Look for reviews that emphasize privacy and things like self check-in (lockbox or combo type deal), look for a private, ensuite bath. That will be most like a hotel experience with minimal to no host contact, if that is what you’d like.
@rutgersmamma You could look for listings that are by Super Hosts, the top tier of Airbnb owners.
We’ve had good experiences with AirBnB.
One of the best places we stayed was in downtown Minneapolis. The prices for hotel rooms were borderline outrageous (+ parking in many cases). We were in a cool loft apartment in a fabulous location.
We have also done a super inexpensive private room - shared bath in a house stay. I was with one of my kids and the home owner was running a simple Bed & Breakfast type of place while renovating his house. We just needed a safe comfortable inexpensive place to sleep one night while on a road trip. It was perfect.
H gets an AirBnB in a high rise condo in downtown Mexico City when he travels there. Beats the hotel prices and is more comfortable in many ways.
We are doing AirBnB on our next trip. Entire home. Sort of funky modest vacation home in the mountains.
I think after you look at a bunch of listings, you just get a feel for the ones that are a good match.
We’ve stayed at multiple places using VRBO, primarily in Hawaii. We stayed at 2 places within the same resort.
One was fabulous, and was pretty expensive. The other could have used some updates, but was significantly cheaper than the fabulous one. The awesome view was the same from both, so we were really fine with either. I wouldn’t hold the cheaper one to the same standard I hold the other to, as I think they were close to 200 cheaper per night.
We used VRBo for a place in Bar Harbor this September. It appears to be a little rustic, and it’s not particularly expensive. It’s in a great location for us, so I expect to be pleased,based on all variables.
One place in Hawaii was very frustrating, because the Internet wasn’t working correctly for a couple of days. I suppose I could have dinged them for that, but the owner called the company, and simply couldn’t get it resolved right away. All the ratings are certainly subjective.
I’ve learned to ask a lot of questions before committing so my expectations are managed. I will only rent units with plenty of photos, only the entire unit, and only ones that are primarily used for rentals. I’ve learned I don’t like a lot of the owners personal knick knacks around or the closets filled with their stuff. I want to rent places that are more hotel-like but with extra space.>>>>>>>>>
I totally agree.
A room in someone’s house isn’t an issue if the hosts either give you privacy (and either your own bath or a common one, not the family’s) or are particularly welcoming. DH stayed in a house room in Edinburgh, the only guest, they invited him to tea and sherry. We stayed in pensiones in Italy that were essentially someone’s big apartment. The bath facilities were shared by guests, not the hosts.
If it’s got great reviews (including of the hosts,) a room might be an easy first time. It really depends on what you want to do.
Q. If I have two,rooms to rent, what about the valuables in rest of house? Art work, books, China? Does one need to store everything I order to rent a room or two?
My brother rents out a suite in his house on Airbnb. It has a separate entrance and is completely closed from the main house. They run it like a hotel, with its own linen and cleaning service. They let the service know when guests are checking in and out, and the service comes in to clean from 1-3 to have it ready for the next guest. They even rent it out when they are out of town. They only rent it out on week days (a lot of business people) and when their adult kids are home the suite is not rented so they could have additional space. They do not put anything personal in the suite.
I generally want privacy in an ABB but I stayed at one in D’s college town that was just lovely - the couple had us both for wine and cheese and we just loved chatting with them. After, they made sure D had their contact info in case she ever needed anything (I live far from her college town). Clearly they enjoyed getting to know their guests.
We still speak fondly of that couple 