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You might want to try on a trip where it's just you and in a place where you know you can get a hotel if things don't work out. It becomes higher risk when you'
by ximeng 16y ago
You might want to try on a trip where it's just you and in a place where you know you can get a hotel if things don't work out. It becomes higher risk when you're bring kids / partner too and have to keep everyone happy.
AirBnB / couch surfing style sites are likely to work better for people with somewhat flexible schedules that can accommodate potentially being stranded and having to find a hotel at the last minute. In exchange for a small risk you meet local people in an informal way that you just can't get if you stay in a hotel.
- tptacek 16y agoAirBnB isn't a couch surfing site. It competes directly with sites like VRBO. I'm not even remotely interested in meeting the typical person who wants to let out a room, but I'm happy to pay a decent premium over a midrange hotel to get an apartment instead of a hotel room, and have been happy every time I've done that.
- ximeng 16y agoI didn't say it was a couch surfing site. There are plenty of people who you wouldn't want to meet, but I've also seen a phd running a high tech startup on it, who might be more interesting. If you're going somewhere regularly you can try a place once and then decide whether you want to stay there more often. There are some nice apartments as you say.
- briandon 16y agoWhy are you willing to pay more to stay in someone's apartment than to stay in a hotel?
- rdouble 16y agoAirBnB is a combination of vrbo and couch surfing. It would be interesting to see real stats but my wager would be that the room rentals are doing better than the full apartment rentals.