You need to look at chalets or villas outside of Airbnb. There are plenty of nice rentals through other websites like Villas of Distinction, A&K, etc. Find the villa you want and then search the name and book directly through the owner.

Hotels are fabulous. When you need assistance with anything, there is a front desk agent available to help you.

Kid throwing up in the middle of the night? Housekeeping will come take care of that for you and bring warm ginger ale and crackers.

Period start unexpectedly at midnight and the kid is sleep? Front desk will bring you a stash of supplies to get you through the night.

These are things that happened to me and I was so glad to be in the warmth and coziness of a hotel with people willing to help.

Plus we choose hotels with delicious restaurant options and well located near food and tourist sites. A well chosen hotel really makes my vacation so much more relaxing. I have never felt as relaxed when I booked a regular rental.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've just started planning. 3 countries. 2 weeks. 4 adults (two parents, a 20 yr old, a 24 yr old).

We're over the whole short-term rental/AirBnB of it all. We've been disappointed time and time again and found that there wasn't really any money savings going that route. We plan to have a pretty active vacation, no cooking. Lots of walking and being exhausted at the end of each day. We're leaning strongly towards hotels, am I doing this right? I know it's all a matter of "do what you want", but we haven't been to Europe in ages and we want to get the most out of our trip. Going to hit London, Paris, Rome.

PS, will be going early June so as to miss the Olympics crowds.

Thanks!

With such an intense schedule, hotels are probably your best bet. You won't have a chance to really settle in anywhere.

OP here. I disagree. 3 cities over the span of two weeks is a good amount of time. We are not planning to travel all over each of those countries, just the 3 main cities I listed.

Four adults means are least two hotel rooms, right?

I don't think I've ever paid more than $225 for a two bedroom Airbnb in Europe.

Pretty sure two decent hotels rooms in the Summer are going to run you far more than that.

Anonymous wrote:We've just started planning. 3 countries. 2 weeks. 4 adults (two parents, a 20 yr old, a 24 yr old).

We're over the whole short-term rental/AirBnB of it all. We've been disappointed time and time again and found that there wasn't really any money savings going that route. We plan to have a pretty active vacation, no cooking. Lots of walking and being exhausted at the end of each day. We're leaning strongly towards hotels, am I doing this right? I know it's all a matter of "do what you want", but we haven't been to Europe in ages and we want to get the most out of our trip. Going to hit London, Paris, Rome.

PS, will be going early June so as to miss the Olympics crowds.

Thanks!

With such an intense schedule, hotels are probably your best bet. You won't have a chance to really settle in anywhere.

OP here - thank you for the replies so far. Definitely a lot to consider, especially the part about hotel rooms in Europe being smaller than in the US. Last time I was in Europe was just with DH so I guess we didn't notice room size since it was just us two.

For that crowd, hotels are going to be really snug. You may need to book two rooms anyway. So Airbnb might make sense.

I have had good luck with Airbnbs in Europe (Paris, Lisbon, Cascais, Athens). They are a much better value than in the US.

Not sure of your question but with 4 adults, I would get 2 hotel rooms. Hotel rooms in Europe aren't as spacious as in the US and you will not want to be cramped.

Is the question: is it ok to stay at a hotel? Sure.

I like a mix for a longer trip. I find that European hotels in the mid-budget-range can be somewhat quirky and not always super comfortable, so it’s a different set of trade offs than a typical US hotel vs Airbnb.

I do think a/c is very important in sumner so I’d make sure you have that, wherever you dtay. Lots of heat waves in recent years.

What about managed rental companies like Paris Perfect? Those seem like a good compromise that give you the option of an apartment but with some of the services and oversight of a hotel.

I only stay in hotels. But the issue with your trip is the room size - are you planning on booking two rooms? Because 4 adults in one room might be easy enough to do in the US (albeit a bit tight, especially with the bathroom!), but it's difficult to find hotel rooms that big in europe - or anywhere overseas for that matter.

Have fun!

We often find true bed & breakfasts in Europe that are lovely and sort of a mix between - usually the have larger rooms and a wonderful breakfast included, and they have common areas where you can relax if you don’t want to be in your rooms. We stayed in one in Rome last year which was ideal, it was in Trastavere but right at the northeast part so it was extremely close to the river and easy to access all of the main sites in Rome, while still being in a charming neighborhood with many good restaurants that weren’t full of tourists. Our host gave us some excellent tips of things to see and the breakfast was fabulous with homemade items including fresh breads and jam from their garden. It was called Arco dei Tolomei.

The fact that you said no cooking means hotels, IMO. I'm the other way in that I want the option not to eat out 3 meals per day.

Anonymous wrote:I prefer hotels in foreign countries because it’s nice to have someone to help you navigate things. For instance, the day we were to leave Paris, there was a train strike (of course) and the concierge called us a taxi, which were hard to find that day.

If you aren't an experienced traveler, a hotel may be better for many reasons.