gonebabygone

THIS. I have gotten some great deals over the years. Always worth asking!

gonebabygone

I can understand that. I should clarify that I don't 'haggle' though, if the host is willing to make a special offer, I don't counter with a lower price.

iahphx

I never would have thought to "bargain" with an airbnb host. And, honestly, I'm not sure I want to. Yes, this probably means I'll stay in fewer airbnbs -- because, let's face it, I'd stay in fewer hotels if I had to pay the "regular" rate -- but so be it. I guess as airbnb becomes more commercial -- with big operators renting multiple units -- I might be inclined to try it sometime with a guy who obviously is running a full scale lodging operation. Might be a win-win in that case.

Meanwhile, I just had the reverse problem: I went through the listings, found a suitable airbnb rental, and waited for approval. The host told me that, for that weekend, the rate was 2 1/2 times what they had posted. What the heck. Can they do that? It would totally destroy the process, as every published rate would just be a "come on," and you'd never know what the real price was, and whether you were just wasting your time. I've written to airbnb to complain, and am waiting for their response.

gonebabygone

Hmm ya that seems pretty dicey. Obviously well within their rights to do so, but it's definitely a bait-and-switch.

That's the advantage of 'instant book' places - you don't have to worry about that.

Glad you wrote to Airbnb about it, curious what they say...

EmailKid

Curious as well, but would expect silence or form letter at best.

From what I've read over the years, not exactly most guest friendly company ...

That said, just stayed at a property in Bratislava, and since the other two rooms did not rent, had the whole apartment (and whole floor for that matter) to myself.

At $20 a night I am kicking myself for spending 10K Holiday Inn points per night a few days earlier. And much closer to town as well. Walked to and from train station in about 15 minutes, though it's easier to walk downhill from Hlavna Stanica than uphill to the train @:-)

iahphx

Right, too many flyertalkers have tunnel vision when it comes to chain hotels, especially in Europe. Airbnb certainly has its issues but, sometimes, the price differential -- and quality differential -- between an airbnb property and a chain hotel can be staggering. This is especially true if your party is more than 2 persons, where the chain hotels will hassle you charges for that third person. And you'll usually get a ton more space for less money. And, as you said, the location can be much better. I know there seem to be some travel bloggers out there who have unlimited frequent flyer miles/points, but I don't, and I try to spend my points carefully. I'm not going to blow 40,000 IHG points or 50,000 Honors points when I can spend $75 on better airbnb accommodations.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think this equation works in the USA. I think we generally have worse airbnb properties here at higher cost.

gonebabygone

That's interesting, I've only ever had great experiences with their customer service. (I swear I don't work for them lol!)

EmailKid

I'll take your word for it

Would be curious if you could share a couple of examples.

I've been lucky in not having any real problems so have no personal experience one way or the other. But then again, don't use them all that much, in fact about once a year or so.

As for Bratislava, that was 10K per night, and a single tram ride or half hour walk would get you to city center. That is where Crown Plaza is located, and at 40K a non starter.

mot29

Not the original poster -- but 2 good experiences with airbnb customer service.

My first booking was for a room in Bangkok years ago during the floods. A week before, I got a message from the host asking if he could cancel as some friends of his had been flooded out of their place and he was trying to accommodate them in his spare room. I agreed and he cancelled through airbnb. Airbnb reached out to me, thanking me for allowing the cancellation and refunded the fee and booking charges and gave me a $25 credit. I ended up booking a last minute deal at a Citadines property instead.

Second was booking 1 room in an apartment in Amsterdam. I checked in about noon and all was fine with the living room and kitchen which were shared with the other 2 bedrooms in the apartment. When I came back that night the other tenants had checked in and left the kitchen a mess and had taken over the living room as another bedroom.
I contacted the host the next morning who agreed to allow me to cancel the rest of my booking. Airbnb also reached out and refunded the unstayed nights and issued a credit for the booking fee plus some extra $s. I ended up using HHonors points for the Doubletree at Central Station, which while not cheap, was a pretty good deal considering the breakfast benefit for HHGolds.

gonebabygone

During one stay, there was the faint sound of a smoke detector going off in the house next door. It was pretty minor, but I was annoyed because my host was unresponsive.

Airbnb comped one of the nights of our stay and gave me a $60 USD coupon.

gonebabygone

The one massive risk with Airbnb (and by far their greatest weakness) is in the event of finding your Airbnb rental to be unlivable and nothing like the pictures.

We've had that happen once to us, and once to to friends of ours. Upon arrival the property was a complete disaster and we could not stay there (the middle of a Canadian winter and the heat was broken, among other things!)

Airbnb's policy is to refund the reservation and provide $200 USD.

But $200 is borderline insulting when you consider that your entire vacation is now ruined because of some shady Airbnb host!

Of course, Airbnb will help you find a new Airbnb property. But the chances of finding something at the very last minute are not great.

We ended up staying at a friend's place who was out of town. We got very, very lucky in our case. Otherwise our holiday would have literally been ruined. Airbnb was not nearly as concerned about this as they should be!

So I do extra due diligence now before booking. But shame on Airbnb for this - they should provide enough compensation to put you up in a hotel.

iahphx

I think you dramatically reduce your airbnb risk by only booking accommodations with many positive reviews. I try to stick with 4 1/2 stars or better, and prefer only 5 stars. The odds of something going wrong in that circumstance is pretty low. The most likely problem is your host cancelling your reservation because something has come up in their life (which is why it may be even safer to book highly recommended properties that are absentee managed by a caretaker).

Otherwise, the airbnb risk is going to higher than your typical hotel with 100 tripadvisor reviews. Individuals are less reliable than corporations. But the savings and space may motivate you to take that additional risk.

Antonio8069

I think this is too much of a generalization............my best AirBnB options are in the greater NYC area, where AirBnB's run $60/night versus $200 for a hotel. Supply exceeds demand. Otherwise, I agree with you...........I have had great AirBnB prices in Berlin, Tokyo and Perth, AU.

iahphx

You're right, of course. Airbnb is probably pretty good in the downtown areas of the expensive coastal US cities like NYC, Boston, San Francisco. I haven't done any of these yet and, candidly, I'm probably a little "afraid" to do so. I would definitely insist on a private apartment with 5-star reviews.

There's never been a reason for me to need airbnb in China (nice hotels are cheap and reliable, especially on points with the US chains), but I'm headed to Japan next year and I suspect airbnb will be quite useful there. So far I've only peaked at the opportunities, but they seem plentiful, cheap and interesting. I'm assuming most Japanese hosts will try to offer you the best rental experience they possibly can? That's what I like most about visiting Japan: everybody tries so hard to do a good job. It seems like the perfect locale for the "sharing economy."

dinanm3atl

AirBNB is excellent in Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto.