Memes

Stayed at an Airbnb last year where I left a ~4 star review taking off one star because of excessive noise from the bus stop outside (otherwise positive). Couple months later I get an email saying my review was removed for violating Airbnb policy. Had to contact support where they told me the host had submitted (fake) WhatsApp screenshots of me asking them for money to post a positive review and so they removed my review. No matter what I said customer support refused to reinstate my review. The most alarming thing is that they removed my review without any input from me. Interestingly, the property had added additional co-hosts where that property was their only property after my stay. Presumably these are fake profiles they used to file the dispute so it wouldn’t impact their main account.

In any case, I am never staying at an AirBnb again. Be aware that any rating on AirBnb can be easily manipulated by the host.

Also if you have status at a hotel, perks like room upgrades and late checkout are invaluable.

Also at a hotel: “It smells like smoke.” “Let me take you conveniently to another identical room for free.”

AirBNB is only good if it is an extremely unique/convenient location and there are no hotels reasonably nearby. Otherwise Hotel absolutely > AirBNB

AirBNB was great when it first started out. It was basically people renting out a room in their home for a night or two, for far cheaper costs than hotels and in areas where a hotel wasn't as readily available. It was a good way for those folks to make some cash on the side and helped the traveler find convenient low cost housing for a couple nights

Unfortunately companies and people decided they could buy up properties and start a business selling out rooms, prices skyrocketed and it no longer became worth it. I just stick to hotels now (or hostels if I ever decide to backpack through Europe or something)

I'm just here to say fuck air bnb. Ban that shit for it's contribution to the housing crisis.

Hotels are quite heavily regulated in all parts of their operation, many have unionized staff. AirBNB owners are wannabe landlords with no oversight.

Tiny soapbox time: I don't trust AirBNB hosts to actually treat for bedbugs if they get them. I figure a reputable hotel chain at least has a fighting chance of taking it seriously.

The last time I used Airbnb, we rented 2 rooms in a guy's house for a few days. At first, the guy seemed okay, only a minor reminder about leaving dishes out. I left a fairly positive review, but when it came time for his review of us he implied we were racist for not keeping eye contact and conversation with his roommate. I never saw the roommate, and my husband is the kind of introvert who doesn't initiate conversations, especially when alone. It was ridiculous. We were also told that we had access to the rooms, bathroom, and kitchen and not to go into any other part of the house.

I'll stick with hotels.

Also Airbnb tends to kill communities by making it way too expensive for people to actually live there and sleeping in a complete stranger's house does not sound too safe.

In Montreal an Airbnb cought fire and killed 6 guests and one tenant because the owner converted a house to multiple Airbnb ignoring all regulation (including fire marshal rules)

English article: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-old-port-fire-1.6788756

The province ended up banning Airbnbs but I don't know the details of the bag

And hotels are good for a city, instead of destructive.

I’ve never had this kind of bad experience with Airbnb

I will take a hotel for it's convenience, service, and predictability any day.

Beds are comfy 99% of the time, there's an ice machine, and my god I'll take any opportunity for room service/being waited on.

The strangest part is when the owner suddenly decides to spend the night in the apartment as well, even though you rented the whole apartment alone.

Fuck airbnb

I find when I AirBNB in the places I have been across Europe I have had no issues and I end up getting more for my money with no silly cleaning charges.

Is this something other locations have problems with or am I just missing the terrible places?

It depends on what you want. For my family, having space for the kids to hang out and play, inside and out, is a huge plus. Also we like to cook some of our meals while on vacation.

What are we comparing Airbnbs to? At least in large cities, the price of an Airbnb would be equivalent of a Motel 6 or Best Western. If you want the Hilton or Marriott, it would be at least 2x or 3x the price of an Airbnb.

Airbnb is much better for families whereas hotels cater to everyone else basically.

Air BNBs all the way! I just got back from one in NC mountains. We rented a lodge right next to a river with a cow pasture literally next to the house. Besides a washer and dryer...It had a hammock, fire pit, grill, farm fresh eggs, sweets from a local bakery, plus milk and orange juice and a stocked coffee bar. Then there was also a basket of decent snacks.

The Airbnb before had the same attention to detail but much smaller. They owned most land near the house so they built 2 little cabins near them to rent. This one came with a "free" bottle of whiskey. It also had a Blackstone and fire pit as well.

All hotels offer is the same shitty breakfast foods and coffee. Much rather be enjoying my vacation even if we wanted to spend half the day home at an Airbnb. Can't beat the perks. Just need to do your homework, not all Airbnb's are shitty rented side rooms. For the last 5 years my extended family and I had rented several houses big enough for the 9 of us. All with plenty to do around the house when you need a break from driving, hiking, restaurants and shopping.

My kids are coeliac so we have a greater need to cook meals for ourselves. So we prefer staying in rented apartments / villas etc when on holiday. There are some aparthotels where a kitchen and actual bedrooms are available and we'll use those if they are affordable. Private accommodation also tends to be larger though and if airbnb seems sketchy there are also property rental companies - when we're in Florida we tend to rent a villa from one of these and it's been all fine. We're going to Turkey this year and have rented a top floor apartment overlooking a marina.

Yall have some rough luck with ABNB properties. I stay 4-6 times per year and it’s been a breeze.