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Hotels vs AirBnB

a tall building

The latest trend in vacationing is AirBnB. It is where you stay in someone’s home while you are one vacation. Sounds kind of strange when you are used to staying in hotels, but it can be quite an adventure when you stay in someones home. I want to share with you some of my experiences this year in the AirBnBs that we have stayed in.
Our first AirBnB was in a small town in the upper peninsula of Washington. It was a beautiful old home that sat on top of a cliff that over looked the Pacific Ocean. It was a beautiful sight. The lady that had the AirBnB lived by herself. We had the upstairs all to ourselves. There was a small living area with a coffee pot and sink to make the coffee. It was in a quiet neighborhood and we felt very safe. The only negative was the tub…it was an old fashion claw-footed tub with no shower. My 200 pound husband had a hard time with it. The positives were that we were only a few blocks from the ferry which we took to Victoria. We actually walked there. The lady was so sweet. She fixed a breakfast for us before we left on our way home.

The next one was in Florida. A group of ladies and I went to Titusville for the night and decided to rent an AirBnB. There were two houses on the property. One was a cottage and we had the house. The house didn’t have much furniture, but we didn’t need that. We had an extra guest for the night…Molly the greyhound, which slept on her pillow in the living room. She was a sweet dog and we all fell in love with Molly. The gentleman that had the AirBnB also had chickens, so we were treated to fresh eggs, fruit from the tree right outside the house, and a stocked refrigerator. We had a great breakfast…better than any restaurant breakfast.

Then my husband and I went to Seattle and decided to rent an AirBnB instead of a hotel. It was Labor Day Weekend and prices of the hotels were unreal, $250 or more for downtown. We stayed in our AirBnB for about $125 a night. This AirBnB was an apartment in the basement of a house. There was a full kitchen, washer and dryer, queen-size bed and a huge bathroom/dressing room. You could sit outside and see the Space Needle. It was the most beautiful AirBnB that we stayed in. There were only 2 problems with this one. First, it was up a very steep hill (according to my FitBit, 6 stories from bottom to the AirBnB). The other problem, Seattle was in a heat wave and there was no air-conditioner. There was a fan. It was a little warm.

Then, my husband and I went to Vancouver and stayed in another AirBnB. We got off our cruise about 10:00 and were not suppose to check in until 4:00. We explained to the lady that had the AirBnB our situation and she let us come on in early. She worked from home, so she was there all the time. She was a young lady and the apartment was decorated in a modern taste. We had the bedroom and she slept in the living room. This was kind of different, but she was a really nice lady. The bed in the bedroom was against the wall so that meant that there was only one way to get out. I had to crawl over my husband to get out. We had to leave very early and she had coffee and bagels ready for us for breakfast.

My last AirBnB experience was in Montreal. I stayed with a friend and we had the whole apartment. We were on the 17th floor with a great view of Old Montreal. When we left to go to our conference the next morning, we ran into others that were going to the same conference. We also found out that the first 13 floors of the building was a high-end hotel and the rest of the building was apartments which were rented out to AirBnB guest. We paid probably half of what the hotel guest paid and had twice the room. I would paid that any day!

So, these have been my experiences this past year with staying in AirBnBs. I find that they are much cheaper that a hotel. Most are really nice and have some sort of perks given by the owner. You rate your host, but they rate you as well. So far, I have an excellent rating, which mean people will be more willing to rent to me. I have met some really nice people that rent their place to complete strangers. I love meeting new people from the places I visit. They know the ins and outs of a town. AirBnB has a great app that helps you stay in touch with your host. It was easy getting to all the AirBnBs that we stayed in and felt like we knew the host before we ever got there.
Some downfalls to AirBnBs. There is no room service, so you have to make your own beds. That doesn’t bother me. Some ask that you strip your bed before you leave, others don’t. Even though you can go to the website to see the pictures of the place you plan to stay in, sometimes it isn’t quite what you were expecting.
I have loved our experience of staying in AirBnBs this year. AirBnB has a new customer in me. I am looking forward to my next trip and staying in my next AirBnB. I love the experience!