If you had a choice between staying at a hotel or an airbnb, which one would you pick?

I think it could mean (for example) there is a washing machine but you can only do one wash per day. Or there is a kitchen but you can only use it between 5 and 7pm. That kind of thing

1 Like

Makes perfect sense. I would allow it when the room is available for a fee but itā€™s not available much of the time. Still, check in at any time up to 2 am and self check in would help late night travelers needing a pit stop.

1 Like

It means that you should add details if the internet signal can be patchy or if hot water is only available in the evenings etc.

I donā€™t see that these would apply to you :slight_smile:

1 Like

:100::100::100: Hotel unless I personally know the host. Too many unknowns and potential disasters.

We stayed at an ABB in 2012 when we were house hunting in Barcelona and the host charged us ā‚¬30 late check in fee because they didnt believe we would arrive before 20:00, we arrived at 19:30, then we had to wait until 21/22 for them to show up to let us into the flat. Never Again.

1 Like

Maybe you can select place that have self check in.

This seems to be a common top-up fee in Barcelona. Not surprising that Airbnb is so popular among hosts in Barcelona.

1 Like

Hotel for sure.
Many reasons:

  1. In a hotel they know what they are doing.
  2. Less possibility of finding cleanliness level at the low i encountered at some AIrbnb listings.
  3. Breakfast is most always included at the hotel, at least coffee
  4. Privacy
  5. The ā€œi can do what i wantā€ feeling
  6. Location
  7. Access
  8. Checkin is easier. I dont have to be in a certain time to meet a host.
  9. In a hotel i can relax and not clean anything and not think that i have to really be neat
    In a hotel i can cancel the last minute almost always unless its non refundable.
  10. In a hotel i can have visitors
  11. Room cleaned, fresh towels as many as i wish
  12. Amenities such as business center , pool, gym, etc.
  13. Can have my mail received.

I stayed in many Airbnbs, and though many stays were very smooth, many were not. I had and not once very dirty rooms with unacceptable low level of cleanliness. In a dirtiest hotels i never saw such low level. There were roaches and other pests, i never seen anything like that in a cheapest hotels ever. Many times check in were complicated when a host left keys for me and i could not find it. Once a host did not even say where keys would be and i assumed it would under door mat, which it was but there were several doors to the house and i had no idea which one was mine, and host did not specify. I encountered appliances are not working properly in Airbnb stays such as showers, hot water, toilets, TV. In hotel i can call and it would be immediately taken care off almost always. In airbnb its pretty much hopeless to get it fixed within short period of time.

3 Likes

:astonished::astonished::astonished:

Lots of AirBnB fans here !
Lots of believe in the product range we are selling !

Sorry, still with my mouth open and surprised :astonished:. If these are the general feelings I am really wondering if sooner or later the whole AirBnB thing is bound to go down the drain. Thereā€™s clearly something rotten in the AirBnB kingdom: Maybe AirBnB should do more onsite checks of the properties they list.

2 Likes

Iā€™ll be taking my 11th AirBNB trip this summer with husband and 2 toddlers. (Many more on vrbo on my own). Iā€™ve never had a bad experience with AirBNB ā€“ even the cheapest property was totally fine and such a great value. I never rent the most expensive properties ā€“ Iā€™m usually in the mid-range.

I think of hotels as more dirty than AirBNB because of the limited time the rushed staff has to clean each room (20-30 min). Do not drink out of glasses in your hotel room unless you see them being brought up on a cart ā€“ they are often wiped with the same sponge used on the bathroom.

4 Likes

I agree with Yana to the ā€œTā€. Ditto to everything (except for the last mention about receiving mail which never applies in my travels). I have a few more reasons but they are subjective and most everything is covered for the most part.

I have only stayed in about a dozen personal rentals but it has been enough to have drawn some generalities and similarities and conclusions. My preference is definitely for the hotel-like accommodation but even more, the all-suite hotels which are geared more toward the residential feel and the rooms are like 1 or 2 bedroom apartments. The rate includes a full hot buffet breakfast daily and a Managerā€™s cocktail Reception and a hot mini-meal about four evenings a week. Perfect!

2 Likes

Letā€™s volunteer yours first! :laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:

Honestlyā€¦ this is just the reality out here. A lot of unknowns, bad hosts, bad listings. Doesnā€™t apply to any of US perfect hosts of course!! :clap::smile:

3 Likes

Me tooā€¦ the best example I can think of is my awesome little boutique hotel in the D.C. Neighborhood of DuPont called the Normandy.

Free breakfast, FREE wine, cheese and cookies at nightā€¦from 5-6, nespresso in the room, marble shower, crazy comfy luxury bedsā€¦ all for $79 per night. No Air host could come close.

1 Like

Lucky you, really really luckyā€¦ I stayed in Airbnbs that were not just gross, it was disgusting to the point of being dangerous with broken window in m y bedroom that i did not even notice at first, but then heard a conversation at night. The house was in not a good are, famous by being a drug dealing street, hehe, i found out later when was approached near house by many of them.
I saw roaches and rats, and just incredible dirt in many airbnbs.

Also the question was about what would we pick with the same price

Barcelona is the land of extra fees. We have extra fees for everything! I only ask for a check in fee between 20:00-8:00, but of course only charge if someone checks in during those times. Also, this is what my property manager charges me. They other VERY common fee is extra person, especially in larger flats.

The above incident really annoyed me bc I was charged the fee even though I knew we would arrive before the free check in cut off period, then the check in person was 2hrs late!!

Also @sylvainbg at the time 2012 24/7 check in was not an ammentity you couldnfilter by. Plus, given the party crowd that decends on Barcelona in the Summer, 99% of hosts do a physical check in to try and detour any raucous behavior.

Iā€™ve seen all of these things in motels/hotels.

In Italy we were about to check in to our hotel. We changed our minds because we saw someone shooting up in the stairwell.

In Costa Rica we were in a hotel with cockroaches crawling all over the ceiling. We were afraid of them falling on us while we slept so we turned the light in the main room on and turned the bathroom light off so they would stay in the bathroom.

In a Motel 6 in the Bay Area in Northern California the desk clerk gave us the key and the hotel room number. We walked in on a couple having sex. The clerk didnā€™t even apologize for his error.

2 Likes

Why did i not have any doubt that i would hear from you:joy::joy:

1 Like

What are you surprised about? That hosts who dont have any hospitality experience and are just regular people with all kinds of different values in their households often dont rise up to the quality of hotels? Though there are hotels that are very bad and not that clean but there are plenty of very reasonably priced hotels with all the amenities, and at least at hotels the cleanliness level is somehow regulated . When with their own properties Airbnb host can do pretty much what they want. Of course some guests complain and cancel their stays because of it but most get away with anything, just putting very low prices and they are always rented anyway.

Youā€™re right about that Yana. The awful place I stayed in in LA still has a 4.5 stars rating overall despite being the most filthy and unsafe place Iā€™ve ever stayed.

1 Like

Yana, I couldnā€™t help but reply, :slight_smile:

1 -I think that I do too
2 - I also think that our cleanliness is great but I understand that a lot of fly-by-night hosts donā€™t have this covered.
3 - We donā€™t provide breakfast except for the first day (separate apartment) but thereā€™s unlimited coffee and tea.
4 - Being a separate apartment our guests have privacy - and no housekeeping people bobbing in every morning
6 & 7 - I think we compete well with hotels.
8 - We have anytime check in with a keypad.
9 & 10 - We canā€™t compete. :slight_smile: Although we donā€™t mind guests having visitors during the day.
11. I supply fresh towels when the guests request them.
12. Canā€™t compete (again).
13. Guests can receive mail here. (Not parcels)

So really, it depends on the listing. :slight_smile:

As my old mum used to say, ā€˜itā€™s as broad as itā€™s longā€™. Yes, she had a fund of these old sayings - Iā€™m going to have to write them all down sometime!

2 Likes

Why I prefer airbnb when convenient:

1- A hotel is guaranteed to be noisy from the hall, the room next door, and outdoors.
2- Water pressure is also always mediocre at best.
3- I know that carpet is dirty.
4- Part of my money is going to a big corporation, stockholders and the already wealthy.
5- The only place my car was ever broken into was the parking lot of a major chain hotel and the car is far from the room.
6- the internet is expensive and/or crappy
7- Staff is generally indifferent to my needs

I wonā€™t bore anyone with the details of all the bad experiences Iā€™ve had at hotels but my hotel experiences over the last 40 years break down approximately like this:
10% Grand
10% Above average
30% acceptable
20% ugh
15% Are you effin kidding me?!
15% the hotel was nice but there was a fatal flaw: the noise or the nearby smoking or the missing reservation orā€¦

My airbnb experiences, limited though they are, range from acceptable to fantastic.

6 Likes