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?

Also, self catering often accepts dogs and cleaning charges often only about £20.00

There will be the odd Airbnb host that I'm sure is fine, but I'm not risking anymore holidays and money finding out!

The UK is pretty awful for Airbnb experiences, but I'll continue to use it abroad as we've only had good experiences in France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. I don't why it's like this, but after 10 years of it, no more UK Airbnb for us.

It's not just about cost - I've found smaller booking sites FAR better, with more consumer protections. Airbnb has morphed into something it wasn't at the start. Now it's just the luck of the draw as to whether or not you'll have a great holiday or a stress-filled nightmare, plus the prices in the UK are laughably greedy.

That's disgusting, do you have no comeback for this like sending them the bill for cleaning

Does Air B&B company not help with this sort of scenario?

I had the misfortune of having to live next to an Air BnB (we were there first, the flat next door sold to someone who turned it into an Air BnB). We had people coming and going at all hours, parties, doors slamming, strangers constantly outside our front door on their phone, guests parking in peoples spots. We had to move in the end as it was awful. You can be the best host in the world to your guests but unless you are renting out a room in the home you also live in/ an annex etc, I have zero respect for you. Air BnB is destroying communities and also the lives of the people who have to live next to them.

I did have to stay in one recently much to my disgust (a very sedate hen do). The kitchen didn’t even have a baking tray or tea towels, the dishwasher was full on arrival and the host didn’t send us the code for the lock box until 2 hours after check in time. The blinds kept falling down and the advertised Sky TV was then most basic package akin to freeview. £500 for 2 nights. Hotels only for me in future.

YANBU. I thought airbnb was a good idea when it was about letting out a spare room or main residence whilst away.

Now there’s a direct relationship between numbers of airbnb apartments in my area and numbers of sofa surfers, vehicle dwellers and street homeless. They are contributing to the desperate housing situation for local people.

Does Air B&B company not help with this sort of scenario?

Not IME. They don't want to know. Even if a guest admits it was true, they still want "proof". Though the proof they want to see (such as a stench of cigarettes in a strictly non-smoking property) is sometimes impossible to provide.

Haven't used AirBnB much in the UK but have used it a lot in Europe and have never had any problems.

Same!

I don't even want to clean my own home most of the time (but obviously do), let alone someone else's. I especially wouldn't want to clean someone else's home after I've paid thousands to travel across the world for my holiday!

We booked an airBnB before Covid. It was cancelled due to Covid becoming rampant. Got no money back and they even kept the 50pct cleaning fee that they took as a deposit.
Apparently it was 'up the host' how much they kept.

So I will not use them again out of principle.

We live near the cliffs of Moher and have an Airbnb. Self contained flat attached to house that sleeps a family, bedroom, kitchen, living room and bathroom and all round house parking. We charge 54 É a night plus 10 cleaning per stay. We would never expect any cleaning to be done by guests other than whipe surfaces and washing up. We have one rule of no smoking and that is it. We have had 300 plus bookings from a night to 35 nights and never cancelled anyone and only had minor issues with two guests. Check-in is 3pm onwards and check out 11am. We are 80perc booked March to October and 50 perc rest of year. I thought this was how it worked.
And we always have baby goats about in the summer which you can pet

And it should be part of the residence you live in or you should have to get planning permission to change from residential to short letting. The majority of which would be refused.

We’ve never had a bad experience as guests, no silly rules or crazy cleaning requirements.

I can absolutely understand the gutting out of neighbourhoods resentment though.

You sold me at the baby goats

I don't understand why people do self catering at all...

If you've got to clean the place, cook, wash up etc it takes so much time away from your holiday, seems odd to go away and choose to spend a portion of your time doing chores.

Always hotels...

They are beyond cute and our guests absolutely love them. They all find it so amusing when they get into the poly tunnel and eat the tomatoes or pull out the garlic for a bit of fun. Though the length of time you can be angry with a baby goat is about 2 seconds before they charm you again.

Isn’t Airbnb self catering?

I prefer my own room when I go on holiday. So does Dd and ds.

We also like a private pool

Until I can afford 3 bedroom suite with en-suite bathrooms and a private pool in a hotel I don’t think I will ever go back to hotels.

@Kennykenkencat we just stayed in a hotel where there was a pool as part of our room! All be it small it was maxing and not extortionate

@ClareBlue I’d come to you for the goats!! Our last experience was horrendous with Airbnb. Mouldy sheets and splatted bugs on the pillowcases- they had all 5* reviews🤷🏼‍♀️ I sent her a message afterwards and said I wouldn’t give a bad review but we weren’t happy. I realise now I shouldn’t have been so generous but I hate confrontation. Despite this she was extremely defensive and seems to think I wanted something. I didn’t I just said you need to know this was really unpleasant. She sent me soap of which the postage fell off and I had to pay🤦🏼‍♀️

But did it have the space for separate bedrooms and bathrooms as well

I want a pool I can swim in and space and everyone to have their own private rooms and bathrooms. Not just a room.

Last time we went we had all that for about £170 per night including cleaning fees in a 4 bed detached house in the Hollywood Hills

Not even going to look what it costs now but considering last year when we were moving house and needed a Airbnb/short term let for a few weeks we were offered a caravan for 4 nights for £1200 + cleaning fee I even saw fields (no facilities) up for £2000 for 30 days and a wooded clearing with a fire pit and a few logs to sit on up for £3000 for 30 days.

Ended up spending £100 per night from one of the holiday cottage websites for a 2 bedroom place and sleeping on the sofa whilst having to commute 2.5 hours each way by car to work. The place was filthy, the internet only worked if your phone was within an inch of the bathroom window. (We couldn’t even get a phone signal) It was dirty and you could turn the hob on full and still rest your hand comfortably on the surface.
Last year put me off ever booking a holiday in this country ever again. I just can’t afford it.

It seems it has lost its way. It has gone from sharing space with a local to a business screwing out as much cash as possible with amateurs who have no idea what is required. Some of the guests don't seem to care and some of the hosts are the same. Some professionals are using whole houses for short lets that they don't even live in the area, never mind the house.
It's all a bit sad as when it works it's great. Our children have stayed all over Europe with ex guests of ours who they made friends with.
But it can happen to hosts too. We stayed in a terrible basement flat in Dublin that was not clean and smelly. No air movement and weird layout you wouldn't get out of in a fire. We left at 4am.the reviews were fine so either people have very low bars or are not trueful.

@ClareBlue - I do wonder about people’s standards sometimes, can hosts get negative reviews removed? The cottage we stayed in had only glowing reviews and whilst the place was clean it only had very basic amenities but many of the reviews go on about how well appointed it is. It had some cutlery, mugs (no glasses), plates that couldn’t go in the microwave, 1 small saucepan, 1 frying pan, no cooking utensils, no tea towels, no baking tray. The oven controls had rubbed off. It was just one big headache!

People are priced out of houses either to rent or to buy as a consequence. You can admire the people who spotted a gap in the holiday market for setting it up, but at the same time want to see it restricted.

I’m a host and am also on a lot of hosting forums. There are a lot of hosts who really shouldn’t be in hospitality. There are also a lot of guests who would be (in Airbnb review parlance ‘better suited to a hotel’). Airbnb is an advertising and booking platform, nothing more. Read the listing and reviews carefully and be wary of anything that seems a bargain or that is available in a popular location at short notice. I think it’s a riskier way to travel, but if you’re selective and do a little bit of due diligence you can end up with much more than you paid for (in a good way) when you find a good host.

I've never been remotely interested in AirB&B. I hate the thoughts of staying in some random persons house.

We stay in serviced apartments or mainly hotels.

There's literally NO way I'm cleaning up some house if I'm already paying a cleaning fee!!