S/O anyone else given up on short-term rentals?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We almost always do an Airbnb as we prefer to have separate sleeping quarters from our kid and access to washer/dryer and a kitchen (or at least a fridge/microwave).

We usually travel for a couple weeks and want a washer at least every five days or so. I prefer Aparthotels but often need an Airbnb to get one. So we do a mix in our travels. We also really like the bedroom and kitchen with our kids.

[Anonymous]

We have been team hotel for several years after using AirBNB pretty regularly. We stopped after an incident on vacation when my daughter walked past the coffee table in the living room and her pants leg got caught on a piece of ‘wood’ on the corner of the table and a small piece of the peeling wood came off the table. We reported it and offered to pay for a repair or replacement. The owners were super rude about it and claimed the table cost $700. The table was clearly a veneer finish and a quick google search showed me the same table on IKEA for significantly less. We reached out to AirBNB to see what the options were for us or if they could assist in any way. They basically provided zero customer service and told us to work it out with the owner directly. We ended up paying but this was very eye opening about the level of liability staying in one of these properties.

[Anonymous]

We have found good balance in homewood suites type places that have a separate bedroom, small kitchen, sitting area with all the amenities of hotels. I like being in control of fans/heat, not having chores and the possibility of moving to another room if there’s an issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Didn't have to give up on them because I refused to us them in the first place.

Same here. The only time I’ve ever stayed at an Airbnb was with family who booked a house that had used tampons lying around (seriously).

[Anonymous]

Our AirBnBs have been a fair value but they have had some memorable minor inconveniences. We didn't contact the hosts for these mainly because of unlikeliness of a quick solution.

Nice Paris rental company apartment with 4 separate beds (and three bedroom spaces and 2 bathrooms). Had weird dishwasher with no instructions and no detergent. Just some kind of hard water add-on powder. The cheap ceramic IKEA plates were fragile. We go years without breaking dishes at home. Broke 2-3 plates in one week. Thermostat appeared to have a remote override or program that undid my mom's manually-set temperature preferences every morning. So she would wake up cold and we'd come back to a chilly unit.

London flat in a carved-up house. 2 bedroom, 2 bath with garden and washer/dryer. As described, but house had incense sticks and jars out in several places. I wrapped them in aluminum foil for the duration. The sheets (including the spare set) were washed in a fragranced detergent that overperfumed them. I believe it didn't rinse out well (washed on site). I took the case off the pillow and put a towel over it for a day until the case aired out enough. Euro-style washer took forever so never had time to supervise a sheets load because we were washing our trip clothes in the evenings.

Edinburgh apartment had a closet with cleaning supplies and toilet paper but no spare light bulbs. When we arrived, several bulbs were burned out and more burned out during our stay. They were something special like small halogens. I ended up moving some around so we could enjoy the kitchen and living room.during our stay. Mini gas stove didn't have instructions on how to ignite the burners and oven.

Toronto condo. Instructed to find clean towels in the washer/dryer. The cleaning service apparently hadn't set the cycle correctly so the towels were slightly damp and stinky. (Another one of those Euro appliances that doesn't work quickly or well.) So first thing we did was rewash the towels.

Bath townhouse. Interesting quirky artist's townhouse right around the corner from the Cathedral. For some reason, we were required to take all of our trash out to streetcorner public trashcan. This required using wastepaper-basket-sized trash bags. Because the public bins opened like USPS blue mailboxes. I never understood why this was necessary but it was spelled out in the rental terms and mentioned a lot in the reviews.

Overall, I would re-rent each of these places based on their positive aspects. All had sufficient reviews when we rented.

[Anonymous]

Yep. I have found they are not cheaper than hotels after all the hidden fees are tacked on - that the owner misrepresent the properties (air mattresses on the floor that need to be inflated should not be counted towards number that accommodation can sleep), and that they are not focused on the consumer but on making a quick cash grab. I have one last stay that was already booked, but after that, I will be returning to 100% hotel bookings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nope. When pur family of 4 travels (one boy, one girl, in their early 20s), I'd much rather get an Air BnB or VRBO with 3 bedrooms than 2 hotel rooms and make them share a room. Plus, I prefer having a kitchen to spending hundreds of dollars per week on breakfast out.

Right. So if your are cheap, Airbnb or vrbo is the way to go.

We are not DCUM level of wealthy and prefer to spend our discretionary funds on other things:
- experiences
- college/grad school for our kids
- retirement

So what you call cheap, I call piece of mind, knowing our kids have great travel experiences, can see the world, become educated, and, won't have to worry about taking care of their parents as we age, since we have enough savings to travel and take care of ourselves. Your name calling means nothing to me

Whoever said staying in an AirBNB made you cheap for not wanting to eat breakfast out lives in a different universe than I do. We are so much more comfortable in a home with separate bedrooms and a living room and a kitchen. Being able to bring the toddler out to the kitchen for breakfast while others sleep is crucial. Or get kids to bed at a decent hour.

I do think since the pandemic the average quality went down as many people decided to buy a vacation home and AirBNB it. I prefer those that are professionally managed or have significant numbers of descriptive reviews. And I've followed up with the host a few times to.clarify what I've read. Also more homes are available to rent via hotel companies.

[Anonymous]

Only hotels for me, five star.

[Anonymous]

Yes, they are now too expensive.

[Anonymous]

We stay at both hotels and air bnbs. For both:

We’ve had good luck
You have to do your research
You have to learn to spot questionable listings.

The best “cheat code” I can offer for air bnbs is to try and find the listing agency or owner website. You reserve through the local agency saving quite a bit. Research is key here to make sure listing agency is a true company (ie local realtor).

[Anonymous]

We only use hotels unless it's a location like the Outer Banks where rental houses have always been the norm (way before the time of AirBnB). But even there we don't use AirBnB, we use a local company like Twiddy.

[Anonymous]

I've stayed at 70 AirBnBs and have never once had any problem. I make sure to research before I book and search the reviews for key words that are relevant to our preferences.

[Anonymous]

After a gas leak in an AirBNB almost killed my family, we are done.

[Anonymous]

Nope. Three great places on Booking.com and two great places on Airbnb, all I'm Spain this year. Damn you Barcelona for doing away with str, but at least we got one more trip in before that happens.

[Anonymous]

When we travel as a family, I do love having a living room where everyone can congregate and separate bedrooms for everyone that a hotel can’t deliver. We get 2 hotel rooms when an Airbnb isn’t available.