4 ms·

I don't get AirBnB at all. The concept is just downright creepy and has always been to me. It feels like you're flipping a coin when staying somewhere with resp

by rublev 9y ago

I don't get AirBnB at all. The concept is just downright creepy and has always been to me. It feels like you're flipping a coin when staying somewhere with respect to neighbours, cleanliness, and the area. I much rather pay for a hotel where everything is 100% taken care of, and usually the prices are on par with AirBnB. There's no mental overhead with hotels. If it worked like Uber where the slightest hiccup gives you a full refund, then sure I'd put up with the hassle.

nojvek 9y ago
Agreed. I don't use airbnb anymore like i don't use United. While I haven't been beaten, Airbnb does very little to ensure a good experience. It's as safe and trust worthy as a Craigslist listing. Their customer service is abysmal and will not refund bad experiences. I see Airbnb as having a high churn rate business.
- calbear81 9y ago
  Airbnb's and any other types of vacation rentals are not for everyone. There are many different types of properties that you can filter for and you may want to focus on listings that are listed by "Superhosts" who have shown a consistent record of high quality service and ratings. In terms of being as trustworthy as Craigslist, the main advantage is that hosts have to go through verification just like guests and they have bank accounts linked and many hosts have reviews from previous guests which gives you more confident of how good of a host they are. Refunds are available if the listing is not as described or there's any personal safety or cleanliness issues. What was your experience that you felt warranted a refund?
  - jacquesc 9y ago
    AirBnb is not great with refunds. My experience: rented a room in South San Jose for a week. After coming back from dinner, the apartment building was surrounded by police and I wasnt able to get back in so I had to get a hotel instead. After going through support, I ended up getting $150 in credits on a $600+ stay. I still use airbnb often as I'm fairly risk tolerant. I'd say it's about 1 out of 10 times I end up in an unlivable place that I have to leave (losing my booking money). Agreed, not for everyone.
dkarl 9y ago
usually the prices are on par with AirBnB This varies a lot from city to city. In Austin, AirBNB easily wins (last time I checked) on location and niceness for the price. Hotel prices are exorbitant. Recently I traveled to Houston, though, and was shocked to find that hotels were price-competitive with AirBNB. My girlfriend and I expected to rent an AirBNB but ended up staying in a pretty nice hotel for less than $150 a night. AirBNB prices in Houston were similar to Austin with much less selection and not the greatest locations, so the convenience and predictability of a hotel won out. (Friends staying in Austin have had almost all positive AirBNB experiences, but there have been a couple of unexpectedly poor experiences as well.) I think that as with ride-sharing versus taxis, the greatest disruption happens in cities where the traditional services are very poor or very expensive. Houston has plenty of cheap hotels and seems like it would be fine without AirBNB. If I lived in New York City and was used to hailing cabs, I might never have tried Uber. In Austin with our unforgivably shitty taxi service, and now our exorbitant hotel prices, AirBNB and ride-sharing services are fundamentally new, different, and better than the traditional offerings.
- deleted 9y ago
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wakkaflokka 9y ago
I wouldn't say you're flipping a coin - if you only stay at 5-star rated places with many reviewers, your odds are definitely better than 50/50 on having a terrible/great experience. Even without reading reviews - just using the heuristic "only book five star average from over 15 people" has gotten me a 18 out of 20 or so fantastic experiences (the two being key problems, or cleanliness, and unless I'm paying $150+ a night in a hotel, my batting average on that has been about the same). I will agree with all the other posters that the consistency and reliability of your average AirBnB is definitely less than that of a hotel, but I find the advantages to more than makeup for it.

by rublev 9y ago

nojvek 9y ago

Agreed. I don't use airbnb anymore like i don't use United. While I haven't been beaten, Airbnb does very little to ensure a good experience. It's as safe and trust worthy as a Craigslist listing. Their customer service is abysmal and will not refund bad experiences. I see Airbnb as having a high churn rate business.

calbear81 9y ago
Airbnb's and any other types of vacation rentals are not for everyone. There are many different types of properties that you can filter for and you may want to focus on listings that are listed by "Superhosts" who have shown a consistent record of high quality service and ratings. In terms of being as trustworthy as Craigslist, the main advantage is that hosts have to go through verification just like guests and they have bank accounts linked and many hosts have reviews from previous guests which gives you more confident of how good of a host they are. Refunds are available if the listing is not as described or there's any personal safety or cleanliness issues. What was your experience that you felt warranted a refund?
- jacquesc 9y ago
  AirBnb is not great with refunds. My experience: rented a room in South San Jose for a week. After coming back from dinner, the apartment building was surrounded by police and I wasnt able to get back in so I had to get a hotel instead. After going through support, I ended up getting $150 in credits on a $600+ stay. I still use airbnb often as I'm fairly risk tolerant. I'd say it's about 1 out of 10 times I end up in an unlivable place that I have to leave (losing my booking money). Agreed, not for everyone.

dkarl 9y ago

usually the prices are on par with AirBnB This varies a lot from city to city. In Austin, AirBNB easily wins (last time I checked) on location and niceness for the price. Hotel prices are exorbitant. Recently I traveled to Houston, though, and was shocked to find that hotels were price-competitive with AirBNB. My girlfriend and I expected to rent an AirBNB but ended up staying in a pretty nice hotel for less than $150 a night. AirBNB prices in Houston were similar to Austin with much less selection and not the greatest locations, so the convenience and predictability of a hotel won out. (Friends staying in Austin have had almost all positive AirBNB experiences, but there have been a couple of unexpectedly poor experiences as well.) I think that as with ride-sharing versus taxis, the greatest disruption happens in cities where the traditional services are very poor or very expensive. Houston has plenty of cheap hotels and seems like it would be fine without AirBNB. If I lived in New York City and was used to hailing cabs, I might never have tried Uber. In Austin with our unforgivably shitty taxi service, and now our exorbitant hotel prices, AirBNB and ride-sharing services are fundamentally new, different, and better than the traditional offerings.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

wakkaflokka 9y ago

I wouldn't say you're flipping a coin - if you only stay at 5-star rated places with many reviewers, your odds are definitely better than 50/50 on having a terrible/great experience. Even without reading reviews - just using the heuristic "only book five star average from over 15 people" has gotten me a 18 out of 20 or so fantastic experiences (the two being key problems, or cleanliness, and unless I'm paying $150+ a night in a hotel, my batting average on that has been about the same). I will agree with all the other posters that the consistency and reliability of your average AirBnB is definitely less than that of a hotel, but I find the advantages to more than makeup for it.