To think airbnb prices are insane?

[DottyLS]

Hundreds of £ a night for places that are fine but not spectacular- who pays these prices??

Because that's often a condition of staying in these places. Have a look at the small print and lots of them require you to basically clean the place top to bottom then pay the cleaning fee on top. Those landlords are running an absolute scam.

Gone back to hotels so no cleaning to do or issues with parking/not upsetting rules etc 😂

Used one locally over the last half term while we were having some messy work done at home. Three bedrooms, three nights for £450. A hotel would have been three times that. I certainly didn’t strip beds/hoover.

We've had some lovely experiences in big air b&b houses, 10 of us the first time in a really beautiful cottage with a hot tub, 9 the second time (both family get togethers). The dog was welcome both times and the first one even had a proper outside kennel (not mentioned in the listing and not maintained but usable, though our dog wouldn't accept it 😂)

It was great to have so much space, completely private with no neighbours, that we could take the dog and all stay together rather than separate hotel rooms. We all wanted to spend a long weekend together, a bit like when we go to mums for dinner but the house can't accommodate us all staying now we have families, both houses had tables plenty big enough for us all to sit around and enough beds for us all. It was the perfect solution

A nice 2 bed apartment we booked in Exeter in 2019 is double the price per night just four years later... We won't be going back

Love a self catering property and they’re great value for groups. I have noticed a lot of properties have migrated over to VRBO though - it shows the full price up front on the first page.

I’ve also noticed that when reviews come up which mention a management company, you can usually track them down and book direct. Saved £100 on a three night stay in Italy doing that recently. And if you book on a credit card, you have insurance.

Same as crazyivy. I love airbnb in Italy, had less luck with UK places but still better value than a hotel cos I want a kitchen (kid has food allergy)

The costs of running any sort of FHL including those on Airbnb have sky rocketed.

If you let any part of a property, including a room in your house you now need to abide by stringent fire regulations. Any reputable host will comply although a lot probably won't.

I have a £3000 bill for work carried out in mine last week. 7 hard wired linked smoke alarms, heat detectors and fire doors in a tiny 80sqm 200 year old workers cottage.

My monthly electricity bill has doubled, not to mention the cost of oil.

I'm paying nearly twice as much for commercial waste collection as I was 3 years ago.

My insurance went up 25% this year.

I won't be making any profit this year.

Me and DH use Airbnb a lot and have done so for quite a few years now. Never had a bad experience.

We love having more space, a comfortable sofa (hate having to sit on the bed in hotels to watch tv), a kitchen if we want to cook etc.

I think they are cheaper than hotels even, usually the budget hotels.

We don't really like hotels. One usually cramped room, no way of being able to cook something, no sofa, often only one chair, often have to pay a lot for parking, set times for breakfast and, so many times, noisy guests talking at the tops of their voices at about 2am of having extremely noisy sex at 2am.

This year alone we have stayed in them in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Stockholm and 6 different locations in the UK

Whenever I have looked on Air B&B it’s always very expensive for the dates and locations we want. I’ve used VRBO a lot and that always seems a better deal. Always had good experiences with them.

Whenever we go abroad we almost always stay in airbnb's and get an apartment that's cheaper and far more spacious than a hotel room.

In the UK though I find generally they're ridiculously expensive and it's better just to stay in a Premier Inn or Travelodge and eat out.

I’ve stayed in airbnbs in Greece, Spain, Italy, Australia, the U.K., Portugal, France and Switzerland and in none of those have I ever done any more “cleaning” than taking out the bin. I leave it tidy but I’ve never stripped beds. I do tend to leave the towels in a pile but I do that in hotels too.
Never been to a place that’s had a list of instructions of things I have to do, in fact I’ve never had a single issue ever!

That's interesting, the same place is cheaper on one than the other for the same dates etc? Even when you get to the final price?

Good to know

I love AirBnB for large groups in the summer. A hotel wouldn't be the same, and would make our multi-generation family holiday a lot more expensive because we'd have to eat out every night. We also use the washing machine, fridge for packed lunch things etc, which wouldn't work in a hotel. Plus after the kids are in bed, the grown ups can be together, which would be harder with kids spread across 3+ hotel rooms.

I have also used AirBnB for a solo break. I wanted to be able to cook for myself, relax in a lounge, sit outside in the evening etc. more expensive than a hotel, but also more flexible and suited me better. It wasn't that much more expensive either!

Same place. Airbnb looked cheaper at first, but when I went to book it had added a £50 cleaning fee, which made it more expensive!

It's the host that adds the cleaning fee. Its optional. So your host is taking advantage of the option on airbnb to gouge guests.

Me too. I'm in one now and it was a total bargain compared to the hotel I was in last week (that work paid for) in the same city.

I'm paying 1/6 of what the hotel cost. Yes, I have no pool, spa or breakfast, but I have privacy and the most amazing view.

I've never had to clean one either or had extortionate cleaning fees, so maybe I've just been lucky?

If we see somewhere we like we usually Google it to see if they have their own website, much cheaper booking direct

Same. I've stayed in some wonderful places both in the UK and overseas. There are a couple of AirBNBs in England I book regularly so have got to know the owners (and they trust me) and it really is like having a home away from home.

It doesn't make any difference who's doing it, the outcome is the same. And most owners seem to be charging 'service' or 'cleaning' on top now.

I still look at Airbnb to compare, but it's no longer the cheaper option.

I completely agree! I've checked loads of locations when we're planning a trip away: cornwall, London, Edinburgh, Whitby, Norfolk, etc and they're all ridiculously expensive. Like 5 times the cost of a hotel and often with poor parking, or none at all. And they're usually not suitable for our toddler; with open fire places, no stairgates, uneven gardens covered in slabs open plan kitchen/lounges, etc. I don't know why people pay an extortionate amount for it.

Well I have managed to find Airbnb places this year in London (3 times), Birmingham and Scarborough for less than a hotel and they have all been great. All had fully equipped kitchens so we could cook if we wanted to and not have to be dictated to by a hotel as to what time we could have breakfast.

We have booked a cottage for Christmas which looks good and gets great reviews too

Another organisation which is good for holiday cottages and arguably more ethical is the National trust. Used them a few times and haven't had an issue.

Not had any issues with Airbnb either. We can't afford to eat out all the time so having a kitchen is great. Equally a garden and sitting room for the children makes a break more pleasant.

I don't clean on holiday either. Just leave the place neat and tidy as I would in a hotel. Taking out the rubbish isn't so onerous!

For single travellers or couples they are often comparable to a budget hotel room. For families or groups an Airbnb is far better value and there is a big plus in having a kitchen and lounge space, especially if you are travelling with children or want to save money on eating out.

If you've had bad experiences, you need to book more selectively. I've stayed in some fabulous places but always look for a Super-host and an overall score of 4.8 or higher.