I’m a big fan of AirBnB, but found this article rather unsettling. It seems that some well oiled scams have been set up to take advantage of AirBnB’s lax vetting and complaint follow up. Ironically, the fact that hosts rate guests keeps people from leaving a bad review even when they have been duped.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/43k7z3/nationwide-fake-host-scam-on-airbnb
Update today on this article:
"Update 11/1/19: The morning after this article was published, the FBI contacted VICE about the claims made above."
I started using airbnb solely as a cheaper alternative to hotels, but have found that I much prefer renting an actual apartment with kitchen, bedrooms, etc. to a boring hotel room. Though having a front desk, pool, etc. in a hotel is nice, granted. Since using airbnb for the first time a couple of years ago, I've stopped using hotels entirely. I prefer renting an apartment. I also like 'living like the locals do' when in a foreign country.
I always try to book with a superhost first, if I can find a reasonable price in a good part of a city. If not, I'll only book with someone with several good reviews. I ALWAYS read through the reviews, good, and, especially, bad, before booking. I'm willing to pay a bit more for a place from a superhost, as we've only had overwhelmingly positive experiences with them.
I also only pay with my credit card, so I have an extra avenue to seek reimbursement if things go south.
The only 'bad' experience I've had was one I booked last week. This weekend I'm going to Gdansk, Poland. I booked the place for tomorrow night, and this morning I got an email that my reservation was canceled, with no explanation as to why, and then I had to scramble to find a new one. However, airbnb issued me a credit equal to 10% of the cost of the initial booking for my trouble. I easily found another airbnb apartment in a similar location that was actually a bit cheaper, plus I had the credit to put towards it. So, not a big deal, fortunately. I'll just have to make sure to keep a close eye on my credit card statement this month to make sure that I don't get double charged.
In the end, I know that there are certain risks to using airbnb, but I'm willing to accept these risks. I've also had bad experiences with hotels before; nothing is risk-free.