We’ve stayed at one Airbnb last year in Palm Springs and it was amazing! I would definitely stay in an Airbnb again, but I always check all my options and a lot of times a hotel is less expensive &/or in a better location.
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keep the full amount they left for no good reason! it was st Patricks day, what does she expect! it was a one off, not like the downstairs people were partying everynight.
Airbnb removed a review by a guest who demanded money in review and stated that it was not clear that my unit offered sofas NOT sofa beds.
I had sent him a message through Airbnb before his reservation of “Let’s make sure this unit will meet your group’s needs. The unit has 1 Queen bed, 1 double bed, 1 twin bed, 1 double air mattress, 2-sofas (not sofa beds)”
Airbnb CS viewed our correspondence and considered his demand for money in the review and deleted the review.
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Wondering and surprised… Can guests use your sofas as a bed? Because that is what the message sounds like, and lots of hosts would try to discourage the guests from doing so.
@GutHend
I understand your question. The sofas are large and comfortable for sleeping. One of the sofas used to be my favorite nap site. I have sheets & blankets for the sofas. The condo is a 1,600 sq ft full home rental.
The pics show the sofas. I decided to put it up front and be able to charge for the extra guests because people will try to sneak “extras” in. I can hear the conversation now, “come with us. there’s plenty of room. You can sleep on the couch”
I always remind guests who have more than 4 guests staying about the air bed & sofas. If these are not acceptable they can book some place else.
Regarding the hotel vs. Airbnb debate, I noticed last night that the hotel that’s nearest to us has rooms ‘starting at $239’. Our guests get a full one bedroom apartment entirely to themselves. Even with the cleaning fee and Airbnb fees included, our rentals are about $100 cheaper per night.
The hotel offers (copied and pasted from their website):
Full-service Concierge to accommodate all requests
Complimentary basic wireless Internet
Business center in the Hotel lobby
7-story parking garage on site with convenient pay by phone
24-hour front desk - Designated non-smoking hotel
Pet friendly hotel with designated pet-friendly rooms
Fitness Center - Gift shop - Valet Parking
And us? Well, we don’t have a gift shop to entice guests to spend even more money. We don’t have a fitness centre but guests can kayak or paddleboard right from our dock. We don’t have a 24 concierge service but I’m on the premises and available for guests most of the time … and I recommend places I genuinely like, rather than for business (back-hander) reasons. We have free parking and if you really want valet parking I’ll park your car for you, you lazy article! You don’t need a business centre because the apartment has several ‘laptop-friendly workspaces’ and high-speed internet.
Plus, the hotel is on a busy street and we’re in a quiet cul-de-sac right on the water’s edge.
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I’m on my way…
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A friend and I went to Albuquerque in fall of 2015 and again in 2017. In 2015 we stayed in a “boutique” hotel @ $180 a night. That got us one fairly traditional, small hotel room with 2 beds. They had a bar and a restaurant and were walking distance to the venue where the concert was we were there to attend. We did eat that night at the well reviewed tapas restaurant at the hotel. They also allow one night bookings.
When we went back this past fall I booked an airbnb that’s only $155 a night but he usually requires 3 nights. I got lucky when he had the calendar open for a 2 night stay just after the huge Balloon Fiesta when no one goes there, lol. For that price we got a beautiful and nicely located 3 bed, 2 bath home. So we each get our own bedroom and bathroom. But it wasn’t walking distance to anywhere we wanted to go we had Uber fees. It was nice to have coffee in the sun room in the morning but we had to drive to breakfast or make our own.
It was my friend’s first Airbnb and she liked it because I took care of everything but I don’t think I made her a convert. She likes to pull up to the door, have someone park the car and to have a concierge arrange things, etc. I have several friends who claim they would never use an airbnb unless it was just like mine. LOL.
There’s room for all of us.
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When my son landed an internship on Capitol Hill I thought about an Air but because of the distance we have to travel from Hawaii, it puts us there so very late. I began to look at hotels. This was the first of January and the rates were totally reasonable. I booked a big place at first until someone here (doesn’t post anymore) advised me that that was a gentrifying area and not so good. I looked around until I found a gorgeous boutique hotel in a great area and the rate was only $79 per night! They had free breakfast, wine and cheese hour and unmatched friendliness plus a really cool vintage building and luxurious rooms. Also an outstanding location in the upscale DuPont circle area. Mind you their rates are $348 per night now, so we got lucky in the middle of winter. It was one of the best hotel experiences of my life and I didn’t have to worry about deposits, rules, cleaning fees or service fees. 
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When I was in Fredricksburg, VA I couldn’t find a suitable Airbnb so I used that opportunity to stay at a 250 year old “haunted” traditional Bed and Breakfast. There are still big swaths of country with a very poor selection of Airbnb’s.
For the curious here are the Albuquerque places I chose. I notice the Airbnb owner has added properties to his portfolio. That’s unfortunate as I really want to patronize homeonwers, not investors.
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Oooo that haunted place sounds so cool!!! 
It was okay. I was the only guest there that night (10 room inn). Nothing, nada, zilch. I don’t believe in ghosts so they don’t bother using their limited energy to appear to me, they know it’s a waste of effort. LOL.
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You can get great hotel deals in DC metro area on the weekends when hotels have fewer business travelers and unbooked rooms.
Right now, the Holiday Inn up the street from me (and 4 blocks to the metro compared to my 8 blocks) is advertising $95/night next weekend. Of course that doesn’t include taxes, mine does AND I have free parking. But definitely one of my competitors on the weekend and I am careful to match them.
If you’re willing to go further out (still near a metro) rates drop to $85 range for Marriott and other decent hotels. As for downtown, Kona, I found 2 for you – one next to the zoo, and one at Logan circle – for $99 with brekkie.
So these hotels – and the 300 other Airbnb hosts, both permitted and illegal, in my vicinity – really put a lid on my rates. I don’t use Air smart pricing (who in their right mind would?) but Air has got it totally backwards and suggests higher prices on the weekends. Bad algorithm for around here.
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I agree. This was in the dead of January 2016 and I’m pretty sure they were desperate for guests. It’s the Normandy (which had jacked up their prices for the March this weekend) but I think their normal rack rate is 148 or so for the off season. We loved the place, it was fabulous. Treated us like royalty.
My friend went to the March this weekend and booked the DuPont circle hotel for 150 on Hotwire. All other places for the March this weekend were showing sold out.
Ooo I love it. That’s my cuppa Tea! I love Olivia’s Room!
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My wife and I both host and stay in Air BnBs. We love it. I stay in hotels when I travel for work for the consistency and the ability to change reservations at the last minute. But if I don’t have hotel points for a free room on vacation, Air is the way to go.
Have we had interesting places? Yes, but it is a laugh. The bachelor pad that had a rug rolled up the wall because it was too big for the room. The college student with a kitchen cabinet door off the hinges. So what? It is the adventure we are after.
Air BnB is not for particular people or people who are not easy going. It’s not a quick buck or easy. But it can be an adventure and you can meet really cool people. Like the shark-nado guy from the UK. But that is another story.
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Nailed it. If you want consistently predictable go with hotels. If you want an adventure look at airbnb.
So few people get this. I wish more guests had your sense of adventure. Now they are expecting 5 star luxury at their adventure places.