Stuff AIRBNB hosts.

[Bangolads]

I used to love AIRBNB - it’s felt like the world was your oyster, you could stay in houses rather than sterile hotels and often the price was really reasonable. I loved the quirkiness.
Now the price is often extortionate, the place is run my professional hosts, it’s ruining communities and the rules and lists of things you can and can’t do feel as if hosts think they’re doing you a favour rather than offering a service for which you are paying. For the first time in years we stayed in a hotel on holiday - amazing! Airbnb is dead for me- AIBU?

My daughter has very well behaved dogs but they are not welcome in hotels so she has to use pet friendly air bnb's. They've booked one for 5 days and the cleaning costs are £200 extra for dogs, so £40 per day. Its costing them £1200 for five days.

I won't use Air B&B if I'm going away I'll support the tourist industry and book a hotel, where they employ cooks, bar staff, cleaners etc. I live in a tourist area, my son and his wife to be will never get a starter home round here due to them getting snapped up and made into holiday homes/Holiday rentals even though they both have good year round jobs locally.

Yanbu. I'm done with them too.

Same here. And the fear of the host like the religious nutter of my aunt breathing down my neck every fucking second

We have had a few great AirBNB stays but then had one awful one.

V expensive but nothing else available in summer 21 - host turned up all over friendly and 'just relax' actually showed me a couple of minor scuffs on the wall and said 'don't worry about this sort of thing I just touch it up'
We cleaned the place ( better than at home) and then got an absolutely scathing review and a request for hundred of pounds damages. These included £80 for a pan as the outside was slightly marked ( her hob was playing up with a very yellow flame) when a set of 5 ( from IKEA) was £49, 2 replacement cereal bowls as one was slightly chipped - I paid for both (also IKEA) as she said she needed the set. There was a tiny mark on a sofa which I actually noticed when we first arrived - that was another £100 for a total clean and so on.
She wrote a whole paragraph about how we had used all her bath towels meant for the next guests from her store and how rude this was as we had inconvenienced her greatly, except we hadn't, there weren't even any there.
It really put me off as we have had all 5 star reviews before and this reads like we are the family from hell. I had left a polite review but in retrospect should have mentioned the rubbish Wifi and noise from the road but didn't as I thought it was petty.

I have had emails from other places we have stayed in thanking us for the care we have taken and offering us discounts to come back so I really dont think we are terrible but it is really upsetting and leaves a bad feeling about the holiday when you get this.

I won't use them again in the UK which is a shame as the majority are good but I think you end up too dependent on the host's personality and individual rules which you just don't get with a hotel or via a rental agency.

I'm currently on a month long Airbnb 5 country rail trip in Europe with dc.

Only one city I had problems with and for the very first time (re cancellations) and Airbnb gave me a 200e voucher to top up my account for rebooking. We ended up with a fantastic place, better than the original. Next stop, France!

I love Airbnb, but that said, I really do not enjoy hotels for any more than 2 nights.

I really can't stand "buffet" breakfasts/all inc situations, carpeted corridors and lifts, can't open the windows properly etc. I have zero interest in pools and so on so it's horses for courses.

It really important to read every single review before booking, and looking to see if there have been many prior cancellations.

I

We've had brilliant ones and shit ones. Different standards seem to depend upon the city?

Lisbon - fabulous, beds all made up, plenty of towels, left coffee milk and bread, plus a list of their favourite shops, cafes and restaurants.

Lake Garda - sent an email 5 days before travel saying bring bed linen and towels as they don't provide any, 5 different bins need taking out on specific days or we get fined, and we got there to find no tea towels toilet roll or anything.

It completely depends on country and host. Some great, some shit.

I’ve used them a few times and must have been lucky because I’ve had no trouble at all. All were clean and tidy, with no hidden surprises. Yes the cleaning fees are annoying but they’re upfront.

Oh, mine were all in England.

Crikey, I’m really sad to read all the negative views on Airbnb hosts. We are not all like that I can assure you. I want my guests to have the best experience and I have no cleaning requirements (as I charge a £40 cleaning fee) but we provide wine on arrival, breakfast items and offer to service the property free of charge if they have a slightly longer than average stay. We would never cancel guests unless a genuine emergency.

@420Bruh

OMG that must have been honestly horrendous. How bloody awful 🤬

Too much hassle. Give me a hotel any time

I've had some great experiences, so I'm a bit sad to dump Airbnb. But weekends away are supposed to be relaxing, and the last few, though lovely places, have made me feel on pins about the possibility of spilling a few drips of coffee. The tone of the instructions found on arrival made me feel like Hyacinth Bucket's friend who daren't even pick up her cup of tea!
That and having to set my alarm and busy about cleaning before I leave (not even having time for breakfast) makes me wish I'd just booked a hotel.

I find myself just not wanting to take the risk any more. I'll miss out on some great places and hosts like you, but over the years I've find places being pickier and pickier, cleaning fees getting higher and higher, and check in/out times getting later/earlier.
I always get 5* and very complimentary reviews, but it's at too great a cost.

I’m in the US so probably slightly different market for me, but we have had lots of luck with Short Term Rentals. I usually book only after having a really good look through the hosts reviews. The reviews usually give a good idea of what to expect.

We often meet up with other family members, so we like to cook big dinners and hang out together (drinking wine) after we get the kids to bed, which we wouldn’t easily be able to do all in hotel rooms.

In my experience, Most hosts prefer guests to book with them direct. If I find the property name on ABB or VRBO and like the place, I try and google to see if they have a direct booking site, and contact the host. This way usually cuts loads in fees that those hosting sites like to slap on.

I was an Airbnb fan until we stayed in a place that was filthy. We left a very fair review that pointed out the good things as well as what was dirty, as did the three families who stayed prior to us so clearly something had gone wrong. Went to see if they had improved things a few months later and all the reviews had been wiped. I complained to AirBnB and the hosts to say it gives me no faith in the site anymore and they didn’t bother to respond. So yeah, no more.

I really dislike Air bnb but since I've allergies and can't eat out. Its usually my only way of going on holidays

I'm confused - are people using Airbnb as a generic term for self catering lets? Otherwise there are plenty of these which you don't have to get via Airbnb. We've never gone through them and have had some great self catering apartments in Europe, north America and the Caribbean (usually through booking com). Bit confused that people are saying it's Airbnb or a hotel?

I am 65 and love Airbnb, I travel alone and have stayed in some lovely places.

I don't understand why it's either an Airbnb or a hotel. What about all the other self catering options? Booking direct with an owner can be hundreds of pounds cheaper, and if you don't want to do that, there are plenty of smaller self catering companies which rent out fantastic properties.

We tend to find Aparthotel type places on Booking.com or similar for short breaks. We've always found it really straightforward and nice places to drop off mid-journey or city break type things.

Most have a key box, which is infinitely preferable, and late check outs/no crazy list of rules.

Like I said upthread, we'll stick with Airbnb abroad, but never again in the UK.

I'm referring to Airbnb. But mainly in relation to weekend breaks. As most other self catering agencies only do full weeks, the only real alternative for a couple of nights is a hotel.

To pick up a pp's point, it's just Airbnb we won't use now in the UK. I agree that there are much better sites to book with for breaks here.

I don't agree. Many self catering companies, and especially individual owners do short/weekend breaks.

I've never had an issue. Have stayed in many different ones from large groups to holidays with the dog.
You just have to make sure you read the listing thoroughly and check all the reviews (Google as well as just looking on airbnb!). If it maked unreasonable demands re cleaning etc. book somewhere else. Simple!

Am really surprised by the vote - I had to check twice if I'd read the question right - and by the comments.
We've stayed in 3 different Air BnBs in the las 6 weeks, and all have been perfect.
I've not seen any odd rules.
I've not had any stringent requests re cleaning.
Just lovely to have your own self contained house / flat / space, with kitchen facilities, and things you don't get in a hotel like a sitting room that isn't your bedroom. You can do what you want at what time you want - don't have to have breakfast at a set time. You've space and facilities to make your picnic if you want. It gives you the choice to make your own meals if you wish or get takeaways or of course you can go out if you want to.
Really don't understand the issues.