AIRBNB: MY EXPERIENCE, ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

Hello Travelers, I am writing very happy with a new topic for today that I think is a very recent topic talking about accommodation for our trips as it is increasingly used

It´s Airbnb!

Personally I think it is a super option to stay at the different destinations we travel to, I have read and heard very contrary opinions about this platform and lodging option, some opinions refer to not helping the destination speaking in a way that It affects more in the economy and its local population, something else that occurs to me since I work in the service industry, speaking more specifically, in the hotel industry, an important point here is that the exact amount of tourists who are using this type of hosting, these statistics are only visible to the administrators of the platform, that is, all members of the hotel industry have a way of knowing how is the occupation of the place or destination, in what seasons we have high demand of the rooms, which seasons are the most affected in occupancy and hand in hand is how the rates are moving in hotels , nevertheless we have an unknown gap of how many travelers are staying in houses or apartments that rent in Airbnb, how many travelers are opting for this type of lodging and this exact number comes out of the statistics for Secretaries of tourism that evaluate all this item for learn more about the movement of tourists in the destination and how much economic income is left talking about accommodation.

Another important and very talked about point lately is the payment of taxes by this platform, since all hotels have to pay obviously taxes for the operation and income that is obtained, however in Mexico Airbnb does not pay that tax. but this is another issue that I will not talk about due to my ignorance on the tax issue hehe

But what I want to talk about is my personal experience with Airbnb

ADVANTAGES

It can be a much cheaper option than paying a hotel, obviously it will depend a lot on your travel habits and on what hotel you are comparing it with, it also depends on whether you want to rent a super simple, big, small, better or worse equipped apartment, with pool, if you are renting the entire apartment or entire house or is only a private room inside a house where a family lives. But what is certain is that the location has a very good advantage at this point for Airbnb, that is, there can be a super cute and well equipped apartment in one of the most sought after locations by travelers because of its proximity to specific points of interest and that this apartment is located right next to a hotel, the reality is that the apartment on Airbnb can be cheaper than paying the room rent at the hotel. You can find very cute and well-equipped apartments, the truth is that I love this point because the owners really make an effort to be competitive within the platform and to attract more rents have their spaces super well cared for and with everything you need to have a super comfortable stay, really that some of the apartments or houses seem taken from Pinterest haha

This can be a positive or negative point: you have the possibility to cook. depends on your point of view haha ​​but for example there are many people who are super subject to some diet that they are following or because of health problems they have to always eat super specific things, and only those people know how to cook and what to eat, this is a positive point also if we talk about economizing since it is always going to be more economical to do a simple errand and prepare a fruit with yogurt for breakfast than going to a restaurant, however talking about saving time, cooking consumes you a lot of time that you can be enjoying your trip or there may be travelers who do not know how to cook or just do not like it, this point depends on your perception.

You have more possibilities to meet local people: this has happened to us in Cancun, everything also depends on how they are used to being the hosts of the place where you choose to stay, for example in the basement where we stayed in Toronto, Canada, which by the way was a lot Cute basement, very cheap and super well located, you only had communication with the hosts through the Airbnb application chat, but we never met them in person not even for the entry key, they only gave us the password for the entrance door and that´s it, we never saw them; but for example in one of the apartments where we stayed in Playa del Carmen the girl received us personally and gave us the key, she explained the whole department and where we could find things and she offered to support us with whatever we needed. information about the destination, he gave us his personal number. At this point everything depends on how your host, I have heard many experiences where even the hosts take their guests for tours and invite them to eat at their homes traditional food which for me is amazing to enrich your travel experience and Learn more about the place as local people.

You have many lodging options, from a whole mountain chalet for a family of up to 20 people, super equipped, with pool, garden, petfriendly or complete apartments, studios, full houses, shared places, private rooms, there are for all types of guests and you will surely find some option that fits your type of trip. You live your experience in a more local way, this point is also one of my favorite points, In a hotel, everyone knows that you are a tourist. Thanks to the application you can find reviews and comments from previous guests of each of the options, with this you can give an idea of ​​the advantages and disadvantages of each of them and if it suits your needs.

Something I like very much about Airbnb is that at the end of each stay, the application asks for a comment and that you evaluate the accommodation, this is how you make sure that each rating and comment is real and in a certain way Airbnb has more control over any abnormality of the places that are offered inside the page, what I like to do at the time of booking is to read all the comments and also to verify if the host is evaluated as "Superhost" this is a guarantee that the service is good and reliable.

DISADVANTAGES

One of the disadvantages of Airbnb is that some accommodations are subject to many rules that you must follow more if it is a private room in a house where a family is living for example, the basement that we rent in Canada belonged to the house of a family that had small children and a baby, and one of the rules was not to play loud music or have parties after certain time, something that does not happen in a hotel, or for example that you can not receive more people, even if they are visits

Another disadvantage is that you do not have all the amenities that a hotel has, if this is very important for you, such as having a gym equipped included in your rate, being able to go to have breakfast in a buffet restaurant, room service 24 hrs, a concierge who is supporting you when you need it for tours around the city, in reality this is not very important for me during a trip, they are not services that I necessarily have to have in my accommodation during a trip but for many people this can be a very important point.

ADVICE

Many people still distrust this platform and are afraid to use it for fear to be scammed, what I have always recommended if you decide to use Airbnb is always to make sure that the payment is made through the page or application, if the host begins to request payment through another channel or outside the platform this should be a red light, Apart from that I always advice you to check the qualifications of the place and the host.

If you have already used this application you will probably agree with me on many points, if you can think of some others I invite you to tell us or tell me to enrich the post and if you have not used the application I hope this helps in your next trips, is just one more option and it is worth to try it to have points of comparison and know what is most useful to you according to your preferences and needs

I say goodbye and leave my link so you can start your first Aibnb experience with a special discount

I wish you a good next trip!