home away from home
The first time I heard about Airbnb, I was a little skeptical, I was at that time solidly a member of Team Hotel With All The Amenities. I worried about filthy apartments, safety, and getting scammed. But after some research, I agreed with my husband that it was worth a try.
Our first Airbnb was in Venice in 2013. We arrived just before sunset in late December and it got dark quickly. Have you ever tried navigating Venice at night? It was, to say the least, challenging. Directions + us + Italy = some unusual situations when looking for our Airbnbs.
But we eventually stumbled upon our building and met our host. And the apartment was just so, so nice. We had a big kitchen, a cozy living room with big windows, two bedrooms, and two bathrooms. We loved the place and our time there. We marveled that we could live in such a lovely neighborhood, if only for a few days.
After that, we became Airbnb enthusiasts. Since then we've booked dozens of Airbnbs around the world and it is now rare for us to stay in a hotel. We've slept in spacious houses, tiny apartments, tropical cottages, urban condos, and even a houseboat.
Staying in an Airbnb gives us space to spread out, which is especially nice when we are traveling with our offspring. We have a kitchen, which some people don't care about, but it's important to us. We like to start our day with coffee and a good breakfast, then head out to explore. We'll eat lunch out and depending on how we feel, we might eat dinner out too but we're more likely to make dinner in our kitchen. (I love going to grocery stores in other countries.)
I know that some people think that renting an Airbnb means that you have to clean before you leave but these days I think that requirement is rare. Most of the time we pay an additional cleaning fee and I'm happy to factor that into our budget. Most of our hosts do ask that we take care of a few easy tasks before we check out, such as taking out the trash and recycling.
I also really like getting away from tourist areas and settling into a neighborhood inhabited by locals. We once stayed in a lovely little place in Praiano, Italy that had gorgeous views of the town and the ocean from our terraces. We would sit outside and listen to the sounds of the neighborhood, which included children playing outside, cows mooing, neighbors cooking and eating dinner, church bells ringing, pick-up soccer, and so much more.
It took us several trips to really figure out how to really read Airbnb listings to weed out the ones that won't work for us, but surprisingly we've only had a couple of less-than-ideal experiences.
When we're looking at Airbnbs, we try to find places that are rental properties and not the host's actual home because I just don't want to have to deal with the host's personal possessions. We once stayed in a darling garage apartment in a great neighborhood in San Diego. What we didn't realize until we got there is that the host lived there and had moved out for our visit, so not only was the closet full of her clothes, but her knickknacks and personal possessions were everywhere. I was worried about breaking something, so I ended up picking up every tchotchke and putting everything in her bedroom closet.
Our worst Airbnb was in San Francisco, which is expensive and we had difficulty finding a place within our budget. We finally found an apartment in the Mission District and it was located over a jazz club. The reviews were good and the pictures showed that the place had an odd layout, but we weren't worried. When we got there, however, we discovered that the bathroom was absolutely filthy. So much so that we seriously considered trying to find another place, but it was already late afternoon. I ended up scrubbing the bathroom thoroughly and gagging the whole time. The really weird thing is that no one had mentioned the apartment being dirty in any of their reviews, but this was clearly accumulated filth. That was, hands down the most negative review I've ever left. (Note: I have read more recent reviews since our visit and several people have reported that the place was nasty.)
This brings up something important about Airbnb: the review system. Reviews go both ways -- you leave a review for the host and the host leaves a review about you. The system is double-blind so that you can't see each other's reviews until either you've both left one or 10 days have passed since one of you left a review. The reviews have evolved over the years but generally speaking, there's a public portion that people can see and a private part that's just for the host and for Airbnb to see.
If I have a suggestion or a criticism, I'll address it privately with the host. If it's something easily fixable, like a broken washer, I'll let the host know as soon as I discover it. But in some cases, I'll add negative comments to my public review too. For the public review, it is important to write a review that is thorough and not just "Great place, convenient location, helpful host." You need to really talk about what you liked and what didn't work for you. If the host didn't respond to a reasonable request for help (a broken appliance), mention that. But be aware that there are some things that are out of a host's control, like noisy neighbors.
When you're staying in an Airbnb, remember that you're a guest in someone's home, whether they live in it or not. Pick up after yourself, follow the check-out guidelines, and don't throw a raging kegger.
What about you? What are your thoughts about Airbnb?