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!

I've used them twice. One time stayed in a yurt and the other in a kind of large summer house with kitchen and shower. Both times were good except the owner of the summer house charged me £6 for a glass I broke, not a crystal glass just the tooth mug glasses from the bathroom!

Staying in another one in South of France next week so hopefully as good as the others.

@midsomermurderess
My main concern is the damage the AirbnB model is doing to cities like Amsterdam, Barcelona, Edinburgh, Lisbon etc.

Yes, I agree, the original idea of people renting out a spare room in their house or letting their property for a few weeks when they were away is a great one, but I have seen the effect here in Edinburgh where people buy properties to let full time as Airbnbs, making it harder for locals to find houses to buy or rent.

It can also be very disruptive, people constantly coming and going at all hours, or people trying to get into the wrong flat in a building or losing their keys. I know someone who was woken up at 3am by very drunk airbnb guests staying in a flat upstairs to them who could not get into the main front door of the building so they just buzzed all the flats in the building at 3am to get someone to let them in!

What Airbnb really does to a neighbourhood:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45083954

@buttermilkwaffles
Thanks, great link on booking!!
ro-che.info/articles/2017-09-17-booking-com-manipulation

I do use them, mostly because I know they have to give me some coverage if the original accommodation fails, but it is so interesting to read about the manipulation they do!

For example with one apartment building we have a 8.0 review score on booking.com and I really believe this reflects the reality, even that is only thanks to great location and cleanliness, the apartments are small and can have street noise and they don't deserve a higher note. But on Airbnb the same apartments are 4.5/5, and when someone leaves a note lower than 4.3, I think, airbnb sends us an email "warning"... I sometimes think Airbnb believes all accommodation they advertise should be 5 stars in every way.. I just don't get it..

I've only stayed in one AirBnB but it was lovely, clean and homely. If you have small kids, they're ideal - we couldn't go out to dinner but could order in Deliveroo which you can't do in a hotel. Room service would have been more expensive and limited. Plus being able to sit on the sofa and stick on Netflix instead of being sat awkwardly on a bed watching Freeview (if you're lucky) is so handy. You also get multiple bedrooms/living spaces which you don't get in a hotel (so can put kids to bed and actually watch a film, not sit in the dark with the telly on too quiet to hear it). Also it worked out cheaper than a hotel in a similarly-central location (in Edinburgh).

I do love a hotel, the cleanliness and luxury of it, but with small kids, AirBnB is much more convenient.

I'm frightened to start because I might start to rant.

Firstly you need to define what you mean by an AirBNB. Initially they were just rooms in peoples houses, and many still are, but nowadays it is more usually a holiday rental. These holiday rentals are often available on several sites so airbnb is just another advertising site.

It is important to remember that airbnb do not own any of the accommodation. If you book a hotel, either an independant hotel or a group such as Hilton, then the company owns the hotel. Airbnb do not own anything, they do not inspect anything, no member of airbnb staff has set foot in over 99% of "airbnbs". So why lump them all together? There are thousands of different owners of holiday properties, some are good, some are terrible, but they are all individuals.

One statement in particular wound me up Owners who take Airbnb seriously use laundries and employ cleaners This is such bullshit. I run holiday accomodation. I do all the laundry myself because I take it seriously. If there is a stain on a sheet I know about it because I iron it. We do all our own cleaning. A paid cleaner doesn't really care whether the fridge has a slight smudge on it or that the bin has a slight smell - we do because it is our livelyhood.

I accept a debate about whether hotels or self catering accommodation is preferable, but any implication that ALL holiday rentals are dirty and that ALL hotels are clean is just ridiculous.

I'll stop there I think...

You can't lump all AirBnB properties into one lump though. They vary hugely. Some are exclusively holiday lets, others are people's homes.

We've just booked an Airbnb in Paris for next year. The owner is a single mum with two teenage kids. During the weeks her kids are with their dad she moves in with her sister and rents out her home. We're really looking forward to being in a non-touristy part of the city.

"You can't lump all AirBnB properties into one lump though. They vary hugely. Some are exclusively holiday lets, others are people's homes."

But how would we know?

You can usually tell by the photos whether it's somebody's home or not. Personal items, photos, paintings, plants. In large cities where there is SO much choice it's easy to spot the difference when you've looked at dozens of listings.

Buttermilk, I'm in Edinburgh too, and the AirbnB model is a huge problem, as you say. First-time-buyer type flats being hoovered up, in a buy-let environmental too, makes finding housing hard and the city has a big shortage of housing. People living in flats suddenly find total strangers trooping in and out, putting the downstair's door on the latch for convenience, parties, noise, mess, leaving rubbish in the stair. And it's doing huge damage in the cites I mentioned.
I think you have to think beyond, hey, but I get some cheap accommodation, and look at the wider picture. Sometimse, booking an hotel is the best all-round choice for everyone.

I like Airbnb. Don’t particularly like hotels unless it’s for a night or two. I don’t like feeling I need to be up for a certain time, or that people need to come in to clean the room.

DH and I recently stayed in Amsterdam on a houseboat which was lovely. Much nicer than a hotel .

I also felt a bit awkward (before doing it) about the ones where you are staying in a room in someones home, but if you choose carefully you can find some good places and meet really nice interesting people who also give great local advice.

Quite often you get your own bathroom or even an en-suite, so that solves what for me is the main negative - sharing a bathroom with the host - unfortunately there is no filter for this in the search though.

I have also stayed in a few where the room was pretty much separate from the rest of the house, but had a bathroom and kitchenette - so basically like a studio flat but cheaper! Only saw the hosts when I arrived and they gave me great local advice (map marked with good places to eat, transport, sites etc) then they left me to it but were always 'next door' /upstairs/downstairs if I had needed anything.

A few examples: a host who was a big foodie so loved talking about food (so do I) and gave great tips on local places to eat, they also baked fresh bread every morning for breakfast.

Another host who were away for the weekend when I booked so I actually got the whole place to myself for the first 2 days of a 3 day stay. Firstly, amazed that they trusted a total stranger to come into their home when they were away, but their place was beautiful, spotlessly clean, had a wonderful roof terrace. I had my own bathroom and the bed was one of the most comfortable I have ever slept in. When they returned from their trip they were also very nice and interesting people to talk to.

Another was with a family, despite the language barrier they treated me as if I was part of the family, gave me homemade wine, fruit and veg from their garden and local cheese and when I left they gave me a bag of avocados from their garden to take home and insisted on giving me a lift to the bus station. :)

The poor customer service, ability to cancel at very short notice and skewed review system would all put me off.

They publish all reviews I think. What they do is remove listings that don't meet their standards.

It is the fact that they don't share their definition of what makes a 5 star stay with the people asked to do the scoring- the guests- that pisses me off.

5 star to them means 'meets the expectations of the listing'. So, was it as described.

I have been threatened with having my listing removed because I have too many 4 star reviews, which brings my average down. My written reviews are all brilliant. People who give 4 stars say that the house is gorgeous, clean, spacious etc. They think they are giving a good score!

Air BnB helps me stay in my house, as I move out for the high summer weeks. Every personal item is removed.

On cleanliness, I pay £160 for cleaning and laundry every changeover. So even if people stay 3 nights it is the same charge. This is why there is a cleaning fee at many houses. Without charging £75 for cleaning I would not be able to offer short breaks, which people really like.

I get the impression on this thread that 'staying in an AirBnB' means different things to different people. Some seem to be using it as a shorthand for any self-catering holiday (which is confusing), others use it to mean AirBnB self-catering, and others for staying in a room in someone's house.

Any holiday accommodation could be dirty or spotless, it's irrelevant really. Personally I prefer to book SC through a company which specialises in the local area, or direct with the owner. Much less likely to use AirBnB due to the ease with which an owner can cancel.

A couple of years ago we saved about £250 a week by booking via an owners site rather than AirBnB. Struggling to see the attraction really.

Hoolio if 5 stars is supposed to mean 'meets the expectations of the listing' then what rating are you supposed to give to places that are really good for the price, or where the host was extra helpful?

I usually use trip advisor or booking.com and go for 4/5 or above or 80% or above. Does that mean I've been choosing places that people think are a bit shit?

How bad are the places that get 2 or 3 stars?

All the airbnbs I stay in have been spotlessly clean. I love the space. Instead of all being squashed together in a tiny 'family suite' overpriced hotel room with extra beds shoved in for DC, having to pay ££ every time you want a cup of tea or glass of juice, you're free to move around, have living rooms, bedrooms, often outdoor space too.

I've never found a hotel as cheap or as huge as the airbnbs we've stayed in. The only exception was one in Paris. I wouldn't use it again. It was minute and a bit grubby. Very like a hotel room in size, but it was cheap and opposite Ile de la Cite. Hotels round there cost a fortune.

I love airbnb and sometimes use them when I go away for work as you sometimes get a nice interesting area and it's more "cosy". We also decided to stay in an airbnb in Thailand and it was lovely - have also used in Lisbon (4 times - for work), Bejing (work) and a couple of UK breaks too. So yes, I think YABU, but your call! :)

@Saidthesharktotheflyingfish when you say a company that specialises in SC locally or with the owner themselves, do you mean via set ups like Owners Direct?

With Airbnb I try to only stay with superhosts as their places tend to be really good and special in some way. Haven't had a bad experience with a superhost. You pay a premium but still cheaper than a hotel generally.

Barbara, no you are not choosing things that other people think are a bit shit.

Air BnB think a 4 is a bit shit, but guests generally think it means good.

That is the problem.

For example, I recently had a guest give me a 4 star rating and glowing review. She said, in private feedback, that if we had sunloungers that would make the house perfect. So she knocked a star off as we don't have them.

The listing doesn't say we have sunloungers, there are no photographs of sunloungers.

You don't pay a premium for a supervisory. You become a supervisory if your average score is, I think, 4.8.

4.3 average, you are removed from the site.

That is a miniscule difference, especially as people don't know what they are scoring on!

Superhost, nor supervisory!!!

I love Airbnb and wouldn't use anything else now. I have been using them for a few years now and stayed in them in loads of places in the UK plus France, Sweden, Holland. We stay in London about once every 6 weeks too.

I dislike hotels. I hate being told what time breakfast is (they hardly ever start early enough for me and DH). I hate the fact that being a light sleeper I am always woken by the people that come back at 3am and slam all the doors and talk really loudly. I also hate that in the hotels I stay in (can't afford really good ones) you have to sit or lay on the bed to watch tv - that it is not at all comfortable.

We always opt for the "whole place" option and have stayed in lovely places. We like having a kitchen so we can either choose to make our own meals if we want. I love cooking and don't have a problem with doing it when on holiday. I would rather eat something nice we have made than something not as nice in a restaurant.

I like having the space - kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom, often a dining room rather than just an hotel room.

I don't get how you cannot think they are cheaper than hotels. Even opting for whole place is cheaper than an hotel. We stayed in a penthouse apartment in Canary Wharf for £60 a night - the cheapest hotel was over £100 a night.

We regularly stay in one really great bungalow. Very clean, very well equipped and the owner provides tea, coffee, biscuits, breakfast cereal, milk, bread, jams. We pay £46 a night for that. There is a Travelodge nearby which charges at least £70 a night.

We are going to Belgium next month. Hotels all wanted at least £70 a night and they didn't look great. We are staying in 3 different Airbnb's, one is £33, one is £43 and one is £44

I love the idea of what is offered on sites like Airbnb, but unfortunately I’ve yet to manage to stay in one...

We have booked 3 in the past, all different countries, and each time the owners have cancelled the booking - one of them only 2 days before we were due to stay there - leaving us in a panic as we were already in the country staying in a hotel for the first part of our trip (Mexico!)...

So, now I am too wary to attempt booking again & stick to hotels.

However, more relevant to the OP’s question- as PP’s have said, I think your real issue is that fact that you & your DH have different expectations about how you want a holiday to play out, and unless you resolve that before booking anything again I doubt any future trips will hit the right note with you, no matter where you stay 🤨

@MinaPaws No, not Owners Direct. Either the owner's own website or a local company.