4 ms·

I don't see why someone would still use Airbnb for short stays. At $1.5k for 5 nights in Seattle you can surely stay at a decent hotel (which the OP ended up do

I don't see why someone would still use Airbnb for short stays. At $1.5k for 5 nights in Seattle you can surely stay at a decent hotel (which the OP ended up doing anyway, at $1.3k), and not have to deal with some weird hosts. Hit them with a chargeback, who cares about getting banned from Airbnb.

joezydeco 4y ago
My Corp just issued a new travel policy last week. AirBNBs are completely forbidden.
fruit2020 4y ago
Homes are sometimes nicer than hotels, better suited for families with children.
- londons_explore 4y ago
  An airbnb feels like 'mine'. Whereas a hotel I have no confidence that some overzealous room service won't barge in and try to change the towels while I'm using them!
  - zeroonetwothree 4y ago
    If anything hotels have cut back on cleaning now so no one ever goes in. And you can always physically lock the door
  - yakireev 4y ago
    Put a "do not disturb" sign on your door, every hotel room has one. I too don't like it when room service touches my stuff (it is a mess, but it is my mess!) - putting a DND sign on the doorknob and not removing it for the whole stay fixed that problem for me.
  - rocket_surgeron 4y ago
    I travel for work approximately 120 nights per year, and have done so since 2011. The number of times room service has barged into my room without my knowledge and/or permission can be counted on 0 fingers. If this has happened to you you may want to reexamine what hotels you stay in because the only thing you have to do to not experience this, even if you forget to hang up the "Do Not Disturb" sign, is lock the deadbolt on your hotel room door.
  - WheatMillington 4y ago
    Have you ever stayed at a hotel? Because that's not how it works.
  - Tarball10 4y ago
    Not an issue since COVID. Most hotels don't do any cleaning during your stay anymore unless you specifically request it or your stay is over a week.
  - dubcee349 4y ago
    Don't worry about the cameras they may or may not tell you about then refuse to refund you when you find them.
- Matheus28 4y ago
  True, but Airbnb isn't the only option. In the past I simply used local companies that specialize in that. It's extremely common in tourist heavy areas. And you don't have a laundry list of things to do before your checkout like some Airbnb hosts expect you do to. The keyword to google for is "vacation rental".
- therealdrag0 4y ago
  Or friends. We get AirBnBs for 4-10 friends at a time and it’s a blast. Way better than hotels. Nice to have a proper kitchen and living room to hangout in privately.
sdenton4 4y ago
I often want to stay in a city for a couple weeks or a month to maximize time with collaborators. An Airbnb with a functional kitchen beats the pants off a hotel.
- dan-robertson 4y ago
  Some cities have aparthotels which can be a reasonable compromise. They can have similarly poorly kitted out kitchens to many Airbnbs, but you don’t have to do your own housekeeping and you are dealing with an experienced business.
  - world2vec 4y ago
    This. Aparthotels (like Sonder) are imo much better than Airbnbs for medium to long stays.
    - aledalgrande 4y ago
      Woa thanks for the name (Sonder), I wanted to investigate aparthotels more since I've found one on Airbnb in Montreal. For me hotels are fine if I'm staying on my own and for a few days only, but I like to have a whole property otherwise. Much more private too.
      - world2vec 4y ago
        They're a bit more pricey than I'd like but have used it multiple times (London, New York, Venice) and have zero complains.
- Tarball10 4y ago
  Hotel suites with full kitchens are not uncommon.
vasco 4y ago
I used airbnb for a couple of years but soon became apparent that booking through a hotel website directly was cheaper and lots of times included breakfast and you don't have to be their housekeeping at the end. I don't know why people still do it. Since then I've only used it as backup for last minute bookings in the middle of nowhere for just a night if I can't camp because it's raining.
subpixel 4y ago
Surely not, I’m afraid, at least not outside of a city. I just returned from a ski trip where in order to not pay $500/night at a hotel I turned to Airbnb, where the prices were the same. I wound up renting an off-grid cottage that stank of sewage backup and required a generator to run while bathing for $300/night- and I had to feed tbeir mangy cat and leave them a wonderful review so as not to get dinged with a personal review that might make it hard to rent in future.
nunez 4y ago
sometimes it's a much better value. portland maine in the summer's a great example. portland's downtown hotel is The Press. It goes for about $219/nt off-peak. On-peak? >$800/nt! However, the Airbnb's in downtown are stil going for $250/nt-ish, if you can book one.

joezydeco 4y ago

My Corp just issued a new travel policy last week. AirBNBs are completely forbidden.

fruit2020 4y ago

Homes are sometimes nicer than hotels, better suited for families with children.

londons_explore 4y ago
An airbnb feels like 'mine'. Whereas a hotel I have no confidence that some overzealous room service won't barge in and try to change the towels while I'm using them!
- zeroonetwothree 4y ago
  If anything hotels have cut back on cleaning now so no one ever goes in. And you can always physically lock the door
- yakireev 4y ago
  Put a "do not disturb" sign on your door, every hotel room has one. I too don't like it when room service touches my stuff (it is a mess, but it is my mess!) - putting a DND sign on the doorknob and not removing it for the whole stay fixed that problem for me.
- rocket_surgeron 4y ago
  I travel for work approximately 120 nights per year, and have done so since 2011. The number of times room service has barged into my room without my knowledge and/or permission can be counted on 0 fingers. If this has happened to you you may want to reexamine what hotels you stay in because the only thing you have to do to not experience this, even if you forget to hang up the "Do Not Disturb" sign, is lock the deadbolt on your hotel room door.
- WheatMillington 4y ago
  Have you ever stayed at a hotel? Because that's not how it works.
- Tarball10 4y ago
  Not an issue since COVID. Most hotels don't do any cleaning during your stay anymore unless you specifically request it or your stay is over a week.
- dubcee349 4y ago
  Don't worry about the cameras they may or may not tell you about then refuse to refund you when you find them.
Matheus28 4y ago
True, but Airbnb isn't the only option. In the past I simply used local companies that specialize in that. It's extremely common in tourist heavy areas. And you don't have a laundry list of things to do before your checkout like some Airbnb hosts expect you do to. The keyword to google for is "vacation rental".
therealdrag0 4y ago
Or friends. We get AirBnBs for 4-10 friends at a time and it’s a blast. Way better than hotels. Nice to have a proper kitchen and living room to hangout in privately.

sdenton4 4y ago

I often want to stay in a city for a couple weeks or a month to maximize time with collaborators. An Airbnb with a functional kitchen beats the pants off a hotel.

dan-robertson 4y ago
Some cities have aparthotels which can be a reasonable compromise. They can have similarly poorly kitted out kitchens to many Airbnbs, but you don’t have to do your own housekeeping and you are dealing with an experienced business.
- world2vec 4y ago
  This. Aparthotels (like Sonder) are imo much better than Airbnbs for medium to long stays.
  - aledalgrande 4y ago
    Woa thanks for the name (Sonder), I wanted to investigate aparthotels more since I've found one on Airbnb in Montreal. For me hotels are fine if I'm staying on my own and for a few days only, but I like to have a whole property otherwise. Much more private too.
    - world2vec 4y ago
      They're a bit more pricey than I'd like but have used it multiple times (London, New York, Venice) and have zero complains.
Tarball10 4y ago
Hotel suites with full kitchens are not uncommon.

vasco 4y ago

I used airbnb for a couple of years but soon became apparent that booking through a hotel website directly was cheaper and lots of times included breakfast and you don't have to be their housekeeping at the end. I don't know why people still do it. Since then I've only used it as backup for last minute bookings in the middle of nowhere for just a night if I can't camp because it's raining.

subpixel 4y ago

Surely not, I’m afraid, at least not outside of a city. I just returned from a ski trip where in order to not pay $500/night at a hotel I turned to Airbnb, where the prices were the same. I wound up renting an off-grid cottage that stank of sewage backup and required a generator to run while bathing for $300/night- and I had to feed tbeir mangy cat and leave them a wonderful review so as not to get dinged with a personal review that might make it hard to rent in future.

nunez 4y ago

sometimes it's a much better value. portland maine in the summer's a great example. portland's downtown hotel is The Press. It goes for about $219/nt off-peak. On-peak? >$800/nt! However, the Airbnb's in downtown are stil going for $250/nt-ish, if you can book one.