Boraxo

Exactly - one of the key reasons I don't use Airbnb (the other being that chains tend to be responsive with problems v. Airbnb which does nothing) . And even then it is hit or miss as we all know there is a wide range of "Marriott" and "Hilton" and "Westin" branded properties.

Renting AirBNB is really no different than the long-standing practice of renting vacation properties (in pre-internet days, by classified advert or word of mouth), which was later simplified by Redweek and VRBO. Of course, renting a room in shared living quarters is quite different than renting an entire unit.

My cousin rented an Airbnb in a bad area sight unseen, and then decided to cancel well before arrival. With a hotel she would have owed nothing, with Airbnb she was 100% SOL.

From what I've seen, the only advantage to Airbnb v. hotel is the lower price. And like WalMart, you get what you pay for.

gbs1112

Or maybe don't

snic

Not quite. You get better *value* from AirBnB (and other vacation rental services such as VRBO). You get a bigger/nicer/better-located place for the same money as a hotel. That, at least, is my goal in using those services, and so far it's worked out pretty well.

travelmad478

If she had rented an Airbnb with a moderate or flexible cancellation policy, rather than a strict cancellation policy, she would have received a full refund minus the Airbnb booking fee. Many, if not most, properties have policies that allow refunds (flexible can be cancelled anytime before the day of the stay, moderate can be cancelled up to 5 days before the stay).

You may also be interested to know that there are plenty of hotel rates that are nonrefundable. If your cousin was looking to save money, she would probably have booked one of those, and she'd be 100% SOL in that case too.

And from what I've seen, you also could get a much more desirable neighborhood, a full kitchen, laundry facilities, an entire house rather than a single room, excellent recommendations from a local person on things to do and places to go, and so on.

Airbnb is not the best choice for every stay, but it is a very good option for about 2/3 of my lodging needs.