Tips For Choosing A Great Airbnb
Note: This is a repost from my old travel blog.
I’ve been an avid user and serious lover of Airbnb since 2014 (I mean obviously, I can’t stop talking about it). In the last seven years, I’ve used Airbnb about 70 times with almost no issues. I’ve booked private rooms, entire homes, traveled with friends and family, been to major cities, and also stayed in smaller towns. My only “bad” experience was my second time booking and I learned quickly that there are certain things to look for in order to get the best listing possible.
When I talk about my travels, people always ask how I find good, safe listings or how I’m so comfortable going to “random people’s houses”. Call it faith or maybe I’m just a trusting person but the idea of home-sharing has never been scary to me. It has always been awesome in my mind. Borrowing someone else’s beautiful house in a new city or country, instead of paying for a small hotel room, is the best idea ever. An entire kitchen while traveling? My grocery-shopping-while-traveling-to-keep-a-low-budget heart beats for that. The more often I talk about Airbnb, the more I realize that the nervousness is really just not knowing what to look for when searching. The site has a lot going on and I get how it can seem intimidating but I’m determined to give you a breakdown for finding the best listings.
There is a new section to the website that, I believe, aims at people with these reservations called Airbnb Plus. This is essentially a selection of homes that are personally visited by Airbnb staff and are held to a very high standard. While I am a big fan of this, I don’t think we should turn away from the standard listings because there’s a lot of good listings out there that might not fit the list of 100 criteria but still offer a lot. New listings need love too!
** Update! This example listing is now on Airbnb Plus
Determine what is important to you while traveling
The best way to find a great listing is to have the right expectations. A good way to set expectations is to determine what kind of traveler you are. Be honest with yourself!! Do you intend to treat yo self to expensive restaurants every night? Do you need to be close to popping nightlife? Are you on vacation looking for relaxation or are you traveling with intentions of “roughing it”? Is budget a concern? Are you good at navigating? Will you be relying on public transportation or do you have a car? There are so many questions and things to think about when you try to define what type of traveler you are. In regards to Airbnb listings, try to determine which is most important to you: location, price, size, style or amenities. Some listings do have it all but it’s best to know where you’re willing to budge. Are you willing to pay more for a closer location to downtown? Willing to stick to the budget and get a smaller flat? Knowing this will help you pick the right listing a lot easier.
Home Type
The next thing to think about is what type of listing you are interested in. On Airbnb, there are three “home types” – entire home, private room, and shared room. I have personally booked entire homes and private rooms. A shared room would give a more hostel-like feel, I imagine. It’s essentially booking a bed in a space or room. Two common misconceptions are that entire homes cost more than private rooms and that private rooms are super awkward because the host typically lives in the home as well. If you’re willing to budge on some things, an entire home can end up being cheaper. Typically, being a little farther away from the city center would give you a great shot at a cheaper entire home listing. As for private rooms, they are the majority listing type I’ve used and I’ve had nothing but great experiences. If you’re a social person, it’s a great way to get to know someone in the place you’re traveling and make friends. Usually being a long time local, these hosts can offer a ton of information about their city or prime location that you can’t find by just googling. It’s also really helpful to have someone on-site if anything goes wrong.
Filters!!
There are so many ways to filter out exactly what you do and don’t want. After choosing the home type, there are options for date, how many guests, minimum/maximum price, instant book and then you can also filter by exact amenity such as parking, air conditioning, pet-friendly, etc. Always remember to type in the date when searching. Hosts are able to edit their calendars to change prices per date (summer/holiday/weekend prices) so inputting the date is super important to find an accurate listing for your needs. It’s important to input the number of guests as well because some listings charge per guest after the initial two or four. Adding filters gives you the correct price for date/amount of people.
For the purpose of this post, I’ll be using one of my favorite cities, Montreal, as an example. I am searching for my birthday weekend, September 20-24, for an entire home for 4 guests. I set my budget at $125 or less a night. I also added a filter for superhosts. As you can see, inputting the correct amount of people and dates changes a lot.
On the left is without anything, on the right is after I added my filters. Because of the date and amount of people, it goes from $65 a night to $110. This is still affordable (in most cases) but a large difference if you’re on a serious budget.
Use The Map
After searching your destination and applying filters, it’s time to hunker down and read through some listings. I always utilize the map, sample pictured on the right, to really orientate myself in the city while looking at all the possible listings. You are not given an exact address of listings until after booking so it’s all just going off the location they provide on the maps. You want to take into account whether you will be driving or taking public transportation (or Ubering). If you’re driving, you have a little more wiggle room for how far you can go from your top sights. Unless you don’t care about racking up Uber trips! I use the map on Airbnb to find all the things I’m interested in doing so I can find listings close to those areas. For example, for my recent trip to Toronto, I knew I wanted to be near the Art Gallery of Ontario so I zoomed in on the AGO on the Airbnb map to find listings local to that. It’s also good to find something concrete near the listing and use that for directions to and from different activities you plan on doing. It’s a great way to guesstimate how much traveling you’ll be doing each. For this post, I zoomed in on Le Plateau-Mont-Royal. I’m always looking for a beautiful park or area to explore outside.
Quick Tips
When looking at an actual listing there are some key things to look for to get a feel for how great of a stay it will be. To keep it easy to read, I’ll post some of the things I look for in list form.
Go through every photo; places with multiple angles of one space give you a better idea of setup/size plus the quality of photos is an indicator of the host’s investment in hosting. A good host will always try to make the listing look it’s best and includes many details.
Read the entire description, especially down to the cancellation policy. The longer the description usually the better the listing. Not always, but it can mean that the hosts have thought hard about their space and how they present it. Plus there’s usually gold nuggets of info or suggestions.
Check the amenities (wifi is a big one but pretty typical these days, no guarantee though!)
Always click on the host’s profile- this will have their bio, photos, and other listings if applicable. It also shows all their reviews across all properties/listings, if they have them.
Check out the sleeping arrangements section to make sure there are enough beds, sometimes the descriptions can be unclear. Here’s a screenshot from my example listing:
Read the house rules. There could be deal-breakers in there.
Read through as many reviews as possible. There tends to be a ton of helpful information, like how to work certain things, such as the television, the shower, or the wifi. It seems silly but especially traveling abroad – things are different! People also put suggestions in there, like local restaurants or tips about public trans.
Cancellation Policy
This is a really important one. Airbnb is known to not budge or really help if you need to cancel and it’s a strict listing. I had a bad experience when booking Paris in 2015 and truthfully, it is my fault for booking a strict listing and wanting to cancel. The host was more than willing to give all my money back but Airbnb wouldn’t make any exceptions. It’s easiest to just abide by the rules. If you are not 100% set in stone but don’t want to lose a good place to stay, just book a flexible listing. Airbnb’s cancellation policies are broken down here. For the purpose of this post, I’ll give a quick explanation of the 3 most common policies. Two things that are the same across the board of policies are that cleaning fees are always refunded and the Airbnb service fee is never refunded (unless within 48 hours of booking).
Flexible – For a full refund, cancellation must be made at least 24 hours before the trip. If canceled less than 24 hours in advance, you lose refund of the first night but will be refunded any remaining nights. Cleaning fee will be refunded but Airbnb service fee will not.
Moderate – For a full refund, cancellation must be made at least 5 days before the trip. If canceled less than 5 days in advance, you lose refund of the first night and will only be refunded 50% of the remaining nights. Cleaning fee will be refunded but Airbnb service fee will not.
Strict – There is no option for a full refund with a strict listing. For a 50% refund, cancellation must be made at least 7 days before the trip. If canceled within 7 days, you will not be refunded any of the accommodation fees. Cleaning fee will be refunded but Airbnb service fee will not.
Very Important Note:
If your listing is drastically different than what was shown, in a negative way, or you ever feel uncomfortable/unsafe in the listing you booked, call Airbnb immediately. They are only able to refund and/or move you within the first 24 hours of your stay (unless a serious safety issue occurs). You cannot stick it out, then get home and complain to them. They will not be able to refund you at that point. I personally dealt with this issue in Paris, my second time booking with Airbnb, and I waited until I was home to complain about the quality of listing and the host. It didn’t work out in my favor. Also, they seem to be way more helpful on social media – like direct messaging them on Twitter for example. I’ve had a few friends message them with issues regarding cancellations and they’ve received way more help than calling in – and even received money back or coupons.
Checklist For Choosing Your Airbnb
Determine what type of traveler you are.
Identify your “must haves” and “can do withouts”.
Choose a home type.
Pick a location near sights you want to see.
Decide on filters, i.e. date, number of guests, price range, superhosts, etc. And always plug them in.
Read the entire description. There’s always golden nuggets of info in there!
Look through all the photos. Angles! Angles! Angles!
Check the cancellation policy.
Read through the majority of reviews.
Read the host’s bio and personal reviews.
If you think about all these different things, research the listing well enough and know what to look for, you will find a perfect Airbnb listing for your travels! I hope this breakdown helps. The Montreal listing I used as an example can be found here.
*All photos courtesy of Airbnb.
**This is not a paid endorsement, we just love Airbnb.
Note: This is a republishing from my original travel blog. Back date December 2018.