Staying in an Airbnb: Is it worth it?

First thing is that it’s great for groups. Groups can get a whole house or a whole apartment and have enough rooms for everybody. You split that cost and it’s much more economical to do it that way than to have multiple hotel rooms. 

Second is, it’s great for solo travelers. Solo travelers are able to book to stay with the host. This is when you’re not booking the whole place, but you’re actually just booking a room. This becomes a lot less expensive than other options than you might have and still have somewhat privacy versus a hostile.

Third thing is, there are so many unique accommodations. This is something that you don’t necessarily get with hotels and other forms of different accommodations. There are many types of accommodation you can book through Airbnb and have a really cool experience where you are staying.

Fourth thing is, you do feel like a local. Everyone wants to feel like a local and feel like you are living there. Imagine what it is like to have your own place in that city. You’re able to have a bit more of a homey feel and be able to have a kitchen to make your own food. It is a really cool way to stay in local neighborhoods that aren’t filled with a lot of tourists. 

Staying in an Airbnb: The Bad

Now there are some things that definitely hold Airbnb back and this first one here is something that is coming up more often than from the beginning of when Airbnb first started. When Airbnb first started, it was based on having a more economical way to stay somewhere versus a hotel. Now, that’s not always the case. 

First one is, it’s not always as cheap as you think it is. When you see the breakdown of the pricing, as you are wondering why it is pricey, you’ll notice they’ve added on cleaning fees, service fees along with other fees depending on the city. There have been many times where these fees are actually more expensive than the stay itself. These things can add up to a lot more money. So if you are thinking about staying in an Airbnb you want to take a look at those fees to make sure that it is a good deal vs a hotel. 

Second one is, you don’t always feel like you’re on holiday. The thing about living like a local is that you are also living like you are not on holiday. You are going to be making your own bed, possibly needing to take out the garbage and buying toilet paper. What they don’t tell you necessarily is when you’re staying somewhere, if you’re staying there for a night or two, you’re usually fine. But if you’re staying somewhere longer than that and if there’s multiple people in your group, the host doesn’t always supply enough toiletries/toilet paper for your entire stay there.

This was a big shock when we were traveling with my family. We didn’t realize that we had to restock the toilet paper when enough wasn’t supplied. We had to find a grocery store or pharmacy to purchase toilet paper for the rest of our stay. You’re not always going to have the perks that you do in a hotel or other types of accommodations. This was a learning curve when staying in them with a group. 

Taking out the garbage was also not something that we were expecting to have to do on our holiday either. Not all places are going to require you to do this, but do look in the reviews for clues if it is not in the description. There are certain requirements that each host will have and you want to be aware of these things. If you are unsure, message and ask the host prior to booking.

Third thing is the check in times. Check in times are reliant on the actual host of that Airbnb. They’re not always going to be able to mesh with your schedule, but most try to make it accommodating for you. If you’re arriving in the city and you are there before your check in time, you’re going to have nowhere to put your bags. Very few hosts are going to be able to meet you twice or allow you to leave your bags in the place because someone is either probably there still or they’re doing a turnaround.  

If you arrive late, they may not have an option to be there for a late check in. You want to check what the check in times are. 

Fourth thing is, there is no standard of cleanliness. I’ve stayed in some places and they are impeccable, beautiful and nothing wrong with the place. I’ve also stayed in ones where cleanliness was something to be desired. So there is no standard at all between places. Make sure you are looking closely at pictures, even though the pictures can lie, as well as reading through a lot of reviews to get an understanding of what it is like. 

Staying in an Airbnb: The Ugly

First thing is, describing how many beds there are. One thing that I learned and didn’t realize is when people describe how many beds they have in their accommodation, it doesn’t mean that it is an actual bed according to Airbnb. A bed to Airbnb is anything that could be used as a bed. It could be an air mattress, a mattress on the floor, a futon, it could be in a variety of different things. If you’re looking for an actual bed you want to make sure that you are discussing and talking with the host beforehand and confirm what the beds are. It is the worst when you arrive surprised with a mattress leaning up against the wall to be thrown down on the floor when you’re ready to go to sleep. That happened to me and I was not happy. 

Second thing is, the host can cancel on you at any time. A lot of people have had their booking canceled by the Airbnb host 24 hours prior to their arrival in their destination. What happens is you’re all ready to go, you have everything planned and then 24 hours before you depart to go on your trip, your host cancels your accommodations. Now you’re in limbo. Airbnb does give you a little bit of money, along with the refund of your previous stay, to try and find another place. The problem with this is it’s not always possible to book something because you’re now booking at the last minute and all the good places are going to be booked. There is a definite possibility of this happening, so you want to be aware of this.

Third thing is, it may not look like the pictures. It is a big shock when you arrive and you walk into the accommodation and it looks completely different to what you were expecting from the photos. Photoshop is so good at manipulating how something looks and Airbnb makes it impossible for you to leave a review of the place to warn others if you cancel your stay there. People can make them look brighter, they can use wide angle lenses to make it look a lot larger than it actually is among other things. Again you want to really look at the pictures with a critical eye, read all of those reviews and see what people are saying. 

Fourth thing is scams. These don’t happen all the time, but you do hear the horror stories. There’s the damages scam. When you arrive and everything is fine and then when you leave, the host reports that you had caused damage in the apartment. I definitely recommend when you arrive at, as well as depart the apartment, take a video or photos of everything in there. This way you have some backup to prove you didn’t actually damage anything because Airbnb has your credit card and they’ll charge you and it’s very hard to get that reversed. 

Another scam is the place that you have rented from this host, is one they don’t actually own. They’ve either stolen photos or duplicated property page and when you arrive it’s not actually for rent on Airbnb. You want to be sure that you are reading reviews and not necessarily going with places that have had no reviews yet. 

The last thing is hidden cameras. There have been instances where there have been hidden cameras in bedrooms and bathrooms and different areas of the home. It is against Airbnb policies to have hidden cameras or cameras in certain places in a home. Airbnb does allow the host to have cameras, but not hidden, around in the property but not in the bedrooms or in the bathrooms or any places like that. They also require the hosts to inform the people who are renting the place out that they have security cameras in that location. This is where the freaky part comes in and they don’t tell you. They could be spying on you, peeping on you and they can also see when you’re leaving and possibly come into your place and rob you. 

All of these do not happen all the time, but they have and it is a cautionary tale. I have had more great stays than not though. I definitely would still book an Airbnb but I wouldn’t necessarily book it for my whole entire trip depending on what type of trip I was taking. I like to sprinkle them throughout my trip along with hotels, bed and breakfasts and hostels. This way I am able to have that feeling of being on holiday as well as feeling like a local. 

One tip I would recommend is to look for super hosts. Super hosts are ones that have a lot of really great reviews. Look for those ones when you’re staying in an Airbnb and they’ll be safe to book with.