Anybody use Airbnb?

[TheBeardedIrishman]

My wife and I are going to road trip down to Florida in March and were looking into save money by using Airbnb, both on the way and once we arrive. We wondering if anyone on here has used Airbnb and what their experience was like? For those who are unfamiliar what Airbnb is, its basically staying at someone's house for set price, or renting a room for the night..We thought it would be a good and fun experience and save us some money too...thanks

[Eric]

Dozens of times.  Your experience will vary based on the individual properties, since they're all different and owned by different people.  Pick a place with good pictures and watch out for the cleaning fees, especially for 1 night stays.

[TheBeardedIrishman]

Dozens of times.  Your experience will vary based on the individual properties, since they're all different and owned by different people.  Pick a place with good pictures and watch out for the cleaning fees, especially for 1 night stays.

I didn't even think about that...can you get a better price if you stay multiple days? We are from Eastern side of Iowa and going down thru Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee(We would really like to stay a night in Chattanooga), Georgia, and then end up somewhere by the Gulf side of Florida...any recommendations close ?  Appreciate the help

[Prodigal Daughter]

I used it for a week in Vienna. Had an excellent host that had been an AirBnB member for some time so all expectations were clearly laid out. Spent like $25 a night. Total steal. Would absolutely do it again. When traveling solo it was great to stay in her apartment because she gave me tips. She also had a second room that she listed on Airbnb so there were other travelers as well.

[Prodigal Daughter]

Dozens of times.  Your experience will vary based on the individual properties, since they're all different and owned by different people.  Pick a place with good pictures and watch out for the cleaning fees, especially for 1 night stays.

I didn't even think about that...can you get a better price if you stay multiple days? We are from Eastern side of Iowa and going down thru Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee(We would really like to stay a night in Chattanooga), Georgia, and then end up somewhere by the Gulf side of Florida...any recommendations close ?  Appreciate the help

Eastern Iowa - also known as God's Country

[GreenQueen]

Many times, all over the world, and we are repeat customers in certain homes and friends with owners. It's good to choose a place that has solid reviews, but I received a discount on my latest one because it was newish and the owner wants more reviews, so no weekend rate and no cleaning fee. So you could try to negotiate I guess.

Make sure you post a nice photo and blurb about yourself, because the renters can afford to be choosy as well.

[Eric]

Dozens of times.  Your experience will vary based on the individual properties, since they're all different and owned by different people.  Pick a place with good pictures and watch out for the cleaning fees, especially for 1 night stays.

I didn't even think about that...can you get a better price if you stay multiple days? We are from Eastern side of Iowa and going down thru Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee(We would really like to stay a night in Chattanooga), Georgia, and then end up somewhere by the Gulf side of Florida...any recommendations close ?  Appreciate the help

It's variable.  Some places offer discounts for multiple nights, some have a minimum stay, while some have no restrictions.  Some don't have a cleaning fee, some charge up to $100 no matter the length of stay, and some per night.  Just be careful to read the details when choosing.  It's not a hidden fee per se, but this is just a warning to pay attention.

[TheBeardedIrishman]

Dozens of times.  Your experience will vary based on the individual properties, since they're all different and owned by different people.  Pick a place with good pictures and watch out for the cleaning fees, especially for 1 night stays.

I didn't even think about that...can you get a better price if you stay multiple days? We are from Eastern side of Iowa and going down thru Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee(We would really like to stay a night in Chattanooga), Georgia, and then end up somewhere by the Gulf side of Florida...any recommendations close ?  Appreciate the help

Eastern Iowa - also known as God's Country

Yes definitely  simple living out here. . Most affordable  place to live too. . Well we think so

[TheBeardedIrishman]

Many times, all over the world, and we are repeat customers in certain homes and friends with owners. It's good to choose a place that has solid reviews, but I received a discount on my latest one because it was newish and the owner wants more reviews, so no weekend rate and no cleaning fee. So you could try to negotiate I guess.

Make sure you post a nice photo and blurb about yourself, because the renters can afford to be choosy as well.

If you get just a room it seems like you are still able to use kitchen shower etc too. . Just depends or is that usually  how it is. . We are hoping to meet some good people along the way as you did

[LouLou]

I love it.  I use Airbnb, homeaway.com, and VRBO for vacations.  It is so much nicer to have a real kitchen!   I've only rented a spare room once, because it was sooooo cheap. 

Plus there can be bonuses that you just don't get with a hotel.  I recently traveled with a three year old. We rented a guest cottage, and our host also had a three year old child.  We didn't have to bring any toys!

I look for places with an extensive review history.  When you request a place, write something nice about yourself so that they accept you.

[DirtDiva]

We have used AirBnB several times with excellent experiences.  The only imperfect experience we had was a reservation in Key West that the host had to cancel, because the city changed the rules for vacation rentals.  Our money was refunded in full and he apologized profusely.  We had plenty of time to re-book.

[GreenSheep]

I LOVE AirBnB! As noted above, just pick a place with lots of good photos and lots of good reviews. Having a kitchen (or at least access to one, if you're not renting the entire house/apartment) makes a huge difference, and generally the owner is great about sharing knowledge of the area. My next AirBnB stay will be a month long, and the dog-loving owner has offered to not only let me dog stay with me but to watch my dog for 3 days when I have to be away!

[StartingEarly]

Another option is couch surfing. With that you will be staying with the owner, but it is generally free. There is also a review system in place so you can find trustworthy individuals.

[CATman]

I've used it before and had a great experience. If you end up staying in a room of a home versus having the whole house/apartment to yourself, often the hosts are willing to act as a kind of personal guide to the city and can give you some great tips on what you might like to explore. The last host I stayed with even had bikes which the SO and I rode around the beach. He even had a surf board for guests to use, but I wasn't willing to embarrass myself that much.

[shelivesthedream]

Yep, used it a few times. I' much prefer staying in a good AirBNB to staying in a hotel. However, I find ones where you just rent a room or a part of the house super duper awkward because I just don't feel like I can make myself at home with the hosts still around. So I now only look at entire houses/flats - most options like this are only good value for three or more people.

In terms of finding a good place, just read the reviews and look at the pictures. If anything seems a bit off or doesn't seem to add up, book somewhere else! And as other people have said, do read the entire listing. Any fees and restrictions will be on there but you do want to know before you book rather than when you arrive.

[TravelJunkyQC]

I love it.  I use Airbnb, homeaway.com, and VRBO for vacations.  It is so much nicer to have a real kitchen!   I've only rented a spare room once, because it was sooooo cheap. 

Plus there can be bonuses that you just don't get with a hotel.  I recently traveled with a three year old. We rented a guest cottage, and our host also had a three year old child.  We didn't have to bring any toys!

I look for places with an extensive review history.  When you request a place, write something nice about yourself so that they accept you.

I prefer Homeaway or VRBO for the simple reason that the same place tends to be cheaper on those sites than Airbnb (I think Airbnb takes a bigger cut from the owner). However, I've never had a bad experience with any of them. Like LouLou says, look at review histories, comments (but take with a grain of salt - some write negative comments because they expected to be in a 5-star hotel for the price of an apartment...).

[mm1970]

I haven't yet.  But we booked an air-BNB in Utah over Thanksgiving.  Turned out, whole family got the stomach flu.

The Air-BNB owner very kindly allowed us to transfer our week to Spring Break.  So we will be using it next month.

I think I've used VRBO too.  Or even private sites, like Yosemite West Scenic Wonders rentals for Yosemite.

For long term stays, I like condos.  Sometimes I get them on Costco Travel, sometimes on Orbitz, sometimes private sites.

For all 1-night stays, and some 2-night stays, we simply go the hotel route - mostly for the cleaning fee issue.

[rockstache]

Yup I love it. I like the fact that I pay through Airbnb too, it feels much safer because if I get there and there is no house, or it isn't as described, I can contact Airbnb directly rather than trying to get my money back from the renter.

[boy_bye]

Yeah, I've stayed in tons of them. Only had 2 that didn't work out and I had to leave, out of probably like 50 since I joined in 2010.

One thing to be aware of is that most people are loath to leave a bad review for anyone that they've met and liked. Even me --

I stayed at a place in Crown Heights Brooklyn a few years ago, and the woman renting it was lovely and the place was cute, but there were cockroaches in the kitchen at night. I didn't mention that in my review, because I guess I felt like it wasn't her fault or something? I did leave private feedback for her but didn't feel like it was right to tank her average review for something she probably couldn't do much about in a 100 year old apartment building in Brooklyn.

Anyway, I'm not unusual -- even though you do get some crazies leaving 1-star reviews, most Airbnb reviews are pretty positively biased. So, I advise discarding anything that is not super close to 5 stars. If something is 4 stars or less, stay far, far away.