Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well you have to also in some level know how to pick a spot. This goes hope people places and things. Not all Airbnbs will be good or bad. You as the client need to figure out how to look at photos or if there's not a ton - that's a sign right there too. It's amazing how many idiots expect everything to cater to them. I've prob stayed in 50+ global/nationally with my family. I've had nicer ones than others but I've never had a bad one or worse than a branded hotel and I've never had any weirdness with an owner. Anyone who keeps experiencing under par experiences may want to consider their selection process. I think it's 100x harder having guests who aren't nightmares - I would imagine there's many more loons out there willing to pay for places and really no way to screen them out. I would have a harder time renting than staying.

The reviews for the ski condo I stayed at that was horrible had no clues. There were just comments about how nice the owner was and how people loved the place. It was a filthy broken down hovel with a weird owner.

So you saw pics that didn't present as filthy? You can't just read reviews. On some level you are the buyer and it's your responsibility to ensure your own satisfaction. Who doesn't do both? And I am willing to bet either there were not enough pics or you didn't see any pics at all.

For other PPs when you travel with a family and have kids and don't have an unlimited budget - yeah A you try to stay somewhere you don't pay 2 rooms for! And again, I say this from experience, it's simply not hard to screen accommodations as you still have to look at pictures and reviews for hotels you are not familiar with. And the last Marriott I stayed in sucked. I think any nice Airbnb will beat any typical Marriott room - always. We stay at Marriott for sports tournaments and I hate them so very much!

Now give me a Sofitel or Mandarin room... yeah I agree it's likely to beat most Airbnbs but come on, if you're a typical family you're not affording that. We are a HHI 375k and I won't even spend that much on rooms unless there's no choice.

Anonymous wrote:Well you have to also in some level know how to pick a spot. This goes hope people places and things. Not all Airbnbs will be good or bad. You as the client need to figure out how to look at photos or if there's not a ton - that's a sign right there too. It's amazing how many idiots expect everything to cater to them. I've prob stayed in 50+ global/nationally with my family. I've had nicer ones than others but I've never had a bad one or worse than a branded hotel and I've never had any weirdness with an owner. Anyone who keeps experiencing under par experiences may want to consider their selection process. I think it's 100x harder having guests who aren't nightmares - I would imagine there's many more loons out there willing to pay for places and really no way to screen them out. I would have a harder time renting than staying.

The reviews for the ski condo I stayed at that was horrible had no clues. There were just comments about how nice the owner was and how people loved the place. It was a filthy broken down hovel with a weird owner.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never had a terrible AirBnB stay and generally prefer them to hotels. But, you have to look carefully at the reviews. Many people will give 5 star reviews but put hints about what’s lousy. “Cozy” or “good for a short stay” mean it’s cramped. “Could use a little freshening” means it’s a dump. Etc. Only book the stays with consistent glowing reviews.

Why would I want to have to decode a thousand reviews looking for hints at the truth?

Generally I am fine with one or three keywords: Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton.

This. Everyone talking about poring over reviews and making the right choice like they are the goddesses of review deciphering and not just incredibly lucky (and also have much more free time than most of us). Meanwhile the other 50% chiming in that they never left a bad review for a bad experience, so there goes the whole system! I can't believe it's worked so far.

Anonymous wrote:Well you have to also in some level know how to pick a spot. This goes hope people places and things. Not all Airbnbs will be good or bad. You as the client need to figure out how to look at photos or if there's not a ton - that's a sign right there too. It's amazing how many idiots expect everything to cater to them. I've prob stayed in 50+ global/nationally with my family. I've had nicer ones than others but I've never had a bad one or worse than a branded hotel and I've never had any weirdness with an owner. Anyone who keeps experiencing under par experiences may want to consider their selection process. I think it's 100x harder having guests who aren't nightmares - I would imagine there's many more loons out there willing to pay for places and really no way to screen them out. I would have a harder time renting than staying.

I totally agree with you. I too have stayed in mostly airbnbs. I have a medically fragile special needs child who is now over 18 and hotels don’t work (for the most part).

I’ve learned over the years to read through reviews, ask the owner questions, and decipher pictures.

I can only think of a couple airbnbs we didn’t like. These weren’t all bad either but not up to snuff compared to others.

We had a couple of experiences with minor things being not as promised, and one time a broken major appliance when we arrived (which was all annoying, obviously)

The final straw was when I was charged for (I think it was) 3 stained towels. I knew for certain that we did not stain and couldn’t even see the supposed stains in the photos they sent. It was myself and 2 young sons staying that time - and I use makeup remover wipes so it wasn’t that. 100-something dollars for some cheap towels. I just rolled my eyes & paid it, because how could I even prove we didn’t stain the towels? I decided never to use Airbnb again after that- thank goodness I didn’t get soaked for something even more expensive or absurd. Really no way to prove innocence.

I really don't like Airbnbs. Often properties are not well maintained and the owners do not show care with the property.

I am done after the last one I rented had the air conditioner broken when we got there and the property manager made it seem like my fault and made me wait on a blazing hot day for hours for the A/c repairman and couldn't be bothered to do this herself.

Hotels for me are much more luxurious and enjoyable.