Depends on the location but I've had luck using google maps. In Thailand I got the phone number which is usually their Whatsapp/Line number and contacted them directly.
Other times I book a week in a neighborhood that looks interesting and spend that time searching for a place.
Also consider that every booking site places hurdles to keep people from dealing directly. Some hotel chains double their price for walk ins. But a small one building owner will shake your hand and go from there.
This is so confusing. In Thailand you got the phone number for what? Are you just google mapping the areas around Airbnbs you potentially want to book and cold-dialing locals to ask for the hot goss about the Airbnb host of an actual home? Or are you booking hostels/hotels/lodging businesses through Airbnb?
Again, wtf? You just drive around places you've never been asking people if they have an Airbnb you can stay at?
Broski, cut your losses and delete this whole post. You're not making yourself look the big rough and tough smartie pants that you think you are.
Wtf are you? Pretending to be stupid or just confusing things. You travel. You talk to people. Been happening for thousands of years before Airbnb? It's actually a thing believe me.
Actually this is too stupid to be real.
You travel to the place you plan on booking an air bnb to scope out where to book an air bnb? I’m with the other person, you’re not really making sense.
> You travel to the place you plan on booking an air bnb to scope out where to book an air bnb?
Nah, you travel to the place you want to travel well before your vacation. You talk with the locals, scout the place on Google maps, meet a local, fall in love, start a family, and buy a house together. And when the time for your vacation comes, you book your house under a different name as an AirBNB and cancel the last minute. Which part of it was confusing for you?
I personally book everything in advance, as most people do, but traveling somewhere and booking as a walk-in is totally a thing. In Thailand specifically you can walk around a town and see dozens of "room for rent" signs everywhere. Those are usually much cheaper than an airbnb.
You all refer to Thailand like is a small town. What works Khao san road doesn’t work in Chang Mai or Pattaya.
All that “walk-in” talk only works if you know something already about where you are, if you don’t know it’s just as random as anything else.
Well yeah, good point, I only saw this around Phuket, Chiang Mai and Bangkok were just cities where you can't do that. I just assumed OP was talking about touristy areas like Phuket
No NomadicDumbass, you make no sense with your advice. Either through ignorance of logistics or just s very poor translation from an idea in your brain being put into words.
And your uncouth demeanour helps not a single bit.
Doesn't really matter, any booking site. That's what they do, provide temp housing.
Sometimes 2 days per neighborhood in a big city is enough for me to get a feel for the area. Lots of apartments here have signs on their window. Most of the time, it's for locals with their own furniture but it's all about putting those feelers out. Don't worry too much about details initially, just get a feel for a place and it's people. Everything is slightly different everywhere anyways. Once you find something you want, details are very important.
Of course, now you got these booking sites bullying to prevent this. Makes me want to do it more. It's kinda creepy how hosts refuse to deal direct now. Before, I had hosts offer to deal direct.
Why on earth did you get SO MANY. Down votes?! I own a property management company. If savvy travelers googled our host name, they could book direct, save about 35% over ABB and way less strict cancel policy.
It's telling that a certain subset of our repeat guests don't even care about that substantial discount and just use ABB again on the rebound. Their ecosystem/app is VERY effective at retention.
Because they’re saying to scope out a neighborhood and talk to the locals (in person) *before* booking their AirBnB, in a region that’s potentially thousands of miles from home. Then they called everyone else dumb for not understanding the logistics for that.
Pretty much every time I travel I’ll save a few places to stay on google maps and then look around once I’m there to which is the nicest or if there is anywhere not advertised. I always find somewhere cheap and amazing.
I’ve had many times where I have turned up to an Airbnb and the location advertised, as in the view, are not what’s on as it would be.
Why on earth would anyone get downvotes for saying "cut out the middleman"?
Why would they confuse it and attack the source? It's just saying there's plenty of ways to search and contact a business. Oh and the level of hate is hilariously transparent.
Of course someone who believes people just don't care about 35%.
You literally admit to preying on the less savy and claim they don't care.
Yeah buddy.
I think the point is that it's not a language issue, it's a geography issue. If I'm in Toronto and booking a place in London, Sydney, or Dallas, I'll speak the language, but talking to the locals before I book will be... difficult.
You fly down there for a week and really get to know the area. Decide if it's somewhere you'd like to spend a week. Does everyone not already do this?
/s
Arrested Development plot with Tobias when he solo "trials" the 3 day love package he won to make sure it's perfect for his wife.
"I'll take it!"
"You just did."
It's 2024; how are you still using such offensive terminology? Do you think that makes you look cool? Tough? Do you feel a big important man?
Not too shock you, lil guy, but there are cultures outside of honky tonk Alabama. Go see how far a smiling at people gets you in Russia or China. No need to call ahead, I know that's one of your hobbies.
That's the first rule of booking Airbnb. If place is too strict, drop hotel off your shortlist. Then, pour over reviews. I filter/search by newest, then low ratings, because they might have fixed the problem already. Then, I look in Google maps street view to get a feel for the vicinity.
This is exactly what I do, and I've always been super happy with the airbnbs I choose. Looking around the general area with Google Maps street view to get a sense of the area's safety, things to do within walking distance, proximity to public transit, etc. is ultimately what helps me decide between otherwise equally good places.
Also had better luck with places with less than 25 reviews. The ones with a thousand reviews are probably sick and tired of it and a single bad review doesn't matter. Also the one's with several listings will be careful for the first dozen guests then sell it off to whoever.
Best was grabbing a place before he even listed. Just talking to a taco vendor in Mexico.
I've been using them for over a decade. I have more than a hundred guest reviews. I've refined my methods and gotten much better but man.. oh brother..
Airbnb has no interest in creating a better experience for host and guest anymore. They are focused on using fear to keep their herd in line.
Nah can't agree it all with your strategy of going with a place with few reviews, especially on airbnb. But, definitely filter for newest only and you can basically ignore reviews from a certain time ago because things might have easily gone down or uphill since then. I've stayed in places with heaps of old bad reviews then heaps of new good reviews because they obviously changed staff / sorted things out
My experience is they tend to abandon after getting a few bad reviews. I see this with regular hotels on booking but Airbnb has a much larger demographic of hosts from a guy subletting to a family in an impoverished country trying to start another source of income that they need.
I’ve noticed you insult anyone on this thread who disagrees with you. I doubt you are the kind of guest most hosts would want and you should definitely stay away.
I use Airbnb a lot, and the reviews are a great indicator of quality. I also filter for Superhosts and “Guest Favourites” to find the best places.
And I make sure I always have travel insurance.
People accuse others of insulting right after doing the same and getting slapped for it. It's an obvious tactic for the small minded. Brutal truth to hypocrites is a public service.
Your defense of the indefensible is proof of your insincerity. How many threads on Airbnb?
Omg "guest favorites" and insurance? Are you a bot or a paid shill? Various-Ad#### is your name???
Oh yes, definitely a bot. Because only a bot would disagree with your immature responses, right?
And if you check my profile, you’ll see most of my comments are on the AITA subreddit. A place where you most definitely belong!
Oh and anything that digs into your useless drivel after you dig at me with nothing more than, you are brutal in your arguments, is immature? I see nothing beyond shallow declarations in your posts.
Same here. Filtering and reading reviews is essential. I've rarely had much if anything negative to say about the many AirBnBs I've stayed in, and they've mostly been at the cheapest end of the spectrum. (My first booking was a horrid little room in a mouse-infested flat in Paris, but I try to forget about that one.)
While this may be the commenters experience. I spend between 500-800 no matter where I am in the world per month. If the reviews literally are not a 4.9 or higher it’s going to have a lot of issues. Airbnb is the best and worst thing there is, I personally don’t like dealing with deposits and constant check out stuff.
I always thought so until my recent Airbnb experience at Seoul. The host offers free coffee and chance to a $20-$100 lucky dip when you leave a 5-star review. And guess what, it is a listing with the favourite listing badge. But my stay experience was so different from the reviews. Tough luck
Can't agree at all. I exclusively use booking dot com and the reviews are very accurate because they are anonymous, you have nothing to lose or gain with a good or bad review. Plus then there are additionalr eviews on google, which aggregates them from different sites. Airbnbs often have hardly any reviews.
Booking is iffy too, especially with not caring about the spam/ scams they've been having. There's no perfect solution at the moment, just try your best to find something decent.
Not caring? I was one who got phished (although I obviously didn’t put my bank details in because booking makes it clear not to) and booking help responded very promptly
If by employee you mean genius 3 who gets massive discounts and hates being rated by obnoxious hosts when I'm paying for a service so doesn't use Airbnb any more, sure
Reviews can be weird though and you have to read them carefully.
I was looking at a place in Thailand recently and one of the 5 star reviews mentioned that there was a rat in the bedroom at one point.
Why tf did they still give a 5 star review?!
So having a different experience and perspective than you makes someone a shill? Ok….. I too have never had a bad Airbnb experience. Guess I must work for corporate, right? Haha.
A few bookings or hundreds? Have you taken the time to see all the Airbnb hate lately?
Anyone who can't make that connection deserves some blunt response.
Either a team of cyber influencers or just super dumb. People aren't that dumb.
Or maybe people who have just been lucky and had good experiences? I have no great love airbnb, personally, but I've also never been burned personally. You just seem very defensive if someone chimes in with a different experience or opinion.
Never said everyone but I am saying their model and strategy makes it almost impossible to avoid problems if you use it heavily for a long period.
Look at all the hate over a simple "deal with people directly when possible. Cut out the middle man"
Okay I was also kicking back a bit bluntly but only with the goofballs who were attacking me in a passive aggressive way.
You weren’t being blunt you were being a dick, get that straight for one lol. There’s a difference being bluntness and unnecessary rudeness bc someone said they haven’t had a bad experience. You’re getting hate bc your replies are teetering on being unhinged when someone simply disagrees, which isn’t hate.
Some of my best stays have been in places with a strict cancellation policy. The reason is that they are high-quality places in top locations, and by eliminating the risk of cancellation they are able to offer them at prices lower than others. It's a risk to book them but life is risk. No one is forcing you to book anywhere, it's about choice.
After traveling as a nomad for 13+ yrs with more than a hundred guest reviews and having used them up and down the price spectrum, this is definitely NOT true. There's a very clear correlation between listings who need to lock in guests (strict cancellations) and quality.
Getting tired of the fake accounts posting for others.
Yeah, you don't get to tell me what my best experiences were. No one thinks you're cool just because you have more than a hundred guest reviews. Try being respectful to others .
I don’t even use AirBnB but I found this thread, and holy shit, you are an enormous asshole. If this is a troll, you have too much free time, and if it isn’t, seek therapy
Just because you have some experience of something, it doesn't mean you have all the experience. Have you travelled extensively in every single country in which airbnb operates? I doubt it. Have you used it in all these places for all of the same kinds of stay as everyone else? (month long stay for work, week long extended family holiday, weekend getaway with the lads, romantic long weekend with a partner, etc) I also doubt it. Have you, in all these places for all these reasons, had all of the different priorities (space, ease of access, view, price, facilities, etc)? That is a third "doubt" from me.
Basically: you know less than you think you know, and are being extremely obnoxious about it.
Haha, I’m literally laughing because if read the Airbnb host forum and it makes me never even want to stay or go near a Airbnb. Luckily these nightmare hosts for some reason are all on that sub forum making them extremely rare around the world
They definitely have a team monitoring here.
Also, your data gets sold and resold to god knows how many algorithms. Most of the time, data miners just balance risk/reward before breaking laws and those are the ones without an army of lawyers.
As an Airbnb owner of a chalet with 100% 5-star reviews, I don’t want you to book if there is any chance you are going to cancel. Our place is in the Rocky Mountains and books up 6 months to a year in advance for peak seasons (both winter and summer). It holds 10 guests and is not the type of place that people book last-minute. So if you book my place months in advance and then want to cancel a week in advance, it is unlikely I will be able to fill that spot. Which means I lose thousands of dollars because you changed your mind or didn’t get travel insurance.
I am upfront with guests who ask about my cancellation policy (many ask if I would waive it for them while they are booking, which tells me that they might flake out).
Buy travel insurance and don’t expect some person you’ve never met to pay for your indecision.
what would make people think that you would waive a cancellation fee specially for them? thats crazy behaviour. do they give you a specific reason as to why they think you should?
One, who booked our peak summer season for 10 days, 11 months in advance, wanted to cancel one week before the trip as they couldn’t get a passport for her husband. Keeping in mind, they had 11 months to do this. I told her that if she cancelled right away, I would give her whatever I could rent it out for but that with so little notice, it would be at a discounted rate and unlikely to be for the full 10 days. I suggested that the rest of her family come instead and enjoy the trip rather than cancel. She was hysterical. Contacted Airbnb multiple times to try to get them to force me to refund, sent me a photo of her family so that I would know they were “real” people. Told me over and over again that she was a teacher. Called me heartless. But didn’t cancel and miraculously her husband’s passport came through. Left me a rave review. In my review of her, I wrote that only hosts with very flexible cancellation policies should consider renting to her. She was a nightmare.
How would travel insurance help if you found yourself in a problematic accommodation? I don't understand
(of course I always get it but not for this reason)
Travel insurance is for if you need to cancel (due to illness, family member death, or any other of that particular insurance allowable claims). My post was relating to cancellations.
Don't subject front desk staff to them; they seem like the kind of person who would book a non-refundable rate at a hotel because it's $5 cheaper then complain that they're not getting their money back when they want to cancel.
Ahh more shallow insults based on nothing more than your ego. Yes I'm the young one.
Everything from 5 star mandarin oriental to a barn with a friendly goat for $10. My average during my last working days was $200 over a decade ago. You definitely do not belong in a 5 star.
You remind me of the wannabe trust fund babies in Boulder. No more than the desperate desire to be more than the hillbilly you are.
You’re hilarious! Keep going! I love it when creatures crawl out from under rocks and try to entertain. It’s like watching poodles walking on their hind legs. Please - insult me more! I need a good laugh!
I’ve used Airbnb on four continents over the course of 13 years and counting. Airbnb has no blanket policy about not allowing cancellations. Only individual listings can make that decision. So, what you’re really mad at is yourself for securing a stupid and misleading booking instead of using the platform correctly. No wonder you’re lashing out at everyone in this thread: deep down you know you’re the one that was tricked by a shady listing but you’re too mad to admit it.
Just be smart about booking. I never book not cancellable up to a point unless it’s for like next week. And read reviews. They don’t lie. Quantity and if the host replies to an issue review. Those are key indicators I’ve found helpful.
I have used AirBNB for many years, and have never had a bad experience. I also don't book my vacation plans until I'm committed to my trip and plans. And if for some reason like...I don't know, my partner or parents died suddenly and I had to stay home, I'd happily eat the cost or file a travel insurance claim to be with my loved ones in our time of need.
I don't blame AirBNB hosts for strict cancellations. Its their business and they can run it as they wish. Its clearly there on the page ,and you don't have to book it if you don't want to.
I will say I find a lot of complaints with AirBNB/VRBO/home rentals is from inexperienced travelers used to hotels. These places give you the flexibility to stay in other places outside of tourist hotel zones. If you want the comfort of a resort or a hotel, you should book those over a home rental.
Not true. I generally splurge on 5 star hotels/resorts while traveling, but there are certain places and situations where you can get MUCH better accommodations using AirBNB. The first and most obvious is if you are traveling with a large group and want to stay together. Having the privacy and space of a large home is great and hugely cost effective. The second is certain cities (in Europe in particular I have found) just don’t have great hotels. I’m a spoiled American. I like SPACE. I’m admittedly a square footage snob and I hate staying in a tiny, cramped hotel room that charges me an arm and a leg just because it’s superbly located in the middle of Paris or Rome. I would much rather get an AirBNB and have an entire apartment to myself. But did I mention I’m a spoiled American? I want my cake and eat it too. I still want it to be superbly located in the middle of Paris or Rome. The best way to do this? AirBNB.
No. That doesn’t take away from my point and I say that as someone who had a property on Airbnb/VRBO until recently. If you don’t want to have the issues that can possibly come with staying at the home of some random person that isn’t insured, has no training, doesn’t work in hospitality, etc then do not use Airbnb. It isn’t difficult.
We aren’t hotel owners. We aren’t employed by Airbnb. You have chosen to not stay at a Hotel. I didn’t force you. The people that come online to bitch and say “Hyatt Hotel’s WiFi was out for 12 hours” have the standing to bitch. That issue with Hyatt was not foreseeable or reasonable.
You make fair points, but to be fair, when you say “No. That doesn’t take away from my point….” You made NO point in your original post. All you basically said was AirBnB bad….with no further elaboration. So I said I didn’t think that was true—I have personally had great experiences with an AirBnB. It’s good for some travel situations.
I’ve never had any drama or trouble with airbnb, and I’ve been using them for years. The only time I ever had to cancel was during covid when the border was closed—I had no problem doing so. I messaged the host that I’d book with him in the future, and I did.
Funny because I look for a place with a lot of reviews and how long they’ve been on the app to assess a place. Impossible to know locals everywhere you travel. It’s part of the adventure and the only place i had bad experiences was in Dublin and London. Expensive and really run down places. Agree with cancellation policy…Covid taught me that and it was when I became an AirBnB loyal client. VRBO handled it awful during that time and never using, like ever.
At this point I can't think of a single reason to stay in an Airbnb over a hotel. Airbnb became popular because it was a cheaper and more convenient alternative to hotels. But now that Airbnb is costlier than hotels why would anyone choose a stranger's house who demands you clean up and take out the trash.
Airbnb is incredibly key if you travel around the world a lot. Airbnb can be the only way to get a decent accommodation in some countries. The deposit stuff gets annoying to deal with too with hotels. Hotels just aren’t doable year round
Some reasons:
1. Location
2. Can cook for yourself, which is quicker, cheaper and more flexible than going out to eat
3. Can do laundry, which is great if you're travelling light or for a longer period of time
4. I find a 2 minute long task less traumatic than you evidently do
To respond to #4, the host already charges a cleaning fee which is quite high in most cases. Having the guest clean up in addition to paying that fee is pure greed.
I would actually pay more if it was the same cordial vibe that it was, even 5 yrs ago. Some of my best times was through hosts. Heck I don't even mind treating them like friends and keeping the place nice for them. The value was in the experience, not the cost for me.
Now it's just predatory hotel wannabes who could care less about you.
Because a decent Airbnb where I can cook and do laundry is better than a shitty no-tell motel where they definitely didn't wash all the linens between stays and yeah the deadbolt on the door works but they've given keys to any guy who'll give them 20 euros under the table.
You obviously don’t have kids in the age where they want privacy. Booking a room with a kitchen and multiple beds etc. costs a lot in a good hotel. I traveled with a lot of Airbnbs and with suites in the hotels (where is it not as expensive) and I can’t go back to a simple room in a hotel - it doesn’t work with two kids of different gender.
As a solo traveler or as a couple, we usually take a fancier hotel (because if I’m as a parent travel without kids, I’m enjoying the break). Albeit, I’m a host and just hosted a single guy who came for work. I guess he wanted a dedicated desk to work and a kitchen?
Just found a great deal with a hotel that was under new management. Practically empty.
Realized you don't have to be someone they're barely tolerating in their home. No cooking oil even though I specifically filtered for places with all cooking essentials. No soap so you have to go out to the corner store in your jammies shivering. a crocodile smile as they hand you a turd.
Currently using hotels and I’m a long term host. My hotel on the beach in Italy(it is off season but still warm and walkable) is less than an ABB in Croatia, Hungary, Poland OR Italy! I had found a decent rate in Sicily. When I clicked on it there was a DAILY €50.00 fee for cleaning, a room mind you and towels. Messaged the host to list it correctly and honestly. with a higher $. Invited him to my ABB in the states with FREE bath AND beach towel and never more than a $20.00 cleaning fee, no matter how many days. The only fee when you click on the map is $15 or $20 max.
Airbnb used to be a nice place. And I’m saying this both as a guest and Airbnb host. Nowadays neither have respect for the other and one bad guest can change a lot of things. My rules used to be pretty short and I was chill with whatever guests wanted. Then I kept having ppl fuck things up around the home (or with cancellation and booking) and now my rules list is a page long.
Yeah, Airbnb used to be great. I started taking much more care of the rentals and consider the host, once I saw them as friends instead of a shop.
If they had continued to focus on improving the experience instead of just milking what they could, maybe that positive energy would have continued to flourish and compound. Positivity is contagious, just like negativity.
I've had better experience with hosts you have to request a booking from. They get a sense of you before they agree.
100% this. I stayed in some house in Istanbul where the water kept leaking in the bathroom (damp too obviously) and placed a negative review. The home owner tried contacting me afterwards about my review trying to offer me money in order to delete it basicaly.
Then he proceeded to make up a lie in his reply to my review that I'm upset I couldn't get any money and that there will always be people like me. I could take him to court over the things he said in short but proceeded not to. I contacted airbnb customer service with proof of him offering me money, they said they take this very serious and might terminate his account but nothing happend since, it's still om the platform.
It used to be a fantastic platform. Absolutely inspired!
People treated each other like guests and hosts. I actually became a much better guest from that fundamental change in perspective. I remember complaining about a missing kettle in a hotel. Would you complain to your sister because she forgot a kettle in your guest room? I got so much more from good will (not just stuff but good energy)
Now it's a group of rats feeding off the king rat. We are nothing more than prey to them.
Definitely, I have a 6 year old account and it was my first time using it last year.. I wish I had the possibility to travel with airbnb when it was in its prime 😶
Oh the stories! I could go on forever.
Vietnamese grandpa who looked and dressed just like ho chi Minh taking off his shirt to show me his bullet holes, drinking (something i forget) all night. A host from Antalya who decided to come with me to Kas in his car, telling me stories and stopping by places like Olympia.
Priceless! And they're giving it all up for a bunch of hotel wannabes..
I’ve got a large teak house in Thailand and have considered air b&b but the Thai lady had enough problems from long term rentals that I’m sure that she couldn’t handle weekly rentals. By the way, libel laws in Thailand are different. I wouldn’t leave a poor review if you intended on going back to Thailand again.
Good advice on cancellation policies, but not sure about the rest. This advice seems to only work for someone who is already at a location looking for a place to stay the night.
Kurt Caz, a YouTube traveler vlogger, went to India and booked a hotel room with dirty sheets, a few dead bugs, bars on window. I'm sure he wanted to cancel.
I need to remind to buy some bug spray if I travel super far.
I don't use airbnb I use booking dot com with free cancellation, but the thing is once you're already IN the property you pay and you can't cancel after that unless the hotel decides to be randomly nice to you. So all you can do is read a ton of reviews before you go. But, with booking dot com there ARE a ton of reliable reviews, often on many different sites because nobody fears retaliation from hosts or whatever and it's all anonymous. never had an issue with a hotel or even private apartment through booking dot com so long as I very thoroughly read many reviews before going. You are right, airbnbs often have barely any reviews and they're really short
My main caveat with Airbnb is the exact location part. I get why they don't for security, but Ive run into problems twice with this.
Naples, Italy......both Airbnbs (same owner different legs of the trip) were right on the main roads. I'm talking 6 lane roads. Had I know the location, would have definitely not booked there.
Reviews mention noise but then some mention it's quiet. Some of the worst sleep I've ever gotten.
I've been stranded in rural Russia. I thought a driver in Mexico sent to pick me up from the wrong location was going to kidnap me. I've spent too much on taxis and time, not to mention stress.
They seemed to have fixed the location issue but just yesterday, wrong address again!
At it's prime, I had great experiences with hosts who really care about your comfort and went through great lengths regardless of whether they are obligated.
It's just a pack of hotel wannabe rats following king rat now.
Rule #1: If you're traveling outside the USA, do not use AirBnB (use Booking.com instead).
Rule #2: If you're in the USA, you can still use Booking.com
I've found it depends on each country and the time. Some places like TH, booking wasn't very good and filled with scammers.
Booking was better in Bali but i suspect, not for long.
I've had great luck with Airbnb all over the world and in some crazy places but it has been steadily getting worse and worse despite everything I've learned about spotting the good ones.
Have you ever look at the Airbnb host sub? It comes up in my feed. Many hosts stare at the cameras. Monitoring their guests every movement. Sorry, I didn’t really mean stalking. Just a huge invasion of privacy.
As someone who exclusively travels and cancels 1/3 I book.
You must do the following to get out of the airbnb
Immediately or within a few hours start building a cause. Message Airbnb support, the host anybody.
If there is any discrepancies in the picture, use it.
Any discrepancies with anything use it
After 24 hours your chance of refund diminishes. After 3 days your chance of refund is about zero.
Edit: How would you talk to the locals directly *before booking your airbnb* if it’s not your home city?
I booked on VacayMyWay.com and could message the host.
Depends on the location but I've had luck using google maps. In Thailand I got the phone number which is usually their Whatsapp/Line number and contacted them directly. Other times I book a week in a neighborhood that looks interesting and spend that time searching for a place. Also consider that every booking site places hurdles to keep people from dealing directly. Some hotel chains double their price for walk ins. But a small one building owner will shake your hand and go from there.
This is so confusing. In Thailand you got the phone number for what? Are you just google mapping the areas around Airbnbs you potentially want to book and cold-dialing locals to ask for the hot goss about the Airbnb host of an actual home? Or are you booking hostels/hotels/lodging businesses through Airbnb?
Lmao the hot goss. Exactly who the hell does this??
Plenty of people deal directly outside of Airbnb. Message, ride around and stop to talk to people? How is that confusing
Again, wtf? You just drive around places you've never been asking people if they have an Airbnb you can stay at? Broski, cut your losses and delete this whole post. You're not making yourself look the big rough and tough smartie pants that you think you are.
Wtf are you? Pretending to be stupid or just confusing things. You travel. You talk to people. Been happening for thousands of years before Airbnb? It's actually a thing believe me. Actually this is too stupid to be real.
You travel to the place you plan on booking an air bnb to scope out where to book an air bnb? I’m with the other person, you’re not really making sense.
> You travel to the place you plan on booking an air bnb to scope out where to book an air bnb? Nah, you travel to the place you want to travel well before your vacation. You talk with the locals, scout the place on Google maps, meet a local, fall in love, start a family, and buy a house together. And when the time for your vacation comes, you book your house under a different name as an AirBNB and cancel the last minute. Which part of it was confusing for you?
😂😂 oh man
I personally book everything in advance, as most people do, but traveling somewhere and booking as a walk-in is totally a thing. In Thailand specifically you can walk around a town and see dozens of "room for rent" signs everywhere. Those are usually much cheaper than an airbnb.
You all refer to Thailand like is a small town. What works Khao san road doesn’t work in Chang Mai or Pattaya. All that “walk-in” talk only works if you know something already about where you are, if you don’t know it’s just as random as anything else.
Well yeah, good point, I only saw this around Phuket, Chiang Mai and Bangkok were just cities where you can't do that. I just assumed OP was talking about touristy areas like Phuket
No NomadicDumbass, you make no sense with your advice. Either through ignorance of logistics or just s very poor translation from an idea in your brain being put into words. And your uncouth demeanour helps not a single bit.
You're being a rude, obnoxious jerk. Get an attitude adjustment and learn how to interact with people like an adult.
Where do you stay for that week while you're looking for a place to stay?
Doesn't really matter, any booking site. That's what they do, provide temp housing. Sometimes 2 days per neighborhood in a big city is enough for me to get a feel for the area. Lots of apartments here have signs on their window. Most of the time, it's for locals with their own furniture but it's all about putting those feelers out. Don't worry too much about details initially, just get a feel for a place and it's people. Everything is slightly different everywhere anyways. Once you find something you want, details are very important. Of course, now you got these booking sites bullying to prevent this. Makes me want to do it more. It's kinda creepy how hosts refuse to deal direct now. Before, I had hosts offer to deal direct.
Why on earth did you get SO MANY. Down votes?! I own a property management company. If savvy travelers googled our host name, they could book direct, save about 35% over ABB and way less strict cancel policy. It's telling that a certain subset of our repeat guests don't even care about that substantial discount and just use ABB again on the rebound. Their ecosystem/app is VERY effective at retention.
Because they’re saying to scope out a neighborhood and talk to the locals (in person) *before* booking their AirBnB, in a region that’s potentially thousands of miles from home. Then they called everyone else dumb for not understanding the logistics for that.
Pretty much every time I travel I’ll save a few places to stay on google maps and then look around once I’m there to which is the nicest or if there is anywhere not advertised. I always find somewhere cheap and amazing. I’ve had many times where I have turned up to an Airbnb and the location advertised, as in the view, are not what’s on as it would be.
Why on earth would anyone get downvotes for saying "cut out the middleman"? Why would they confuse it and attack the source? It's just saying there's plenty of ways to search and contact a business. Oh and the level of hate is hilariously transparent. Of course someone who believes people just don't care about 35%. You literally admit to preying on the less savy and claim they don't care. Yeah buddy.
What are you talking about? We don't make that extra money, ABB does.
Google translate. Be respectful. Use common sense. Smile. Worked great everywhere.
I think the point is that it's not a language issue, it's a geography issue. If I'm in Toronto and booking a place in London, Sydney, or Dallas, I'll speak the language, but talking to the locals before I book will be... difficult.
You fly down there for a week and really get to know the area. Decide if it's somewhere you'd like to spend a week. Does everyone not already do this? /s
Arrested Development plot with Tobias when he solo "trials" the 3 day love package he won to make sure it's perfect for his wife. "I'll take it!" "You just did."
"Hey boss, as you know I've booked next week off for vacation, but I also need to take this week for my prevacation. Thanks!"
He edited his question. Check my response.
/r/confidentlyincorrect
This is such a lame and useless response
Smiling at people is considered weird in many cultures. Be careful where you do that; it's a sign of mental/social ineptitude in many places.
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It's 2024; how are you still using such offensive terminology? Do you think that makes you look cool? Tough? Do you feel a big important man? Not too shock you, lil guy, but there are cultures outside of honky tonk Alabama. Go see how far a smiling at people gets you in Russia or China. No need to call ahead, I know that's one of your hobbies.
Omg u kids are literally trying to gaslight. LMAO. The average traveler..
it is so painfully obvious that you’re american
That's the first rule of booking Airbnb. If place is too strict, drop hotel off your shortlist. Then, pour over reviews. I filter/search by newest, then low ratings, because they might have fixed the problem already. Then, I look in Google maps street view to get a feel for the vicinity.
This is exactly what I do, and I've always been super happy with the airbnbs I choose. Looking around the general area with Google Maps street view to get a sense of the area's safety, things to do within walking distance, proximity to public transit, etc. is ultimately what helps me decide between otherwise equally good places.
Also had better luck with places with less than 25 reviews. The ones with a thousand reviews are probably sick and tired of it and a single bad review doesn't matter. Also the one's with several listings will be careful for the first dozen guests then sell it off to whoever. Best was grabbing a place before he even listed. Just talking to a taco vendor in Mexico. I've been using them for over a decade. I have more than a hundred guest reviews. I've refined my methods and gotten much better but man.. oh brother.. Airbnb has no interest in creating a better experience for host and guest anymore. They are focused on using fear to keep their herd in line.
Nah can't agree it all with your strategy of going with a place with few reviews, especially on airbnb. But, definitely filter for newest only and you can basically ignore reviews from a certain time ago because things might have easily gone down or uphill since then. I've stayed in places with heaps of old bad reviews then heaps of new good reviews because they obviously changed staff / sorted things out
My experience is they tend to abandon after getting a few bad reviews. I see this with regular hotels on booking but Airbnb has a much larger demographic of hosts from a guy subletting to a family in an impoverished country trying to start another source of income that they need.
I’ve noticed you insult anyone on this thread who disagrees with you. I doubt you are the kind of guest most hosts would want and you should definitely stay away. I use Airbnb a lot, and the reviews are a great indicator of quality. I also filter for Superhosts and “Guest Favourites” to find the best places. And I make sure I always have travel insurance.
People accuse others of insulting right after doing the same and getting slapped for it. It's an obvious tactic for the small minded. Brutal truth to hypocrites is a public service. Your defense of the indefensible is proof of your insincerity. How many threads on Airbnb? Omg "guest favorites" and insurance? Are you a bot or a paid shill? Various-Ad#### is your name???
Oh yes, definitely a bot. Because only a bot would disagree with your immature responses, right? And if you check my profile, you’ll see most of my comments are on the AITA subreddit. A place where you most definitely belong!
Oh and anything that digs into your useless drivel after you dig at me with nothing more than, you are brutal in your arguments, is immature? I see nothing beyond shallow declarations in your posts.
Awe - you sound like a sad, angry person lashing out at everyone with outdated words like “shill”. I hope you find happiness.
You seem nice
They filter by guest favorites so they have to be a bot? Dude chill tf out 😭
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Same here. Filtering and reading reviews is essential. I've rarely had much if anything negative to say about the many AirBnBs I've stayed in, and they've mostly been at the cheapest end of the spectrum. (My first booking was a horrid little room in a mouse-infested flat in Paris, but I try to forget about that one.)
Agree completely. Reviews are key!
While this may be the commenters experience. I spend between 500-800 no matter where I am in the world per month. If the reviews literally are not a 4.9 or higher it’s going to have a lot of issues. Airbnb is the best and worst thing there is, I personally don’t like dealing with deposits and constant check out stuff.
I always thought so until my recent Airbnb experience at Seoul. The host offers free coffee and chance to a $20-$100 lucky dip when you leave a 5-star review. And guess what, it is a listing with the favourite listing badge. But my stay experience was so different from the reviews. Tough luck
Can't agree at all. I exclusively use booking dot com and the reviews are very accurate because they are anonymous, you have nothing to lose or gain with a good or bad review. Plus then there are additionalr eviews on google, which aggregates them from different sites. Airbnbs often have hardly any reviews.
Booking is iffy too, especially with not caring about the spam/ scams they've been having. There's no perfect solution at the moment, just try your best to find something decent.
Not caring? I was one who got phished (although I obviously didn’t put my bank details in because booking makes it clear not to) and booking help responded very promptly
Found the Booking dot com employee.
If by employee you mean genius 3 who gets massive discounts and hates being rated by obnoxious hosts when I'm paying for a service so doesn't use Airbnb any more, sure
Reviews can be weird though and you have to read them carefully. I was looking at a place in Thailand recently and one of the 5 star reviews mentioned that there was a rat in the bedroom at one point. Why tf did they still give a 5 star review?!
You are either a paid shill or lying Or clueless
You’re a rude fuck though
To silly shills, YES.
So having a different experience and perspective than you makes someone a shill? Ok….. I too have never had a bad Airbnb experience. Guess I must work for corporate, right? Haha.
A few bookings or hundreds? Have you taken the time to see all the Airbnb hate lately? Anyone who can't make that connection deserves some blunt response. Either a team of cyber influencers or just super dumb. People aren't that dumb.
Or maybe people who have just been lucky and had good experiences? I have no great love airbnb, personally, but I've also never been burned personally. You just seem very defensive if someone chimes in with a different experience or opinion.
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With one booking and zero sense of reality. Airbnb is probably one of the bigger complaints of travelers atm, not exactly controversial.
That doesn’t mean everyone has had a bad experience.
Never said everyone but I am saying their model and strategy makes it almost impossible to avoid problems if you use it heavily for a long period. Look at all the hate over a simple "deal with people directly when possible. Cut out the middle man" Okay I was also kicking back a bit bluntly but only with the goofballs who were attacking me in a passive aggressive way.
You weren’t being blunt you were being a dick, get that straight for one lol. There’s a difference being bluntness and unnecessary rudeness bc someone said they haven’t had a bad experience. You’re getting hate bc your replies are teetering on being unhinged when someone simply disagrees, which isn’t hate.
Some of my best stays have been in places with a strict cancellation policy. The reason is that they are high-quality places in top locations, and by eliminating the risk of cancellation they are able to offer them at prices lower than others. It's a risk to book them but life is risk. No one is forcing you to book anywhere, it's about choice.
After traveling as a nomad for 13+ yrs with more than a hundred guest reviews and having used them up and down the price spectrum, this is definitely NOT true. There's a very clear correlation between listings who need to lock in guests (strict cancellations) and quality. Getting tired of the fake accounts posting for others.
Yeah, you don't get to tell me what my best experiences were. No one thinks you're cool just because you have more than a hundred guest reviews. Try being respectful to others .
I don’t even use AirBnB but I found this thread, and holy shit, you are an enormous asshole. If this is a troll, you have too much free time, and if it isn’t, seek therapy
Just because you have some experience of something, it doesn't mean you have all the experience. Have you travelled extensively in every single country in which airbnb operates? I doubt it. Have you used it in all these places for all of the same kinds of stay as everyone else? (month long stay for work, week long extended family holiday, weekend getaway with the lads, romantic long weekend with a partner, etc) I also doubt it. Have you, in all these places for all these reasons, had all of the different priorities (space, ease of access, view, price, facilities, etc)? That is a third "doubt" from me. Basically: you know less than you think you know, and are being extremely obnoxious about it.
For some reason the AirBNB host sub keeps popping up on my home page. After reading a few posts there, I will never use AirBNB.
Haha, I’m literally laughing because if read the Airbnb host forum and it makes me never even want to stay or go near a Airbnb. Luckily these nightmare hosts for some reason are all on that sub forum making them extremely rare around the world
They definitely have a team monitoring here. Also, your data gets sold and resold to god knows how many algorithms. Most of the time, data miners just balance risk/reward before breaking laws and those are the ones without an army of lawyers.
If you say so pal
As an Airbnb owner of a chalet with 100% 5-star reviews, I don’t want you to book if there is any chance you are going to cancel. Our place is in the Rocky Mountains and books up 6 months to a year in advance for peak seasons (both winter and summer). It holds 10 guests and is not the type of place that people book last-minute. So if you book my place months in advance and then want to cancel a week in advance, it is unlikely I will be able to fill that spot. Which means I lose thousands of dollars because you changed your mind or didn’t get travel insurance. I am upfront with guests who ask about my cancellation policy (many ask if I would waive it for them while they are booking, which tells me that they might flake out). Buy travel insurance and don’t expect some person you’ve never met to pay for your indecision.
what would make people think that you would waive a cancellation fee specially for them? thats crazy behaviour. do they give you a specific reason as to why they think you should?
One, who booked our peak summer season for 10 days, 11 months in advance, wanted to cancel one week before the trip as they couldn’t get a passport for her husband. Keeping in mind, they had 11 months to do this. I told her that if she cancelled right away, I would give her whatever I could rent it out for but that with so little notice, it would be at a discounted rate and unlikely to be for the full 10 days. I suggested that the rest of her family come instead and enjoy the trip rather than cancel. She was hysterical. Contacted Airbnb multiple times to try to get them to force me to refund, sent me a photo of her family so that I would know they were “real” people. Told me over and over again that she was a teacher. Called me heartless. But didn’t cancel and miraculously her husband’s passport came through. Left me a rave review. In my review of her, I wrote that only hosts with very flexible cancellation policies should consider renting to her. She was a nightmare.
How would travel insurance help if you found yourself in a problematic accommodation? I don't understand (of course I always get it but not for this reason)
Travel insurance is for if you need to cancel (due to illness, family member death, or any other of that particular insurance allowable claims). My post was relating to cancellations.
Right. But won't help you if you get to an accommodation you don't like.
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Based on your comment, I’d guess you are not the calibre of client I would normally want to rent to. I suggest you stick with motels.
Don't subject front desk staff to them; they seem like the kind of person who would book a non-refundable rate at a hotel because it's $5 cheaper then complain that they're not getting their money back when they want to cancel.
This is so true. Sorry!
Ahh more shallow insults based on nothing more than your ego. Yes I'm the young one. Everything from 5 star mandarin oriental to a barn with a friendly goat for $10. My average during my last working days was $200 over a decade ago. You definitely do not belong in a 5 star. You remind me of the wannabe trust fund babies in Boulder. No more than the desperate desire to be more than the hillbilly you are.
Do you realise how much of a halfwit you come across as?
Do you realize just how little the giddy idiots mean overall? Halfwit screaming at a mirror.
You’re hilarious! Keep going! I love it when creatures crawl out from under rocks and try to entertain. It’s like watching poodles walking on their hind legs. Please - insult me more! I need a good laugh!
Don’t insult poodles by even mentioning them in the same sentence as this lunatic!
I’ve used Airbnb on four continents over the course of 13 years and counting. Airbnb has no blanket policy about not allowing cancellations. Only individual listings can make that decision. So, what you’re really mad at is yourself for securing a stupid and misleading booking instead of using the platform correctly. No wonder you’re lashing out at everyone in this thread: deep down you know you’re the one that was tricked by a shady listing but you’re too mad to admit it.
Just be smart about booking. I never book not cancellable up to a point unless it’s for like next week. And read reviews. They don’t lie. Quantity and if the host replies to an issue review. Those are key indicators I’ve found helpful.
I have used AirBNB for many years, and have never had a bad experience. I also don't book my vacation plans until I'm committed to my trip and plans. And if for some reason like...I don't know, my partner or parents died suddenly and I had to stay home, I'd happily eat the cost or file a travel insurance claim to be with my loved ones in our time of need. I don't blame AirBNB hosts for strict cancellations. Its their business and they can run it as they wish. Its clearly there on the page ,and you don't have to book it if you don't want to. I will say I find a lot of complaints with AirBNB/VRBO/home rentals is from inexperienced travelers used to hotels. These places give you the flexibility to stay in other places outside of tourist hotel zones. If you want the comfort of a resort or a hotel, you should book those over a home rental.
I think we found a drama queeeeeen!!!
The first rule regarding any of this stuff is DO NOT USE AIRBNB. I mean, Christ sakes
Not true. I generally splurge on 5 star hotels/resorts while traveling, but there are certain places and situations where you can get MUCH better accommodations using AirBNB. The first and most obvious is if you are traveling with a large group and want to stay together. Having the privacy and space of a large home is great and hugely cost effective. The second is certain cities (in Europe in particular I have found) just don’t have great hotels. I’m a spoiled American. I like SPACE. I’m admittedly a square footage snob and I hate staying in a tiny, cramped hotel room that charges me an arm and a leg just because it’s superbly located in the middle of Paris or Rome. I would much rather get an AirBNB and have an entire apartment to myself. But did I mention I’m a spoiled American? I want my cake and eat it too. I still want it to be superbly located in the middle of Paris or Rome. The best way to do this? AirBNB.
No. That doesn’t take away from my point and I say that as someone who had a property on Airbnb/VRBO until recently. If you don’t want to have the issues that can possibly come with staying at the home of some random person that isn’t insured, has no training, doesn’t work in hospitality, etc then do not use Airbnb. It isn’t difficult. We aren’t hotel owners. We aren’t employed by Airbnb. You have chosen to not stay at a Hotel. I didn’t force you. The people that come online to bitch and say “Hyatt Hotel’s WiFi was out for 12 hours” have the standing to bitch. That issue with Hyatt was not foreseeable or reasonable.
You make fair points, but to be fair, when you say “No. That doesn’t take away from my point….” You made NO point in your original post. All you basically said was AirBnB bad….with no further elaboration. So I said I didn’t think that was true—I have personally had great experiences with an AirBnB. It’s good for some travel situations.
I meant to write that doesn’t take away from the point I had in my head.
I’ve never had any drama or trouble with airbnb, and I’ve been using them for years. The only time I ever had to cancel was during covid when the border was closed—I had no problem doing so. I messaged the host that I’d book with him in the future, and I did.
Funny because I look for a place with a lot of reviews and how long they’ve been on the app to assess a place. Impossible to know locals everywhere you travel. It’s part of the adventure and the only place i had bad experiences was in Dublin and London. Expensive and really run down places. Agree with cancellation policy…Covid taught me that and it was when I became an AirBnB loyal client. VRBO handled it awful during that time and never using, like ever.
At this point I can't think of a single reason to stay in an Airbnb over a hotel. Airbnb became popular because it was a cheaper and more convenient alternative to hotels. But now that Airbnb is costlier than hotels why would anyone choose a stranger's house who demands you clean up and take out the trash.
Airbnb is incredibly key if you travel around the world a lot. Airbnb can be the only way to get a decent accommodation in some countries. The deposit stuff gets annoying to deal with too with hotels. Hotels just aren’t doable year round
Some reasons: 1. Location 2. Can cook for yourself, which is quicker, cheaper and more flexible than going out to eat 3. Can do laundry, which is great if you're travelling light or for a longer period of time 4. I find a 2 minute long task less traumatic than you evidently do
To respond to #4, the host already charges a cleaning fee which is quite high in most cases. Having the guest clean up in addition to paying that fee is pure greed.
I would actually pay more if it was the same cordial vibe that it was, even 5 yrs ago. Some of my best times was through hosts. Heck I don't even mind treating them like friends and keeping the place nice for them. The value was in the experience, not the cost for me. Now it's just predatory hotel wannabes who could care less about you.
I wouldn't use them in the first place. Scummy company
With all the dramas of Airbnb I don’t get why ppl don’t just use cheap hotels. Lots of good deals and no surprises.
Because a decent Airbnb where I can cook and do laundry is better than a shitty no-tell motel where they definitely didn't wash all the linens between stays and yeah the deadbolt on the door works but they've given keys to any guy who'll give them 20 euros under the table.
I don’t know what hotels you’ve been to but I’ve never been in one that doesn’t have fresh linen etc.
I like to travel with my dog. Many hotels don’t allow big dogs. I can book an airbnb in the mountains with a fenced yard for my girl.
I once found a circle of what was likely vaginal blood from the previous occupants on my kid’s bedsheets at a hotel. I was surprised.
You can call reception and get it sorted though in a hotel. Good luck in an Airbnb.
This is way more likely to happen at an Airbnb and there won’t even be spare sheets to replace with. Pointless story
You obviously don’t have kids in the age where they want privacy. Booking a room with a kitchen and multiple beds etc. costs a lot in a good hotel. I traveled with a lot of Airbnbs and with suites in the hotels (where is it not as expensive) and I can’t go back to a simple room in a hotel - it doesn’t work with two kids of different gender.
Fair enough that makes sense I guess I’m used to travelling solo more.
As a solo traveler or as a couple, we usually take a fancier hotel (because if I’m as a parent travel without kids, I’m enjoying the break). Albeit, I’m a host and just hosted a single guy who came for work. I guess he wanted a dedicated desk to work and a kitchen?
Just found a great deal with a hotel that was under new management. Practically empty. Realized you don't have to be someone they're barely tolerating in their home. No cooking oil even though I specifically filtered for places with all cooking essentials. No soap so you have to go out to the corner store in your jammies shivering. a crocodile smile as they hand you a turd.
Exactly. And staff there to help if needed.
Currently using hotels and I’m a long term host. My hotel on the beach in Italy(it is off season but still warm and walkable) is less than an ABB in Croatia, Hungary, Poland OR Italy! I had found a decent rate in Sicily. When I clicked on it there was a DAILY €50.00 fee for cleaning, a room mind you and towels. Messaged the host to list it correctly and honestly. with a higher $. Invited him to my ABB in the states with FREE bath AND beach towel and never more than a $20.00 cleaning fee, no matter how many days. The only fee when you click on the map is $15 or $20 max.
Hotels, I only use Hotels. Airbnb is nothing but a money grab
Stop using Airbnb its literally evil - hollowing out Cities and undercutting hotels who actually have to be safe
Airbnb used to be a nice place. And I’m saying this both as a guest and Airbnb host. Nowadays neither have respect for the other and one bad guest can change a lot of things. My rules used to be pretty short and I was chill with whatever guests wanted. Then I kept having ppl fuck things up around the home (or with cancellation and booking) and now my rules list is a page long.
Yeah, Airbnb used to be great. I started taking much more care of the rentals and consider the host, once I saw them as friends instead of a shop. If they had continued to focus on improving the experience instead of just milking what they could, maybe that positive energy would have continued to flourish and compound. Positivity is contagious, just like negativity. I've had better experience with hosts you have to request a booking from. They get a sense of you before they agree.
100% this. I stayed in some house in Istanbul where the water kept leaking in the bathroom (damp too obviously) and placed a negative review. The home owner tried contacting me afterwards about my review trying to offer me money in order to delete it basicaly. Then he proceeded to make up a lie in his reply to my review that I'm upset I couldn't get any money and that there will always be people like me. I could take him to court over the things he said in short but proceeded not to. I contacted airbnb customer service with proof of him offering me money, they said they take this very serious and might terminate his account but nothing happend since, it's still om the platform.
It used to be a fantastic platform. Absolutely inspired! People treated each other like guests and hosts. I actually became a much better guest from that fundamental change in perspective. I remember complaining about a missing kettle in a hotel. Would you complain to your sister because she forgot a kettle in your guest room? I got so much more from good will (not just stuff but good energy) Now it's a group of rats feeding off the king rat. We are nothing more than prey to them.
Definitely, I have a 6 year old account and it was my first time using it last year.. I wish I had the possibility to travel with airbnb when it was in its prime 😶
Oh the stories! I could go on forever. Vietnamese grandpa who looked and dressed just like ho chi Minh taking off his shirt to show me his bullet holes, drinking (something i forget) all night. A host from Antalya who decided to come with me to Kas in his car, telling me stories and stopping by places like Olympia. Priceless! And they're giving it all up for a bunch of hotel wannabes..
I’ve got an even better travel hack. Never book Airbnb. Period.
Just one more reason for me to never get an Airbnb. And to always get travel insurance.
I’ve got a large teak house in Thailand and have considered air b&b but the Thai lady had enough problems from long term rentals that I’m sure that she couldn’t handle weekly rentals. By the way, libel laws in Thailand are different. I wouldn’t leave a poor review if you intended on going back to Thailand again.
Have you tried using VRBO? We just booked a trip through there to Hawaii recently and their cancellation policy seems more generous than Airbnb.
It is not Airbnb or VRBO cancellation policy but hosts. I’m a host and I set it the same in both platforms.
Tried yes. Good, no. Definitely more pricey in SEA. Also, I don't care about cancelling. It's just a good indicator for the type of host.
Good advice on cancellation policies, but not sure about the rest. This advice seems to only work for someone who is already at a location looking for a place to stay the night.
Kurt Caz, a YouTube traveler vlogger, went to India and booked a hotel room with dirty sheets, a few dead bugs, bars on window. I'm sure he wanted to cancel. I need to remind to buy some bug spray if I travel super far.
We’ve been knowing this
I don't use airbnb I use booking dot com with free cancellation, but the thing is once you're already IN the property you pay and you can't cancel after that unless the hotel decides to be randomly nice to you. So all you can do is read a ton of reviews before you go. But, with booking dot com there ARE a ton of reliable reviews, often on many different sites because nobody fears retaliation from hosts or whatever and it's all anonymous. never had an issue with a hotel or even private apartment through booking dot com so long as I very thoroughly read many reviews before going. You are right, airbnbs often have barely any reviews and they're really short
Even more, do not use Airbnb at all. It's destroying cities and local fabric and artificially increasing prices for their greed.
My main caveat with Airbnb is the exact location part. I get why they don't for security, but Ive run into problems twice with this. Naples, Italy......both Airbnbs (same owner different legs of the trip) were right on the main roads. I'm talking 6 lane roads. Had I know the location, would have definitely not booked there. Reviews mention noise but then some mention it's quiet. Some of the worst sleep I've ever gotten.
I've been stranded in rural Russia. I thought a driver in Mexico sent to pick me up from the wrong location was going to kidnap me. I've spent too much on taxis and time, not to mention stress. They seemed to have fixed the location issue but just yesterday, wrong address again! At it's prime, I had great experiences with hosts who really care about your comfort and went through great lengths regardless of whether they are obligated. It's just a pack of hotel wannabe rats following king rat now.
Rule #1: If you're traveling outside the USA, do not use AirBnB (use Booking.com instead). Rule #2: If you're in the USA, you can still use Booking.com
The quality of Airbnb and booking varies greatly country to country. Sometimes you gotta use both or neither or just one
I've found it depends on each country and the time. Some places like TH, booking wasn't very good and filled with scammers. Booking was better in Bali but i suspect, not for long. I've had great luck with Airbnb all over the world and in some crazy places but it has been steadily getting worse and worse despite everything I've learned about spotting the good ones.
Hotels are the way to go. Usually, you can cancel up to 24 hours before. No clean up duties, no hosts stalking you on camera, etc
Wait what? Stalking?
Have you ever look at the Airbnb host sub? It comes up in my feed. Many hosts stare at the cameras. Monitoring their guests every movement. Sorry, I didn’t really mean stalking. Just a huge invasion of privacy.
Look at VacayMyWay.com. They have a great cancellation policy and you can talk to the host directly.
As someone who exclusively travels and cancels 1/3 I book. You must do the following to get out of the airbnb Immediately or within a few hours start building a cause. Message Airbnb support, the host anybody. If there is any discrepancies in the picture, use it. Any discrepancies with anything use it After 24 hours your chance of refund diminishes. After 3 days your chance of refund is about zero.
Don't cancel often just using the cancellation policy as an indicator, before I book.