I firmly believe AirBnb has revolutionized how we travel. It allows us to stay anywhere in the world for just about any price. But like most big and scary internet sites, there are some tips to follow to make sure you are getting the best bang for your buck.
UNDERSTAND THE RATING - Notice I didn’t just say “look at the rating”? There are a lot of ratings now-a-days and just looking at it is usually sufficient. For example, if I am on the fence about a movie and I see it has a 20% on Rotten Tomatoes then I don’t usually go into the reviews to understand why it got 20%. I just wait for it to go to streaming services to watch it. But this is your home away from home. Staying in a shitty place can make or break an entire vacation/trip, which is why you need to look at why a rating is what it is.
For the sake of this tip, let's say you are going to Barcelona in July and you see a place that has 4.75 stars. Not too shabby. The pictures look great and it’s in a great part of town. But then you start to read the reviews and the majority of positive ones are from people staying during the winter when the average temp is 60ºF. However, when you look at reviews from people staying in the summer months they say it’s absolutely unbearable (real life example).
On the other side of the coin, let's say you find a place that looks good to you but it only has 4 stars. However, you go to the reviews and there are only two reviews and they both say that everything is incredible but it’s on the third floor with no elevator which made it difficult for them. That’s not difficult for you so should you really decline a great deal because of some stairs? This brings me to my next tip...
Here is an example of a review below. You can’t see how many stars the person gave a place so for all we know this person gave this location 3 out of 5 stars because the pool was chilly.
2. HOW MANY REVIEWS? Less reviews might mean a lower price, but it also means more of a gamble on your part. I am not saying don’t stay somewhere that only has a couple of reviews, but you run a higher risk of an unpleasant surprise here as opposed to somewhere that has 275 reviews. You shouldn't be surprised staying anywhere with a healthy number of reviews because you should be reading a good chunk of those (see number 1 tip).
This is my own personal preference, but I never book a new listing with 0 reviews. I feel bad because everyone has to start somewhere, but unfortunately I am not going to be that first guinea pig. I have read too many horror stories of people showing up to a place that doesn’t exist, college kids living in the other room partying when you have a marathon to run the next day even though it says it should be the whole apartment (my wife’s real life example), and more. On to number 3!
3. LOOK AT THE ADDITIONAL FEES - AirBnb has gotten trickier with their fees since I first started using the site. On the confirmation screen before you purchase make sure to look at the final price because you might be in for a surprise. It’s not hard to see a place for $50 a night, but on the confirmation screen it says there is a cleaning fee and service fee, bringing the total up to $75/night.
4. USE THE MAP - When searching there should be a map by default on the right hand side of your screen. You have the option of just looking at listings without the map, but I would advise against that. You should understand where you are staying and this becomes more important with places you are less familiar with. It’s VERY easy to search for a city and see a place, with great ratings, and a great price and jump on it because of AirBnb’s stupid “This is a rare find” text they will throw up there. But hold your horses and see if the location is right for you. Are you flying in? Where is the airport in relation to where you are staying? How do you get there? Are you looking for a relaxing time and the area you are in is surrounded by clubs? Are you staying in the Atacama desert like a mile outside of the main area and there is no public transportation where your place is (real life example)? Just use the map and don’t rush.
5. ENTIRE PLACE vs. PRIVATE BEDROOM - It goes without saying that you should check mark your criteria before performing the search (price range, number of people, and the type of place you are looking for). The one criteria though that you should pay extra attention to is the type of place. Hosts love taking liberties with this especially when overseas. The most common one you will find is on the “Entire Place” listings. There have been countless instances where our place was listed as being an entire place, but we’ve gotten there and it’s been an entire basement (with a separate entrance) or a small detached structure in someone’s backyard. I am not saying they classified it wrong (well maybe the basement example) BUT just be mindful because while it might not bother us I can understand why it would make others very uncomfortable.
Below is a perfect example. Notice that “Whole Place” is selected as a filter but Chef Tan’s place is a private guest suite and the title says “Private Home”. My guess would be that this is a suite within someone’s house or a detached suite but still on the property of someone’s home. May not be a big deal, but make sure to check what you’re signing up for.
None of these are too hard to do, but they can make or break a trip!