How Does Airbnb Work?
With Airbnb, travelers can book a room or apartment in homes all around the world. These spare rooms, apartments, or even entire homes are posted by a host that's offering up their place for a traveler to stay. Travelers get to stay in gorgeous and unique homes and on the opposite side of the coin, the host will get to share their home with like-minded people while also earning an income.
How is Airbnb Different from a Hotel?
Staying in an Airbnb is vastly different from staying in a hotel or a hostel. An Airbnb business really emphasizes on the fact that travelers get a more local experience. One might find a place within an area that really is just a local live-in but there aren't any hotels available as options. Travelers get to enjoy choosing to just rent a bed or a private room in a home. Some actually will end up living with their host and oftentimes the host and guests will get along very well.
A benefit of choosing to rent an entire home or apartment is that you're going to feel more like you're staying at home. When compared to standard hotel experiences, Airbnb has everyone beat.
There are some really cool places that you can rent on Airbnb for example; there are 1,400 castles on the Airbnb website at this very moment. If that doesn’t do it for you, there are also living arrangements where houseboats, Clock Towers, and even a private island is involved.
What are the pros of staying in an Airbnb?
The hosts (most) that you run into are super keen to give you the best experience possible while in town. Not only are you staying in one of their listings but you have a local guide on-call.
Most hosts will direct you to the best places to go near your place, some hosts will leave an entire binder’s worth of information for you to check out.
It isn’t uncommon to run into a host that will provide you with a list of restaurants and explain how to take the public transportation. Freedom is the major pro for Airbnb as you can create the experience of your choosing.
If you don’t feel like going out one night, you can rent a place out with a kitchen and living room. Imagine enjoying a home cooked meal while on your travels?
Not to mention, not eating out every night while away will allow you to save money and enjoy eating in a quiet living space.
What are the cons of staying in an Airbnb?
Let’s face it, some of the things you used to do while staying in a hotel, you're not going to get with at an Airbnb for example, you're not going to get someone who comes in and cleans everyday. Although with Airbnb you can arrange for that to happen for an additional fee. Moreover, you also can't leave the host’s place a complete mess like we sometimes all do when we are in a rush to check out in the morning.
If you're living with the host then more than likely (unless mentioned in the description) breakfast is probably not included in your stay. Many travelers however, have reported being left tiny treats in the morning like croissants.
With Airbnb, you are required to pay a booking fee to Airbnb as well as a cleaning fee which can add up. Always check the fine print of your booked accommodation. If something goes wrong at the property, it's not as easy as just switching to another room so you have to call the host and get them.Most hosts - the majority of them really - should be pretty quick to respond because they don't want to experience bad reviews being left about them. In regards to safety, Airbnb is as safe as possible because the company does a verification check on everybody. Everyone has to have a completely filled out profile, every host and every guest is rated after each stay.