<p>I have never used any of these - however, after a little talk about a POSSIBLE trip to France next year, I decided to take a look at Airbnb - omg, a new time suck!!! This is addicting to me looking up cities and places!!! </p>
<p>In Europe, it would seem that you can find rentals that will be clean, comfortable and with some amenities for less than hotels? For some reason these rentals seem more desirable to me than a hotel for a night or two. </p>
<p>That’s the thing…you get more and for less.</p>
<p>One thing to bear in mind with tools like AirBnB - it tends to be a very personal type of accommodation and not everyone is comfortable with that. Hotels and their staffs are very professional and distant, and it is easier for a lot of people to handle that these days. If you get to an AirBnB rental and things are a little off, you may not feel comfortable trying to remedy it, or may feel constrained in what you can say or do in ways that you would not with a hotel.</p>
<p>I am not trying to dissuade anyone - while I have not used AirBnB yet, I have used VRBO and will likely use AirBnB in the future. The best accommodation I have ever had was obtained through such a site, and I seriously lament the fact that their single room (enough for my wife and I) will not accommodate our children. But at other times I have seen stays ruined because someone in the party was uncomfortable staying as a vacation guest in a stranger’s house. Just something to bear in mind.</p>
<p>cosmic, I agree. It is not a professional situation, and you need a little flexibility in dealing with airbnb hosts less than perfect lives. Though I have stayed in some impressively perfect places with airbnb. One of my favorites was an RV parked in a driveway on the west coast. I had solitude, use of a less than perfectly tuned up bike, and a very quiet but good location with interesting hosts. It is also get what you pay for. I have stayed in $45 per night rooms, and the bathroom was not cleaned to my liking, and in another the sheet quality was horrible. However, the hosts in both cases were gracious young women, and I was thrilled to stay in a neighborhood I’d lived in decades ago, and in the other place, live in a typical Spanish apartment for a few days</p>
<p>I am very much a sleep only in accommodation person when traveling, as I’d rather be out doing and seeing, so go for lower priced places. </p>
<p>We used AirBnB in Madrid and Barcelona this past spring and it was great. We travelled with family members, so it was nice having a kitchen and living area where we could hang out together and share some meals, since we did a lot of our sightseeing separately. The locations were convenient for walking to lots of places we wanted to see, and to the Metro, but on smaller streets so a little quieter than some hotels. We also used Google Earth to “walk” the neighborhoods first, and checked the reviews. The apartments had everything we needed, including in one case washer/dryer and balcony. The owners met us but were not staying there at the time. The only issue was that one apartment had an odd configuration; it listed 2 bedrooms, but the one near the bathroom with shower (there was another half bath) was open to the room–not the best setup for two couples travelling together. That was not clear from the listing, but the apt. was otherwise lovely, so we managed (next time we’ll ask more questions!). We didn’t care about hotel amenities and got a lot more space for less money.</p>
<p>I understand those circumstances - especially if you are just renting a room in someone’s house - and I’ll admit that some of the ones I see I don’t know if I would be comfortable with. If they are more like a B and B and host more than one room, that would be better. The ones that appeal to me are the ones where you are the only one using the space - like a studio perhaps. I’ll admit that in person I’m not much for small talk. :)</p>
<p>There is an option of limiting the search by whole place or shared space</p>
<p>Every place I stayed, I rented the whole place, and not shared. But when I was a host, I was in the house while hosting. But I had a large house and stayed in a bedroom at the opposite end of the house. I let them use the whole house and opt for as much or as little contact as they wanted. We tended to visit briefly each day in most cases and then I left them to enjoy all the space…fireplace, kitchen, jacuzzi, etc. But mostly they were gone all day during the day anyway. In any case, you can opt to rent an entire apartment or space if you prefer. </p>
<p>Just like everything else, read the reviews.</p>
<p>And even so, if the person you are dealing with is serious, note that you use reviews and plan to write reviews.</p>
<p>We’ve done vrbo in Vancouver, Flipkey and Airbnb in Toronto and San Diego. We always only rent whole apartment and I choose only those that have no personal belongings in the space (family photos, clothes etc). I don’t want to feel I am a guest in someone’s house. Have not had a bad rental but of course some have been better than others and I am much pickier now; reviews are super important to read, as are the list of amenities. We rented one place that had no internet or cable tv; their absence was mentioned in the list of amenities which thinking those things are standard, I did not bother to read. I especially like those where all my contact with the owner is via email and even picking up the key is done via lockbox or concierge; you don’t always find that out in reviews but often do.</p>
<p>@abasket - YES, the time suck!! I have spent an embarrassing amount of time doing this! Way too many options that, for whatever reason, I feel the need to explore. I have to make a commitment but I keep getting lured back in by the hope of a more handsome, and charming suitor…</p>
<p>And all of the sites I have used allow you to filter your search to include only a “whole house or apartment”. We are not interested in sharing space.</p>
<p>One thing that is important to me is having at least 2 bathrooms. My rentals all have at least 2 bathrooms. I am deathly afraid of a plumbing issue, and obviously if there is only one bathroom, my guests would be really in a pickle. At least with 2 bathrooms, if there is a rare plumbing issue, they can use the other bathroom until the plumber can get there. </p>
<p>I just want to add a comment about “minimum # of nights” req’ts. Many/most owners require a minimum number of nights for “whole house” rentals. It requires a LOT of time and money to clean/sanitize a whole home after guests leave, so it is rarely economical to rent for one night or whatever. If you have to pay your housekeeper $75+ to clean after each guest departs, it will really eat into your rent. </p>
<p>This is not like a hotel where they have staff housekeepers who come thru and do a number of units, while being paid peanuts. A hotel maid can probably clean a hotel room in about 30-45 minutes. To clean & do the laundry for a multi-bedroom, multi-bathroom home with a full kitchen is going to take a few hours. </p>
<p>@mom2collegekids - I totally agree. Some of the apartments I have loved, have only 1 bathroom. Some have up to 4 bedrooms, but only 1 bathroom. These are renovated apartments but still housed in very old European buildings, so I suppose it’s not that unusual. </p>
<p>I stayed in an Airbnb studio in Vienna this summer, and it was MUCH nicer and better located than the hotels I could afford. I’ll use the site again and have recommended it friends who have also had positive experiences.</p>
<p>Renting less than 30 days through airbnb or vrbo in NYC is illegal unless the landlord also resides in the unit at the same time.</p>
<p><a href=“Airbnb’s threat to affordable housing ”>Opinion - New York Daily News;
<p>Have had good experience with VRBO/Homeaway. DS#2 saw some skeevy room on airbnb in one city, but had a fabulous experience in another. </p>
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<p>Another reason not to want to ever own property in NYC. ugh…what control freaks.</p>
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<p>Yes, that is why pics and recent reviews are very important! </p>
<p>I, too, have seen some rather odd rooms/homes. I even found one near one of my rentals where the people live there most of the time and then they leave while renters are there. Weird…do they clean out their bathroom drawers and fridge each time before they leave? </p>
<p>I’ve had good luck with international rentals from VRBO & HomeAway in Edinburgh, Paris, Rome & a fabulous villa in Tuscany. I just rented a farmhouse in the Shenandoah valley from VRBO over Labor Day weekend for a family get-together.</p>
<p>S1 had a great experience with Airbnb in Nairobi, Kenya. The owners took him under their wing when he was recovering from altitude sickness after attempting to climb Mt. Kenya. He kept in touch and contacted them after last September’s terrorist attack on the Westgate shopping mall. Fortunately the owners were not at the mall during the attack.</p>
<p>My guidelines when renting a property:
<p>Short term rentals are similarly illegal in New Orleans. </p>
<p>I’ve never used airbnb but we have used VRBO many times and always had good experiences. As others have said, look at reviews, Google map, etc. </p>
<p>^^^^ they are and yet it is full of them</p>