Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

air b&b

43 replies

paddleduck · 24/08/2014 16:04

Since discovering air b&b I have been busy planning and booking various breaks and holidays for us. I'm so chuffed!

We go to our first booking in a fortnight. Was raving about it to a friend when she told me that it's basically all done on trust, there's no safety (your money. . The booking being honoured etc)

Am now pretty bummed and worried. Any thoughts. . Especially if you have used it yourself?

OP posts:

JennySense · 25/08/2014 16:22

Used it 3 times this year - Paris, South of France and London. Just booked another London stay. No problems at all. Just read the reviews carefully.

Original poster

paddleduck · 25/08/2014 16:32

Ok thanks all.. I'm holding out hope for our bookings.

OP posts:

Goodwordguide · 25/08/2014 16:42

Used it twice, was great both times, the hosts could not have been more open or more flexible. Much prefer it to hotels - much better for families, especially if you have three DCs like us so hotel rooms are difficult to find and expensive.

The only horror stories I've heard involve the guests not the hosts - many cities are cracking down on airbnb because of neighbours complaining about constant partying etc from flats that are sublet. Barcelona has nightly demonstrations by the residents at the moment and our host there made it very clear we had to respect the neighbours etc. I think the most popular destinations will start following NY's lead soon.

Rainbunny · 25/08/2014 20:18

Jennysense - can I private message you about the place you stayed in Paris? I would a good tip as I'm starting to plan a trip there now. :)

Rainbunny · 25/08/2014 20:22

Goodword - it's the same here in San Diego. We own a condo downtown and every year when Comic Con happens we get requests to rent it out (we even had an offer for $7k for one week) but our condo HOA strictly forbids short term rentals. Most of the buildings in our neighbourhood have the same restrictions. I can't imagine our neighbours would have enjoyed 8 young guys partying it up for a week. The money would have been lovely though...

WhatWouldCaitlinDo · 25/08/2014 20:25

We used it in Australia, booked 5 places and they were all great. We checked the reviews and had a fair bit of interaction with each owner (arrival time, room for travel cot, etc etc) beforehand and their replies gave us a lot of confidence.

nancy75 · 25/08/2014 20:34

I have never heard of it until reading this thread - the website looks very interesting - where do the owners go - do they stay with you or go soemwhere else?

SantanaBinLorry · 25/08/2014 20:50

used it quiet a lot when researching where to re-locate. We now live full time in a house that we air bnb'd. So worked out well for us :)

Trills · 25/08/2014 20:53

I've only ever heard good stories first-hand.

Heifer · 25/08/2014 21:19

My husband used it when he stayed in London working on a 3 week contract. Was fantastic. A pretty decent screening process (took me a while to set his account up). He was very happy with his room and it only cost £50 a night. Would definitely use again. In fact I hadn't thought about using them for holiday.. thanks all, will go and do some research...

whois · 25/08/2014 21:22

Check out reviews etc and you be fine. Also AirBnB are pretty good about refunds etc if there are problems.

If something seems to good to be true, it usually is tho so usual caution needs to be applied.

Silvercatowner · 25/08/2014 21:22

Used it twice this year, both times fantastic experiences. But I tool out travel insurance and specified we needed cancellation insurance. So had the booking been cancelled at least we would have been able to book a hotel. Airbnb charges hosts for cancelling bookings though.

halfahorse · 25/08/2014 21:27

I've used them for years - the only time something went wrong, a host didn't answer the phone for hours, and hadn't left the key where they said they would. I thought we'd therefore have nowhere to stay, so I called Airbnb's 24 hour helpline, and they helped find us a nearby hotel, suggested we go for dinner and told us to keep the receipts and they'd refund all our costs. They really do have your back, promise!

TalkinPeace · 25/08/2014 21:31

just come back from the US where we used it twice
both excellent
one of them they even left us their cats to play with in the evenings (all agreed in advance)

Trills · 25/08/2014 21:32

A happy story about when things go wrong is so much more valuable than just stories of things going right, thank you!

Original poster

paddleduck · 25/08/2014 21:38

I agree trills! That is great to hear!

OP posts:

pearlgirl · 25/08/2014 21:45

We used it in London and stayed in a lovely flat - all went smoothly. Have started to look for our next trip.

FiveHoursSleep · 25/08/2014 21:53

We are airbnbing around Denmark and Sweden with our 4 kids atm and have had mostly good experiences.
Things to watch out for;
1/ Double check that the place you are renting does have the things listed if they are very important to you. One place had no wifi which was a disappointment, another had no washing machine, which was a disaster!
2/ Make sure you know how you are expected to get into the place. One was left open for us and we sat around for an hour, waiting to be let in. Another owner forgot to tell us where the key had been left. We had to ring Airbnb about this one and they paid for our meal while they contracted the O. If they hadn't been able to get hold of him, they would have put us up in a hotel for the night!
3/Be very careful if you don't speak the same language as the owner. Our only really bad experience came from this when we hadn't realised that we were expected to clean the enormous, run down house thoroughly before we left. She didn't provide us with cleaning products, or show us where the hoover was, so we just did what we'd been asked to do, but she expected it to be left spotless ( which it wasn't when we were let in).
Needless to say we've cleaned every thing we could reach since then!

It's been a great experience and we'd do it again, but it's not like staying in a hotel!

Flip

1 2