^ Yep we rented a condo for a family wedding last month. 4 bedrooms in the downtown area of a large city. “No parties” in the rental description. We had no parties, just went to the wedding and did sightseeing and whatnot.
I rented a house for D’s graduation weekend, again large home for extended family group. We DID have a party, with the host’s permission (I asked specifically), for a few of D’s friends and their families. We decorated, fed everyone, had some drinks, cleaned up, it was fine.
When my friend had weddings for her each of her 2 Daughters, she rented a nice large house AirBnB for a week each time and had lots of activity there—making favors, lots of family & wedding party sleeping over, several meal gatherings / parties. The rental agent was in a small cottage in back and knew and approved the plan. It was same rental both times, a house a 5 minute drive from her parents.
There are parties and there are parties…
Sort of like that hackneyed definition of pornography - I may not know how to define it but I know it when I see it.
Very few hosts are going to have an issue with a standard wedding prep gathering or family reunion. But nobody wants to rent their house to someone who’s going to have a frat style kegger. Sometimes it can be hard to predict which gathering will be which given that applicants aren’t always 100% truthful.
This is why I think some hosts of large houses are taking a quick look at prospective renters’ social media. I’ve noticed it starting about 3 years ago when I’d book a large house for my sports team to stay in while traveling. After a few reviews where hosts specifically mentioned that our team were good guests, left houses very clean, etc, it hasn’t been questioned. But my husband travels with a team for a totally different sport and they’re having some issues. He and several of his friends form squads to compete in various shooting competitions around the country. Several of the friends are retired military and top ranked sports shooters so there’s a legit reason, but when a potential landlord pulls up their Facebook page and sees a fit guy dressed in tactical gear and bristling with weapons it doesn’t create the best impression. They’ve been turned down for houses several times so DH (who is not ex-mil and looks like a corporate CEO) generally has to do the house renting for the group now.
My city now has a maximum number of bedrooms for short term rentals. I think it’s 3. Probably a good idea.
In one place we stayed, the manager met us to make sure we didn’t have any extra people or dogs. There were signs in the house about the penalty for exceeding the occupancy limit.
A family member who has an AirBNB Plus property says the bachelorette parties are the WORST (people who can’t handle their overindulging in alcohol and the side effects of that and linens and towels getting ruined with makeup and other stuff) and she’s in a location that attracts a lot of them so there is a lot of screening to avoid those renters.
When we travel within the US, I don’t even bother to look for Airbnb. I don’t see significant saving that outweighs the convenience of hotel.
But travelling outside of the US is a different story. We are a family of 4, unless we find american brand hotel, and we always try to (Marriott, Hilton, etc…), it’s difficult to find hotel that would accept 4 people 1 room. I don’t want to pay for 2 rooms, hence Airbnb is a perfect solution. We did once in Iceland, 4 bedroom apartment and the cost was less than half of what we would have paid if we were to purchase 2 hotel rooms for 7 nights.
Definitely there are some shady Airbnb out there, and the key is to read the reviews of previous guests, and the owner rating. Airbnb is very good at that. And I heard that if you have any problem at all, contact Airbnb, they want to be trust worthy, so they will not ignore your complaints. Of course this is after the fact - doesn’t really help much unless you hope to get the money back because you probably wont return there anyway.
When traveling with family (usually our Ds and sometimes also our nephew), the opposite has been true for us. Renting a 3 bedroom house in the mountains vs. renting 3 hotel rooms???
Oh for sure, if you need more than 1 room, I see the benefit of Airbnb anywhere. We never needed an extra room. Although with the kids getting older, we will have to. It’s just that for now, European hotel rooms are tiny compared to the typical 2 queen room in the US. And most won’t accept 4 in a standard room, unless one lied and just show up. It’s a pain.
I’ve never used Airbnb and now I’m worried. We have a couple of upcoming reservations. I’m going to thoroughly check the properties out first.
In the past, I’ve had excellent experiences booking vacation rentals on VRBO, Trip advisor, and Booking.com.
@Lindagaf - don’t get overly worried. Scams do happen but compared to the thousands of legit transactions on Airbnb, they’re rare. Check the reviews, make sure the pricing and other features are in line with surrounding properties and you’ll be fine.
But did you read the article? The main point, beyond the elaborate scam network discussed, was how unresponsive Airbnb was.
OOoh, and this too:
I hope the date works for @Lindagaf
Well, the chickens are apparently coming home to roost. ? Imagine how much easier and cheaper it would have been to do that vetting process every time a new listing is added? These so called disruptors realize that rules are there for a reason… (Meanwhile, SoftBank is counting its losses after being duped by a great con artist… but that is another story).
I think that with this new business model, there are always going to be some risks to the consumers, as the vetting process is costly. Some companies deal with the problems well, and some don’t. A friend of mine had some issue with after booking with Airbnb kand she was able to get the refund (she didn’t complain she was just telling me about her canceled trip). Uber is the same, there were horrific stories with Uber drivers, but as long as there are demands for lower cost, people are going to use the service. Have you ever had amazon logistic delivered your purchased items yet? I was on the phone with this woman for 15 mins telling her how to get to my house, because she got lost using google map on her phone! Lol. And when she got to my house, her little girl was in the car with her! So weird. I know, different situation. But my point is, i wouldn’t stop using a service because some people had really bad experience. The fact is thousands of people using Airbnb with little to no problem and saved tons of money, then maybe it’s worth the risk (for me anyway). I personally saved a couple of thousands on our Iceland trip using Airbnb instead of hotel, and the host was super fabulous, came and checked in on us and showed us around a little, left fresh fruits for us in the house when she didn’t have to. If I read this article and scared of Airbnb and not use them for that trip. I would have lost out so much. To each their own .
“New business model” is a very lame excuse for poor customer service.
I am actually quite thankful to Airbnb for making it possible for us to buy our current house. 
Airbnb ticked off the local residents so much that the town tightened up its short term rental regulations. The (party) house owners apparently decided to sell rather than comply. Good. ?
Not an excuse, it’s a reality.
We were able to find some hotel rooms in Europe to accommodate all 4 of us when the girls were young. They are often called “family rooms.” Hard to find, though, and usually pretty pricey. Some of the big chains have two bedroom suites, or a junior suite with sofa bed.
So far, DD has had no problems with AirBnB. Sometimes she has been in a private room in a house or apartment with the owner/tenant. Other times she has had a place all to herself. It has worked well for her struggling young person budget.
I was leery of AirBnB because it was a new thing, but a trip to Spain with DD and MIL sold me on it. One week with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, kitchen, washing machine, dining/living room for a nightly cost equivalent less than the nightly cost of a hotel room for three people in the same neighborhood. MIL could have her own bathroom. Each of us could unpack our stuff. We could stash food in the fridge. Terrific! This summer DD, DH, and I were in Prague in a smaller AirBnB for a week. Only one bedroom, and DD had a sofabed in the living room. But still the space (and kitchenette and washing machine) made life so much easier.
Fingers crossed that @Lindagaf has good experiences as well.
I do like that guests are expected to review the host, and that the host also reviews the guests. Any potential host can see my profile (only two reviews, but nice ones) if I rent with my account, or DD’s profile (multiple good reviews by now) if she rents with her account. I’ve only rented from Super Hosts. I would be hesitant to rent from someone without that status unless I had another way to vet their offer.
I am glad they are going to look at all owners. Many times I have stayed in airbnb’s and sometimes there is a bit of an adventure involved, which balances with the very welcoming reception and interesting conversation in so many places. I prefer to stay in neighborhoods rather than commercial areas. As I travel alone at times, I appreciate a bit of conversation at the end or start of the day, even if I am in a place to visit friends or family.
A friend was a super host who recently lost the designation due to turning people down too often. She is careful as to who she hosts and careful to not burn herself out. She wants a few good reviews and or the ability to explain who they are in more than a terse sentence. She also hosts dogs in her home and will not have an airbnb dog as well as a pet sitting dog at the same time. Some hosts have not hosted enough to become super hosts. At one point I stayed as the first guest in an amazing apartment in Vancouver. He was thrilled to be hosting, and I loved talking to him.
What I do avoid are the sorts of places where someone is running multiple properties in a neighborhood. Similar to the scam in the article.