To Airbnb or Not to Airbnb

[akmacca]

We'll be using Airbnb for the first time next year when we go to Paris. I've picked a Superhost who has been on the platform since 2013 and has hundreds of positive reviews, so I'm confident it will be a good experience. We're not doing Airbnb for the rest of the trip as we'll be travelling with my in-laws after Paris and I don't think they'd be up for Airbnb.

I've stayed at two Airbnbs in Paris one a lovely one bedroomed apartment in Montmartre and another 3 bedroomed cottage on the outskirts of Paris where my family stayed over Christmas 2017. It was in a lovely village setting in a wonderful house full of amenities with direct train access to central Paris. We had a great time celebrating Christmas together in Paris at a fraction of the cost of a hotel. Oh, and the owner bought a Christmas hamper full of French treats for us to share as an added bonus.

 

[akmacca]

I'm not sure of your requirements but I always can find an Airbnb that is cheaper than most hotels quite often offering superior accommodation. I have stayed at 70 Airbnb's now and all have been entire apartments and homes often in the centre of a city and have continually found them much better value than a hotel. I will give you an example. I am writing from an Airbnb in Harlem, not the best I have ever stayed at but more than adequate one bedroomed apartment. I am paying $170 aud a night which is much more than I would usually spend on an Airbnb but this is Manhattan after all. My nephew and his girlfriend are visiting New York at the moment their first overseas trip which they booked through a travel agent. Their hotel is in a great location only a short walk from Times Square. They have been there 5 days and changed rooms three times as the previous rooms were filthy and in places falling apart. The last change was an upgrade to an executive suite which they have to pay an extra $80 a night for a total of almost $500 aud per night for a room with no fridge or many other facilities. Have a look what type of Airbnb you can get in Manhattan for $500

 

[UP4014]

I'm not sure of your requirements but I always can find an Airbnb that is cheaper than most hotels quite often offering superior accommodation. I have stayed at 70 Airbnb's now and all have been entire apartments and homes often in the centre of a city and have continually found them much better value than a hotel. I will give you an example. I am writing from an Airbnb in Harlem, not the best I have ever stayed at but more than adequate one bedroomed apartment. I am paying $170 aud a night which is much more than I would usually spend on an Airbnb but this is Manhattan after all. My nephew and his girlfriend are visiting New York at the moment their first overseas trip which they booked through a travel agent. Their hotel is in a great location only a short walk from Times Square. They have been there 5 days and changed rooms three times as the previous rooms were filthy and in places falling apart. The last change was an upgrade to an executive suite which they have to pay an extra $80 a night for a total of almost $500 aud per night for a room with no fridge or many other facilities. Have a look what type of Airbnb you can get in Manhattan for $500

I'd be interested to hear the name of the hotel you nephew is staying please.
I do get a bit weary of criticism of a place when it isn't named.
Thanks

 

[Denali]

As Im new to AirBnB, some I look at and think "thats someones home" and I skip past them straight away. Like someone said, Im looking for a "house" or apartment/investment property, not a home.

My only AirBnb so far was a townhouse investment property right on the water at Kangaroo Island. Even check in was a locked keybox by the door so I never met anyone but the cleaners as we were leaving.

 

[burmans]

I don't mind staying in someone's "house". I don't like the idea of staying in someone's "home". There's a difference. Many airbnb's are set up as holiday houses or apartments specifically for short term rentals, thus you don't feel like your intruding in someone else's home. These also tend to have systems in place for managing key collection.

This is indeed true, most of these are rental accommodation, not someones home.

 

[RooFlyer]

I don't mind staying in someone's "house". I don't like the idea of staying in someone's "home". There's a difference. Many airbnb's are set up as holiday houses or apartments specifically for short term rentals, thus you don't feel like your intruding in someone else's home. These also tend to have systems in place for managing key collection.

Yes; I've seen/visited a couple of places in Tasmania which were 'purpose built' B&Bs - a separate 'wing' of 1 or 2 bedrooms with en-suites, living-room, deck, entrance. If you didn't want breakfast, you need never encounter your host or anything they actually live in.

 

[RB]

Much prefer apartments than hotels. We also stay at Meritons- much more room & we feel better value than the 5 * hotels of Sydney

 

[DontGetMeStarted]

Just stayed in a great Airbnb in Washington DC ( complete sc apartment in a building) - 8 mins walk to the White House and close to Foggy Bottom metro, I am finding now that prices are going up for air bnb but still better value than most hotels.

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

I’m a super host in MEL for my entire apartment, with a whole host of factors including increased competition for new and upcoming hotels, a plethora of new Airbnb listings particularly in the CBD, southbank & Docklands and the Victorian State Government’s vacant Propery tax that affects entire properties within most of the MEL metro area, hosting on Airbnb has become rather challenging. I’m giving hosting a rest in July and moving back into my inner city pad.

But nonetheless it has been a wonderful experience, with some great returns a few years back before the masses jumped onboard , and it’s been great to meet with people from all over the world, when as a host I meet with guests at the time of checkin, giving guests a real locals perspective of the city, with a far more personal experience over a scripted greeting at a chain hotel.

As for staying in Airbnb properties, I too agree that the cost saving of dining out, self catering that can be achieved in staying in Airbnb properties provides a significant cost saving over conventional hotels. Needless to say, chains such as Oaks, Quest & The Sebel also provide self catering which can equate to a similiar cost of an Airbnb - and admittedly I have stayed in these chains recently due to the negligible price difference over an Airbnb.

 

[dajop]

What will be interesting is where the hotel chains foray into “homesharing” will end up. They will seem to offer some form of quality control/inspection/ additional service element that may affect high end airbnb rentals but not the lower end of the market.

Also I note that airbnb has recently improved “host standards” that include providing, amongst other things, bed linen. Where we have our house, BYO linen is standard (where majority of rentals are week long over the Christmas holidays), although we made a decision (after consulting with friends and family) to provide linen anyway, just to differentiate. Not sure how the hundreds of coastal holiday homes will cope with the need to provide linen...

 

[SuzieQ68]

As Im new to AirBnB, some I look at and think "thats someones home" and I skip past them straight away. Like someone said, Im looking for a "house" or apartment/investment property, not a home.

My only AirBnb so far was a townhouse investment property right on the water at Kangaroo Island. Even check in was a locked keybox by the door so I never met anyone but the cleaners as we were leaving.

That's interesting Denali. I hosted an AirBNB/Stayz property which was my own apartment. I only ever rented it as a whole apartment (ie I wasn't there), but it was my home (when I didn't want to rent it out). I made sure that there was nothing in the apartment that I couldn't live without if it broke or was damaged, but the thing I found with all of my guests (and without sounding like I'm bragging all of my reviews were 5*) was how much they appreciated the 'home away from home' experience. There was everything they needed for a comfortable stay. I always met my guests to introduce myself and make sure they knew they could contact me if they needed something, and I always contacted them 24 hours after arrival to make sure they were ok; and 24 before departure to make sure they knew the departure process (majority of stays were 7 days or more). Maybe the personalised experience made the difference, or maybe I just lucked out with my guests - never had any issues.

On the flip side, I use a mix of AirBNB's and Hotels when travelling. Just depends on where I'm going and what I'm looking for in terms of the experience. I do tend to avoid the AirBNB's that aren't whole apartments - did it once (stayed in a room) and as much as the host was fantastic, just felt a bit weird about staying in their home whilst they were there.

 

[akmacca]

I'd be interested to hear the name of the hotel you nephew is staying please.
I do get a bit weary of criticism of a place when it isn't named.
Thanks

The Manhattan Times Square

 

[get me outta here]

Interesting that TripAdvisor 5* reviews are almost all from people who have only ever done 1 review, and they mostly have something in common, the title. Would ring big alarm bells from me.

The Manhattan Times Square

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Interesting that TripAdvisor 5* reviews are almost all from people who have only ever done 1 review. Would ring big alarm bells from me.

Seems the hotel is actively soliciting feedback (and I guess it's possible a lot of people are first time tourists in a city like new york). The more experienced reviewers seem to be staying away from the hotel!

 

[Drakecula]

I've stayed at two Airbnbs in Paris one a lovely one bedroomed apartment in Montmartre and another 3 bedroomed cottage on the outskirts of Paris where my family stayed over Christmas 2017. It was in a lovely village setting in a wonderful house full of amenities with direct train access to central Paris. We had a great time celebrating Christmas together in Paris at a fraction of the cost of a hotel. Oh, and the owner bought a Christmas hamper full of French treats for us to share as an added bonus.

I'm hopefully heading to Paris late next year (Nov/Dec) for a bit and would love to know about the Montmartre apartment. Maybe it will still be around when the time comes.

 

[get me outta here]

If you look at when these total of 1 review posters actually joined tripadvisor, most of them joined today or in the last few days. Most of those people do not exist I would suggest and the reviews are all written by the same uncreative person. Yep, stay away.

Seems the hotel is actively soliciting feedback (and I guess it's possible a lot of people are first time tourists in a city like new york). The more experienced reviewers seem to be staying away from the hotel!

 

[akmacca]

Seems the hotel is actively soliciting feedback (and I guess it's possible a lot of people are first time tourists in a city like new york). The more experienced reviewers seem to be staying away from the hotel!

My nephew and girlfriend are first time overseas travellers and allowed a travel agent to do all of their bookings. I am sure they didn't do any prior research into this hotel and they got caught out. Travel is a continual learning experience and even old hands get "stung" now and again as we travel the world.

 

[tgh]

I waste a lot of time sifting through reviews, discarding the low count reviewers, it is a pita.
I screen the average and very good slots and mostly ignore the excellent's as they are full of 1 hit wonders.
I guess ta is really just a marketing tool.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

My nephew and girlfriend are first time overseas travellers and allowed a travel agent to do all of their bookings.

Oh, that’s a shame. Half the fun is finding hotels, reading reviews, getting the best price, and getting things ‘just right’. Unless my TA had some sensational super deal i’d always be doing it myself.

 

[BriarFlyer]

I agree 100% MEL_Traveller about the fun of research and planning, but there are many more travellers who can't be bothered, who aren't interested in the research, who aren't even interested in hearing advice, and want to put it all in the hands of a travel agent. Often without researching the TA in question. Many of my relatives are in this basket.