To not get the appeal of airbnbs

[cadburyegg]

I've stayed in a couple with a friend and she's always booked it, so I'm not familiar with the requirements/setup.

I just can't get comfortable with staying in someone's home 🙈 i just felt like the owner could reappear at any moment! I would much rather stay in a hotel/travelodge even if it means just a bedroom without any kitchen facilities.

With one we stayed in lately, we were kept waiting about 10 mins outside for the owner to get the keys, which wasn't a big deal, but it got me thinking, what would happen if the person just didn't turn up?

Also, my friend insisted we had to leave the place absolutely spotless because otherwise her ratings would suffer. But we paid a hefty cleaning fee...

Am I missing the appeal?

*get

It’s generally worth checking if you’re booking through Airbnb or Booking.com or any other similar listing site whether you can get better rates booking directly - occasionally I’ve managed to secure a much better deal by going direct. Though sometimes things like booking flexibility or the cancellation policy is better on Airbnb/Booking.

I'd much rather be self catering when we have the dog, I can't really imagine bringing a dog to a hotel for more than one night as it feels a bit restrictive.

I do like hotels, but I get bored eating out every day and it's expensive. So for our Jersey/France trip we're starting out in hotels, but finishing in an Airbnb.

I only book ones that have many excellent reviews.

I've stayed in three. Two were basically just holiday cottages and the whole arrangement worked just the same way it would if you were renting a holiday cottage through a company, but it was slightly cheaper. The third time I was on my own and was in a room in what was the host's house, so it was essentially a B&B (and they did offer a very nice breakfast) - but it was a LOT cheaper than any other B&B in the relevant area.

So basically I treat them just like any other holiday cottage and B&B arrangement and choose by checking prices, availability in the area I want, etc. Generally I prefer self-catering for the freedom it gives, and I would anyway aim to leave the place at least tidy and with surfaces wiped down etc wherever I am renting from, and I've only had positive reviews from hosts.

Yep, and it's almost always cheaper elsewhere.

Probably - Airbnb (along with Tripadvisor and Vrbo) add a big "guest fee" also known as a booking fee to the prices they quote. Just one of the reasons I dislike them. Some of advertisers are on a different model and pay the guest fee themselves but they will always show as much more expensive than the ones that don't. Overall you pay the same. I hate sites which use an artificially low price and then load on the fees when you want to pay.

I use booking.com. All advertisers have to pay the listing charge.

We've just stayed in a beautiful property which was £180 a week cheaper booking direct. We only book an Airbnb if we're desperate to stay in a particular property and it isn't bookable any other way. Otherwise you're almost always paying too much.

Airbnb (and other listing sites) will not let owners put a link to their own website on listings and will remove any reference to websites from any correspondence through their platform. They very quickly got wise to the ways in which owners would try to circumvent this (e.g. writing Badger's Rest dot com instead of providing an actual link)

It is often worth doing a reverse image search on some of the photos to see if that returns any links to the owners website. Or simply googling if the place has an actual name mentioned e.g. Bodgers Nest, Anytown.

When we owned holiday cottages we much preferred to take bookings directly and it always works out cheaper for both parties!

Mines lovely, it it gets amazing reviews, much nicer than my own house! It's not in a town taking up space where someone could live and no one has to lift a finger cleaning, no rules whatsoever. I've never had a guest leave more than a few take away bags and I'm fine with that. It's separate to my house, people can rock up at 2am if they like, loads of parking etc. You just need to choose the right one. It's vastly superior to a Premier Inn unless you need to be next to the airport/motorway or whatever.

for us it’s cheaper and more spacious than hotels.
4 of us, plus dog sometimes, so having the space of a rental where we can also save money by buying food & snacks or cooking is great. Our kids are too young to be left in a hotel room so hotel wise we’d have to have a massive family room to have space = expensive and rare, interconnecting rooms also expensive or be cramped.
it’s also east to find an AirBNB at short notice.

We’ve stayed in some stunning AirBNBs but none have ever been a home used by the family full time as far as I can tell.

We’ve done a few where the owners split their time between two different homes for various reasons and rented out their main home while they were away. They’ve all been brilliant stays.

I have never stayed in one, in fact apart from Centre Parcs I’ve not been on a self catering holiday. I think I’d like to try me with a jacuzzi and a nice view.

Only stay in airbnb where you are renting the entire place, I.e, the owner is not there.

Airbnbs used to be cheaper than hotels but that’s not the case any more.

We tend to go for the airbnb option when we are going for a big Villa / farmhouse for a big group. Where there’s a swimming pool and multiple lounging areas. It is more private and don’t need to be sharing the pool with strangers.

To be honest I’m still not persuaded. If they are second homes of rich people they squeeze locals out. I think they should be banned in all honesty.

Only Airbnb properties, or all second homes which are advertised as holiday lets?

What about if they are second homes of non-rich people?

Never used one, they cause harm to the local economy in lots of places & distort the housing market and are damaging the hotel, b&b and restaurant/cafe trade.

People who have two houses are rich.

That was to @GMOOH2023

Ours is on our small bit of land and I can confidently assert that it brings lots of revenue to the local economy. All the places like NT houses my guests visit, the restaurants they use, the laundry service that I send the bedding to, take aways and the local shops. It wouldn't be sold as a separate dwelling so I'm not depriving anyone of a home. It's a win win as far as I can see.

@Enthrallingstoryofstillness why could it not be sold as a separate home if it can accommodate a family living separately? That makes no sense.

i’ve stayed in a fair few airbnbs that make perfectly lovely family holiday accommodation but would be unlikely to be in a high demand as a permanent dwelling - too small, too remote, too few facilities etc. I’ve stayed in treehouses, farmyard barns, shepherds huts, annexes etc that would never be a home in their own right.

Same. I can't be doing with any sort of cleaning and tbh the last thing I want to be doing is cooking as well. Hotels all the way for me.

I use them a lot. I go for ones with great ratings who are superhosts, not people’s houses- more dedicated holiday lets. I’ve honestly never been disappointed. I only clean as much as I would in any other holiday cottage and I have always been given excellent ratings by owners.

We’ve stayed in some lovely quirky houses!

I’ve just looked at the trips I’ve made on Airbnb and I’d say only 2 of 16 were long-term holiday lets that could otherwise be a permanent home. The rest were either a short letting some of someone’s main residence, or accommodation not suitable for long term living. That’s probably not typical of Airbnb as a whole but it’s definitely possible to use Airbnb “ethically”

All Airbnb’s can’t be unsuitable as family homes because we know that housing markets in many parts of the UK are being decimated. Let’s be honest about this