How to Airbnb
It is truly extraordinary how Airbnb has changed the way we can travel in such a short amount of time. Only a few years ago, the trip I’m currently doing wouldn’t have been possible, not the in the way I am doing it. The flexibility it gives you to travel in a way that suits you is fantastic.
The best bits
- Airbnb’s advertising is set up around the concept of “belong anywhere”. For me, this absolutely nails the joy of a great Airbnb. There is nothing quite like the feeling of opening a door to a new house and feeling immediately like you are at home. I’ve stayed in enough cookie cutter, sterile hotel rooms and serviced apartments around the world for work and play to know that they can never match the feeling of having a home in a new neighbourhood, even if it’s only for one night.
- It opens up entire new towns, villages, neighbourhoods and experiences that just wouldn’t have been possible before. Because they weren’t commercially viable or attractive locations for hotels or hostels.
- It’s so easy for us Type A travellers. There have always been little B&B, pensiones, sobes or rooms for rent in small, picturesque villages. But being able to find them in advance required pouring over Lonely Planet guides, scouring internet search results and making phone calls in foreign languages or just showing up and heading to the tourist info office. Now you can find Nonna’s spare room on Airbnb (usually managed by her grandkids)!
- You can stay in some truly unique properties. My Airbnb experiences have included a home in the Byron Bay hinterland with a bathtub in the greenhouse, a 15th century guesthouse in a town of about 12 homes, a Roman apartment with a view onto a piazza with a 14th century church containing paintings by Baglioni, a townhouse in a trendy area of Buenos Aires owned by a male model who took me and my friend Richie to a food festival, a cottage in the rainforest on stilts so you felt like you were living in a treehouse.
- It’s an enormous help with budgeting and the practical aspects of travel. I generally book places with kitchens, washing machines, wi-fi is non-negotiable, free parking. All of these things make a big difference to your budget and convenience levels, especially if you are travelling longer term. Gone are the days of paying exorbitant prices for laundry at a hotel or wasting half a day sitting in a laundromat! I also have friends with kids who look for places with cots, playgrounds and toys so they don’t need to pack any of their own into the car.
- The review system keeps things honest. Yes, there are reviews on booking.com and Expedia and Trip Advisor and I use them. But I find the Airbnb ones are much more honest and relevant to my needs. I want to know if the wi-fi is crappy, if the kitchen is not actually set up with utensils to cook, if the host is a delight or not present (both are good depending on what you need). It’s a very self-policing system. And as a guest, you are also reviewed – I think it is helpful that balance is exists.
Tips for new players
- Use the search filters well. You can narrow by price, type of room (entire home, private room, shared room), amenities you require and, of course, dates. This will narrow your search down in popular places, ensure you get what you need and speed the search up. It can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming how many results come back. Wish lists are handy – I drop several choices into there as a shortlist and then come back and see what stands out.
- Read the reviews. It’s not uncommon for a listing to be “entire home”, but when you read the reviews it becomes clear it’s really a granny flat and the family is all up in your business. Which is fine, if you’re fine with that! You’ll get a clear picture on exactly how far it is to walk into the main part of town, the quality of the restaurants nearby, how hard/soft the bed is, any number of details the hosts might not provide themselves.
- Be honest in your own reviews. Fair, but honest. People are relying on them.
- If you have some flexibility in your itinerary, use the search by map function and select your Airbnb on its merits rather than be too tied into a specific location. Especially if you plan to spend a bit of time in the property rather than really just using it to sleep and shower. I have made choices based on the Airbnb itself a few times. I knew I wanted to be in Tuscany, but didn’t really care what part and ended up in two different fantastic Airbnbs in parts of Tuscany I probably wouldn’t have seen otherwise.
- Be aware of cultural differences. This is not like staying in a beige, international hotel where, generally speaking, things will be skewed towards rich, white businessmen and cashed up, older tourists because they make up the majority of guests and spend the most cash. There might not be a kettle – use a pot on the stove. There might be more or less respect of your privacy than you are used to – reviews will help with this. You might be charged for heating separately (although this should usually be stated in the listing). I’ve found French listings to be far more prescriptive about the behaviour they expect of guests which initially I found really off-putting, but the more listings I read, the more it became clear this is just the way Airbnb is approached in France.
- Don’t be afraid to put your foot down. There is a mid-way point here between a commercial transaction and being in somebody’s home, but you are still a paying customer and entitled to accuracy and safety. I had an experience where a host, after I arrived, asked if it would be ok for her brother to stay in one of the rooms in the house I had booked as an “entire house” because he was on the property for a few days making wine. Um no, that was not ok! I immediately said I was not comfortable with that, which made for a pretty awkward experience when he came to clear his room out later that day! A few other things during that particular stay made it clear the host was really still in the zone of people being guests in the house, on her terms, rather than paying customers. I gave her some very honest feedback in the private feedback section and then wrote a balanced public review about the great points of the house, but also included this event and the others because I think I have a responsibility to future guests (especially as a solo, female traveler). I haven’t had a horror experience that has meant I’ve had to leave early. I think the review system makes those incredibly rare.
- Be familiar with the worst case scenario policies. This is a late addition to this post, based on an experience I had last week in Aix-en-Provence! When I tried to let myself into the apartment, the door handle was broken. After several phone calls and an attempt to fix the door by the local contact (my host was on assignment in Africa), I ended up having to check into a hotel. This wasn’t really anyone’s fault. Sometimes things just break, right? But I couldn’t stay in the apartment for the 3 nights and needed to find alternative accommodation. My original Airbnb was fully refunded and Airbnb also refunded the difference in accommodation costs, up to half of the value of my initial booking. I ended up a little bit out of pocket, but not a lot. A bit inconvenienced because I didn’t have a kitchen, washing machine etc. But really, the process was very smooth.
Even with a few less than ideal experiences (I got yelled at in Dubrovnik when the host thought I had broken his washing machine, I hadn’t and he didn’t bother apologising), the great ones far, far outweigh those. I’ve had hosts lend me laptops when mine was broken, keep my car in their garages when I was going off hiking in Slovenia for a few days or into Rome and didn’t want to drive, bring food from their own kitchens when Mum and I arrived during siesta and everything was closed and we were hungry through only our own poor planning, recommend and book some of the best restaurant experiences I’ve had, accept DHL packages on my behalf, lend me hiking poles and their bikes. And this is not because I’m staying in a 5 star, $400 a night hotel with a full concierge service (who would still charge you for most of the above). My cost for accommodation in Europe has averaged $75 a night. This is just because, actually, most people are kind and decent and proud of their homes and towns and will go out of their way to make sure you have a nice stay. It’s just that those stories aren’t as memorable as the horror stories!
If you would like some specific advice about where I’ve stayed, please feel free to get in touch via the comments or email gourmetroaming@gmail.com or check out my Gourmet Roaming social media accounts. I’m happy to send links to specific properties or give you some other tips. This is not a sponsored post, I genuinely really love this service and have used it for about 90% of my accommodation so far. But, if you haven’t used Airbnb before and want to give it a try, if you sign up using my link you will get a travel credit and so will I! I really do think Airbnb has it right with their slogan of Belong Anywhere – there is nothing quite like feeling like you are living in a place, not just passing through, even if its just for a night!
