My recent 6-week road trip through Europe.

[Nemo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Looks nice. I see a small sink and perhaps a burner. Perhaps there was a fridge that was off the picture.

Small fridge under where the coffee maker and water bottle are sitting, to the right of the sink. Two element burner on the other side.

[NW-Bound]

How much does one have to pay to get a hotel room as large as that studio, and with the same amenities? Heck, we do not even get a small fridge in a hotel room to keep some cool water bottles. All we get is just their small bar stocked with expensive sodas, and which comes with a sign saying hotel guests cannot put personal stuff in there.

[kcowan]

This will be our first trip using airbnb in Berlin. We are also doing Paris and Nice with the same couple in airbnb 2BR/2 bath. Between Paris and Nice, we are doing the eastern border of France by car. Likely use hotwire to get hotels along there.

[NW-Bound]

We did not do much cooking during this trip, being out sight-seeing most of the days. But it was nice having a place to sit to eat take-out food when we did not feel like going to restaurants, and to make coffee in the morning.

In Florence, I had made plan to have Florentine steak. But the unexpected hot weather made walking to that popular trattoria that I did research, and standing in line, not so appealing.

Still, I wanted to taste Italian beef. So, we stopped at a Coop market on the way home, got the most expensive beef they had, and I pan-seared our own Florentine steak that night. Well, it could be imported beef and not Italian, but hey it hit the spot.

PS. Just looked on the Web, and found the following paragraph. It was not likely what I made myself was a true Florentine steak. Oh well, it tasted good, and all my traveling companions complimented me on my cooking.

The Florentine Steak is a cut of meat made from the part of the loin near the leg of the Scottona (young female bovine that has never gotten pregnant, aged 15/16 months). The cut of the Florentine steak must include a Porterhouse cut between the sirloin and the tenderloin; otherwise, it will be called ‘Costata’ (the only Sirloin with bone), and it is derived exclusively from the part of the loin near the shoulder.

[explanade]

I'm not a big steak eater so never tried the steak in Florence. I hear they cook it fairly rare.

Also was warned it will clog you up for a couple of days.

I remember wandering around in San Lorenzo near the train station and realizing how hungry I was. So I looked around and got a cheap €9 menu. Pasta dish and a small manzo filet cooked on the grill. It was great or I was really hungry. Or both.

I didn't even mind eating at a table along the narrow street, with some traffic.

[Lsbcal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Another major difference with our previous trips besides extensive driving was that we stayed mostly in Airbnb apartments or town homes. These included in-town locations in mid-sized cities and smaller towns, to villas in the countryside, and even a tiny village or hamlet. This gave a great experience living among the locals. The major drawback of renting an Airbnb home is that you have to set up a time to meet with the hosts to get the keys....

NW-Bound (or others reading this), what do you figure is the minimum stay for Airbnb rentals?

[Nemo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lsbcal NW-Bound (or others reading this), what do you figure is the minimum stay for Airbnb rentals?

One night?

[Lsbcal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nemo2 One night?

Maybe I am wrong on this but I thought that most people renting out on Airbnb might want several nights stay from a renter. I just looked this up and it appears that the owner can set the minimum nights on their listing.

So maybe I should have asked: to get a good range of pricing and quality what might be a decent minimum nights for a stay?

[FUEGO]

We're in Airbnb number 4 here in Europe and loving it vs hotel rooms. Paid $82/nt for a total of 65 nights (price is before considering the ~21% discount I got using shopping portals and buying airbnb gift cards at 20% off face value).

So far each property has had some small issue. Kitchen faucet broke in Lisbon; bathroom door in our master bedroom wouldn't close fully in Malaga; AC occasionally makes a weird buzz in Seville; toilet flushes weird in Granada and there were some ants because our kiddos left food all over the floor. Things that could happen in any hotel room and *might* have been addressed quicker in a hotel than an airbnb (but maybe not).

Still WAAAAAY better than hotel rooms considering the price. 2+ bedrooms, living room, full kitchen (sometimes lacking an oven but who's baking big stuff on vacation?), washer, usually dryer, 2nd bathroom half the time. Dining for 4-8 people. Dishwasher in half the places. For our family of five we would be booking either a presidential suite level accommodation to get to the same amount of comfort, or booking 2 separate hotel rooms and usually not have a kitchen or living room (or en suite washer/dryer). And we might have to go down the hall to wake the kids up. 3 of the places were cool with an approximate arrival time and then I email or Airbnb-message them when we're 20-30 minutes away from arriving at the apartment. The 4th place in Granada had checkin at the hotel 5 minutes walk from the airbnb (slight hassle - I had to go to a 2nd hotel to get the key due to disorganized staff - it was en route back to the apartment so no biggie).

With kids, we tend to only spend 4-6 hours out "adventuring" and then head back to the apartment for a little siesta. The spacious airbnbs help big time in relaxing during the down time. And we have a fridge stocked with basics so the kids can have cereal and milk, yogurt, croissants, cheese, ham, fruits, etc as necessary if we're feeling lazy (fridge stocking mostly at our expense though hosts occasionally leave some goodies).

[FUEGO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lsbcal Maybe I am wrong on this but I thought that most people renting out on Airbnb might want several nights stay from a renter. I just looked this up and it appears that the owner can set the minimum nights on their listing. So maybe I should have asked: to get a good range of pricing and quality what might be a decent minimum nights for a stay?

On the 9 week trip we're currently on, we're doing three 2 night rentals, two 3 night rentals, and three 4 night rentals. The typical minimum is 2-3 nights. The economics of it also makes it more expensive to do 1-2 night stays if you're paying a hefty cleaning fee (for example, I've seen $30-50 fees for 1-2 BR apartments, more in expensive areas; $50 to clean after a $80/nt stay for 2 nights = big extra per night cost).

If you're searching for 1 or 2 night listings you will really narrow your pool of properties available. It might even be more optimal to search for a 3 night booking vs 2 night booking since you might get a cheaper and/or nicer place and you can throw away the 3rd night (or maybe negotiate for an exception to the 3 nt min and pay for 2.2-2.5 nights??).

The sweet spot is definitely the weekly rental as many listings come with 20-30% weekly discounts (or will negotiate to offer that) and your cleaning fee is amortized over 7+ nights. I've also found hosts will waive the extra person fees if you're staying a week or so. It's expensive and time consuming to flip a property and deal with a reservation so a weekly rental is easier money for them.

[Fedup]

Do the Airbnb always provide towels? My kid said not to expect them unlike hotels.

[FUEGO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound We did not do much cooking during this trip, being out sight-seeing most of the days. But it was nice having a place to sit to eat take-out food when we did not feel like going to restaurants, and to make coffee in the morning.

That's what I love about the airbnbs. Make my own coffee and breakfast. And if I want a nice salad I go to the store and drop €5 on a bag of fancy salad mix, some olives, a nice cheese, and some salad dressing (if the apartment doesn't have balsamic and oil already stocked as was the case). Then eat 4-5 salads between DW and I. And later on wash it down with some gelato and croissants or pastries (gotta keep the arteries fully exercised lest they get lazy).

[FUEGO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fedup Do the Airbnb always provide towels? My kid said not to expect them unlike hotels.

Never been in one that didn't give at least enough towels to match the # of occupants. With a 5 year old, we often negotiate to keep him in places that technically accommodate 4 (2 adults plus our 2 older kids - 5 yo is odd man out!). So we sometimes get skimpy airbnbs that only give exactly 4 bath towels, a hand towel, a kitchen towel, and maybe a bathmat. So 2 kids share a towel or me and DW share a towel and we're fine.

The only thing I rarely see in airbnbs outside the US are wash clothes. They just don't provide them. Mexico, Canada, Europe. Seems we're the only ones that use them in the US?? We pack our own for the adults and the kids don't use them anyway (not 100% certain they actually use soap but that's another thread altogether ). I've also noticed no bar soap in Europe - they use bath gel. Gets the job done.

That said, there's a chance that some super budget airbnb places might not provide linens but it should clearly state it in the listing. I'd steer clear of those places if you've got an extra $10-20/nt because it'll probably be an unsatisfactory accommodation anyway. And they might not come with toilet paper, hand soap, dish soap, adequate bed linens, etc.

[Nemo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FUEGO Then eat a couple of salads.

We eat a lot of hummus, (both on the road and at home); grab some fresh bread from the local bakery and we're good to go.

(Also grill/fry zucchini and eat it with the hummus, most often in tortilla wraps.)

[FUEGO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nemo2 We eat a lot of hummus, (both on the road and at home); grab some fresh bread from the local bakery and we're good to go. (Also grill/fry zucchini and eat it with the hummus, most often in tortilla wraps.)

Sounds awesome! And hard to beat for a few bucks. Amazing that you can buy fresh baked bread here for under a buck.

[Nemo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lsbcal Maybe I am wrong on this but I thought that most people renting out on Airbnb might want several nights stay from a renter. I just looked this up and it appears that the owner can set the minimum nights on their listing. So maybe I should have asked: to get a good range of pricing and quality what might be a decent minimum nights for a stay?

We generally don't stay anywhere for just the one night, (although there have been exceptions), but if you're looking at, say, a Monday night, you'd likely get a better reception than if you try and get in on Friday, Saturday, (and to a lesser degree), Sunday nights....supply & demand rules.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lsbcal NW-Bound (or others reading this), what do you figure is the minimum stay for Airbnb rentals?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lsbcal Maybe I am wrong on this but I thought that most people renting out on Airbnb might want several nights stay from a renter. I just looked this up and it appears that the owner can set the minimum nights on their listing. So maybe I should have asked: to get a good range of pricing and quality what might be a decent minimum nights for a stay?

The minimum can be 1 night in locations where there's not a lot of demand.

When booking, I divide the total cost by the number of nights, and compare that to a hotel room cost in the area. I quickly see that the occasional $50 cleaning charge becomes insignificant, particularly when it is further divided by two in our case (two couples).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fedup Do the Airbnb always provide towels? My kid said not to expect them unlike hotels.

True. One has to read the description very carefully.

Many Airbnb nights are rented to locals. For example, in Blois which is only a couple of hours of driving from Paris, I saw that some Airbnbs expected guests to bring towels and bed sheets. They did that in order to reduce the charge, and even a few dollars made a difference in a highly competitive business. If I rented one like that by mistake, it would be a disaster.

Also, I saw that some hosts waived the cleaning fee if the guests did the cleaning, and restored the home to the same condition it was found. Again, it was to have the lowest possible rent.

[Meadbh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FUEGO The only thing I rarely see in airbnbs outside the US are wash clothes. They just don't provide them. Mexico, Canada, Europe. Seems we're the only ones that use them in the US??

European hotels, other than five star, usually do not provide washcloths either.

[Nemo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Also, I saw that some hosts waived the cleaning fee if the guests did the cleaning, and restored the home to the same condition it was found.

The owner's post check out comment on airbnb* after our Krakow stay:

"Superb guests, left my apartment in a perfect condition. You are always welcome back. I would recommend XXX and XXX to anyone who wants to rent their apartment."

*Airbnb guests are invited to rate the properties, and the owners rate the guests......helps them when they check you out before acceptance.

[NW-Bound]

We did have 5 one-nighters during the trip. That was planned, in order to break up a long drive between destinations. I booked hotel rooms for those nights. It was not just the cost, but the hassle of checking into an Airbnb vs. a hotel room. I could arrive late to a hotel if traffic was bad or due to unforeseen reasons, but having the host waiting for us would not be good.

Also, I chose Airbnbs for a particular destination, while hotel rooms were chosen based on easy access from the highway or toll road during a transit. Still, I managed to turn all of those one-night stays into a quick visit to the nearby town, by arriving early enough in the day to walk or take a tram into town.