Air BnB tips. Not used before

[Maytag]

I would like to book a villa on Air bnb for next summer but have only ever done package holidays. The villa we are looking at looks great, the host has been hosting for 1 year but there are only 4 reviews. I don’t know much about how it all works - would this put you off? Is there anything I should look out for on a listing that might raise concern?

thank you

check the cancellation policy (for both you and the host)
check google street view for the surrounding area
check the description matches the photos as I've found some where the number of beds don't quite match what's shown

Look for the same accommodation on other platforms such as Booking.com, VRBO, etc and look at other reviews.

We've stayed in Airbnbs (all locally licensed) with new hosts and very few reviews and others with superhosts and lots of reviews. Ime there tend to be more personal touches and more of a home from home feel to them than standard holiday lets. We're staying in one from Friday which is operated by a holiday accommodation company and it has a very different feeling before we've even gone there...

Be wary, we had them cancel on us after weeks, got no compensation despite it costing us more to find an alternative later on. I personally would avoid if you have to be in that location

That's not specific to Airbnb though, is it? If booked accommodation is cancelled by the provider (unless it's a package holiday) they don't cover the cost of you booking somewhere else.

We’ve not traveled much. Would travel insurance cover this?

Airb&b is just one holiday letting company among many. Air, verbo, Booking are huge internationals. None of them own or operate the properties they advertise and to my knowledge don't personally inspect them either.

I advertise my gîte through them - I have to provide my tax details so they do have proof I exist. All the big companies add "service fees " to the cost of the holiday, these vary so it's worth checking out places on several sites to see which works out best.

I would recommend looking at some of the smaller, more specialized ones - such as Gîtes.com or Gîtes.co.uk, who are both really easy to deal with. if there is a problem on Booking ect (for owners as well as guests) when you try to speak to someone, if you get through at all, it's someone reading from a script on the other side of the world.

There are also lots of Facebook groups for holiday accommodation, where you can book direct.

We've stayed in lots of airbnbs, both uk based and a few in France. As others have said, check cancellation policies. I have always gone for ones with a late cancellation as it gives us flexibility.

Look for cleaning and check out policies- a couple we've been on have asked for beds to be stripped. I avoid ones which mention a lot of cleaning in the description as they often also charge a cleaning fee as well as an early checkout and I don't want to be up at the crack of dawn deep cleaning a cottage on the last day of my holiday. You'll get a feeling for how pernickety they will be from the description.

When you go, take the basics - tea towel, kitchen roll, a couple of dishwasher tablets and washing powder. I've found it's variable as to what you'll be left with.

Most places have been lovely, family run accommodation who have been very friendly and kind to us and the children.

Never book something with only 4 reviews
look carefully at bedrooms as some cultures think a sofa bed makes a space a bedroom rather than a sitting room with a sofa bed in it
look carefully at the photos as see if you can use the curtains and cushion colours to track which pictures go with which rooms on the description, then you can work out if there is a bedroom off the kitchen or if the property is basement level, or if there are bars on the windows or a upper floor deck with no railing, or a massive industrial area next door.
check for cleaning fees and other fees
look on google maps and see if you can work out roughly which street it is in (photos of the apartment can help with views from the windows) and look and see what the area is like for noise, walkability, parking etc

Don't be afraid to message the owner (all the companies allow this) and ask questions.
I regularly get asked things like : is the garden totally private, is it fully enclosed (dogs) exactly what linens are provided, is there a bath as well as shower even down to what coffee maker is provided.
The type of answer you get will tell you a lot about the owner and quality of their product.

I only book superheat or guest favourite to avoid any issues with potential cancellation

4 reviews is very few, I would expect them all to be excellent.
I would be tempted to contact to ask some general questions about the property, you will learn a lot about the host by how quickly they respond and how helpful they are.

Superhost not superheat lol bloody autocorrect

I booked somewhere (very expensive) that only had one review. However, I found other reviews elsewhere. It was fabulous.

I always check bedding and towels included.
If somewhere hot, air con in bedroom.
Elsewhere e.g UK control of heating.

Never mind Google street view - somewhere on the listing will be the actual co-ordinates of the property. Make sure you click through to this and check where it actually is.
We recently lost half our payment to an AirBnb host.
We had booked a fab-looking apartment in the city centre, looked at the address on the listing, Google street viewed the area to check out what it was like (fine).
The week before we were due to go I went on Google maps to print out directions from the airport, and the co-ordinates were somewhere 5 miles away out in the sticks.
Appealed to Airbnb for false advertising to get my money back - they refused and said they would expect someone not just to rely on the address details (published on the listing and the confirmation email) but to check the co-ords. BASTARDS. I got half back as that was the late cancellation policy anyway.

Luckily I managed to rebook somewhere on booking.com which didn't leave me too much out of pocket, but it has left me very wary of Airbnb now.

The owner probably advertises on the other sites too, vrbo, booking dot com. They probably take direct bookings as well. If you google the name of the villa you will see if the owners have their own website.

I would encourage everyone to do this and book direct with owners.I advertise with Air BnB but it is 18% cheaper to book with me direct.

Air BnB is no different to any of the others, eg cottages.com, Sykes. They are just advertising platforms and individual owners are responsible for every aspect of your stay. I think Air BnB offer the greatest level.of support from my experience as both a guest and a host.

Thank you everyone for the tips!

We've used them dozens of times over the last ten years both in the UK and elsewhere in Europe, almost all of our experiences have been very positive. You've been given great advice upthread.
We always book Free cancellation properties with late dates as due to adverse weather, covid, health problems or change of plans we've had to cancel a few properties over the years, unfortunately. This has meant that we've not been out of pocket and not needed to claim on our travel insurance. I would always advise this.

You can get cancellation cover as part of your travel insurance, but check the policy to see what will actually be covered. We usually book somewhere cancellable where possible to give us the flexibility if we can't travel or find somewhere better (we never have!).

I’ve stayed there a couple of times, and the mix of comfort, good tech, and being right in the thick of the CBD made life pretty easy. If you’re sorting stays for a few people, the info on group accommodation melbourne helped me compare room types and plan without back‑and‑forth guesswork. The onsite restaurant was a nice bonus after long days, especially if you don’t feel like wandering far.