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I think I'm done with Airbnb

I was gonna stay a couple of nights in London in December, Premier Inn was £100 a night but it's in December and there's literally nothing else available. The only cheap places to stay were airbnb. New airbnbers with no reviews. I changed my mind, I just don't have the energy to deal with random strangers houses right now. Changed it be a day trip instead!
 
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bimble said:
I’m going to an Airbnb tomorrow and I just got the email with the 12 step instructions for opening the door :facepalm: there’s even a video to click on so it must be extremely complicated. Hotels where there’s a human who says hello & gives you the key to your room they were a great invention.
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I just don't have the brain power to deal with that crap right now, best of luck, hope it's not too painful!
 
pinkmonkey said:
I was gonna stay a couple of nights in London in December, Premier Inn was £100 a night but it's in December and there's literally nothing else available. The only cheap places to stay were airbnb. New airbnbers with no reviews. I changed my mind, I just don't have the energy to deal with random strangers houses right now. Changed my mind, it's gonna be a day trip!
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My advice.

Don't Search hotels London.
Search Hotels Barking.
It's a shit hole so cheap hotels but an easy train in and out of central London to do what you have to do and see what you have to see.
 
bimble said:
Hotels where there’s a human who says hello & gives you the key to your room they were a great invention.
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They haven't closed them down.

But things do go wrong in hotels too. I did booking.com Amsterdam in summer, got met by the grumpiest chip-on-her-shoulder (about booking.com, rightly) owner who extracted about 45 euro in tax I never knew was coming followed by a room on the top floor (Amsterdam!) I wasn't informed of. Just the 54 huge steps.

Having said that, got fed up with looking at air b&b for Marrakech - either way too expensive a risk or loads with no or two reviews written by the owner and their best mate. Three years ago. So I've booked a guest house through booking.com again.

Reviews are everything. Lots of reviews.
 
I know hotels still exist, and can be weird too (managed to find one with no running water recently, man brought me a bucket up 3 flights of stairs, that was on booking dot con as I recall). Just kind of thinking to return to them as a default. The faff with getting into your Airbnb via a hidden code and key and whatever bollocks with no phone number to call even is a stress I can’t be arsed with tomorrow.
 
Gromit said:
My advice.

Don't Search hotels London.
Search Hotels Barking.
It's a shit hole so cheap hotels but an easy train in and out of central London to do what you have to do and see what you have to see.
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Yeah, I considered out of town, but it doesn't work for me, for this trip, I was looking in Tottenham because that's where I lived and that's where my friends are. I don't have the time or the energy to travel out to Barking and back (after dinner) and then to get the super early train home from Kings X the next day, the train that I booked because it was cheap. I could get an airbnb in the right area for under £50 but airbnb meh. TLDR: am skint and I'm recovering from covid. Has to be cheap and simple.
 
Ted Striker said:
I thnk we're all missing the fundamental flaw in their business model, and why they are doomed to failure:

Someone's house/flat/room has, of course, a level of storage suitable for someone who actually lives there. A real, non-zero number of drawers, shelves, cupboards, wardrobes to unpack your stuff (out of sight) to and forget it's there.

Nothing makes you yearn for a no-nonsense 1 drawer (plus 5 fake non-opening ones) and 1 wardrobe setup of a Holiday Inn, than that moment where you think you've packed (in your airbnb), do the under-the-bed check, then wonder what that drawer was that you haven't had cause to open this morning...Before finding a pair of shoes you nearly left behind, and vaguely remember it was your great idea on check-in day to put a pair of shoes in there.

Thus creating panic and anxiety of having to triple check all these new weird and wonderful and unnecessary storage places that may or may not have seemed like the perfect place to quickly store your shaver/laptop/coat/bible 5 days ago .

It'll never catch on.
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My room had one wardrobe and no drawers, so most of my stuff remained in the suitcase.

I'm now being badgered to write a review and I'm torn between writing something that merely hints at my displeasure (and thus probably ensure I'll have no problems booking an Airbnb in the future) and really laying into the place... The host was lovely though so I don't want to fuck things up for her.
 
I think it's perfectly fair to describe what you liked and did not like about the accomodation. If a shared space is listed as having a workspace I think you should mention that someone working interrupted your stay.

You are reviewing the accommodation not the other people who stayed.
 
This: describe what you get for your money in a matter of fact way. You could say the shared workspace is best suited to one person. Something like that.
 
editor said:
My room had one wardrobe and no drawers, so most of my stuff remained in the suitcase.

I'm now being badgered to write a review and I'm torn between writing something that merely hints at my displeasure (and thus probably ensure I'll have no problems booking an Airbnb in the future) and really laying into the place... The host was lovely though so I don't want to fuck things up for her.
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I'd write:
Shared accommodation (and all that comes with that).
The host was lovely.
 
Callie said:
I think it's perfectly fair to describe what you liked and did not like about the accomodation. If a shared space is listed as having a workspace I think you should mention that someone working interrupted your stay.

You are reviewing the accommodation not the other people who stayed.
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Shared accommodation is always going to be pot luck.
Editor got unlucky with his rotation.
The next occupant might meet their best friend forevers.
 
I've had some good luck with long-term stay hotels that cater to business travelers. They do have a minimum stay, but they usually have full kitchens and a linen closet of their own. They're different from regular hotels in that they're for workers on a short-term assignment of a week, to a couple of months. Last one I stayed in was pretty cheap. I've never had one that wasn't clean, and they are usually hidden from main roads, and your neighbors are there to work, so they tend to be quiet.
 
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bimble said:
My most memorable Airbnb experience was the place where not one of the lightbulbs worked, that was good. it wasn’t the electric, just that they’d not bothered to put new bulbs in. But you can and do get equally shitty ‘hotels’.
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I stayed at a regular hotel that had a big chunk out of the mattress. A little inspection showed that the mattress had been burned and they'd cut out a piece about a foot in diameter, to keep it in service.
 
bimble said:
Locked out now. The “host” / business owner says to wait 10 mins for it to reset itself then try again. Ducking stupid system.
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Took me ages to get into my room thanks to an annoying keypad where - it turned out - you had to hit any random key to light up the display first, and then add your number.
 
I was vindicated, wasn’t me being stupid for once it was a faulty card key they’d given me. Woman was very nice but yeah, that’s the thing isn’t it with a hotel would have been sorted in 5 mins not an hour and not without having anywhere to pee whilst you wait. :facepalm:
 
I'm with you. Only going to use it if really no other options are available. My first stay in an Airbnb 11 years ago in San Francisco was the real deal, greeted by the owner and cats with a beer and ended up going out to dinner together.
I can't remember another one like that really.... Sad.
We did Airbnb in our old place for a few months in 2012 and loved it. Had some great and interesting guests, plus Mr Sparkybird had the excuse to cook bacon every morning 🤣
Now it's just a way to make money, avoid taxes and take away homes from people we need them. The original idea is completely unrecognisable
 
This is the review I wrote in the end. I hope it helps people.

Great neighbourhood and the subway station was literally minutes away. Stephanie was lovely too - very friendly. It's worth noting that there's two other Airbnb rooms sharing the one kitchen/bathroom and they're not individually lockable.
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editor said:
This is the review I wrote in the end. I hope it helps people.
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what did you do with the star ratings? It's a weird thing isn't it, the pressure to put five stars when really it was about a 3 . I usually just ignore the hassly emails and don't leave a review but feel obliged to this time just cos the woman with the dodgy door was nice.
 
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bimble said:
what did you do with the star ratings? It's a weird thing isn't it, the pressure to put five stars when really it was about a 3 . I usually just ignore the hassly emails and don't leave a review but feel obliged to this time just cos the woman with the dodgy door was nice.
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A reluctant 4/5.
 
www.theguardian.com

Airbnb feels like staying with a cheap, uptight friend – then paying for the privilege | Arwa Mahdawi

Once, it seemed an economical and adventurous alternative to a hotel. But I doubt I’ll be using it again
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

The article is meh but the comments are telling.

I have used airbnb maybe 5x - always for a longer stay, invariably not in cities- I like the formality and security/expectation of a hotel booking for that kind of thing. I dont want to arrive in Prague and have to piss about finding a place.

I think airbnb and their like have their uses. My experience has been excellent but I dont maybe fit the convential target for the platform.
 
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Storm Fox said:
A Youtube vid on what Airbnb is doing to historic city centres, Prague in particular:
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This probably won't be a popular opinion, but I don't think long term rental of housing is good for neighborhoods either. So many houses are being bought up by large real estate management companies that no one can buy an entry-level home where I live. If anything goes on the market, they're in there buying it before it's been listed for the general public. I've had these guys knock on my door with offers, while buying up everything around me. (I'm told that they want mine so they can knock all of them down and build a large apartment complex.)
 
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Portugal are proposing that no new airbnb licenses be granted anywhere, apart from possibly some in rural central Portugal. All existing licenses to be reviewed in 2023 and then every 5 years after that. Big incentives to return rentals to long term rentals as well.

Great news, we are overrun with airbnbs here in the Algarve, loads of them run by big corporate machines.
 
Stayed in a couple of Airbnb's but they have always been where the host lives. The first was a loft bedroom where we literally had to climb a ladder and crawl under the eaves of the roof. Fell asleep listening to the north sea battering the sea wall just out side. Host was a lovely art student with all her work scattered about. Really interesting person to chat to over breakfast.
Second host was a scatty woman who said just put your stuff in the fridge with mine, her dog attacked my dog and the hall light lit up the bedroom, I was sleeping in. It felt like staying in an old aunts house. Again a bit quirky but very friendly and chatty which made the whole experience a bit more fun that boring corporate hotels.
 
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