Airbnb

[Longhorned]

What do you think of Airbnb as opposed to hotels?

I've done a lot of both, and I can think of only one advantage to Airbnb:

more sinks. Usually there are more sinks in a house than there are in a hotel room.

That's it. Except for all the distinct disadvantages of staying in an Airbnb. More sinks doesn't remotely make up for all you lose in the exchange.

What am I missing?

[Merkin]

More flexible check in times with AIr B&B?

I find hotels are pretty inflexible on them.

[TucsonClip]

Depending on location, you can get an entire house/condo around the same price as a hotel. There are clearly other major benefits, especially in beach communities, and this is why the hotel industry is trying to eliminate the Airbnb threat in the coastal zones of the entire state of California by backing certain elected officials.

[Alieberman]

What do you think of Air B&B as opposed to hotels?

I've done a lot of both, and I can think of only one advantage to Air B&B:

more sinks. Usually there are more sinks in a house than there are in a hotel room.

That's it. Except for all the distinct disadvantages of staying in an Art B&B. More sinks doesn't remotely make up for all you lose in the exchange.

What am I missing?

I love AB@B's for vacation for many reasons:

5) Don't have to deal with hotel registration
4) Don't have to deal with hotel guests
3) If you plan on having some of your vacation just lounging around inside- hotel rooms suck.
2) If you like to still cook when you are on vacation, you have a full kitchen
1) If you have kids.... OWN BEDROOMS!!!!!!!! Alone time with the wife is the only reason I really need and why we usually only do AB&B when we are vacationing with our kids.

[azgreg]

We've used Air BnB the last two trips and I'm sold.

[Longhorned]

More flexible check in times with AIr B&B?

I find hotels are pretty inflexible on them.

I've had some pretty extreme situations trying to get into an Air B&B I've reserved. And worse, I've twice had an owner cancel my reservation right before I got there.

I've never had a problem checking into a hotel. If I get in too early, I can leave my bags in the special, guarded room in the lobby area. Same with when I check out.

But when I'm too early for an Air B&B reservation, or there's too much time between check out and my flight, I'm stuck with my bags.

[Merkin]

Good point. I have just heard of people using AirB&B for nooners, which you can't do in any hotels I am aware. No NoTel Motels around here.

My youngest son went to a wedding in Las Vegas last year where they Air B&Bed a whole house, and partied long and loud.

Couldn't do that in a hotel.

[Longhorned]

Depending on location, you can get an entire house/condo around the same price as a hotel. There are clearly other major benefits, especially in beach communities, and this is why the hotel industry is trying to eliminate the Airbnb threat in the coastal zones of the entire state of California by backing certain elected officials.

I agree with what you're saying, but Air B&B is ruining that advantage, not helping it. I say that because getting an entire house is an old tradition. Think back to the 1900's when we used to rent houses at La Jolla and Rocky Point, and other beach vacation places. It was its own thing. Now that Air B&B has blown up, all those VAT charges and hotel taxes and stuff we never used to pay has gotten tagged onto the bill. And, as you say, the hotel industry is going after the whole situation.

[Alieberman]

More flexible check in times with AIr B&B?

I find hotels are pretty inflexible on them.

I've had some pretty extreme situations trying to get into an Air B&B I've reserved. And worse, I've twice had an owner cancel my reservation right before I got there.

I've never had a problem checking into a hotel. If I get in too early, I can leave my bags in the special, guarded room in the lobby area. Same with when I check out.

But when I'm too early for an Air B&B reservation, or there's too much time between check out and my flight, I'm stuck with my bags.

I've had the exact opposite experience. We took a trip in NY a few years ago and took a red eye.... landed in NY at 6am. We would have been screwed if we were staying at a hotel.. But I had been talking to the owner of our AB&B and she told me as long as it wasn't booked the night before we were cool to show up at 7am. It worked out perfectly.

The key is communicating with the owners and read the reviews. I've never had a bad experience.

[Longhorned]

What do you think of Air B&B as opposed to hotels?

I've done a lot of both, and I can think of only one advantage to Air B&B:

more sinks. Usually there are more sinks in a house than there are in a hotel room.

That's it. Except for all the distinct disadvantages of staying in an Art B&B. More sinks doesn't remotely make up for all you lose in the exchange.

What am I missing?

I love AB@B's for vacation for many reasons:

5) Don't have to deal with hotel registration
4) Don't have to deal with hotel guests
3) If you plan on having some of your vacation just lounging around inside- hotel rooms suck.
2) If you like to still cook when you are on vacation, you have a full kitchen
1) If you have kids.... OWN BEDROOMS!!!!!!!! Alone time with the wife is the only reason I really need and why we usually only do AB&B when we are vacationing with our kids.

5) What's hard about hotel registration?
4) Okay, I'll give you that one. But I did once have to deal with a neighborhood parade, which blocked my car and made it impossible for me to leave.
3) We'll disagree on this. I love lounging around hotel rooms. I feel like I'm in a movie and something is about to happen.

2) Bullshit. I've never gotten a kitchen that included a knife capable of cutting anything. And basic stuff to basic things is never there. Also, it's often shocking how far away the closest store is to get food. I HATE GETTING IN LATE AND WAKING UP WITH NO COFFEE AVAILABLE AND TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET IT WITH AN UN-COFFEE'D BRAIN AND PEOPLE TELLING ME, WELL, YOU SHOULD HAVE PACKED YOUR OWN. FUCK YOU!!!!!!!

1) Better yet to put them in a different hotel room. My 3 year old is too young for that, so a suite is perfect.

[scumdevils86]

I love VRBO. Used it for almost every trip I've taken the last 5 or so years. Never had a problem. Almost never stay in hotels anymore.

[84Cat]

We only book a hotel if we can't find a good airbnb. We have even stayed in an airbnb for up to 3 weeks

[Alieberman]

Another plus... you can easily bring your dogs to house rentals. It sucks to stay in a hotel with a dog.

[84Cat]

What do you think of Air B&B as opposed to hotels?

I've done a lot of both, and I can think of only one advantage to Air B&B:

more sinks. Usually there are more sinks in a house than there are in a hotel room.

That's it. Except for all the distinct disadvantages of staying in an Art B&B. More sinks doesn't remotely make up for all you lose in the exchange.

What am I missing?

I love AB@B's for vacation for many reasons:

5) Don't have to deal with hotel registration
4) Don't have to deal with hotel guests
3) If you plan on having some of your vacation just lounging around inside- hotel rooms suck.
2) If you like to still cook when you are on vacation, you have a full kitchen
1) If you have kids.... OWN BEDROOMS!!!!!!!! Alone time with the wife is the only reason I really need and why we usually only do AB&B when we are vacationing with our kids.

5) What's hard about hotel registration?
4) Okay, I'll give you that one. But I did once have to deal with a neighborhood parade, which blocked my car and made it impossible for me to leave.
3) We'll disagree on this. I love lounging around hotel rooms. I feel like I'm in a movie and something is about to happen.

2) Bullshit. I've never gotten a kitchen that included a knife capable of cutting anything. And basic stuff to basic things is never there. Also, it's often shocking how far away the closest store is to get food. I HATE GETTING IN LATE AND WAKING UP WITH NO COFFEE AVAILABLE AND TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET IT WITH AN UN-COFFEE'D BRAIN AND PEOPLE TELLING ME, WELL, YOU SHOULD HAVE PACKED YOUR OWN. FUCK YOU!!!!!!!

1) Better yet to put them in a different hotel room. My 3 year old is too young for that, so a suite is perfect.

Dude, you gotta read the amenities and reviews. I will not stay anywhere without coffee. Look at the pictures too

[Alieberman]

LH-

You are staying in really bad Air B&Bs.

[84Cat]

Another plus... you can easily bring your dogs to house rentals. It sucks to stay in a hotel with a dog.

We bring our bikes. Hotels can be weird about bikes

[Longhorned]

LH-

You are staying in really bad Air B&Bs.

It's been uneven. Usually the good ones are abroad. Best one ever was in Mexico City. Fully stocked with food, coffee, beer, toothpaste, lotions, robes, slippers....

But I just stayed in one in PIttsburgh that didn't include anything they said they would, but did include a note admonishing us that if we don't give them 5-stars like everyone else does (and they do), we'll put them at risk. Nice guilt trip. Wouldn't work for me, but it worked for my wife, who followed suit and gave them 5 stars.

But even when you get a nice apartment with all the amenities, things go wrong and don't get fixed like they do in a hotel. Like that week in Berlin without hot water. The property owner, Walter, was out of town, and he duly had the problem fixed after we flew back home.

[Chicat]

With the kids, we VRBO almost exclusively. I'm not repeatedly getting $8 pancakes or $9 chicken fingers that won't get eaten by those little ungrateful bastards when they can easily eat eggs & bacon or a ham & cheese/PB&J sandwich straight out of the condo kitchen. And as was already mentioned, there's the separate rooms thing.

For the few trips when it's just me and the wife, we always get a hotel. I want to be able to wander down to the bar late at night for a couple of cocktails or order up a fatty breakfast. But we stay in some truly nice places. Like the SLS Baha Mar in the Bahamas or the Hotel Jerome in Aspen. Too nice for my kids to ruin and way more amenities and services than a VRBO condo or house could ever offer.

[Jefe]

My go to is AirBNB. Ive stayed at some amazing places and no issues at all. Just stayed at a condo in Scottsdale this weekend. 3bd 2ba, patio overlooking Fashion Square, 24 hour gym, 3 indoor/outdoor pools, putting greens, and an indoor basketball court that we used at 1A

[Merkin]

[CalStateTempe]

Hotels in the states

Airbnb’s abroad.

[dovecanyoncat]

Depending on location, you can get an entire house/condo around the same price as a hotel. There are clearly other major benefits, especially in beach communities, and this is why the hotel industry is trying to eliminate the Airbnb threat in the coastal zones of the entire state of California by backing certain elected officials.

I agree with what you're saying, but Air B&B is ruining that advantage, not helping it. I say that because getting an entire house is an old tradition. Think back to the 1900's when we used to rent houses at La Jolla and Rocky Point, and other beach vacation places. It was its own thing. Now that Air B&B has blown up, all those VAT charges and hotel taxes and stuff we never used to pay has gotten tagged onto the bill. And, as you say, the hotel industry is going after the whole situation.

Short-term rental laws are a mixed bag for some communities. We learned, after buying in Sedona, that the AZ state legislature had recently disallowed cities' ability to block short-term rentals. Now the hotel industry, some neighborhoods, and service industry employees who have seen their long-term rental options vanish, are all up in arms. I can see both sides: if you own a place and want to make some coin there's some fat times to peddle your place throughout the year in a resort town. But if I lived in a neighborhood with limited parking overwhelmed by noisy, inebriated renters I'd feel differently. Lot's a workers are super pissed now that their landlords booted them from houses they had rented for years. They have to rent in neighboring towns now and commute. And suddenly all the smaller local condos were purchased in a frenzy.

But yeah, hotels domestically when on the road; Air B&B overseas except when arrival/departure logistics favor hotels.

[catgrad97]

Where did you buy in Sedona, dovecanyoncat, if I may ask? Chapel district, VOC, West Sedona or Uptown?

I ask because I bought in Cottonwood 11 years ago and commuted to Sedona for three years. It hasnever been a buyers' market there.

[azgreg]

Booked!!

[dovecanyoncat]

Where did you buy in Sedona, dovecanyoncat, if I may ask? Chapel district, VOC, West Sedona or Uptown?

I ask because I bought in Cottonwood 11 years ago and commuted to Sedona for three years. It hasnever been a buyers' market there.

West Sedona. And I totally agree, but we just got tired of waiting for it to become a buyer's market. Now, if only the damned San Antonio condo would sell ....

Love Cottonwood. Now that we know more about it it makes one wonder whether we should have ...., oh well.

[84Cat]

We worked at a festival in Joshua Tree last year and our airbnb was in a 8 plex. The owner bought the entire complex and turned all the units into airbnb's. From what I understand, Joshua Tree is one of the most profitable places to own airbnb's.

[Longhorned]

Another bad experience. This time the internet went out before we arrived. The superhosts can't figure out how to fix it, and Cox will be out to look over the situation about a week from now. So we have to go without internet and TV for our whole stay. That's really rough when you have kids and it's raining all day during covid when you can't go inside anywhere.

These things don't happen in hotels. I'm really ready to stop trying this.

[UAEebs86]

Another bad experience. This time the internet went out before we arrived. The superhosts can't figure out how to fix it, and Cox will be out to look over the situation about a week from now. So we have to go without internet and TV for our whole stay. That's really rough when you have kids and it's raining all day during covid when you can't go inside anywhere.

These things don't happen in hotels. I'm really ready to stop trying this.

I agree Airbnb has gone downhill.

Does your cell phone plan allow hot spots?

If not, there are ways around it.

[scumdevils86]

Yea I've stayed in about 10 different VRBO or Airbnb properties the last 7 years and they've all been so much better than a hotel. I've stayed in about 7 hotels (not counting work trips) in that time frame too and I hated it.

[Chicat]

Read the reviews. Whether it’s a hotel or AirBNB, read the reviews. And keep reading them. If you book something two months in advance, keep checking to see if anyone has an updated take. We stayed at an all-inclusive with great reviews. The food sucked donkey dick. When we got home we went back and read the reviews again and every one that came in after we booked mentioned the food had gone way downhill.

[scumdevils86]

We stayed in a small cottage 5 mins from the beach in Oregon and 2 mins from the town's main drag in late May. It was incredibly well appointed and nice for it's age and size. It was all about reading the reviews though.