EmailKid

Have you seen some of these phablets?

I'd rather look at a map and property photos on a large screen, but I've used my 7" tablet in a pintch when there is WiFi, and on short trips that's ALL I have with me. Well that and my antique iPhone 3

stannis

I have tried AirBnB for my trip to Paris and Nantes. Both places were about 50$ a night for me and my gf. The Paris one was okay, but basically just a bed. We only stayed one night so it was fine. The other one in Nantes was amazing! We got a very roomy and luxurious appartement for ourselves. There was food, games, dvd's, ... for a fraction of what a hotel would cost.


It really depends from place to place. If the room has high rating, you know i't'll be okay. But i's hard to know if it'll be just okay or really great.

davie355

Apologies if this question has been answered upstream.

Is it OK to rent an Airbnb from a host whose own lease prohibits subleasing? Would I be at risk of, say, the landlord kicking me out?

Matthew330Ci

yes, there is def that risk but I'd say it's pretty low of you actually getting kicked out. If the host only does it occasionally and you're only staying for a quick 1-2 day stay, the risk is probably pretty low. For a long term stay on your side or if the host uses the place as a constant Airbnb rental, the risk is higher but still pretty low of the landlord deciding to take action while you're staying there.

If you have other options (but truthfully most times we as the renters have no way of knowing if the place is allowed to be used for airbnb) I'd go with other options. I think even if you get kicked out, airbnb will try to make it right somewhat.

Somewhat because when the host cancelled on me for a stay during peak Christmas/New Years timeframe in Prague, airbnb only gave me an add'l 20% credit to book a new place which was no where even close since I had originally made the booking many, many months prior and I had to end up paying out of pocket to get a place that was further out in the boonies.

to add to this, personally I'd never rent from a place that has no rating, no matter how nice the pictures are. I've been to places that even with high ratings were dirtier vs the pictures shown to know to stay away from places with no ratings.

Forrest Bump

I do rent instead from places with no reviews.

Since most of people are skeptical about them always had great rates, plus their rate is always below average anyway to help the business starting up.

So far all great apartments.
When I try to visit back a few months later always struggle to find an empty date, prices generally skyrocketing, and dozens of positive reviews.
Somehow enjoy to help them making business, getting back a more personalized service from genuine home owners happy to help, yet far from the routine on/off guests.

Upon returning fortunately they gladly accept my off Airbnb reservation with a discount offered without even asking for it.

jeffjeff

I've often used it and always found great hosts, today I had a problem with one so I agreed to cancel the booking, unfortunately having canceled the reervation myself I lost the Airbnb service costs. This I definitely didn't know, so for eveyone else having problems with a booking, wait for the host to cancel so you'll get refund in full Airbnb fees included.

Fionaussie

Yikes--this turned out to be a long reply, but has some good information if you're interested.

Airbnb adds 12% to the posted rate; they round to the nearest whole number (there are many currencies, so I can't restrict it to "dollars"). Note that Airbnb also deducts 3% from the posted amount before the funds make it into the host's account. Any "hidden" fees would be in the form of fees for items the guest (traveler) has not taken the time to read such as cleaning, additional guests, deposits (refunded 100% unless a complaint is filed by the host within 48 hours of check out--and even then, the host must provide documentation, pics, have a solid/documented claim). [Also note the posted rate can change based on day of week, time of year, special events, etc., so you can double check the amount you'll be paying by choosing your travel dates on the calendar.]

It never ceases to astound me when guests don't take the time to READ the listing details, so I HIGHLY recommend you take the time bc it'll be worth it: You'll know upfront what the deal is and any surprises will be minimized. Communicate with the hosts before booking to get a feel for them and the environment. If they have listing details, read them. If they have reviews, read them. If they have a lot of reviews, skip back to some older ones and read some newer ones--good hosts will make improvements based on feedback from guests.

We have been high-volume Airbnb hosts for over 3 years and have over 700 completed reservations. 99% of our guests have been awesome and we'd be happy to host them any time. The ones that are a pain are the ones that don't read the listing details (and are then discombobulated because what they THOUGHT they'd get doesn't exist) and the ones that come with an attitude of entitlement (you ARE entering some ELSE's home, so be a gracious and grateful guest). If you expect the experience to be similar to staying in a hotel where there's a reception desk for checking in at whim and the staff are there to be at your beck and call, you are better off staying at a hotel.

If, however, you want to live like a local and engage, even on a limited basis, with the locals, one of whom has opened up their home to strangers--and you have done your homework--you will thoroughly enjoy traveling on Airbnb. There are tree houses, castles, caves, boats, combi vans, yurts, shared rooms, private rooms, bedrooms with ensuites, entire apartments/houses, cottages by the sea, modern apartments, tents, mansions, and many, many more options. You choose where you'd like to stay based on your travel preferences, budget, risk-taking (maybe you've always wanted to stay up high in a tree house), and availability.

I traveled in 2012 and used Airbnb (Berlin, London, Glasgow). I had such a great experience meeting my hosts and being invited to an event by one of them that immediately upon my return I signed up and started hosting myself. We are currently hosting an out-of-town guest who is staying in our private bedroom for his 3-month internship at a local Amazon warehouse/distribution facility. Our house also has a basement apartment and we're located in the coolest part of town, so we have a couple of popular listings and stay busy, busy, busy.

I hope you have a lot of great experiences using Airbnb. It's been a fantastic experience for me and my family--both hosting and traveling.

Fionaussie

Airbnb may refund the fees if you give them a call and explain your problem. They will do that if there's a disconnect between the listing details and your experience.

WillTravel

That just means the Superhost got a new property or an extra room. If the host has great ratings on all of his or her other properties, I'd take the chance for the same host.

jeffreyty002

Haven't tried airbnb so far because of the bunch bad reviews I've read online. Good to read that you guys never had a problem.

gj83

I just became a host since I pretty much live at my boyfriend's. I work from my home so I list it as a "private room" but not whole house.
It seems that Charlotte is very limited in short term rentals. I do discount my monthly rate compared to my nightly rate, but I guess I still have a very competitive monthly rate since most of my inquiries are from college students doing internships. I list my place as a limit of 3 and I have a few single nights for groups of 3. Otherwise it's 2 month bookings.

So far I'm trying to use features that many of us like in hotels such as coffee and bottled water. I had to buy a coffee maker since I don't drink it myself, but so far it seems to be popular.

Whole house goes for more than private room so if I just didn't work from my house during a stay it would be a whole house. For those of you who use AirBnB as guests, when you book a whole house/apartment do you expect a place that is mainly neutral like a hotel room or do you just expect to not have the host in the place while you stay there? Because I could easily just not work there when I have guests and claim it as a whole house. Then I could make a lot more per night and get the Business Ready designation which means it is designed for business travelers. I would still have my clothes and stuff there, but I have it in a locked bedroom so it isn't obvious.

SpinOn2

I've used Airbnb in London, Dublin, NY twice, Rome, Florence, and Venice and so far good luck with the experiences.

I make sure to pick places with good reviews, read their descriptions many times over, ask pertinent questions before booking, and so far so good.

The only negative I had was the place in Florence, the wifi wasn't unlimited which would have been nice to know, but the problem was upon using it for about 2 hours the first night, it was out of data. I was essentially w/o wifi for the next 2 nights which was frustrating bc I needed it for work. The really annoying part was in my review of them I noted that, and lo and behold the host left a review of me saying that I left the place dirty. Really irked me because I leave the places I stay at extremely clean, and all my reviews I have been described as clean and courteous, and this lady clearly lied out of retaliation for my recommendation for better internet. Eh whatever.

elva

Sounds rather arrogant. You are not a charity hosting people for free; the pay for the room / apartment so are entitled to use it. You are getting someone ELSE'S money, so be a gracious and grateful host.

Mauibaby2008

As a "high volume host" myself, I completely understand where this host is coming from. I have hosted hundreds of guests this year alone. you cannot just be "grateful" and happy you're taking "somebody else's money" and let the guest run your home for 24 hours. If I do not offer breakfast, or washer and dryer, my guests cannot just show up exempting as much .. Same as arriving to a Holiday Inn and expecting free breakfast ... No

iahphx

The recent back and forth in this thread confirms my belief that airbnb will always be a niche product. There's simply too much drama -- and unpredictability -- staying in people's homes.

I just had an interesting experience renting a home for a week in Hawaii. For years, I've dealt with a realtor. With all the vacation rental sites now online, I thought I'd compare the rates my realtor offered to those available online. The type of rental I wanted wasn't available on airbnb, but there were listing on the other "for rent by owner" sites. To my surprise, the rate I could get from the realtor was dramatically cheaper than what the owners wanted "direct." Not really sure why, considering the realtor is kind of a middleman, but I thought I'd alert others to this possibility.