Do you Airbnb?

[Anonymous]

We used it in San Francisco. It was a bit of a disaster. Not a great part of town, which was totally on us, but we weren't from there and really didn't know. I think at least if we had been at a major hotel, the incidents we faced on the street would not have been as much of an issue. There is something to be said for having bell hops, concierge, etc on property.

[Anonymous]

I used it in San Juan and had a great experience. We only stayed a few days, but saved a lot versus the hotel. Many of my friends use it all the time.

[Anonymous]

We've rented whole houses (not just guest rooms) through property management agencies, VRBO, and AirBnB, and always had great experiences. The nicest properties we've stayed in were AirBnB -- a San Francisco rowhouse with a lovely backyard, a floating home on Seattle's Lake Union, another Seattle house with glorious sunset views, a cozy cabin on the Willamette River in Oregon. Some of these were the owner's primary residence, some a rental property, and some a vacation home.

There are real advantages to staying at a house or condo if you're traveling with family and staying for a week. If you're doing day trips, it's nice to have a comfortable base camp with room to spread out, including outdoor space and access to a kitchen. You also have the opportunity to get to know a residential neighborhood, which can be really fun. Plus, if some folks in your group get up early and others later (i.e., you're traveling with teens), the early risers can get up and have breakfast or go for a walk or run in the neighborhood while the others sleep in.

Although it can be overwhelming to see all the properties available, you can use the calendar and other filters (i.e., # of bedrooms, # of bathrooms, etc.) to help you narrow down your choices. Once you do that, you need to really scrutinize the photos carefully and, if possible, ask friends who know the area for advice on location. Also, go on Google and see what else is in the neighborhood -- one of my friends swears by the Whole Foods test -- if there's a WF nearby, you know you're getting a gentrified or gentrifying neighborhood. (Not that you always wants that, but it is a benchmark.) With AirBnB, you also have the guest reviews -- if a host has 100% glowing reviews, you can be pretty sure the rental will work out great. I'll add that the AirBnB hosts we've had were all super-friendly and helpful -- actually much more so than property managers -- but not at all intrusive. Some were staying just a few minutes away, others were on vacation themselves, but all were willing to provide as much -- or as little -- advice as we needed.

[Anonymous]

I am doing my first in Oct. It is a whole apt. I am nervous. Do you worry about being filmed?

[Anonymous]

I've stayed at Airbnb rentals probably 6 or 7 times. I only had 1 mediocre experience. It was small and not in good shape, which is not how it was sold to us.

A friend of mine rented in a South American country. There were metal bars over the windows and doors. In the middle of the night, someone used a pole to pick up their valuables and steal them, right through the bars on the front door.

[Anonymous]

I dont b/c I think Airbnb sucks.

But I use VRBO all the time.

For example, I can send out ten requests to Airbnb and either never hear back or be "rejected" for dates they said were available. Such an immense waste of my time! To research everything and make a request and then wait around only to find out, nah, sorry!

It makes me insane

I never have that problem with VRBO. I have rented houses on the Outer Banks, Cape Cod -- all over the place and I am renting a NYC apt. there this summer.

[Anonymous]

^^PP. I wanted to add I think VRBO has more "professional" rentals than Airbnb so they act accordingly. Not just someone who decided to make a few hundred by renting out their own place but does not really know what the heck they are doing.

[Anonymous]

Why do people like Airbnb over traditional methods?

[Anonymous]

We are a VRBO-only family.

Had a bad experience once with Airbnb - not related to a property but related to the Airbnb long-term refund policy. Too much to go into here but just make sure that before you book you read every single policy and know exactly what you are getting into. Short term policy is not the issue though.

[Anonymous]

We use vrbo. I want something that's a rental and not someone's residence. It does get pricey for shorter stays, with cleaning fees and such. Some are better than others, but no disasters. We have little kids and it's usually cheaper than a suite so we can have a separate bedroom. And most have laundry which is nice to have with little ones.

When the kids are older and we have more money, I'll go back to hotels though. I like having my bed made and fresh towels provided once in a while. And not washing dishes and stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do people like Airbnb over traditional methods?

Because they think they are saving money, until something goes wrong. Then they have little to no recourse.

[Anonymous]

We've used a couple of different AirBnBs in NYC with three small kids. Both were totally fine for what we needed - basically an affordable place to crash and space to cook for the kids so we didn't spend too much on eating out for every meal.

One place was very much someone's home (they had a baby and an 8 year old and it was quite full of family stuff) but to be honest our kids loved it because they liked the kids pictures on the wall and playing with their toys.

We have also used VRBO several times and have had great experiences - but as others have said those tend to be rentals rather than homes.

We only go to places with previous good reviews.

[Anonymous]

I used it last year on a trip to San Francisco. My company would only reimburse up to $250 / night, but the trip was during pride week and planned last minute and my hotel choices were the Tenderloin or $600 plus a night. I found an air bnb that came to about $275 a night after taxes, so it was less money for me to eat. The hostess gave me the downstairs of her home - so we all shared an entry but then she lived in the upper two levels and the downstairs had a sitting room / office; a bathroom; a bedroom; and a deck. The hostess was great. The bathroom was clearly like staying at a friend's (i.e. Her products were in the cupboard / the shampoo and conditioner were large bottles others had also uses) but everything was clean and the location was great. I don't think she'd ever hosted before.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes DCUM is like a different world. I love airbnb -- we use it everywhere we go, and we have our own guest house listed (clearing $2K a month). There are thousands of whole apartment/house listings, and if you choose a place with good host reviews, you can't go wrong.

As for not knowing where the place is located, that's kinda surprising in the age of GPS -- map it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are about to AirBnB next week for the first time. The house we will be renting is this family's second rental unit. Their primary residence is within 10 minutes of the rental.

I didn't have concerns like OP because we selected a home that had a lot of good reviews from other folks who had rented this place. The owner also got good reviews and so far, with the communication that I've had with him, I can understand why he got good reviews. All good so far. I'll report back in about 2 weeks after we return from our trip.

So we stayed in our first AirBnB a few weeks ago (I forgot to come back and update the thread before).

We had a wonderful rental. The hosts were great. They lived about 3 miles/5-10 minutes from the rental. The house was great. Having a 3-BR 2500 sf house for 1/3 the cost of a 2-BR 800-sf Residence Inn suite was much better for us. The kids had tons of space to play, there was a fenced in backyard for some running around. It was nice because the public space (including play area for the kids) was downstairs. That meant if one parent got up with the kids early, the other parent could sleep in easier. Having stayed in many Residence Inns, even with the door closed, the kids playing just outside the door was loud.

We had a couple of small issues but the owners were responsive to texts. They also checked in with us about every 2-3 days if they hadn't heard from us, asking if everything was okay or we needed anything. Had a couple of small questions and they answered by text. All worked out great for us. I think it helped that this unit has been rented by many people before who gave both the unit and owner good reviews (I did, too).

As I mentioned before, I didn't have concerns because this wasn't the owner's primary residence, but the owner's first home. When he had a family, he moved to a bigger home and is renting out his first home, so it is not owner occupied.