XP: Airbnb?

flutteringinfl

I posted about this on the Honeymoon board but it occurred to me that I might get a better response here. We're thinking of using Airbnb for part of our honeymoon in Sydney. I've heard great experiences from a friend, but online reviews are sometimes scary. Anyone have any personal experiences they could share? And if you would recommend, are there any questions to ask/things to look out for?

thisismynickname2

I haven't used it myself, but also have friends who've had great experiences. 

I'm a contingency planner- what if the keys aren't where they're supposed to be? What if something breaks in the unit while we're there? What if the cleanliness isn't what was promised (or if anything isn't what was promised)?  What if we can't reach the owner when we need to? 

Part of me considered Air BNB for our honeymoon too, but we decided we'd rather be "waited on" (by a hotel) than basically live like we were at home anyway (washing our own sheets or washing dishes or whatever).  

But, if the price for Air BNB is much better than any hotel you could get, go for it. 

flutteringinfl

Yeah, I get what you're saying. We're planning on visiting a few different locations for our honeymoon, so I thought it might be interesting to stay in an apartment in one location, where we'd have the option to cook our own meals and spread out a bit, then spend the other parts in a traditional hotel.

climbingsingle

We used Airbnb for our HM. We booked an apartment in Florence for 10 days. Honestly, I couldn't have been happier with our experience. 

bizzy592

I've used it a few times, and had consistently positive experiences. Once in Maine for a wedding in a remote area (the one B&B within 20 miles was booked months in advance), I ended up in the adorable guest room of a country artist. The other, in a charming lake house in NH.

I'd recommend selecting 'entire property', which will give you listings for small cottages and apartments, rather than guest rooms in peoples homes. Read the reviews, and go with listings who have a decent number of them.

pinkcow13

I have no advice. I just want to say that we are honeymooning in Sydney also!!! 

We really considered doing AirBnB and looked into it, but in the end we went with a travel agent and a regular hotel. 

sarahufl

Ahhh, Sydney is SO GREAT. We loved it. We were only there for a few days, but wish we could have stayed longer.

JaniV123

we have used it and it was a bad experience, we have had friends with both good and bad. My advice be very weary and ask directly about any and all amenities... literallly. 

Last thing you need is to be on you HM with no AC on a really hot place, have no water heater in a maybe cool place, have a kitchen full of pots and no utensils... etc .. 

ashley8918

JaniV123 said:

we have used it and it was a bad experience, we have had friends with both good and bad. My advice be very weary and ask directly about any and all amenities... literallly. 

Last thing you need is to be on you HM with no AC on a really hot place, have no water heater in a maybe cool place, have a kitchen full of pots and no utensils... etc .. 

What, specifically, was your bad experience? (If you don't mind sharing)

Kahlyla

We are hosts and rent out three different units, have for a couple of years now. On the hosting side, I've only encountered a small handful of guests I'd have rather not rented to (they didn't do any damage though) out of maybe a hundred or so, but that doesn't really help you, hehe. I might be able to answer questions or dispel fears for you, though, and I'd be happy to do so!

We have used it once as guests and had a pretty good experience. The place we rented was basically just as had been promised in the listing, with a few minor drawbacks - it was fully lived in by the host at the time (I guess she went to stay with her partner or a friend for that weekend, so we did have the place to ourselves) which we weren't really expecting, so there were like her toiletries everywhere, the closets were stuffed to capacity, etc. She must have forgotten to clean/empty her coffee maker and her dishwasher, too. Also, the place wasn't *quite* as clean as a nice hotel would have been. I mean, it was basically clean, but I think it takes either a very clean person generally or just a bit of practice to kind of see things the way a professional cleaner would and meet those standards, when it's your own apartment and you're kind of used to it, you know? There was an outlet and a lamp (separately) that didn't work; she lived in an older building and had been in touch with electricians and such to fix it, it was no big deal, but one of those things that doesn't really come up in a hotel. No A/C, but she had fans and it was luckily not too hot that weekend. A bit warmer than we would have liked, though.

We have a checklist we run through to make sure we don't have any of those issues on the hosting side. We also rent out "virgin" spaces, we don't live in that house anymore, so it's ALL for Airbnb - none of our stuff, no clutter, no clothes in the closets, etc. People get to feel like it's all theirs, and everything in there has been purchased with guests in mind, so we went out and bought a set of dishes, flatware, glassware, nice white towels and linens, new lamps, blankets, soaps, etc. We basically run it like our little hotel and people seem quite pleased overall.

I would continue to use it a guest as well, mainly because, for us, we like to have a full "home" with separate bedrooms for us and the kids and a kitchen. I actually love hotels but it's such a treat to be able to stay up talking or watching a movie with my husband while the kids can sleep full-on in their own room (and this is generally far cheaper than a massive hotel suite, for example). If it were just DH and myself it would probably be a toss-up between hotels, B&Bs, and Airbnb, depending on if we wanted to cook and such. Let's put it this way - I wouldn't pay MORE for an Airbnb for just the two of us.

Wow, sorry that was so long - good luck!

flutteringinfl

sarahufl said:

Ahhh, Sydney is SO GREAT. We loved it. We were only there for a few days, but wish we could have stayed longer.

That's awesome! We're excited. We've both traveled but neither of us have been to Australia. We're hoping to do a few days in Sydney, a few days in the Great Barrier Reef, and a few days somewhere in New Zealand. Not sure which part yet. Wherever we have the best chance of being recruited by the Flight of the Concords ;-)

One of the Airbnb listings is a "Manly beach studio." I looked at the pictures and couldn't figure out what was so manly about it until I realized that's the name of the neighborhood.

charcoalandblush

We used HomeAway (the exact same thing, just a different site) for our vacation in Hawaii as well as a family trip to Mexico. Both were incredible experiences. Much nicer places than the types of hotels we could afford, we cooked a lot of our own meals and saved money there too. It was fantastic.

sarahufl

flutteringinfl said:

sarahufl said:

Ahhh, Sydney is SO GREAT. We loved it. We were only there for a few days, but wish we could have stayed longer.

That's awesome! We're excited. We've both traveled but neither of us have been to Australia. We're hoping to do a few days in Sydney, a few days in the Great Barrier Reef, and a few days somewhere in New Zealand. Not sure which part yet. Wherever we have the best chance of being recruited by the Flight of the Concords ;-)

One of the Airbnb listings is a "Manly beach studio." I looked at the pictures and couldn't figure out what was so manly about it until I realized that's the name of the neighborhood.

We did 3 weeks in Australia/NZ. Both of us agreed it was just not enough time. We spent a few days in Sydney, then drove the Great Ocean Road for a couple days. We spent a week on the north island of NZ and a week on the south island. I would love to go back and spend a month in just Australia alone. Let me know if you want some Sydney tips!

flutteringinfl

sarahufl said:

flutteringinfl said:

sarahufl said:

Ahhh, Sydney is SO GREAT. We loved it. We were only there for a few days, but wish we could have stayed longer.

That's awesome! We're excited. We've both traveled but neither of us have been to Australia. We're hoping to do a few days in Sydney, a few days in the Great Barrier Reef, and a few days somewhere in New Zealand. Not sure which part yet. Wherever we have the best chance of being recruited by the Flight of the Concords ;-)

One of the Airbnb listings is a "Manly beach studio." I looked at the pictures and couldn't figure out what was so manly about it until I realized that's the name of the neighborhood.

We did 3 weeks in Australia/NZ. Both of us agreed it was just not enough time. We spent a few days in Sydney, then drove the Great Ocean Road for a couple days. We spent a week on the north island of NZ and a week on the south island. I would love to go back and spend a month in just Australia alone. Let me know if you want some Sydney tips!

We have two weeks and I can already tell we'll be wishing we have more time, but we probably won't get more than two weeks of PTO any time soon anyway.

What's a good neighborhood to stay in, you think? I'm seeing listings for all over.

sarahufl

flutteringinfl said:

sarahufl said:

flutteringinfl said:

sarahufl said:

Ahhh, Sydney is SO GREAT. We loved it. We were only there for a few days, but wish we could have stayed longer.

That's awesome! We're excited. We've both traveled but neither of us have been to Australia. We're hoping to do a few days in Sydney, a few days in the Great Barrier Reef, and a few days somewhere in New Zealand. Not sure which part yet. Wherever we have the best chance of being recruited by the Flight of the Concords ;-)

One of the Airbnb listings is a "Manly beach studio." I looked at the pictures and couldn't figure out what was so manly about it until I realized that's the name of the neighborhood.

We did 3 weeks in Australia/NZ. Both of us agreed it was just not enough time. We spent a few days in Sydney, then drove the Great Ocean Road for a couple days. We spent a week on the north island of NZ and a week on the south island. I would love to go back and spend a month in just Australia alone. Let me know if you want some Sydney tips!

We have two weeks and I can already tell we'll be wishing we have more time, but we probably won't get more than two weeks of PTO any time soon anyway.

What's a good neighborhood to stay in, you think? I'm seeing listings for all over.

We were supposed to stay in the CBD (central business district) but we arrived on the day of the hostage take over of that chocolate shop which was NEXT DOOR to our hotel. So they had to evacuate and re-locate everyone and we ended up staying sort of further away than we would've liked (on the other side of Hyde Park). I think the CBD is a good area, or by The Rocks. We walked over the bridge to North Sydney one day and it is beautiful, although you may want to stay on the other side.

flutteringinfl

sarahufl said:

flutteringinfl said:

sarahufl said:

flutteringinfl said:

sarahufl said:

Ahhh, Sydney is SO GREAT. We loved it. We were only there for a few days, but wish we could have stayed longer.

That's awesome! We're excited. We've both traveled but neither of us have been to Australia. We're hoping to do a few days in Sydney, a few days in the Great Barrier Reef, and a few days somewhere in New Zealand. Not sure which part yet. Wherever we have the best chance of being recruited by the Flight of the Concords ;-)

One of the Airbnb listings is a "Manly beach studio." I looked at the pictures and couldn't figure out what was so manly about it until I realized that's the name of the neighborhood.

We did 3 weeks in Australia/NZ. Both of us agreed it was just not enough time. We spent a few days in Sydney, then drove the Great Ocean Road for a couple days. We spent a week on the north island of NZ and a week on the south island. I would love to go back and spend a month in just Australia alone. Let me know if you want some Sydney tips!

We have two weeks and I can already tell we'll be wishing we have more time, but we probably won't get more than two weeks of PTO any time soon anyway.

What's a good neighborhood to stay in, you think? I'm seeing listings for all over.

We were supposed to stay in the CBD (central business district) but we arrived on the day of the hostage take over of that chocolate shop which was NEXT DOOR to our hotel. So they had to evacuate and re-locate everyone and we ended up staying sort of further away than we would've liked (on the other side of Hyde Park). I think the CBD is a good area, or by The Rocks. We walked over the bridge to North Sydney one day and it is beautiful, although you may want to stay on the other side.

Oh jeez! That must have been scary. I think a central location sounds good. Some of the beach apartments look cool but since we're also hoping to go to the Great Barrier Reef I think we'll want to focus on city attractions while were in Sydney.

sarahufl

flutteringinfl said:

sarahufl said:

flutteringinfl said:

sarahufl said:

flutteringinfl said:

sarahufl said:

Ahhh, Sydney is SO GREAT. We loved it. We were only there for a few days, but wish we could have stayed longer.

That's awesome! We're excited. We've both traveled but neither of us have been to Australia. We're hoping to do a few days in Sydney, a few days in the Great Barrier Reef, and a few days somewhere in New Zealand. Not sure which part yet. Wherever we have the best chance of being recruited by the Flight of the Concords ;-)

One of the Airbnb listings is a "Manly beach studio." I looked at the pictures and couldn't figure out what was so manly about it until I realized that's the name of the neighborhood.

We did 3 weeks in Australia/NZ. Both of us agreed it was just not enough time. We spent a few days in Sydney, then drove the Great Ocean Road for a couple days. We spent a week on the north island of NZ and a week on the south island. I would love to go back and spend a month in just Australia alone. Let me know if you want some Sydney tips!

We have two weeks and I can already tell we'll be wishing we have more time, but we probably won't get more than two weeks of PTO any time soon anyway.

What's a good neighborhood to stay in, you think? I'm seeing listings for all over.

We were supposed to stay in the CBD (central business district) but we arrived on the day of the hostage take over of that chocolate shop which was NEXT DOOR to our hotel. So they had to evacuate and re-locate everyone and we ended up staying sort of further away than we would've liked (on the other side of Hyde Park). I think the CBD is a good area, or by The Rocks. We walked over the bridge to North Sydney one day and it is beautiful, although you may want to stay on the other side.

Oh jeez! That must have been scary. I think a central location sounds good. Some of the beach apartments look cool but since we're also hoping to go to the Great Barrier Reef I think we'll want to focus on city attractions while were in Sydney.

Well, thankfully, we had not checked in yet. I believe it began around 9am and we didn't actually land till 6pm so we never even got near the hotel.

But yes, scary! We were just fortunate we weren't actually there.

esstee33

I stayed in a guest room in someone's home a couple summers ago and it was phenomenal. I had been thinking about moving to Philly and stayed with this super nice lady for the weekend. She even left me some chocolates and a little note in my room with the wifi password and some kind words about hoping I found my home there (although English wasn't her first language, so I don't know if she meant it like she hoped I found my "place" in Philly, or she hoped I found her home to my liking, haha). Her house was so calm and peaceful, like a yoga studio. She spent most of her time at work or the meditation center, and I came and went as I pleased. I had a key, so I didn't need her to let me in when I came back later at night. It was way better than I expected from the listing! 

FI and I booked a house in New Orleans for our wedding, and I'm super excited. This time we have the whole house (or, anyway, a private half of a shotgun double) all to ourselves. I'm really hoping it's as great as my first experience! 

katiekessler123

We've used VRBO (similar to airbnb) for multiple vacations, and we already booked our vacation in the Caribbeanthis summer with VRBO.  We've always had good experiences.  The only hitch we ever had was about two years ago.  We booked a beach house in Dewey Beach with a group of friends through VRBO.  We hadn't put a deposit down, but HAD signed a contract with the owner and the owner had marked us down for the week we wanted.  When it was time for us to pay, we contacted the owner and the owner told us she had decided to use the house herself for the week instead of rent to us.  The problem was, it was so late in the game that we could not find another house without paying through the nose.  We contacted the rental group that her house was listed with (the information was all on VRBO) and they actually rented us an even better/nicer/bigger house for the same price we had been contracted with the original house.  It ended up working out, but potentially might not have if the rental company wasn't willing to help.  Anyway, one bad experience out of 8 or 9 good ones is a good track record, I'd say!

redwoodoriginal

We've used airbnb several times, once a guest room, twice entire homes, and just booked one for my parents when they come to visit us over the summer. All good experiences, except once my DH rented an apt for a week while on a business trip and the apt came with no toilet paper... The host was like "that's an extra" when he complained, so just verify before plopping yourself down on the toilet!

Scottie17

You have to evaluate your threshold for uncertainty. If the pipes break in the place you've reserved or something else goes on that prevents you from staying there, you are out of luck and will have to scramble. At least in a hotel environment, there are other rooms. Bad things have gone wrong twice for me that prevented us from taking the reservation at the last minute.

It's your own personal management for this risk, moreso than the ripoff element at this point.

pinupbride6189

I've used it once. FI and I rented a room in a very nice couple's home while we were venue hunting. The space was very clean and comfortable, and they were very accommodating, but mostly stayed out of our hair. We'll probably use it in the future as well.

artbyallie

We used Airbnb for our trip to Puerto Rico last year. We chose one with a large number of glowing reviews and were thrilled with everything: the price, our hostess, the location, the amenities. We will be using Airbnb this year for a trip to New Orleans.