AirBnB: Please reassure me !

[Ann]

Tim, we stayed at this place for 2 weeks in 2016 and can recommend it without hesitation. https://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p6441767#. La Morra is a great location, and the apartment was terrific If it's within your budget and you're interested, let me know.

 

[Tim W]

Thanks Ann, that place looks amazing (the whole town, not just the rental). I'll bookmark it for a possible later trip as last night, suitably reassured, I signed up for AirBNB, and organised two apartments, one in Turin, the other in Bologna - so that's my holiday for this year booked (going in early October).

I found the whole process particularly easy - more so than most of my interactions with other booking sites.

Thanks again to everybody who contributed to this thread, fascinating to read people's experiences.

 

[Tery]

I've booked a number of places using AirBnB the past few years, most recently an apartment in the Bed Stuy area of Brooklyn at the beginning of this month for a 5 day stay. We've always had great experiences and no problems booking. The apartment we had in Brooklyn was a very nice, large apartment and only $150 a night, much cheaper than any of the hotels in downtown New York City. Actually, we had originally booked another, less expensive apartment, but the owner cancelled our reservation only 5 days before arrival (they had a water leak and flood in the apartment). Because it was so close to our arrival date, AirBnB gave us an extra credit of about 10% of our total rental cost to help us find another apartment quickly. I thought that was pretty decent of them, and it enabled us to find another apartment right away. We booked our stay in a trullo in Puglia last year via AirBnB, and it was a truly wonderful, perfect place! I also used AirBnB to book our apartments in Vincennes, Turin, Lago Maggiore and Rome for our trip to France and Italy in September and October this year. Tim, when will you be in Turin? We'll be there from 5-8 October .

 

[JustTravel]

I am still a hold out.

 

[Tim W]

"Tim, when will you be in Turin? We'll be there from 5-8 October . "

I'll just miss you, I have a morning train to Bologna on the 5th

 

[veronicafrance]

Hmmm ...
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/aug/04/what-happens-when-airbnb-goes-wrong

That said, in two of these three cases it sounds as if the clients didn't take sufficient care. I never book properties on AirBnB that don't have numerous positive reviews, and I know not to make payments outside of AirBnB's system (albeit it seems in this instance the client was fooled by the fact that the email address appeared on AirBnB's site).

 

[Tim W]

Veronica - That's not reassuring at all!

I am grateful for "other sides" of the story, and will not ignore them. Other sites have been used to scam people, including Homeaway, VRBO and Tripadvisor, so I don't think anywhere is immune from such practices.

With the two AirBnB, I made my normal checks. Each has numerous reviews, dating back many months (or years). On Tripadvisor, I go back through the reviewers profiles, to see how long they've been members, and what else they've reviewed - this doesn't seem possible on ABnB, but the places do look genuine.

 

[joe]

....so I don't think anywhere is immune from such practices..

That's true. Troubles - whether as a result of manipulation or poor service - are a possibility anytime and anywhere. I think that in some mishaps tourists tend to over-react, and while the temptation is natural (and in some cases completely justified), it might be better to adapt quickly and enjoy the time you have.

In one of our (three) uses of AirBnB in Italy, I made the mistake of dismissing two negative reviews of a place (out of many good ones) as not representative. But that was just my wishful thinking and a typical case of tunnel syndrome : seeing only a good location and price, but ignoring something that essentially was more important to us than those aspects. It wasn't a disaster - but lesson learned : make sure you set your priorities right.

 

[veronicafrance]

Veronica - That's not reassuring at all!

I am grateful for "other sides" of the story, and will not ignore them. Other sites have been used to scam people, including Homeaway, VRBO and Tripadvisor, so I don't think anywhere is immune from such practices.

With the two AirBnB, I made my normal checks. Each has numerous reviews, dating back many months (or years). On Tripadvisor, I go back through the reviewers profiles, to see how long they've been members, and what else they've reviewed - this doesn't seem possible on ABnB, but the places do look genuine.

Yes, that's certainly true, the situations described are pretty classic vacation rental scams. At least on AirBnB it's not possible to review somewhere you haven't stayed. But of course reviews still have to be taken with a pinch of salt.

 

[Roz]

Interesting article in the NY Times today:
AirBnB is the New NATO

It's not really so much about AirBnB per se, as about the whole concept of homesharing.

 

[joe]

I find the 100+ comments on the article much more interesting than the article itself. Things are definitely not as simple as the writer seems to suppose...

 

[Roz]

Joe, thanks for pointing that out. I hadn't looked at the comments, and you are right, they are much more interesting than the article.

 

[veronicafrance]

I can see the point he's making, but I think many AirBnB stays don't fit his neat theory, since more and more hosts are professionals renting out multiple entire homes, who see no more of their guests than a hotel receptionist does.

 

[joe]

The battle continues : "Home-rental providers AirBnB and HomeAway are suing New York City over a recently passed law that allows the collection of data on the websites’ hosts, claiming the ordinance violates users’ constitutional rights."

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ork-city-to-block-user-data-bill-over-privacy

This time I'm on the city's side....

 

[Pauline]

Another article today in the Guardian about AirBnB changing some European cities.

The Guardian - Airbnb and the so-called sharing economy is hollowing out our cities by Gaby Hinsliff
https://www.theguardian.com/comment...ng-economy-cities-barcelona-inequality-locals
The plight of Barcelona shows the damage Airbnb can do, exacerbating urban inequality and freezing out young locals

 

[Magstravel]

Hey guys,

I'm also a first time traveller using airbnb. So I can't make any comments about it myself. However, after creating a thread myself here and watching some videos on youtube, from previous travellers, it looks safe to me.

TIP: If anybody is using airbnb for there first booking, you can actually get a $35 discount. This video I stumbled across on youtube has a working discount link in the description.

View: https://youtu.be/vRS1C78skf0

 

[Tim W]

I've just returned from our trip, and can report that both the places we rented through AirBnB excellent.

In comparison to the rental sites I've used before, the booking process seemed a great deal easier, the charges appear to be more transparent (you can see how much of the money goes to AirBnB itself) - the communication I received from both hosts was comprehensive.

I'd have no hesitation in using them again.

 

[Magstravel]

Thanks for the update Tim! Very reassuring, especially since I've just made my first booking to on airbnb and found it to be very easy.