Airbnb Review – Find Cheap Vacation Rentals & Private Sublets
Can you imagine staying in an Italian villa for $67 per night? What about staying in Paris, within walking distance of the Eiffel Tower, for $75 a night? What about sleeping aboard a houseboat in Amsterdam for $150 a night?
With these prices, you might think the accommodations would be questionable. However, you might find yourself in a garret apartment or cozy room that’s clean, well-decorated, often luxurious, and incredibly comfortable.
For frugal travelers, this scenario might sound unbelievable. After all, if you want to pay $75 a night in Paris, you usually have to stay in a hostel somewhere and risk bed bug infestation or a snoring roommate. Thanks to Airbnb, you can stay in some of the choicest areas of a city on a budget.
The Airbnb website connects travelers to local residents who let people rent out a room in their home, or rent their entire home, for one night, several weeks, or for months. Airbnb offers accommodations at often drastically reduced prices. Most of the time, you stay in homes of the same quality, or better, than comparably priced accommodations booked on other websites. Of course, “cheap” isn’t always the case; many homes and rooms are as expensive as a hotel. However, you do get a unique place to stay compared to a bland hotel room.
You receive the full amenities of a regular home, including a kitchen so you can cook your own meals, a washer and dryer for laundry, and a host who can give you valuable insider tips to make you feel like a local, instead of a tourist.
People who rent out their homes often do it to meet new friends, and to earn extra money. Most of the homeowners on Airbnb rent out an extra bedroom, but many also rent out their entire homes. Sometimes the home is a vacation property; other times, you stay in the homeowner’s primary residence. The homeowners may vacate their homes while they have renters, or they may be present during your visit.
Homes for rent include traditional homes in cities and suburban neighborhoods, treehouses, houseboats, and island cabins.
Say that you plan a trip to visit San Francisco, and you want to stay in the heart of downtown. You’ve checked Expedia, and already know that rooms downtown average $165-$250 per night. Ouch.
So, you head over to Airbnb to see what they have to offer, and complete your online profile. You find a host on the site offering a room in Nob Hill for $59 per night. The room is two blocks from everything you want to see in the city; exactly what you hoped to find on Airbnb. The pictures of the apartment look clean, comfortable, and inviting. You can even see the Golden Gate Bridge from the balcony! You check past reviews on the apartment and find that past visitors have raved about the apartment and the welcoming and accommodating nature of the owners.
You contact the owner through Airbnb’s chat feature, and start getting to know each other. You both agree that the apartment, and your personalities, make a great fit, so you book the room through the site. When you arrive in the city you take the BART public transportation right to the apartment. The apartment owners give you some great tips on where to eat and visit during your stay in the city.
You stay a week, cooking breakfast and lunch in the apartment and doing laundry, saving your money for dining out in the evening, shopping, or seeing various city attractions. You end up having a great trip, for a fraction of what you would have paid at a hotel.
In addition to saving money, Airbnb hosts offer guests the opportunity to experience something unusual: personal attention. Many guests also compliment hosts on the locations of their homes, particularly the homes located in downtown metropolitan areas.
Using Airbnb has many benefits, including:
There are a number of downsides to booking a room or a home using Airbnb. However, even negative reviews of hosts and homes often still highlight the inexpensive prices, and the five-star locations of many Airbnb properties.
Disadvantages of using Airbnb include:
Many have used Airbnb, and they enjoyed their experiences. It’s important to look closely at the rates. Sometimes, listings on Airbnb are per person, not per couple or group. So, it could say $40 per night in the listing, but that’s for one person. For two people, it could be $60, or even $80. Make sure you look carefully before you book a room.
Have you booked accommodations using Airbnb? Do you rent your home to guests using the website? What has your experience been like?
Categories: Lifestyle, Money Management, Reviews, Spending and Saving, Travel
Heather Levin is a writer with over 15 years experience covering personal finance, natural health, parenting, and green living. She lives in the mountains of Western North Carolina with her husband and two young sons, where they’re often wandering on frequent picnics to find feathers and wildflowers.
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Airbnb Review – Find Cheap Vacation Rentals & Private Sublets
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