Another Fair Warning:

Be careful of airbnb in countries like China, which has a mandatory registration requirement with the local police, for all foreigners staying at least overnight anywhere in the country, repeated for every location that one stays. When staying in commercially licensed lodgings such as hotels, hostels, serviced apartments, the management of same takes care of the formalities for guests upon check-in, though the process is usually invisible to the guests. When staying with family or friends, one must go (with them) to the local police station to register manually, along with certain documentation that they as residents would have.

In the case of airbnb, many (most?) of the hosts in China are not licensed, and to properly register your stay, need to accompany you to the police station to do this. Not all unlicensed hosts would be willing to do so, so this should be a pointed question before making any airbnb agreement in China. Even when willing, there is a danger that if the unlicensed host has brought over guests too frequently to the police station to register, host will be called out and possibly guest registration will be denied. Anecdotal reports indicate this has in fact occurred. Then the guest has two choices: remain at the airbnb lodging in violation of Chinese regulation (a fineable offense) or find new lodging in real-time and abandoning the airbnb booking, which of course involves additional financial outlay. The degree of one's risk using an unlicensed airbnb host depends on various factors: length of stay, type of building and relative absence/presence of other foreigners, zealousness of the specific police jurisdiction, etc.

Jaimito, what use is 'your money back' if you rented unknowingly in my building and were turfed out after the first day? Where are you going to spend the next 13 days of your two week vacation? It isn't just a question of would you get your money back, that would be the least of most people's worries. Walking in to a decent hotel off the street on Grand Cayman and asking for a room for 13 nights is going to empty a lot of people's wallets.

There is a reason why in most places, some areas are zoned residential (no hotels allowed) and some areas are zoned commercial (hotels allowed). The reason is that most people living in a residential area do not WANT a hotel next door any more than they want any other business there.

What both the renter and the property owner want to ignore is the fact that there are THREE parties involved, not just two. The renter, the owner and the neighbours. How much are you willing to pay ME to put up with you moving in every few nights or weekly? How much would I have to pay YOU to put up with it next door to your home?

If you rent a house in the country on a couple of acres, you won't bother anyone. If you rent a room in an established B&B with the owner present, you probably won't bother anyone. If you rent a house in a neighbourhood where there are kids, you may well bother the parents. How would YOU feel if strangers were moving in and out every week or two next door to where your kids are playing in the driveway?

It is not a simple thing. 'I have empty space and someone wants to rent so why not?' There can be a lot of reasons why not but none of them necessarily involve the owner of the property or the person who wants to rent the property. They involved the THIRD party, the neighbours. So should the property owner and the renter be allowed to ignore that third party?

When does selfish become acceptable and concern for others not important? Answer, when money changes hands.

I agree with dulcius on the potential problems airbnb can cause third parties. I used to live in a condo in a resort area of Florida and the homeowners association had to put a strict clause in that any leases by owners to tenants had to be for a 6-month minimum. This was way long ago before airbnb was even dreamed of, but people still tried to do similar, just on a more ad hoc, less organized basis. It is very disruptive to regular residents to have surrounding properties with a never-ending shuffle of short-termers, some of which cause problems since they have no vested interest in the life of the community, only in their short holiday.

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I regularly use airbnb in London. I never had any problems, and one of my favourite spots is where I climb two cases of stairs to a small room, and I never see another person. A great alternative to hotels.

Is it possible to split an AirBnB reservation across multiple credit cards? I'm traveling to a conference and my employer is really anal about reimbursements, it'd make things easier if everyone pays their own share on their own CC.

no.

I just rented 4 nights in Paris and
5 nights in Rome . I canceled my first
Paris reservation because after booking he
sent me the house "manual" that stated
"I advise my guest not to be present between
11:00-18:30" I tried to get them to cancel
And host wouldn't do it . I wrote customer service
And showed the house manual and they
Canceled it without question . Those rules
Didn't show in the original listing. I will
Repost once I return beginning march .

sounds silly, but sounds like you got out of it with just an email. always silly billies about. forget about it and enjoy your trip.

Agree, that's just silly not to include in the original listing :rolleyes:

Glad to hear Airbnb did the right thing ^

:td: for trying to make you stick to agreement that wasn't complete.

No explanation as to WHY they advise being out during that time. That is the question I would have liked to see the answer to.

That is very strange because unless something changed very recently, the house rules are shown on the listing and are frozen once a reservation is made. If the host alters any of the terms the alteration will show on the listing for new reservation but any confirmed reservations already in the system are not altered. They show the status quo at the time of booking.

I think you are dramatizing this a bit too much. No one is "moving in" every few nights. Guests at a BnB don't come with moving trucks. Other than a different car parked on the street, I doubt neighbors would even know that there was someone else there.

I would not let my kids play in the driveway unsupervised even if I knew all my neighbors. Unless it is a gated community, anyone can come in at any time. BnB guests would be the least of my worries.

Our upstairs neighbour rented out the flat next to them on AirBNB. Every night for a year. The ONLY issue was twice some inconsiderate person dragged their suitcase down the stairs at 5am.

Which is why considerate AirBNB hosts will only accept reservations where check in and check out happen during sensible hours and tell the guests not to be a burden on the common facilities or condo staff.

I.e. (a common request)

Q: "I know I need to check out in the early afternoon but my flight is at 11pm. Can I leave my bags with the door man for a few hours while I go shopping ?"

A: "Sorry, you cannot. It's a condo, not a hotel and the condo staff are there for the maintenance of the common areas and building security. They are not able to store your luggage. It is not within the scope of their duties."

A sensible host can minimize disruption by their guests and avoid being a burden on security/door men etc. by screening guests and doing a bit of expectation setting before accepting a booking.

It's all about ethics I guess. No matter what area of life you look at there will always be someone who will put a buck before anything else.

actually my point was out of hundreds of guests only two caused me minor problems as a neighbour.