Airbnb experience

[bevelino]

Has anyone used airbnb for a city break to Europe, if so what was your experience? I stayed in a lovely apartment in Madrid recently but my experience was tainted by the owner insisting that I arrive at a specific time to collect keys otherwise I would need to wait until midnight for her to return. This caused a huge amount of stress as I was travelling by plane from the UK, which was delayed.

After the visit I was then asked for an additional €45 because dd stayed one night out of the 3 we had booked. In the end the airbnb cost more than a decent hotel in the same area. Dd asked me to pay straightaway because otherwise the owner might leave a bad review about me on the airbnb website. I know that I may have just had a one off disappointing experience but it has put me off using the service.

I've used airbnb in Madrid, Estepona (and Australia) with DH and toddler. All positive experiences to be honest. Estepona was most recent and it was fab. The wifi was quite slow so we contacted the owner be the next day he came round and installed something to speed it up which worked a treat. Oz also fantastic as we had to change dates at last minute and owner was very accommodating. Madrid was perhaps least positive but only because the cleaner on the last day managed to leave her key in the door on the inside so we couldn't get back in to collect luggage! Owner rushed out to be fair with a locksmith and we made the flight. It really does depend on the owner. Just make sure you write a truthful review as that's how they make things better for others.

I had a not great time for my first and only earlier this month.

Owner lives there too and the blurb made it sound like she was never in. She was. And noisy. The bathroom was shared and felt awkward going when she was still up in living room and had to walk about in nighty / same in morning.

The loo roll ran out and she supplied napkins as shops were shut. The loo blocked up.

Place nowhere near as nice as photos alluded. Not terrible but still.

The only good thing was the v v central London location. But for same price I'd go for a hotel further out next time... plenty of loo roll and no awkwardness.

a lot of places that are just holiday lets now advertise and let on airbandb. if you get one of these then they are generally what you would expect.

the problem with airbandb in the uk is that it seems to let people commercially let property without having to comply with the law - particularly in relation to fire risk assessments. this is my main objection.

I use them to find properties that are already advertised on other sites rather than booking home stays (which is what the site was originally about) if you do search tick the boxes that say "whole house" or you can end up sharing. have never heard of anyone who has had a positive experience when sharing a room in an owners house.

We use AirBnB a lot when travelling - generally we prefer to have the space of a whole apartment rather than a small hotel room for the same price. We've always had good experiences, but we are always careful with what we pick - ie only a whole apartment (not sharing) and something with lots of good reviews.

Mixed bag here. Great experiences in Copenhagen, Prague and Barcelona. Terrible experience in London, the hot water broke, owner uncontactable for entire weekend hence no showers / baths. Got a 50% refund, however would have preferred clean hair at the time. It's a mixed bag

Did you know that it's possible to book many apartments now through Booking.com? Most are cancellable and seem to have a lot stricter regulations on the letting party side than AirBnB.

I certainly prefer to rent through Booking.com, flipkey or owners direct and pick properties with a number of good reviews. I've heard too many horror stories about people getting their AirBnB bookings cancelled and the only time I did try to book through them - I saw a ski apartment at a price that seemed to good to be true - it turned out that it was priced incorrectly and could not be offered at that rate.

We had a fixed arrival time at an AirBNB in Madrid. Maybe it's the norm there?

Apart from that great experiences of them in Iceland, London, Italy, Turkey & Paris. I love the fact that we can get a 2/3 bedroom flat for the same price as a hotel room.

We have let lots of apartments via various sites/agencies, including AirBnB. I don't rate them to be honest, our experience on two occasions hasn't been that good. Not awful, just owners who has been a bit off putting, nosy/rude/economical with truth/controlling/stingy. Generally speaking, a few too many corners get cut.

Only positive experiences here. Have used them throughout Italy (for skiing holiday and for summer holiday) and they've been great. With a family of 5, they work out so much cheaper but I would second the advice given byMrsJW15 above - we've only gone for "Whole property" accommodation and as a rule of thumb, 10+ positive reviews.

I enjoyed my AIRBNB experience, it was fun. The buts are:

The description of the accommodation was generic and it turned out the owner had a few apartments in the town, so the reviews underneath were for his 3 (?) apartments and not specifically for the one I stayed in. This wasn't clear until I got there.

There was no washing machine, wifi, tv, microwave or pool or locks on bedroom doors. It was cheap (ish) and you get what you pay for. The owner was really nice, it was secure from the outside and the other tourists staying there were lovely. I stored my passport and money in my friends apartment which was more secure. Overall I enjoyed it, and would recommend my host, but I think it's pot luck with AirBnB.

I use it a lot, all over the world including Europe and 80% of my experiences have been amazing.

I have never had someone tell me to be there at X time - as you say, with international travel it's not easy to be there bang on.

I would leave the owner a negative review. What I've found is that a lot of people are reluctant to do so on Airbnb, and it skews the rating of the property. I think it's because you have personal contact with the host, which possibly makes people more inclined to write a positive review.

And also, don't be afraid of receiving a negative review. You can reply to the review, so just do so factually and politely, and anyone reading will instantly know what went down and take that into account - especially if your other reviews are positive.

I received a bad review a few months ago: a host said I hadn't contacted her to let her know we'd arrived, and that we had used the sheets in the house and not put them back in the wardrobe. I wrote a brief reply saying there was no reception at the house to get in touch, and that we used the sheets as there were none on the beds and had not been told to bring any. And of course, since we had used them, we did not put them back in the wardrobe as they needed washing in between guests. Anyone reading my reply would know who was the reasonable one!

We used airBnB in Barcelona, Prague, Marseille, London, Edinburgh, Iceland, Norway, Palma and Lanzarote.
We always rent 'whole properties' and have had nothing but positives experiences: lovely places and very helpful owners.
I now only use hotels when I am traveling on my own for work, but for holidays as a family, always airBnB - much cheaper and convenient!

Lots of great experiences here too, esp in Oslo and Tokyo. Brilliant brilliant all round. Especially with children who get ants in their pants when we end up in hotels. Airbnb have been brilliant.

I've used it twice in Bangkok last year and stayed in fab place in Paris last year just behind the Eiffel Tower. It was really chic and all three have been great value. I'm after one in the Gothic quarter of Barcelona that will sleep six if anyone has and recommendations