A post asking for peoples experiences with Air Bnb.
I've never used them before, always opting to use hotels. I've managed to get some Euro 2020 tickets for a match in Budapest next June and am currently planning it. Air Bnb seems the best value for money by far.
Is there anything I need to look out for when booking? Has anyone had any bad experiences with them?
My main worry is getting there and getting no responses from the owner and being stuck for accommodation.
Thanks for any feedback

I've used it about 25 times in several different countries. Never had an outright bad experience, and several that were excellent. My advice is read the reviews and don't book anywhere that doesn't have at least 10 reviews

Absolutely live airbnb. Had some amazing stays. Tip is to get one with high reviews and a superhost. But cant recommend highly enough.

I used it when I went to Porto for the Nations League in the summer, not much in the way of frills but pleasant enough and certainly saved me a few quid.

Stayed up in Aberdeen for an show I was exhibiting at. Stayed with my Global Sales Director and he found a Dildo under his pillow, ended up on the night out with us

I'll echo what's been said above, particularly about the reviews.

There is a community hub on airbnb's site attached is a typical link https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hel ... d-p/312195

I’ve got mixed feelings on AirBnB, having both used it and also had the misfortune of for a short time living underneath a flat that was a full time AirBnB.

For a short term stay I can see the benefits of them to the customer and they do what they say on the tin, often being cheaper and nicer than hotels. It’s just worth remembering that it’s not a hotel though and for the neighbours it will be their home. I was shocked when I lived next to an AirBnB at how people regularly turned into inconsiderate dicks for the duration of their stay. There’s also absolutely nothing to stop someone opening one next to your home either.

SammyBoy wrote:I’ve got mixed feelings on AirBnB, having both used it and also had the misfortune of for a short time living underneath a flat that was a full time AirBnB.

For a short term stay I can see the benefits of them to the customer and they do what they say on the tin, often being cheaper and nicer than hotels. It’s just worth remembering that it’s not a hotel though and for the neighbours it will be their home. I was shocked when I lived next to an AirBnB at how people regularly turned into inconsiderate dicks for the duration of their stay. There’s also absolutely nothing to stop someone opening one next to your home either.

One coming anytime soon next door to me..I'm optimistic with fingers crossed.

Always been more expensive than hotels when I have looked at it, so never bothered.

Used one in Brindisi. Was fine but prefer hotels. The metro in Budapest is good and taxis are cheap so you can stay out of the centre where it may be cheaper. Budapest hotels are usually quite cheap. I stayed in the Continental Hotel. It has a rooftop pool.

I've used them many times. I've had a couple that were average but some that were incredible. As many have pointed out, read the reviews left by previous guests. You can get really good deals if you are a larger group booking out an entire property.

Use them a lot, great in places where hotels are ridiculously expensive, eg Scandanavia,but also worth checking when there's a price rise on normal hotels due to events in England, say Manchester when Utd or City are home, or a big gig at the MEN. Plenty of reviews for both hosts and users. Like anything in life do your research and make your own choices.

Only tried it once. Took ages to get the app and get signed up with all the (somewhat understandable) identity checks and other paraphernalia eg photos of passports etc,etc and then the place I booked gave back word the evening before I was due to stay, leaving me stuffed. Promptly removed the app from my phone and booked the Travelodge! I'll stick to hotels.

Stayed several places and countries with Airbnb and yet to have a bad experience.

Doing if for the first time next year in Pembrokshire.

Sounds good, and was about half the price of a comparable holiday cottage.

Daughter used it a lot and stopped in some great places.
I used it for first time last month in Bologna and it was brilliant - apartment was fantastic and the communications and handover etc from host was as good as anything I have experienced in booking villas or apartments etc

It’s a model based on ratings and reviews which means that if you are below standard you ain’t gonna get as many bookings.

Used it a good few times, including repeat bookings at a place near some friends. Never had a bad experience, and have stayed in some unbelievable places through it.

I also used to live next to an Airbnb house, however the owner lived there and let rooms to professionals through the week, usually people on secondments. Apart from them being a pain with the parking, it seemed to work a dream for him.

Go for it

I've just joined up and didn't need a passport or any other i.d., apart from a working credit card and had to pay half the fee up front. Though I do have until a fortnight before the time to cancel and get a full refund. That's in the USA.

As has often been said on watchdog and similar programmes, never never never go "off-site" and pay by direct transfer or any other backstairs way round. That's how frauds happen.

Son and daughter use them all the time. In fact daughter and her partner travelled extensively throughout South and North America some years back using Air B&B without any problems. As has been said you need to look at reviews.

It is a sign of the changing times that my wife and I have booked an Air B&B, with the help of our daughter, in Ribchester for the end of October when we would normally just book a Hotel.

tim_noone wrote:One coming anytime soon next door to me..I'm optimistic with fingers crossed.

Is it the dildo story that prompted the excitement?

Used numerous times and always been good. Booked as a family of 7 and just as a couple, found some real gems. Cornwall, Pembrokeshire, Spain, Paris, Portsmouth and looking to use again.
Checking the reviews is vital, especially if abroad, for extra peace of mind.
Have booked directly with one place, after finding on Airbnb, cheaper but you lose their protection.
We also still use hotels, always depends on availability.
Enjoy your travels

tim_noone wrote:One coming anytime soon next door to me..I'm optimistic with fingers crossed.

Good luck with it mate, I hope it doesn't cause you too much aggro but we ended up moving due to the one above us. Although it was a fairly unfortunate combination of factors to be honest, the apartment complex we lived in was a converted mill and soundproofing wasn't great. If you had a permanent neighbour a gentle reminder about treading a bit lighter was all that was needed but the revolving door of the AirBnB meant I was giving gentle reminders 2 or 3 times a week during peak summer months. Some people were understanding, whereas others continued to let their kids/themselves run riot at all hours; then there were minor issues like them parking in other residents spots. We contacted the hosts but they were only interested in making quick money and stopped communicating after a few messages.

That being said I think the original concept of renting out your spare room for extra cash is really good, but there should be limits on how and where full time AirBnBs can operate, i.e. a limited number of nights per year and under specific conditions (which I believe some cities have started introducing to prevent it ruining communities). All in all I'm glad I was just renting the place I had that was affected and could move pretty easily, it was also a fairly rural location - I dread to think what it's like for city folk with stag dos turning up every week.

Use it quite a lot and 9/10 are perfect
My friend was getting married in America so we had a stag do in New York the weekend before
Host seemed very good with communication told me all the details of where to find key etc
We arrived at 3pm (8pm English) in middle of New York after traveling 15 hours, put the code in on the lock box to find no key left in there... 30 unanswered calls, no response to messages, cost us $400 for an emergency room at a fully booked hotel
Then an extra $350 for another apartment for the following two nights.. She had good reviews etc.. She responded the following day saying her landlord would no longer let her sub-let the flat?
Airbnb gave us a refund thankfully

Used it for our European tour to Athens, hosts were brilliant other than them being big Olympiacos fans.

From the other side of the fence I advertised my vacation rental property with AirBNB and unfortunately had to de-list due to attracting the "wrong" sort of guests. I'm not saying that all of them were "wrong" but undoubtedly the mindset of a few was an issue, in the way that they treated the property and the condition in which they left it.

CaptJohn wrote:From the other side of the fence I advertised my vacation rental property with AirBNB and unfortunately had to de-list due to attracting the "wrong" sort of guests. I'm not saying that all of them were "wrong" but undoubtedly the mindset of a few was an issue, in the way that they treated the property and the condition in which they left it.

Aye, a group of chavs trashed the place above us once, I think they must've lost the key so proceeded to boot the front door off it's hinges in the middle of the night.

Use Air BnB when I go to away games. Because I go alone they work really well for me and are often much cheaper than hotels on weekends. Just check the reviews before you book, in my experience the reviews are spot on

Used them a fair bit in the States and generally been very good experiences. The only issue I've had is where (allegedly) the local authorities have clamped down on properties being used as AirBnBs and the owner has been instructed to occupy the property or put it on the market. Had a couple cancel for this reason but obviously can't confirm the validity of the reason.

I would definitely echo the advice provided above regarding reviews / superhosts.