Airbnb "over there"

[NoiseBoy]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

AirBnB versus hotel

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]

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?

 

[athena53]

Airbnb "over there"

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

Not the person who just posted but I was there last month. Highly recommend a day trip to Dundee (the Discovery, which explored Antarctica in 1901 and was built there, is in the harbor and has a great museum. ). It's 1.5 hours away by train. New Victoria and Albert Museum branch next door. Surgeons Museum in Edinburgh had a fascinating collection of pathological specimens. Climbed Arthur's Seat 3 times and bought extraordinary whisky at Cadenhead's. i did spend a couple of days in Paris. It was my fourth trip, first without DH. I may have to return.

 

[Retired Expat]

Festival!

This trip other than a day trip to Glasgow, was mostly all about the theatre Festival. Last trip we rented a car and drove all over but this time no car, just stayed in Edinburgh which is such a beautiful and friendly city. Went to both the main and lots of Fringe, on average 3 shows per day. We also went to Hollyrood castle, the new parliament building, Arthurs seat, the Scottish museum, and the Botanical gardens.

If you like theatre and seeing different things the Fringe is an experience not to be missed or to return to every year as we are talking about. Shows are about an hour long, many offer 2 for one and I would say average about 10 pounds each. If you become a Friend of the Fringe you get I think 15 shows at 2 for 1 if they are eligible, and you save quite a lot. Additionally there is comedy going on everywhere and many are free shows by a ton of standup comedians going on all the time. Got an hour to kill and if not going to a pub then catch some standup. The main Festival had some great things and are much bigger productions at more cost. But at 10 to 15% of usual Broadway prices is still a great deal. Let´s put it this way, we went to in total 27 shows in 13 days for less than one ticket to Hamilton on Broadway which I still haven’t seen because I am not going to pay $1000 to see a show!!

Oh yes, lots of pubs where DW fell in love with the ciders as she is not a beer drinker and ate a fair amount of haggis too. I came to like the cider more than the beer too and can´t find anything even close where I live.

 

[braumeister]

Retired Expat, we were there for the first week of the Festival this year and apart from the super crowded sidewalks everywhere it was a blast. This was only my second time in Edinburgh, and I'll definitely be back.

Also a bit surprised at the variety of ciders available. DW is also not a beer drinker but she certainly enjoys a good cider.

 

[marko]

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!

Thanks. My buddy Hans was quite good at "finding long-lost friends that he never met before". He is quite a character.

His English is excellent and one time we were skiing and he was really acting out, singing to people and talking trash. I asked what was going on; he's usually very formal.

He said: "I like to act crazy sometimes; it feels good. If I talk English they think I'm an American and they think you're all idiots anyway, so I can get away with it"

 

[Lagniappe]

I just booked an Airbnb for in Edinburgh for all of August next year. In addition to the main festival and Fringe, the Literary Festival is taking place, with lots of authors and book talks.

Planning to see Dundee and Glasgow if I get sick of festival-ing.

Your experiences (and quickly disappearing rooms) helped me commit!

 

[kramer]

As safety advice, I reiterate what some other posters have said about getting into the property. A few months ago, we rented a nice 2 bedroom AirBnB in a nice part of Barcelona, Spain. Our flight was two hours late (internal Spain flight) but we had let the owner know well in advance and were to meet her at X time in front of the apartment complex. My sister messaged her from the taxi stand at the Barcelona airport after we had landed, but the owner hadn't replied by the time we arrived at the apartment complex.

A while later the owner said she was having a problem and would have to send someone else to meet us(!). We ended up waiting an hour and 15 minutes in front of the apartment complex (in an upscale neighborhood) with our luggage piled up and us sitting around it. Anyway, an hour into that wait, some street thugs tried to rob us. It was very scary and I ended up having to run one down and put him in a choke hold, not something I ever wanted to do and hope to never have to do again.

So the lesson learned by us was to get absolute confirmation about the meeting time shortly before and don't leave the airport until you have that. Also, best to figure out in advance exactly where you will wait at a safe place if you have to wait for the owner to arrive.

The entry into the property is the largest disadvantage compared to a hotel, IMO, where you have safe 24 hour entry and someone to receive you.

 

[Scuba]

As safety advice, I reiterate what some other posters have said about getting into the property. A few months ago, we rented a nice 2 bedroom AirBnB in a nice part of Barcelona, Spain. Our flight was two hours late (internal Spain flight) but we had let the owner know well in advance and were to meet her at X time in front of the apartment complex. My sister messaged her from the taxi stand at the Barcelona airport after we had landed, but the owner hadn't replied by the time we arrived at the apartment complex.



A while later the owner said she was having a problem and would have to send someone else to meet us(!). We ended up waiting an hour and 15 minutes in front of the apartment complex (in an upscale neighborhood) with our luggage piled up and us sitting around it. Anyway, an hour into that wait, some street thugs tried to rob us. It was very scary and I ended up having to run one down and put him in a choke hold, not something I ever wanted to do and hope to never have to do again.



So the lesson learned by us was to get absolute confirmation about the meeting time shortly before and don't leave the airport until you have that. Also, best to figure out in advance exactly where you will wait at a safe place if you have to wait for the owner to arrive.



The entry into the property is the largest disadvantage compared to a hotel, IMO, where you have safe 24 hour entry and someone to receive you.

Wow! Luckily we had no problem with that for any of the 7 places we stayed on our recent trip to Greece. Sounds scary!

For those of you who rent Airbnb’s with washers/dryers, how hard are these to find? None of our 7 places offered this so we washed things out in the sink and hung them outside to dry.

 

[Nemo2]

For those of you who rent Airbnb’s with washers/dryers, how hard are these to find? None of our 7 places offered this so we washed things out in the sink and hung them outside to dry.

I don't recall having rented a unit with both a washer and a dryer, (that is, if you don't count drying racks as 'dryers'), but they are out there.

The studio in Perpignan that we're vacating today has a machine, (the compact type that seems to run interminably even for minute loads), and a regular collapsible rack, but more often than not we'll hand wash and hang the clothes on the electric rack.

 

[NW-Bound]

Dryers are rarely used in Europe due to the cost of electricity. Washers are more common.

The only Airbnb where we saw a dryer was an upscale apartment in Brussels. It was also the only one with a large fridge with an ice maker. Unfortunately for us, the ice maker did not work.

Europeans do not use ice, and their fridge has no ice trays. We made ice in paper cups.

 

[brett]

We travel frequently. I am embarrassed to say that we have never done an Airbnb! I have registered, and I have shopped but for some reason have never hit the buy button.

Sounds like I need to get a life and get into the game.

 

[kcowan]

At our airbnb in Berlin, we were directed to the convenience store nearby for instructions. To our delight, they had the key!

 

[Red Badger]

Wow! Luckily we had no problem with that for any of the 7 places we stayed on our recent trip to Greece. Sounds scary!

For those of you who rent Airbnb’s with washers/dryers, how hard are these to find? None of our 7 places offered this so we washed things out in the sink and hung them outside to dry.

OP here.

When searching on Airbnb, there is a Filters tab. We use that to select washing machine, and, if in a city, elevator (we don't want an apartment with 3-4 or more flights of stairs).

 

[flintnational]

For those of you who rent Airbnb’s with washers/dryers, how hard are these to find? None of our 7 places offered this so we washed things out in the sink and hung them outside to dry.

Scuba, for our September trip, it did not seem hard to find units with washers. But, we were in most locations only 3 or 4 days so we did not need a washer at each location. We never had a US style dryer. They were all the EU style, air dry rack. In one city we simply went to a laundromat. It took a few minutes to understand the foreign language directions, but we managed. And, locals offered help. We went to the local cafe and had a coffee while the clothes were finishing. Security cameras were in the laundromat. If your unit does not have a washer, Laundromats work well.

 

[Fedup]

I don't recall having rented a unit with both a washer and a dryer, (that is, if you don't count drying racks as 'dryers'), but they are out there.

The studio in Perpignan that we're vacating today has a machine, (the compact type that seems to run interminably even for minute loads), and a regular collapsible rack, but more often than not we'll hand wash and hang the clothes on the electric rack.

We had one in UK but the dryer didn’t work. We called and they mentioned a drying racks and that’s what we used.

 

[Fedup]

OP here.

When searching on Airbnb, there is a Filters tab. We use that to select washing machine, and, if in a city, elevator (we don't want an apartment with 3-4 or more flights of stairs).

We had an elevator in an Airbnb in UK, but halfway through our stay it didn’t work, so we walked. We’re on the 3rd floor. We were there 2 weeks.