Originally Posted by
rickg523
I'm going to add a caution, based on the phrase I bolded.
A few years back, I booked an apartment in Rome through Airbnb. While poking around online, I came across the same apartment offered on another site -
for twice the nightly rate. When I checked the availability calendar, my booked dates were shown as open. That worried me, so I commenced an in depth search and found this apartment listed on 4 different sites, all of them about twice the price at which I had booked through Airbnb. And all the calendars (except Airbnb) showed my week as available for rent.
To be clear, the price on Airbnb was exceptionally low for the property, which is why I grabbed it almost a year in advance.
I contacted the property manager who danced around a bit. When I asked him directly if someone booked my dates through another site at twice the rate would he reject the booking or would he cancel mine, he suggested we scotch the reservation. I had him do it, so I got a full refund and moved on. If he'd refused, I would have contacted Airbnb, who would likely have refunded my money and booted him off the site (he had a couple of other properties listed).
My point is to check other rental sites for the property you're going to book and if you see higher rates, make sure that when you book the availability calendar on all sites is the same and your dates are shown as blocked. Otherwise, you can expect to get a cancellation notice if someone wants to take the place at the higher rate.
Reading the multiple posts, reading Airbnb, reinforces why I don't use their services. The above post sounds like a LOT of work to save a few dollars. I don't have the time to manage/investigate/explore alternatives. I definitely recognize that there might be a cost-savings or a different experience (i.e., funky, local neighborhood, etc.), and some of my friends have used Airbnb quite successfully. Though, the "successes" have been 20/30-somethings who like a bed, a shower, and an interesting/hip/funky apartment/room/share.
We (my business partner and I) tried Airbnb in Paris in 2016. We both signed up for the site and starting looking. I didn't see anything that would fit our needs, but she found something that she thought looked viable. The price, in my opinion, was too good to be true for what they offered. I was skeptical so I made a hotel reservation as a back-up plan. We arrived to the Airbrb location - it was a huge, 4-bedroom/4 bath flat (people were joining us); excellent light coming in, good sized rooms. The photos didn't reveal that, upon closer inspection, the furniture was worn and paint was peeling from the walls in all the rooms in the flat (which you could not detect in the online Airbnb photos. Indeed, when I snapped a photo with my Smart phone, you really could not see the peeling paint unless you were strategic with the angle and the available light). The kitchen was outdated with unclean dishes, an unclean stove, and a very old refrigerator (think 1980's). The air conditioning worked in some rooms, but not all. (This was Paris in August.) The final straw? Mold in all 4 bathrooms. My partner called the owner, who referred us to a plumber; the plumber arrived and said the mold needed remediation; there was no quick-fix. My partner then called the owner and the owner canceled the reservation (and refunded the money) and we moved to a hotel (my back-up plan). After that experience, we both deleted our accounts on Airbnb. I've gone back to check out the site when I was looking for a brief, 1 or 2 night, off-the-grid stay, but none of the places seem to meet my immediate needs so I stick with hotels. As I get older, there are some creature comforts I like and Airbnb doesn't seem to offer them. Housekeeping is one of them. :-) I want someone to make the bed, change the linens, clean the bathroom, replace the towels, and wash the dishes for those times I eat in. Otherwise, I may as well stay at home.