My recent 6-week road trip through Europe.

[Fedup]

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

 

[FUEGO]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

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).

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]

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]

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.

 

[Fedup]

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.

Do you need to create an account on Airbnb? What about accountability of all the items there? We almost got burned for renting a flat in London, somehow the owner provided a 300 plus items for checklist. Yet he didn't spend the time to go over each one of them before he left. We certainly were not going to spend our vacation time to count for them.

 

[NW-Bound]

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.

I am proud to say that ALL of my reviews read like the above. Hosts can refuse guests, unlike hotels. I just started out with Airbnb and wanted no bad marks.

Besides, we never leave a mess behind, not in hotels, timeshares, cruise cabins, etc... That's not who we are.

 

[Callitaday2022]

European drivers so much better than in US. Only in left lane to pass. Doesn't matter if you are going speed limit or not...everyone moves to right. Best driving in Germany's on Sundays as truckers prohibited.

 

[Nemo2]

I am proud to say that ALL of my reviews read like the above. Hosts can refuse guests, unlike hotels. I just started out with Airbnb and wanted no bad marks.

Besides, we never leave a mess behind, not in hotels, timeshares, cruise cabins, etc... That's not who we are.

Ditto. (I didn't want to take up space and list all our accolades. )

 

[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. Again, it was to have the lowest possible rent.

Forgot to say, if a host does that, he will state that clearly. Usually, either there's a cleaning fee or not, and that is not an option.

Some of my hosts charged no cleaning fee, some did. No matter, we left the place as clean as a reasonable person would. Besides, what kind of mess could we generate in a few days?

Basically, we washed all kitchen utensils, dishes, and glassware and put them away. We took out the garbage, left no crumbs on the table, etc...

The hosts did not and could not expect us to clean or vacuum the floor, wash, and put up new bed sheets, pillow cases, etc...

Basically, we treated the places like our own home. It was not hard.

 

[Lsbcal]

Good comments on Airbnb, thanks. Most of our stays are 3 or more nights.

 

[Nemo2]

Do you need to create an account on Airbnb?

https://www.airbnb.ca/help/article/221/how-do-i-create-an-account

It helps monitor your trips and is a useful tool for the unit owners.

What about accountability of all the items there? We almost got burned for renting that flat in London, somehow the owner provide a 300 plus items for checklist. Yet he didn't spend the time to go over each one of them before he left. We certainly were not going to spend our vacation time to count for them.

Have never encountered this kind of inventory problem, (unless one counts every individual fork, spoon, etc, I doubt there've been 300 items in any of the places we've rented), but in Krakow I dropped the hairdryer and it fell apart.......contacted the owner and she said "don't worry about it"......we didn't worry, we just went out and bought her a replacement....for which she sent us a nice personal message.

As NW-Bound said, it's just who we are....we attempt to treat people the way we'd like to be treated.

 

[Moemg]

https://www.airbnb.ca/help/article/221/how-do-i-create-an-account

I dropped the hairdryer and it fell apart.......contacted the owner and she said "don't worry about it"......we didn't worry, we just went out and bought her a replacement....for which she sent us a nice personal message.

Real men don't use hairdryers

 

[Nemo2]

Real men don't use hairdryers

But, but....I hate having wet underwear.

 

[1-31-18]

Thank you all for the useful and encouraging information about traveling through Europe via Airbnb: Useful because I've never done it, but badly want to. Encouraging because it sounds comfortable enough and also economical.

Understanding that YMMV, of those who have tried Airbnb in Europe, what would you say is a typical cost for a retired couple for food (mostly dining in) and residence, low-cost entertainment such as most museums, and incidentals, for a month of slow travel (or no travel) in Europe (outside major cities, if that matters), excluding air travel to and from Europe? Typical, that is, not scientifically verifiable.

 

[RetireAge50]

We recently bought one-way tickets to London from Seattle for $200 each leaving in October. No itinerary or timeframe yet. Haven't been to Europe before. Plan is to just wander around for a few months.

 

[walkinwood]

Understanding that YMMV, of those who have tried Airbnb in Europe, what would you say is a typical cost for a retired couple for food (mostly dining in) and residence, low-cost entertainment such as most museums, and incidentals, for a month of slow travel (or no travel) in Europe (outside major cities, if that matters), excluding air travel to and from Europe? Typical, that is, not scientifically verifiable.

This is very variable just as it would be in the US. Big towns are more expensive than small, some countries more expensive than others. Some cities have great museums for free (London) and others charge for that. Same with churches, castles and other tourist destinations.

A good guide book will help you & you can augment that with more specific questions here or in forums like tripadvisor or lonely planet.

 

[Meadbh]

Thank you all for the useful and encouraging information about traveling through Europe via Airbnb: Useful because I've never done it, but badly want to. Encouraging because it sounds comfortable enough and also economical.

Understanding that YMMV, of those who have tried Airbnb in Europe, what would you say is a typical cost for a retired couple for food (mostly dining in) and residence, low-cost entertainment such as most museums, and incidentals, for a month of slow travel (or no travel) in Europe (outside major cities, if that matters), excluding air travel to and from Europe? Typical, that is, not scientifically verifiable.

That's an impossible question to answer because there are too many variables. If money is tight, consider sticking to cheaper countries (e.g. Croatia, Portugal) and avoiding expensive ones (Sweden, France, Italy, Ireland).

 

[NW-Bound]

Yes, there are many variables. But by staying at Airbnb and eating in, one will lower the cost significantly. In addition, I do not want to eat out all the time, when some days all I need is a salad, or a bowl of heated canned soup with some bread and cold cuts of charcuterie.

While in past trips we always wandered into grocery stores to satisfy our curiosity of what the locals ate, we never had a car to haul "stuff", and a kitchen and table to prepare and to eat some simple meals. So, here are some examples of the food cost.

A 1.5-liter bottle of water, sparkling mineral too, costs as little as €0.30 in grocery stores, and becomes €3 in convenience stores next to museums in Florence.

I paid €0.30 for a French baguette at a Lidl store somewhere in France or Italy, I forgot. However, the price of bread varied all over the place. It was as high as €1.20 in Paris, and usually around €0.50 in smaller towns.

In France, I was happy to see many nice bottles of Bordeaux at prices so low. For around €5, you have many choices of award-winning red wines. Hallelujah!

We love to eat pâté and terrine, and these were inexpensive in France. Cross into Italy, and these became hard to find as Italians do not eat these as much.

Forget about ramen noodles. Europeans do not eat them, and if you can find it at all, it will cost you €2-3 a pack. Not that craving about ramen to pay that price? I thought so.

Produce prices were not too bad. I don't recall what we paid for lettuce, tomato, cucumber to make salad, but it did not make us cringe. Usually it was a bit more expensive than in the US, but we were not complaining when thinking of what a restaurant charged for a simple salad.

Meat and fish were expensive compared to US prices. And the lower grades of beef can be mightily tough, so you'd better get the more expensive cuts. I made pan-seared steak only once, as we did not cook heavy meals. Paid €17/kg for the most expensive cut in a Coop store, and it made a good steak. Never bought fish, as we could and did get very nice seafood meals in the seaports of Sète, France, and La Spezia, Italy, for €30 a person with alcohol.

 

[NW-Bound]

A poster asked what car agency I used. As my trip was longer than 30 days, I could not get a normal rental car. I don't know if it was the law or not.

I used Auto Europe, and it was technically a leased car, spanking new, and registered in my name! Their service was impeccable.