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I enjoy a nice hotel or resort as much as anyone else and I’m sure I’ll be back staying at a few hotels once we’re allowed to travel again, but I’m not sure I’ll be going back to my old ways of travel any time soon. I think that there’s going to be a significant period of time following the end of this crisis during which I’m going to want to have quite a bit of control over the environment in which I’m staying and hotels don’t offer that control.
The problem with hotels is that they’re not designed to keep people apart (far from it) and even if the various big chains introduce social distancing measures once they start re-opening we will all be relying on everyone around us to heed those measures and to act responsibly. Based on what I’ve been seeing in my everyday life and what I’ve been watching on the news it’s hard to have much faith that people will behave…especially once this crisis has been over for a few months and people start to forget that it ever happened.
Airbnb properties are far from perfect but they can offer a number of benefits that hotels don’t (and can’t) offer:
- They can offer a lot of space that isn’t shared with other people
- They can offer an environment that you can keep hygienic and that you can be sure hasn’t been ‘contaminated’ by anyone else (outside of your family/group)
- They can offer kitchens so that you can prepare your own food and are not forced to go out to eat in restaurants/bars/diners (or anywhere else a lot of people like to gather)
- They offer a way of traveling that limits the number of people you have to physically engage with (most Airbnb properties I use have self check-in and self check-out so I never actually see the owner).
- They’re usually considerably larger than the average hotel room or suite so there’s less risk of feeling confined or claustrophobic on the days you decide not to venture out too often.
I’m not suggesting that I’ll be traveling to various places and then locking myself away in an Airbnb (that would completely negate the whole point of traveling), but what I am suggesting is that an Airbnb would make it a lot easier to keep control over how often I’m in a busy public space and how many people I needlessly have to interact with.
If I want to go out (which I will want to do as much as possible once this is over) then being part of the general public is just something that has to be dealt with and the risks that go with that are risks that I’ll probably be happy to take, but it will be nice to be able to return to my own place (an Airbnb) at the end of the day knowing that the environment I’m walking back into isn’t one that I’m sharing with dozens/hundreds/thousands of other people and that’s it’s an environment I can control.
Bottom Line
This isn’t going to be a major change for me as I’m a fan of staying in Airbnb properties anyway (I like the extra space they offer and the freedom that having your own kitchen brings) but it’s still going to be a change.
If Joanna and I go back to Sydney in 2021 we’ll be staying in a hotel because we know which hotel we really like and no Airbnb in our budget range can compete with the location that the hotel offers…and that’s fine with me. I never said I would be avoiding hotels entirely.
Where Airbnb properties will come in to play will be in destinations where good properties can be booked for similar (or better) rates to the hotels we would normally consider and where they offer access to the areas and districts that we’d like to visit – cities like Barcelona, Rome, San Francisco and Chicago all spring to mind when thinking about places we’re likely to visit and choose Airbnbs over hotels and I’m already looking forward to finding out just how well this is going to work for us. Hopefully, it will work very well 🙂
What do you think will change with your travel planning once this is all over?
Pass!
Lol, no way. AirBNB is soooo dirty.
Who could give that company money, or stay in someone’s rental property?
No way.
Stayed in 5-6 of them, and each time thought ‘oh, it will get better’
Each time was just… yuck.
I will find a boutique hotel or real B&B, thank you.
I can’t believe it’s 2020 and people are still using AirBNB. Goodness.
I’ve had my share of bad/terrible Airbnbs too but I’ve learned what to look for and for and what to avoid and things have been a lot better.
Also, you only have to read the various stories published online to realize that booking a hotel or a B&B doesn’t guarantee you anything (especially not cleanliness) so I’m more than happy to use some sanitary spray and wipes when I first arrive at a property I’ve rented and then know that my environment is fine for the rest of my stay. Others may not like to have to do this and that’s fine too.
We had a wonderful air BNB a few years back minutes from Coogee beach and way cheaper than the crown plaza hotel. It was almost peak season too. Will probably stay there when we go back after this is all over.
I love some of the areas around Coogee – I walk from Coogee to Watson’s Bay every time I visit Sydney and it never gets old.
I can appreciate your desire to know that “the environment I’m walking back into isn’t one that I’m sharing with dozens/hundreds/thousands of other people and that it’s an environment I can control.” But could I ask that you consider the other residents of the apartment buildings in which you stay — in many cases against the building’s rules, or at least against the wishes of the building’s residents. You and other AirBNB customers make them share with hundreds of other people and take away their control of their environment.
Good luck with that. For me your advice is terrible. Just read other experiences on Airbnbhell I used them once two months ago in LA, never again. Treat the glowing reviews and amenities with skepticism. Our experience was horrendous and then Airbnb ignored multiple messages until after we had returned home almost two weeks later. We were thrown out by the host for complaining about the cold dirty flat and spent the next 12 days in clean well run internationally known hotels. With great difficulty and perseverance I finally got most of my money back. Avoid Airbnb is my advice.
I’m pretty sure I didn’t offer any advice in this post – it was an opinion piece.
I’m sorry to hear that you had a bad experience and I’m more than aware that a lot of people have had bad experiences with Airbnb…but a lot of people have had bad experiences with hotels too (check TripAdvisor, Flyertalk etc..).
There’s a very simple rule here – do what works for you. I’ve had bad Airbnb stays and bad hotel stays but that doesn’t mean that I expect every future Airbnb stay and every future hotel stay to follow the same pattern. I like the extra space and the kitchen that I get with Airbnb stays so I’m happy to continue using the platform. If you have other priorities that’s fine too.
People sure get fired up about Airbnb. Where else do you recommend booking a house or apartments? VRBO is much less upfront about the final price.
It’s not complicated: Book places on Airbnb that have lots of good reviews… and it will be good.
I have used ARBnb in Kenya, Lebanam, Manchester, Stamford and many other places. Never had a bad experience. Just cancelled San Diago for early July as suspect the UK or the states will still have problems with Covid 19. Deposit refunded straight away. When the world reopens, safely, I will be booking more and more Arbnb. You do have to do your homework!.
I can not even guess how many airbnb’s we have stayed in around Europe and a few in the Caribbean. Maybe 25-35? We have only had one that was not as clean as it should have been and that was the tile floor which looked clean but really needed a good scrubbing. Every other one was mostly spotless and pretty much looked just like the pictures. I’ve stayed in hotels that showed nice pictures but were worn down and wore out but had good/decent reviews anyway. I really have not done many airbnb’s in the states but several through VRBO and all of those were great, except one which also needed a deep cleaning. We prefer Airbnb’s if we are staying more than 1 night somewhere.
Ziggy what’s the name of the hotel in Sydney? Also, the picture at the top of this piece looks like it could be in Holland??
We’ll probably use points to stay at the Sydney Harbour Marriott – a very solid if unspectacular property with excellent transport links and very close to the opera house and the bridge.
The featured picture was taken in Kent – South East England (but I agree, it could easily be a Dutch scene)
It is one thing to have a bad experience with a listing from hell, but then you expect from the garb on the Airbnb site, that they will intervene and do their utmost to help three elderly travellers in an unfamiliar city find new accomodation the same day. We were not in Outer Siberia. This was Los Angeles. But no. I sent almost twenty messages to Airbnb, at least one or two every day , spoke on the phone to them and was promised a prompt and proper response, but never heard from them again until after the trip was over and we had returned home. They did not seem to care less that we were homeless and left to fend for ourselves. It seems to me the reason all listings have high reviews over 4.5/5 is Airbnb will not allow you to leave a review unless the host also leaves a review. There is no incentive for the host to leave a review of the guest if the host believes the guest will then condemn the listing. Even you Ziggy as a seasoned traveller admit to having bad experiences , yet you still return, but you do not say how Airbnb rectified your issues. At least you have accountability at the front desk of a hotel if something is not right with your room. With Airbnb they act like a castle, you pay your entrance fee not knowing what you are going to get. You can only hope you will get your money’s worth. We were ignored by Airbnb and were misled by an early flurry of messages of support from them the day we were thrown out into thinking we could depend upon them to assist and source alternative accomodation. How wrong we were. They could not have cared less.
Patrick with all due respect. .you are talking rubbish. You have not understood the Airbnb review policy: it is most definitely NOT the case that Airbnb will not allow you to leave a review unless the host leaves a review! Either guest or host has 14 days to leave a review, and after 14 days either one or both are published. And in response to your comment about Airbnb acts like “a castle, you pay your entrance fee not knowing what you’re going to get” – it strikes me very much that you didn’t do your homework, you didn’t read up on the place you stayed in, you didn’t read the reviews or maybe even take the time to contact the owner first and ask questions before booking! All these things you can do on Airbnb and it makes for a better experience for both guest and host if you are able to interact prior to booking.
ON Sydney we stayed last year at the Veriu apart/hotel Broadway near Central Station. They are fabulous, spacious with huge double bedrooms, dining area, living area, two huge TVs , full kitchen and laundry area with washing machine, drier and ironing facilities. Currently around US 63per night,Agoda and a 9.1 /10 rating .Well worth checking out
⛱So my last guest left yesterday (it was on April 10, 2020). He stayed 5 weeks with us for work. He had stayed in a hotel (I won’t say the name)the first week and was so disappointed as no hot water at 6.00 am, noise, not very clean, etc. so he turned to Airbnb and found us. We are glad we were able to overcome his bad experience. This is the room he stayed in.⛱
I think you are using “airbnb” in place of “Vacation Rental” Please clarify….. Are you referencing airbnb the company or just vacation rentals/short term rentals. I think this is a very important distinction to make. Most hosts are actually leaving them or jacking up the rates on that platform due to the mistreatment of hosts through COVID19.
To a degree, I guess I am. I’ll happily use most of the platforms available to me (HomeAway, VBRO etc…) it just happens to be that Airbnb is the one I’ve used the most in recent years. I don’t have any misguided loyalty to Airbnb or feel like that’s the best platform to use – it’s just the one I have most recent experience with.
As a property manager, I would love to see the generic usage of the term Airbnb go away along with the company entirely. They have decimated so many families. “Short Term Rental…. STR”
I only use Airbnb if I can’t find a good home exchange. I’ve been doing home exchange for a few years now and find it to be the perfect way to travel. It costs nothing and we get amazing properties, always the whole place to ourselves. Obviously this only works if you have a property to put on the site yourself. All the Airbnb’s that we have been to have been great and we always choose ‘entire’ home.
I stumbled on this article and kind of felt it was a puff piece. Then I read the comments and realized wow nobody has a balanced view. As a host who rents rooms in his house my guests comfort and security are paramount. However Airbnb has done things that are very anti-host in the last few years. The problem here is that guests just want a $50 dollar a night Hilton and that doesn’t exist. Travelers are getting a big discount and potentially a huge win by staying in someone’s home. If you are renting a whole home then you are most likely dealing with someone who’s entire rationale was/is buy to let. That’s an entirely different beast. Those folks feel ripped off because Airbnb yanked back their reservations regardless of policy for Covid 19. I think it was a bad call personally, but I can see why the company did it. The guests are the ones paying.