Has anyone used Air B and B before or is it a scam?

[mandymeans]

Or is it a no go?

It looks a bit too good to be true - for example, 7 nights in a villa with a private pool for £1300... right next to beach and some shops. 45 minutes from Menorca airport

The host has really good reviews but it oooks a bit like a scam since all the reviews are nice? No complainers. Whereas on Trust pilot or general reviews for All inclusive hotels/resorts, it's always a mixed bag or at least some negatives mentioned

I really think a private villa is needed (very loud non verbal son who hasn't managed to eat out at all inclusive we've just been on)

Positives for him were the sun, pool and beach. He likes to pick at tapas stuff all day and eat ice cream though!

I used one in Italy once, a massive villa that had a pool n close to the town n beach etc. but they didn't say the owner n his wife also lived there. So he'd just be hanging out there during the day. It just felt weird like you couldn't relax so just check for that 😂

On AirBnB you basically can't leave negative reviews as the host is also reviewing you as a guest.

If you leave a negative review, they will probably do the same to you, and if you clock up a load of negative reviews then hosts won't want you to book their properties.

My experience is that if people say a place is great, it probably is. If there have been lots of stays and no reviews, then it's probably horrible and nobody can face saying so.

You can filter for whole house. And ask the host questions about anything. You can usually work out where it is on Google maps so take a good look around that way.

I’ve used Airbnb all over the world and never had any problems

Used it loads of times. No it’s not a scam. Stayed in some great places. Some less great.

Are you sure that's the price for the whole stay and not just for one night? I find their pricing looks a bit confusing at times and you don't get the complete price until you click through the booking...

Thank you

It all seems a bit too good to be true, I suppose that was my worry

I would also worry that it isn't Atol protected etc, and worried I will turn up to the property to find I've been scammed or they've changed their minds and I'll be stranded with DC!

Nope that's not how it works. The host can't see the guest review until they leave theirs OR the window to leave a review expires. As an Airbnb host I've looked through lots of listings and I assure you plenty of listings get bad reviews.

OP no Airbnb is not a scam. It's a very well established business.

Use it loads, both for holiday stays where we have the entire place and, for the odd night here and there, staying in someone's spare room. Never had an issue and have stayed in some great places.

You may well be able to find the place on other sites if you hunt about.

I've stayed in a lot of AirBnBs and only had 2 bad experiences:
-one I was expecting to be cheap and nasty but it was really really nasty
-one where the host hadn't made it clear she would be there the whole time and expected to talk to us all evening - she gave us a bad review that we were too quiet. We did not play tit-for-tat and just left it. Who complains guests are too quiet?

Thank you. For people who regularly use private villas, is this a go to company usually? Like the top 5 like Jet, TU and On the beach are with package holidays?

Airbnb would have to find you somewhere else if that happens but honestly Airbnb hosts are pretty well invested in their listings and not likely to screw you over. Doing something like that would lead to a serious penalty which if you're a superhost you would never risk.

@DracoDormiensNumquamTittilandum thanks so much for this info

The villa I am looking at has a 'Super Host' with loads and loads of 5* reviews

Absolutely not a scam, we’ve used them for every holiday and never had an issue. I prefer it with kids to hotels and we aren’t all in the same room so can out them to bed earlier. We’ve stayed in places with some lovely touches, like toys and books for the children etc. my only issue is that the cost of it is really creeping up (understandably) so it’s no longer really cheaper than a hotel…

Just back from an air b and b holiday, ask lots of questions as then if there are any issues air b and b step in. We had issues with a villa a couple of years and got all our money back and the issue resolved too

@Prapsfound thank you

Can I ask, do you stay in villas usually with the kids? I am after somewhere with a private pool

I'm a bit different to you as I am shocked at how cheap it is - Not because it's cheaper than all inclusive but I just honestly thought having a private villa for a week would be thousands more?! Than an all inclusive just because it's private

A Superhost with lots of properties will be a professional who does this for a living. They are generally reliable to book with high standards.

I wouldn’t touch them.

they can cancel last min and if you have paid for flights and stuff your screwed

I’ve never stayed in a villa with a pool - normally city centre flat type places when we’ve gone abroad, and places in the UK. I would stay in a villa with a pool though and am considering this for next holiday!

I don't think that's an unreasonable price for a week.

It’s absolutely not a scam. Have you not heard of it before?? It’s become the ‘go to’ for booking anything that’s not a hotel/package I think.

have you clicked and started the booking? At this point a load of fees are added, the price you see will not be the price you pay. Also, despite paying a cleaning fee, you’ll find you’re expected to do rather more cleaning when you leave than you would in a hotel!

i have only stayed in nice air b n bs I have to say. However I have a trip booked later this year for a large group and 2 months to go the owner contacted us to cancel the booking as he’d decided to move back in himself. Can’t be helped, but have been left paying hundreds more as there are few properties left for a big party at short notice. Very annoying and wouldn’t have happened with a hotel.

I find that I have a better experience using a holiday let agency in the location you’re going to. So in France I use gites de France.
we’ve used air bnb a few times and it has a 50% success IMO.
We were cancelled at very short notice once. Another time we turned up and the weren’t enough beds! (Language discrepancy.)
We also had one excellent experience and one average - just oddly asked us to put rubbish into local bins! (Refused this).
it’s too hit and miss for us.

If it is a superhost, they are even more reliable.

The only places I have shied away from on Airbnb are those with zero reviews and once where the host contacted me to ask for some cash upfront on top of the booking - I reported the message chain and Airbnb sorted it. They also refunded me for May 2020 during covid, it was a bit of a faff sending the evidence that the country in question had ruled out foreign travel (early doors in the pandemic)

They are not a scam.

Airbnb is just a well designed website, you can search for whole property places only and if you go for superhosts that adds an extra layer of security and read the reviews, 'spotlessly clean' is the key phrase I look for. That said we've stayed in a couple of newer places that have been fine. A lot of the places you can find on other self catering websites but airbnb has the biggest pictures and most comprehensive information.

We've used airbnb to find self catering places all round Europe for years and have had good experiences every time and stayed in some amazing places.

Airbandb reviews tend to be good. This is because they also give the guest a review so you do not want to leave a comment that will make the host write you off. If you are booking for summer the price is too low. For October outside half term may be the price is that.