AIBU to dislike staying in Airbnbs?

[Whatsnewwithyou]

AIBU to dislike staying in Airbnbs? We've done it a few times and while DH likes them, I prefer hotels. I find Airbnbs to generally not be very clean (although I'm sure there are exceptions). Not that our own home is spotless but all those little hairs from strangers in most Airbnbs all over the bathrooms, couches, etc really disgust me.

DH likes being able to have our own food and more space. I like having breakfast in little cafes, lunch from a bakery, etc.

I don't find Airbnbs to generally be much cheaper than hotels particularly in places like London.

So AIBU to say to DH "no more" or should I keep trying? If you prefer Airbnbs to hotels please can you tell me why?

I do like holiday cottages if we're going to stay somewhere for a week due to food preparation and privacy but they usually seem more professionally managed and usually much cleaner than Airbnbs!

They’re really good when you’re going away as a big group, and have a whole house/flat so you can cook etc. A lot cheaper than getting 6-7 hotel rooms.
They’re also good for weddings in rural areas where there aren’t a lot of accom options. Sometimes it isn’t as nice as a hotel, but does the job for the night. I also like the adventure that comes with it, you meet some interesting people!

The other thing is you can get quite interesting options rather than standard rooms. You can book cabins, yurts etc - if you want something a bit different.

They’re not for everyone, but I am glad it’s an alternative to expensive hotels.

Airbnbs are all different. Some are amazing, others not so much. The last one I stayed in was ok, really clean and in a good spot. However the cleaning materials they used set off my allergies and I was really unwell for the week because of it. I guess this could happen in a hotel too though.

* I also think AirBNB (ditto Uber) are doing the "locals" no favours and I feel a little uneasy about this.*

Why?
Airbnb is bringing people to areas that otherwise possibly never would have come (couldn’t afford it didn’t want to stay on hotels) but they still want to utilise local services such as restaurants / bars / supermarkets.

I feel similar to you, OP.

I have only stayed with Airbnb once as I couldn't find a holiday cottage in the area I needed (close to family)

It was perfectly fine and clean but I found it odd staying in what was very obviously someone's home (locked wardrobe, food in freezer etc) I left a good review as there was nothing wrong with it, just my personal preference.

Much prefer the anonymity of a hotel or holiday cottage.

I’ve given up “staying in people’s spare bedroom”-type AirBnB places because the last time we did DD said I snored loudly for a few hours!
Full property, sure!
And we haven’t stayed anywhere with cleanliness problems from AirBnB.

A lot of AirBnB's ARE holiday cottages though.

The 2 I have stayed in were for our sole use, no difference between that and booking a cottage.

If you mean a room in someones house, then yes I would feel less inclined to do that.

But they are so much cheaper than a hotel in either case.

Dilemmacentral AirbnB allows many more people to visit a city than previously as numbers are no longer capped by available hotel rooms. You can say locals should be grateful more people can visit, but many people living in already heavily-tourist cities, eg Amsterdam, Barcelona, Lisbon feel overwhelmed by tourist numbers. Property is taken off the local rental market as more money can be made from holiday lets, and yes to restaurants and bars, but locals need more services than simply those and often areas become hollowed out, almost tourist ghettos where you couldn't even buy milk. Look online for articles on issues caused by the AirbnB model. Here's a taster: www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/feb/14/residents-and-city-councils-losing-out-because-of-airbnb

This: www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/12/profiteers-killing-airbnb-erode-communities

If it becomes a rea l problem then the cities wiklxdo as New York has done

No booking for less than 30 days unless owner is lwanent resident in property and 90 day overall limit strictly enforced

Also apparently more than half of those that rent out rooms on Airbnb report that doing so enabled them to actually stay in their property

I don't think they edit out bad reviews. From what I have read they remove listings that go below 4.3 average. It sounds like lots of hosts feel huge pressure to get 5 star reviews.

Whilst I admit to occasionally using airbnbs and this will most definitely not be the case everywhere this is a good article about why we should think twice before booking airbnb

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/31/airbnb-sharing-economy-cities-barcelona-inequality-locals

Basically, landlords in some areas can make far better money out of short term lets with airbnb than with long term tenants which is extremely bad news for those that really do need to rent long term.

I have never stayed in an Airbnb and don't plan to, granted there are some beautiful ones, but I much prefer a hotel or bnb, yiu know what you are getting, it's black and white. It seems much more straightforward and easier.

I have stayed in the kind of air bnbs that are a room in someone's house. They have been fine. But I would not book a proper self catering place through air bnb as it tends to be more expensive than booking it through other means.
Air bnb is now often more expensive, or the same price, as booking through a proper site or directly. Except for the rooms in someone elses home that are fine if you are only going to stay one night.

I stayed in what was clearly a council sub let in Barcelona.
The whole thing was so so dodgy and can see why locals don’t like it.
I am not a fan but do think it has its place.

No worries Hooz for the top re pets. It’s funny as the place was spotless with great reviews on cleanliness but the odd bits of hair/fur were in places you wouldn’t think to clean like on coffee capsules in a basket!! I didn’t leave a review for that stay, although it was a nice place I felt I’d have needed to say something about the hair/fur. No issues in other two places - one was amazing & I could’ve lived there (we met the owner by chance as they lived in same block), the other place left a basket of goodies which was useful too.
I’ve used booking.com, last year, and the key thing was a palaver having to pick it up from a nearby garage, plus we got totally lost finding the place. With Airbnb they were all padlocked key holders/code entry so didn’t have to meet anyone.
I didn’t know that re bad reviews, but I always choose Superhosts anyway.
True re cleaning, we cleared up, I wiped kitchen over, checked for stray pubes in shower. I got 5 stars as a guest from both places (you have to leave a review for them
To review you).
Yes, annoying with bags & late checkout. We had that twice but found solutions (although will be mindful of that in future).

I get pissed of with airbnbs just because so many of them have crap facilities (“luxury” flat types) and are run by penny pinchers.

Cheap ass beds, no cafetière, no salt/pepper/oil and about 30cm squared workspace in the kitchen.

The worst one we stayed in left us a USED kitchen sponge they literally cost €1 for a pack of 20... and no washing up liquid
Now I only book the ones that are less slick / actuall holiday homes

After getting royally peed off this year cooking a few dinners (the area was pricey but how much for sanity?) I vow never to cook on holiday again! Was different when kids were younger and fussy so had to as they’d eat chips for 2 weeks, but now it’s easy to find something. I have only just realised that the whole cooking thing on hol is just the same shit, different place. Breakfast is fine, easy to sort and wash up. Picnic type lunch is fine too but that’s as far as I’ll go now unless dh wants to get busy! I wouldn’t mind if lazy teens actually helped to clear up/set table. Dh did a bit but not enough to make it worth while!

As you are travelling in a couple, I'd say YANBU. The cost saving isn't that big when traded off against the extra hassles of self catering, so if I were you I'd insist on 50% hotels for your travel going forward.

Air Bnb is a big advantage for families. It's so much better having extra separate rooms for kids, and a living room where you can chill in front of a movie once the kids have gone to sleep, etc. To get the same thing in a hotel you'd have to spend crazy amounts on a large suite.

We use Airbnb all the time. Probably 10 times in the last 2 years. Yes they vary in quality and cleanness. But I'd say they've all been lovely. None have been unclean.

I would recommend most of the ones we've stayed in and go back if given the chance

Right before I found out I was pregnant, we moved into a flat as a bit of an emergency. It was our friends AirBnB.
It was only for a few months while we found something else. It was up 3 flights of stairs, above a pub, right in the centre of town.

The friend later told us as we were moving our stuff in, that he'd actually had an escort hire the place (which he only found out after from the evidence left behind and after doing some Googling I think?). Apparently, it's alot easier for them to just hire an AirBnB place and then be done with it.

Needless to say, we worked pretty hard to find somewhere else sharpish. I think we stayed for 2 months all in all? Never staying in an AirBnB again...

I find it weirdly uncomfortable 😖

I run a holiday rental business and rent out about 100 apartments and houses through Airbnb, but I have never booked my holidays through them and I don't think I will.. It is amazing how they created such a popular website for travellers, yet they don't offer any protection to the traveller.

• They never refund their fee (which is generally 13% of the price, and sometimes down to 6% for longer stays, so not a small amount of money), even if you book 6 months upfront and on the next day change your mind and would like to cancel. Even when we had a client who booked two apartments for the same dates by mistake, Airbnb required a lot of calls and emails before they refunded their fee for the accidentally confirmed booking.

• The property rental owner can cancel at any time (at no cost or at a very small cost, say 50€ to 100€ penalty fee for the whole booking, so sometimes if you book months prior for some popular event, the owner can actually make more money by cancelling your reservation and increasing the prices in the last minute). It's actually strange they call it "reservation" website, as you can't really reserve anything on airbnb.

• When you book, it seems to me (correct me if I'm wrong) that the traveller doesn't get any booking confirmation with a detailed list of the rental's characteristics and amenities (for example, if there is an A/C, swimming pool, etc.). The booking confirmation detailing the offer you have booked is the basic standard of any travelling business.

So basically, Airbnb makes it possible for anyone to advertise, say, a villa with a private swimming pool, and if you arrive and the owner changed the ad and there is no pool, how exactly would you prove that when you booked there was a pool published? There must be a log the airbnb operators can access, but first you have to contact them, and they hide their phone number like it's some kind of confidentiality matter, and not a public serving company. Of course, you don't have to stay if you don't like it and they say they will give you your money back, but they don't refund any money easily and besides, what would you do? Look for another house in situ on the day of arrival, with suitcases and all?

There are also some strangest technical details that can create a lot of confusion. For example, say the same owner has a very nice 2-bedroom apartment in the centre, and a 1 bedroom apartment in a rough neighbourhood. The owner publishes them with the same account, which is a standard thing to do. You make inquiry about the 2 bedroom apartment, and the owner replies "it has 2 bedrooms and it's in the centre", you then see the 1 bedroom apartment, like the price better and book it. Your conversation about the 2 bedroom apartment will now show under your 1 bedroom apartment reservation, and it would seem as the owner is telling you lies..

I just don't get it how they created such a huge website while giving so little protection to travellers.. and also showing so little understanding of some basic rules of the travel industry..

AirBNB is cheaper.

I've done 3. 2 were great! But the last one - ouch.

But the "downside" is you get reviewed by the Owner.

I got quite a rude one, and was pretty hacked off about it - she said I'd made up the reason to leave early (the noise), which I hadn't FGS!!!! I thought she was just a bit nuts, but heh.

That has put me off.

This thread is really interesting. On the back of this I don't think I will risk a stay anywhere with airbnb, unless it can be regulated.

No longer stay in Airbnb’s the reviews are edited so that they are all positive - negative reviews are not published. Properties advertised in Booking.com or Tripadvisor have more comprehensive reviews - giving you the good and the bad!

I have left a negative review on Airbnb and it was published - but I have just checked and the listing is no longer there - so either the Airbnb or the owner has removed the listing, due to the bad reviews. So it's not really that the bad reviews are not published (they are) but once a property gets a number of bad ones it can be removed (which obviously removes everything including the reviews).

The problem with Tripadvisor is that they have no way of verifying if someone stayed somewhere or ate somewhere or not, so anyone can leave a review. There is a whole internet industry of paid for fake reviews, incentivised reviews etc. I have eaten at some awful restaurants and stayed at some crap hotels because I chose them based on good tripadvisor reviews.. I no longer do - too easy to game the listings.

Hence the journalist who got their garden shed serving Iceland supermarket food rated as the top restaurant in London on tripadvisor: :) www.vice.com/en_uk/article/434gqw/i-made-my-shed-the-top-rated-restaurant-on-tripadvisor

As for Booking.com - they artificially inflate their review scores: ro-che.info/articles/2017-09-17-booking-com-manipulation
They also charge up to 25% commission on bookings (to the provider not you) but obviously the provider has to factor these costs into their price...

Airbnb hosts can cancel reservations (which is a major negative) although Airbnb do give you 10% of your booking value to be used towards a new booking (not exactly ideal especially if prices have gone up and/or you have to find a new place last minute, but better than nothing I guess). But it can work in your favour - I had a place cancelled in France and the 10% extra meant I could choose a place that was slightly more expensive than I would normally go for (so potentially nicer) and was also more central (city break) than the palce that cancelled. On the other hand another place that cancelled meant that I had to completely change my travel plans as it was a small village and nothing else was available except for very expensive options.

However so called superhosts can potentially lose their superhost 'status' by cancelling bookings and you can search using superhosts as a filter, so this makes it much less likely to happen.