Thank you for sharing the hassles of owners on airbnb. Now I’m hoping that I always resonded within 24 hours during our email communication.
Love onsen, though the last time I was in one, I realized loosing one’s clothes is a different experience at 55 than it was at 24. But no one cares! My Japanese sis in law thought it was not even worth a mention.
In the average Japanese style lodging, rules are the same. Washing, sitting beside the tub, rinse, then immerse and relax. Get the slippers straight.
nrdsb, you are right, a casual mention of the airbed and noise issues is certainly appropriate, if feeling difficult due to the relationship built with the host.
mom2, interesting about airbnb hosting. I have considered it. Maybe in retirement.
I was recently at a conference in Italy. I prepaid for two extra nights ($275 each) at the trade show hotel. Another woman, from another U.S. city, did not want to pay the hotel rate ($200) for extra nights. She chose to go to an AirBandB for her 2-3 remaining nights. Approx 80 euro per night. After she returned to the states she informed me that she will never do an AirBandB again. She just didn’t like being in someone else’s home. She’s very energetic, speaks Italian fluently, and is in her early 60s.
I was perfectly happy with my remaining hotel nights. As I continued to have business meetings, the bill is going to my business. If I hadn’t done business those days, I was prepared to cover those nights. In my mid 50s, and traveling alone, I was perfectly happy in a hotel. Also. I didn’t want to have to move accommodations for the last two nights and an early morning ride to the airport.
We have used VRBO and will again, but when traveling alone I will take a hotel with a staff and wifi!
Just to clarify, I would never book a room in someone’s home because that is beyond my comfort zone. We booked the entire apartment, which was the primary residence of the owner. They went to their summer cottage while renting it to us. Apparently this is customary procedure in Copenhagen, so we spent even more time researching to be sure we found a place we felt comfortable staying in.
All the places I have rented through VRBO or HomeAway have been dedicated vacation rentals.
I also view any of these types of rentals as long term, i.e. more than three nights, preferably a week.
I think it’s unfair to judge airbnb by a one night, one bedroom experience.
I don’t think any of VRBO’s rentals can be anything but an entire home.
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We have used VRBO and will again, but when traveling alone I will take a hotel with a staff and wifi!
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True, no staff…but many of us provide free wifi, extensive satellite or cable TV programming, etc.
Many singles rent my VRBOs, which at first I thought was strange. But I’ve found that women prefer being in a “home setting” rather than a hotel, and men like having a huge TV in the living room.
I also find that once families stay, the H’s insist that this is where they’ll be coming again. They like the space, they like having their own room away from kids, and they like having their own TV (not having to put up with whatever the kids are watching). All of my VRBOs have 3 flatscreens and all have whole-house DVRs.
Airbnb has been in the news recently. They need to close some of the loopholes to protect both sides. TV news report thrashing by renters and some renters stayed longer, couldn’t be kicked out.
^^^That story about the squatters is scary. The issue though was that it wasn’t processed thru AirBnB, which does have a $1M protection for Owners, which is a PLUS.
The initial contact was thru AirBnB, but somehow they booked outside of the process so there’s no protection.
In some states, squatters have all the protections. What an awful situation. In other states, the police can force squatters out of short-term rentals, hotels, etc.
I just read an article about the airbnb squatters in Palm Springs, Cali. and what I can’t understand is why does Cali law protect the squatters? That is outrageous. I feel bad for the property owner. The squatters will get off scott free which is aggravating. Dr. Google’s right, airbnb will have to protect owners against problems like this and mom2collegekids list of problems with airbnb needs to be fixed too.
A few people wondered about age. I am 50. I have kids that are 17 and 21. Normally, someone my age probably prefers to pay a little more for security and comfort. I think people under 30 are a little more adventurous, generally speaking, and are more than willing to cut lodging costs in half to get basically the same thing a hotel can provide. I have no regrets about my trip or choice. I’m going to Denver in May of 2016 for the same conference and will stay an extra night again and this time I’ll pay a little more.
If I ever suggest buying rental property in CA, someone please slap me.
http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Squatters-don-t-sit-well-with-Airbnb-hosts-5631952.php
California is a liberal state. They will put out laws to protect the down and out and also crooks.
It’s one thing to have “tenant protections” in place for long-term renters (30+ nights), because Owners can conservatively screen (credit checks, insist on seeing proof of income, and a good-sized security/damage deposit), but short-term renters not only don’t/can’t do those things, there is a natural assumption that your Guest have A REAL HOME elsewhere, and therefore have NO NEED to squat on your property.
That said, Calif tenant laws are too extreme.
My husband and I stayed in two AirBnbs. One was a room with a separate entrance and bath in some folks’ home and it was lovely. The other was a whole duplex and it was super.
^^^
I have seen that “separate entrance, private bath, mini-kitchenette option” in some homes where there is a locked thick insulated door (sometimes 2 doors a la adjoining hotel rooms) that separates the “family quarters” from the AirBnB quarters, effectively making a home like a duplex. I’ve seen something similar on VRBO, but again, the rented area is completely private and the owners do not have access or use during the rental stay…so privacy is maintained. There are some homes that have granny suites or maid’s quarters that offer those options.
There are also rentals that are purposely split like that in order to allow a larger family to rent the entire building, or two separate groups to rent “each side”. I don’t have anything like that. Mine are all condos, which I prefer because the HOAs provide lawn service and exterior maintenance, while also providing extensive clubhouses, fitness centers, and pools…so I feel that Guests still have some of the amenities that they would have at a nice hotel.
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Tschogl realized that she couldn’t legally cut off the electricity, although her SoCal Edison account showed daily usage was triple to quadruple normal. Her father went by the unit several times and photographed it with the sliding glass doors and windows wide open, presumably while the air conditioning was going full blast to combat the 114-degree heat.
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This is particularly annoying because in that state, you can’t cut off the utilities, which would be in the Owner’s name. Imagine having to pay utilities for a rental property that is being used by squatters…along with paying for other home-related expenses…taxes, mortgage, etc.
Short term rentals should be excluded from these “tenant protections” in every state because such a rental is never a person’s primary home.
And in all states, the eviction process should be quick, not some dragged out crazy process that bankrupts the owner.
The laws protecting tenants make no sense to me at all period end of story. Why reward bad behavior? What “rights” could they possibly have as “tenants” Give me a break! Rights!
If you don’t pay, you go, if you don’t go, the cops will help you pack, end of story. Why the hell do we pay taxes if the laws protect people like that? If I was the owner you dad gummed right I’d stop paying the power bill and I’d be more than happy to defend myself in court. I guess that is easy for me to say.
The tenants sound like crooks, but I don’t know why the landlord would think that the landlord/ tenant laws would not apply to him or her. If you rent your property for more than thirty days, the renter is a tenant and you will have to comply with the streamlined eviction procedures to evict. To minimize that risk, the landlord should screen the tenant, require deposits, and take other precautions against deadbeat tenants. Landlords should also recognize that the possibility of deadbeat tenants is a risk of doing business (and should plan accordingly).
The eviction procedures are included in the law for good reason. Cops shouldn’t be permitted to enter a home and evict tenants with no hearing or court order simply based on an unsubstantiated landlord complaint. The streamlined eviction procedures are designed to take tenants and landlords’ interests into account. I don’t think that California’s laws are very different (if at all different) than the laws in other states, although I may be wrong about that.
We have AirBnB booked in Seattle for about 90$ a night and in a lovely residential area. It is a stand alone granny apartment in the back yard and has many, many reviews- all positive. When you pair the info on the website, do a streetview look in google maps, consult the public transportation map, take a look at the pictures of the building and interior, I feel like we have much more information that we would about a hotel! I can’t wait!
I guess the thinking, in cases of regular tenant situations (not short-term), sometimes unscrupulous owners will evict for reasons that aren’t justifiable…and then the tenant is suddenly homeless. That is not the case with short-term rentals or even hotels. I have seen police come to a hotel to remove unruly guests, so that is possible in some places (maybe not Calif).
However, non-payment should be a quickly evict-able situation.
Some laws seem to have been set up with the idea that Owners are all a bunch of multi-millionaires who can easily absorb the “pain” of non-payment. Not!
Anybody remember the movie Pacific Heights with Michael Keaton and Melanie Griffith? Set in San Fran with a couple with a nightmare tenant that became the squatter from hell. Scared me from ever being a landlord, at least in California!
“However, non-payment should be a quickly evict-able situation.”
In case of longer term rentals (30+ days), in many locales tenants have the right to withhold rent payment in certain situations, e.g., if the slummy landlord refuses to provide much needed repairs. Eviction would not be possible simply on the basis of rent non-payment - a court hearing would be needed to sort out who is entitled to what.
http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/tenant-rights-withhold-rent-state