4 ms·

These last minute cancels have happened to me so many times on airbnb that I've stopped using it. It's just not reliable. I'd rather get a hotel that basically

by ricw 4y ago

These last minute cancels have happened to me so many times on airbnb that I've stopped using it. It's just not reliable. I'd rather get a hotel that basically never cancels than having a rug pulled underneath me days before a trip. Will wait a year or two to see if this makes airbnb reliable in any form.

macNchz 4y ago
I've never actually had it happen to me, but it's one of the reasons I always book a hotel for the first night or two of a longer international trip, even if we're staying in Airbnbs for the rest of the time. Never want the experience of landing somewhere and having nowhere to stay.
sircastor 4y ago
We’ve used AirBnB a number of times and never had a host cancel on us. I assume we’re lucky here. My wife is always really proactive about chatting with the host quite a bit, I wonder if that is an indicator?
- ineptech 4y ago
  Me neither. I think there's a pretty big gulf between "no-frills 1BR in a major city" type rentals and "cutesy 3BR getaway near hiking trails" type rentals. The former are cheap to set up and have a lot of dodgy hosts, and the latter involve a lot more capital to set up.
- foepys 4y ago
  "Wife" aka female might play a huge part in this. Whenever I need something from customer service, I let my girlfriend handle it. People are almost always very nice towards her while at best neutral towards me.
- tedmiston 4y ago
  Who knows what the motives are, but it's happened to me on maybe 5–10% of bookings. I don't recall ever hearing a reason. Definitely frustrating when it happens after a long period of time of being booked. The host of a friend's new year eye reservation in NYC one canceled less than 24 hours before check in as we were in transit to the city. That was an ordeal but Airbnb made it right by covering the difference for the next available comparable place which was significantly more expensive. Since everything was booked for the holiday, that turned out to be a penthouse.
l1tany11 4y ago
Hosts seem to cancel if they realize there’s an event they had normal pricing for. I tried airbnb for an F1 race. Booked when I got my tickets. Got cancelled. Host then relisted the dates at a much higher rate. Cool stuff. I still use Airbnb for certain things (when I need a kitchen & laundry) but mostly just use hotels.
austinheap 4y ago
Is AirBnb the altcoin of hotels?
whoopsie 4y ago
jollybean 4y ago
AirBnB has revealed a massive gap in regulatory. We would almost all rather a hotel. We're not going for the company, but for the price, and sometimes charm. There should be professionals able to provide discount lodging with a bit of charm. There is something perversely wrong with zoning in cities, it should be completely reasonable to have 'lodging' basically anywhere people live. Literally any building could/should be used for temporary lodging with just a few parameters/adjustments.
- smugma 4y ago
  > We would almost all rather a hotel. In many cases, when traveling with my family, I'd much prefer an AirBnb/vrbo/condo. Our kids are too young to have two rooms, and getting too big to fit into a single room. I guess a hotel suite could work, but it's generally a lot less space and less convenient. In HBO's White Lotus, the main family has a suite that looks like it would cost several thousand a night, but the teenage son is sleeping on a cot in the kitchen. In that scenario, having a 2-4 bedroom condo or home would be much preferable than an ultra luxury suite. We've rented an Airbnb home basically on the beach in Kauai. No comparison to any hotel at any price in terms of comfort. In Italy, we've rented an Airbnb that had a bedroom hidden behind a bookshelf. For a five year old kid, it was like the coolest thing ever. My kids broke an IKEA vase while there and the host asked for EUR 100 saying it had sentimental value. I countered EUR 50 (it probably cost 15 but it takes time and effort to replace things) and they accepted… Another great VRBO experience was renting a house on a lake. Our friends had a house on the other side of the lake. Every morning my wife would drive around the lake with one kid, and me and another kid would row across to meet our friends. These experiences aren't possible with a hotel, at any price. I've also stayed in an AirBnb that had cockroaches. We changed places the next day, switching to a place that was more than twice the price but infinitely better. In short, I'd say that hotels and specific hotel brands have more consistency. Airbnbs can be amazing, and there can be horror stories. I guess it's like traveling to new places, foreign places. Much safer to stay with what you know, but you might be missing out on a lot.
  - jollybean 4y ago
    There's no reason you shouldn't be able to rent 'hotel apartments' with 1-4 bedrooms, just as they exist in regular residential buildings. Yes, lake houses will probably not be like that.

by ricw 4y ago

macNchz 4y ago

I've never actually had it happen to me, but it's one of the reasons I always book a hotel for the first night or two of a longer international trip, even if we're staying in Airbnbs for the rest of the time. Never want the experience of landing somewhere and having nowhere to stay.

sircastor 4y ago

We’ve used AirBnB a number of times and never had a host cancel on us. I assume we’re lucky here. My wife is always really proactive about chatting with the host quite a bit, I wonder if that is an indicator?

ineptech 4y ago
Me neither. I think there's a pretty big gulf between "no-frills 1BR in a major city" type rentals and "cutesy 3BR getaway near hiking trails" type rentals. The former are cheap to set up and have a lot of dodgy hosts, and the latter involve a lot more capital to set up.
foepys 4y ago
"Wife" aka female might play a huge part in this. Whenever I need something from customer service, I let my girlfriend handle it. People are almost always very nice towards her while at best neutral towards me.
tedmiston 4y ago
Who knows what the motives are, but it's happened to me on maybe 5–10% of bookings. I don't recall ever hearing a reason. Definitely frustrating when it happens after a long period of time of being booked. The host of a friend's new year eye reservation in NYC one canceled less than 24 hours before check in as we were in transit to the city. That was an ordeal but Airbnb made it right by covering the difference for the next available comparable place which was significantly more expensive. Since everything was booked for the holiday, that turned out to be a penthouse.

l1tany11 4y ago

Hosts seem to cancel if they realize there’s an event they had normal pricing for. I tried airbnb for an F1 race. Booked when I got my tickets. Got cancelled. Host then relisted the dates at a much higher rate. Cool stuff. I still use Airbnb for certain things (when I need a kitchen & laundry) but mostly just use hotels.

austinheap 4y ago

Is AirBnb the altcoin of hotels?

whoopsie 4y ago

jollybean 4y ago

AirBnB has revealed a massive gap in regulatory. We would almost all rather a hotel. We're not going for the company, but for the price, and sometimes charm. There should be professionals able to provide discount lodging with a bit of charm. There is something perversely wrong with zoning in cities, it should be completely reasonable to have 'lodging' basically anywhere people live. Literally any building could/should be used for temporary lodging with just a few parameters/adjustments.

smugma 4y ago
> We would almost all rather a hotel. In many cases, when traveling with my family, I'd much prefer an AirBnb/vrbo/condo. Our kids are too young to have two rooms, and getting too big to fit into a single room. I guess a hotel suite could work, but it's generally a lot less space and less convenient. In HBO's White Lotus, the main family has a suite that looks like it would cost several thousand a night, but the teenage son is sleeping on a cot in the kitchen. In that scenario, having a 2-4 bedroom condo or home would be much preferable than an ultra luxury suite. We've rented an Airbnb home basically on the beach in Kauai. No comparison to any hotel at any price in terms of comfort. In Italy, we've rented an Airbnb that had a bedroom hidden behind a bookshelf. For a five year old kid, it was like the coolest thing ever. My kids broke an IKEA vase while there and the host asked for EUR 100 saying it had sentimental value. I countered EUR 50 (it probably cost 15 but it takes time and effort to replace things) and they accepted… Another great VRBO experience was renting a house on a lake. Our friends had a house on the other side of the lake. Every morning my wife would drive around the lake with one kid, and me and another kid would row across to meet our friends. These experiences aren't possible with a hotel, at any price. I've also stayed in an AirBnb that had cockroaches. We changed places the next day, switching to a place that was more than twice the price but infinitely better. In short, I'd say that hotels and specific hotel brands have more consistency. Airbnbs can be amazing, and there can be horror stories. I guess it's like traveling to new places, foreign places. Much safer to stay with what you know, but you might be missing out on a lot.
- jollybean 4y ago
  There's no reason you shouldn't be able to rent 'hotel apartments' with 1-4 bedrooms, just as they exist in regular residential buildings. Yes, lake houses will probably not be like that.