Airbnb "over there"

[deserat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by marko I'd like to share a funny story. "The Original European Airbnb" Back in the 90's I was skiing in Austria with a German friend. We had just arrived and had no plans or any idea on where we'd stay. It was about 10PM. We went into a noisy, very crowded bar for a quick bite and a beer. My friend disappeared leaving me with a pretty 'English teacher' who spoke no more English that I do Chinese and materialized a half hour later with "Osvald". "This is Osvald!" he exclaimed. "He's going to put us up for the night." Osvald was quite exuberant and very pleased to meet me. After buying Osvald a few more beers and chatting for a while we followed his car up to his chalet. Very nice. Spectacular in fact. Slopeside to boot. Os set us up in a guest room; two nice beds in a big room and brought in some bottled water. Showed us how the shower worked. After back and forth in German with my friend, my friend said: "Osvald will make us breakfast...what would you like?" I said whatever he had. "Vell Zen, gut nacht!" Lying in bed in the dark, I asked: "So, Hans, Osvald is a great guy... how do you know him?" "Oh....I just met him at the bar. I don't know who he is!". Os wouldn't take any money the next morning.

Awesome story!!!! When I was hiking in Europe, I would go hut-to-hut - there are rules that the huts must take people in as they don't like camping in the Alps.....you pay, but not very much and the hospitality is wonderful. Your story is an indication of that mentality....thanks for sharing!

[deserat]

Did AirBnB in Rekjavik - actually my friend did it - it worked out well - we had an apartment, kitchen, wifi, bathroom - etc. The key was in a lockbox and we had to wait for a specific time to get the key - I think this particular apartment was an AirBnB business. Nevertheless, for the price and the space and amenities it worked.

I have used booking.com many times in Europe as I travel for business over there and many of my European colleagues use it. So far it has worked out adequately.

I may try AirBnB more, although, I have been fortunate finding some interesting small boutique like hotels for my budget and needs when I travel. In the Baltics, I was staying at former and current convents :-) Very interesting and confirmed that the price was what brought most people to those places....they were all European, no Americans.

What's even better is having friends who can put you up...I shoot for that first and offer to bring American things or take them out to dinner, etc.

[Teacher Terry]

Next year when we go to Europe we plan to do this. I just booked a guest house in New Orleans for less than half the price of a hotel.

[Scuba]

I’ve found in Greece that Air Bnb was great for Athens but on the smaller islands, booking.cam was better. Either way, much better than large hotels.

[morriss003]

We use AirBnB, but usually only for stays of three nights or more. The worst was in Columbus, Ohio, and the place was fine, but the host was flaky. They really are different in different locations. We stayed in a fantastic modern place in Canberra, Aus, but it didn't have internet. Our Madrid apartment was great, but there and in Brisbane a renovation had put a toilet in an unusable location. The best was probably in Sao Sebastiao, Lisbon, Portugal, due to the ease of transport location. In the spring we will stay at AirBnBs in Montevideo, Uruguay, and in Santiago, Chile.

However in two cities we would probably stay in hotels. In Berlin, I recommend the Mitte Garden Wyndham. Far from the center, but a great hotel and easy access to the Uban. In Prague I would stay at Hotel Galileo, probably the best hotel for the money we've ever stayed at, and easy to get to Old Town.

[flintnational]

We were in Europe all of September. We stayed in 5 Airbnb's in 4 different countries. Our experience was similar to the OP. We will definitely use them again in Europe. We washed clothes in a couple of locations. This allowed us to take one carry on size suit case each. We also only booked locations with a balcony, terrace or courtyard. If you are a cook, there is nothing like making beef bourguignon in France and eating in the courtyard.

[gooddog]

AIR BNB is big in Europe. For the U.S. I would recommend VRBO over AIR BNB. Have had dealings with AIR BNB in the U.S.....and it wasn't good. VRBO tends to rent entire houses in the U.S. and VRBO customer service is excellent. I'm a vacation rental owner, and have experience with both.

[sengsational]

The Airbnb in Sighetu-Marmatiei included palinka, the one in Denver, indica. You're not getting that from booking.com!

[linnemj]

We are currently in a Air BnB in Venice. It is in a non tourist but nice section of town. Our windows are directly on a canal and gondolas float by every so often. Nice flat with 3 rooms for under $100 a night in a very expensive city.

[Teacher Terry]

We have not had one bad experience in the states with Airbnb. Have one booked in Vacaville in a few weeks because dog having surgery at uc Davis.

[NoiseBoy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoodWishes We stayed at about 15 Airbnbs in US, Canada and Europe. We only stayed at entire private units. About 1/3 are very good/above expectation, about 1/3 are ok/meet expectation, about 1/3 are not so good/below expectation. Pro Much more spacious Have kitchen, stove, fridge, some with microwave, washer, etc Can be cheaper than hotel Great for traveling with families and friends (we have stayed at 2/3/4 bedroom places) Con More logistic for check in/out, unlike most hotels have 24/7 reception desk and just walk in Sometimes don't meet expectation, we stayed at lots of hotels and we had less surprises with hotels When looking for Airbnb, we look for Pictures that show everything, all rooms, all beds, all bathrooms (showing sinks, toilets, showers), etc Reviews need to be overwhelming positive since there is usually not a lot of reviews unlike hotels If it is much cheaper than usual, it is probably too good to be true

I agree with all of these points. I'd like to add that when I rate a property with anything less than 5 starts, the host has always dinged me in my review. Note that I was ranking them 4 out of 5 on cleanliness so not being terrible. In reviews, the code words that I look for are, "I would stay here again." Also, we much prefer to rent units that are not someone's lived in home as they can have too much clutter to allow us to unpack our suitcases. And pay attention to the bathroom photos; don't assume bathroom means "with toilet." Our last Airbnb in Paris had two bathrooms, but mine only had a bidet in it.

[Fedup]

I thought of giving negative reviews or shall I say, just being myself, then I backed off. We won’t be using Airbnb unless it’s very good value. But I will read them carefully. I do not like the strick cancellation policy.

[RunningBum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoiseBoy I agree with all of these points. I'd like to add that when I rate a property with anything less than 5 starts, the host has always dinged me in my review. Note that I was ranking them 4 out of 5 on cleanliness so not being terrible.

I don't think hosts can see your review until they leave theirs. Or is there a way for them to change it or do something additional?

[davebarnes]

Just returned from 22 days in España.
5/6 AirBnBs were very good to excellent.
We are huge fans of AirBnB in Europe (Portugal 2017, España 2018).

The one not so good one was on Goienkale in Bilbao that hosts over 1000 partiers until 0200. Every night.

We traveled by train between cities. All were close to stations.
Each unit had a washer (sometimes dryer) so we packed light.

[Scuba]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RunningBum I don't think hosts can see your review until they leave theirs. Or is there a way for them to change it or do something additional?

I agree, according to Air BnB, hosts have to submit their review before they see yours. I just gave a property 4/5 stars and received a glowing review from the host.

[MrsHaloFIRE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scuba I agree, according to Air BnB, hosts have to submit their review before they see yours. I just gave a property 4/5 stars and received a glowing review from the host.

Concur. Both reviews go in before either can be seen by host or guest. I've dinged several hosts a star over various issues (generally cleanliness or outright misrepresentation). I write them in a way a future prospective guest gets my meaning one. Instead of saying she rents this place as a 2 bedroom but one bedroom is locked and not accessible I'd say, be sure to check with host if you need both bedrooms (which should be obvious in a 2 bedroom rental amd will raise eyebrows).

[kcowan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoiseBoy And pay attention to the bathroom photos; don't assume bathroom means "with toilet." Our last Airbnb in Paris had two bathrooms, but mine only had a bidet in it.

We have never had a bidet in France but did in Italy. They take up as much room as a toilet. But I agree that extra toilets are a luxury in Europe.

[NoiseBoy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scuba I agree, according to Air BnB, hosts have to submit their review before they see yours. I just gave a property 4/5 stars and received a glowing review from the host.

I do not know all of the Ins and Outs of the Airbnb rating system, but I believe that there is a star system of some sort for guests that only hosts can see. After my stay in Budapest, I received an email from Airbnb stating something to the effect that I had received a poor review so I logged in to check things out. Here is what the host wrote publicly about me:

It was a pleasure to welcome J and M in my flat! they were really nice and polite!

That doesn't sound very negative, does it? I have stayed with 3 different hosts, but only 1 has recommended me as a guest. We are very neat and tidy people and I don't make very many requests of the hosts so I am sure that it is somehow tied back to my less than perfect cleanliness ratings for the other two hosts, I just don't know the mechanism.

[Retired Expat]

For overnight stays or even 2 nights AirBnB is often not worth the added bother, at least for us. But on longer stays they are by far the best choice. Make your breakfast at your leisure, relax on a sofa or sit at a real table to have a snack. Get a place with a laundry and be able to travel light. We use many more AirBnB nights now than we do hotels but for an overnight, or unknown arrival time a hotel is a far better choice.

We just did 2 weeks in an Edinburgh apartment and it was great. Going out to eat every night gets old fast as does being in the one room but then did 3 nights in London right by Victoria Station at the Grosvenor Hotel in a regular room but the location and added convenience for arrival and departure were great. Most AirBnB hosts are not amenable to late check outs or early check ins but larger hotels can often accommodate that.

[Lsbcal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retired Expat For overnight stays or even 2 nights AirBnB is often not worth the added bother, at least for us. But on longer stays they are by far the best choice. Make your breakfast at your leisure, relax on a sofa or sit at a real table to have a snack. Get a place with a laundry and be able to travel light. We use many more AirBnB nights now than we do hotels but for an overnight, or unknown arrival time a hotel is a far better choice. We just did 2 weeks in an Edinburgh apartment and it was great. Going out to eat every night gets old fast as does being in the one room but then did 3 nights in London right by Victoria Station at the Grosvenor Hotel in a regular room but the location and added convenience for arrival and departure were great. Most AirBnB hosts are not amenable to late check outs or early check ins but larger hotels can often accommodate that.

What did you do in Edinburgh for 2 weeks? Did you take day trips outside the city?