves. So we prefer staying in rented apartments / villas etc when on holiday. There are some aparthotels where a kitchen and actual bedrooms are available and we'll use those if they are affordable. Private accommodation also tends to be larger though and if airbnb seems sketchy there are also property rental companies - when we're in Florida we tend to rent a villa from one of these and it's been all fine. We're going to Turkey this year and have rented a top floor apartment overlooking a marina.
Yall have some rough luck with ABNB properties. I stay 4-6 times per year and it’s been a breeze.
Airbnb is much better for families whereas hotels cater to everyone else basically.
Air BNBs all the way! I just got back from one in NC mountains. We rented a lodge right next to a river with a cow pasture literally next to the house. Besides a washer and dryer...It had a hammock, fire pit, grill, farm fresh eggs, sweets from a local bakery, plus milk and orange juice and a stocked coffee bar. Then there was also a basket of decent snacks.
The Airbnb before had the same attention to detail but much smaller. They owned most land near the house so they built 2 little cabins near them to rent. This one came with a "free" bottle of whiskey. It also had a Blackstone and fire pit as well.
All hotels offer is the same shitty breakfast foods and coffee. Much rather be enjoying my vacation even if we wanted to spend half the day home at an Airbnb. Can't beat the perks. Just need to do your homework, not all Airbnb's are shitty rented side rooms. For the last 5 years my extended family and I had rented several houses big enough for the 9 of us. All with plenty to do around the house when you need a break from driving, hiking, restaurants and shopping.
