Post: #51

For those unaware of real estate law. "Puffing" is completely legal in the usa. ( I believe in every state, though not sure). Flat out dishonesty is illegal but there is a fine line between dishonesty and exaggeration.

Post: #52

In experience you will almost always pay about double what you would pay if you look around locally. You can actually find hotels with the same price without the hassles. I used airbnb 4 times and it's mostly disappointing experience. My friend actually has a horror story with them. It was sketchy as hell. With airbnb you don't really know if the location is any good. Chances are the place is in an alley way somewhere and maybe beside a massage parlor, you just don't know. With hotel it's likely the location will be on the main street.

Post: #53

(07-14-2015 06:49 AM)Rocha Wrote:  Am I just the only guy in the world who thinks airbnb is a scamm?
I never booked trough them, prices are completely inflated, and customer service is a joke. Even in booking.com there are much better deals for someone looking for an apartment. Better option is always local agencies.

My reason for not using airbnb is that most of the time you are dealing with amateurs (ie someone not in the hotel business.)

When in a hotel if there's a problem with the room they have maintenance staff, outside repairmen on contract, and can often just switch you to another room. Also they have regular staff doing cleaning,someone at the front desk, etc. Now there may be great airbnb places, but since each renter has just one place you pretty much end up in a different place each time unless you can plan far ahead.

Also, many hotelsnow have electronic locks with the code changed with every new guest. With a private party you won't know if the key has been duplicated by a previous guest.

Post: #54

(07-16-2015 05:53 AM)Orson Wrote:  TOO MANY RULES? CONDITONS?
Avoiding this on Airbnb is not the only context to apply the rule. I use this with commercial motels, hotels, ANYTHING.

Great point. Often this is a sign of an owner who considers customers/guests a bother. I have been in hotels with tons of little signs about not wasting water, turning AC/heat offwhen leaving the room (turning down/up is one thing but I don't want to come back to a room and wait an hour for it to reach a comfortabletemperature.)

Another pain in the ass rule: no outside food to avoid insect infestations. Note the word"outside" -- the rule does not apply to room service orminibar snacks or breakfast served in room. I ignored this ofcourse because it wasnot disclosed prior to reserving.

Post: #55

(07-14-2015 05:38 PM)zoom Wrote:  But when it was time to arrive, the place seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. The host's definition of minutes away was 15 minutes by car. My definition is about a 3-10 minute walk.

"Anywhere is walking distance if you've got the time" - Mitch Hedberg
.

Post: #56

Just looking for advice,

Ended up booking with a gay host, his roomate decided to try to grab my junk one day. Its a long story

Would you mention this in the review?..im only torn because this was in an extremely poor country and the actual host was chill.

Post: #57

^^ Yes, if it happened to you then it could happen to someone else.

Post: #58

If the host was a decent guy, and the place was nice, I'd leave a positive review. But I'd send a message to the host warning him about his creepy roommate.

Post: #59

Just got a review from some cunt saying that my room is "too dark" (it was raining heavily during all of her stay) and "not intimate enough". Intimate enough for what? Lesbian sex with your friend? What kind of intimacy do you expect from a fucking room, and isn't having two bathrooms adjacent to your door enough for whatever privacy you could possibly desire?

Sometimes I feel like strangling these unappreciative guests...

Post: #60

I don't know if it's been mentioned here but in my experience there is a lot of apartments that are rented by agencies and being resold with significant markup by someone else on AirBnB. I guess it's a good business idea in a way.

The pictures they use are all the same though in most cases. I was able to secure the same apartment for half the price by doing a reverse image search of the main image of the apartment/place and finding the direct agency that is renting the apartment and their website. So thus avoiding the middle man.

Post: #61

(07-14-2015 01:07 PM)scotian Wrote:  I've used Airbnb extensively over the past three years and overall it has been a positive experience but I had a negative one recently that made me reconsider using the site again. RVF member Atlantic and I were looking for a rental and were both on our laptops in my kitchen, he on his new Airbnb account (never rented with the site) and I was one mine (several rentals), we both looked at the exact same rental units and my costs were $30 higher than his. I don't know why this happened but we said fuck that and rented a hotel instead, I was not too happy about it. We should do an RVF Airbnb experiment on this to see if it wasn't just a glitch in the system.

Was it the same currencies? It wasn't shown in USD on one of the accounts and CAD on the other? Both would probably show up as just $ and could be the reason for the discrepancy.

Post: #62

I've used AirBnB dozens of times, both as a guest and a host. I've had only positive experiences.

Key rules:

- I try to book places with 10+ positive reviews. The more reviews the safer. You can learn a lot from reading the reviews.
- If the host has other properties, read their reviews from those properties as well.
- A host that is slow to respond is a red flag.
- Too many rules is a red flag.
- Multiple negative reviews is a red flag (duh).

Sure, you can negotiate on price - although I rarely do. If I think it's fair then I'll book it, if not then I'll find something else.

Post: #63

Has anyone ever brought back a girl to an AirBnB where you just rent a room inside someone's house or apartment (so the essential bed and breakfast concept, literally staying with someone instead of renting the entire place)?

Of course, if you are renting out rooms as a host you can expect that some of your guests will have sex in said room, certainly if you rent out to couples. But bringing back a girl might be a bit off setting to the host? I mean, his apartment isn't some kind of sketchy love hotel

Post: #64

Depends on the host. I always ask.

Some hosts were cool about it. One old lady was the best wing ever.

If your host is the rentseeking type who just wants to make a quick buck, expect them to say no. A lot of rules is a clear sign someone needs the money but does not actually like hosting. (Or outright hates it)

Post: #65

If all the reviewers are the host's nationality (especially Asian nationality).

I literally booked a place and showed up and it turned out to be a birthing home for pregnant Chinese women (never mentioned on the listing) and the man wouldn't let me inside either. I am almost certain the guy was labeled a 'superhost' too.


Otherwise other redflags are simple: if someone mentions being vegetarian, no overnight guests or whatever then it's best to move on and find another listing.

Post: #66

(09-01-2018 04:41 PM)scipiu Wrote:  Has anyone ever brought back a girl to an AirBnB where you just rent a room inside someone's house or apartment (so the essential bed and breakfast concept, literally staying with someone instead of renting the entire place)?

Of course, if you are renting out rooms as a host you can expect that some of your guests will have sex in said room, certainly if you rent out to couples. But bringing back a girl might be a bit off setting to the host? I mean, his apartment isn't some kind of sketchy love hotel

Never tried something like this because I always rented a whole place. But your scenario could be applicable to a place like Scandinavia (where you are often forced to rent a room instead of a place because of the high costs).

If you're technically roommates with the Airbnb host then it's probably best to ask about if you can bring over women or not.

Post: #67

In some countries and some hotels they will kick up a fuss if you bring girls back. At least with airbnb, you dont have that issue. You want the least amount of hassle if you have girl ready to go.

Always ask for a discount.

Sure the prices might be inflated but I'm fine with it and call it insurance incase there are issues with the apartment or host.

Post: #68

(09-01-2018 04:41 PM)scipiu Wrote:  Has anyone ever brought back a girl to an AirBnB where you just rent a room inside someone's house or apartment (so the essential bed and breakfast concept, literally staying with someone instead of renting the entire place)?

Had a bad/hilarious experience in Tokyo a few years back. Friend and I were hitting up Tokyo nightlife for the weekend and we booked 2 night stay Fri-Sun in Shibuya. Great 1 bedroom condo with a pullout couch and a small bedroom. "Perfect!" we thought. Everything in the description made it seem ideal and great reviews to boot. Host offered to pick us up at subway station and make us dinner! Everything was going well and then all of a sudden she drops the bomb shell that she will be sleeping in the living room!

I'm a season traveler and so is my friend. We carefully vetted the place before we booked it but she didn't mention this part. In total disbelief I went back to the listing to verify that we got the "entire apartment." and that's what it said. We should have pushed for refund right away but tired and just wanting to go out we acquiesced when she said she has a "wall" that she will put up. Basically she creates a little partition in the living room with barely enough space for a japanese futon.

We said fuck it and went out anyways. We rolled in at 2 in the morning with two ratchet japanese chicks into her nice Shibuya apartment and had a mini party why she "slept" inches away in her partition. Then my buddy took his girl to a love hotel nearby while I banged out the other girl in the bedroom.

Next day we confronted her demanding refund for the second and a refund for my friend's love hotel fees. lol. She felt really bad and gave us the money asked but we only took the airbnb fee. Did not contact airbnb in the end, she was worried about bad reviews. And guess what? we left a 5/5 review lol.

PS. Her toilet seat was covered in shit I went into to take a piss. WTF. She seemed like this prim and proper middle age japanese woman blowing up her porcelain bowl like a fat trucker at a truck stop restroom. Lol.

Nowadays I prefer hotels for their predictability and room service. I still prefer AirBNB for renting entire houses for a get together with friends but other than that I'm sticking to hotels.

Post: #69

I am sticking to hotels as well. An AirBnb host can do as he or she pleases and Airbnb will not help you out if shit goes south. So if your host turns out to be a neurotic or an asshole or just doesnt deliver an amenity, you have to make new arrangements yourself and hope Airbnb gives you a partial refund.

When I want to stay for a month or longer I ust get a local landlord. I get to meet them in person and my experiences have been good apart from some standard deposit-fuckery.

Post: #70

Well my thoughts are:

If you're just in a city for 1 or 2 nights then book a hotel (or a hostel). I've never heard of a hotel "losing" someone's booking and even if they do then they often have backup rooms available. Hotels also let you check in late at night too.

Whereas with Airbnb you can be easily screwed over if you're arriving into a new city at 8 PM and it turns out your 'host' is a scammer or decides not to let you stay over. Finding a new hotel late at night would be difficult or impossible (depending on the season).

I also like hotels on the first night because they can often organize a shuttle to pick you up at a hotel / airport (and the rate is competitive or better than a taxi).

Post: #71

This thread is still very useful though. I've used AirBNB over 20 times, which is not as much as some veterans here but still a fair amount but I NEVER bargained. Didn't know you could do that.

Also make sure to carefully read the refund policies for each posting. Some allow you to cancel at any time and get money back, while others are locked in. It's up to the host.

Post: #72

Most of the time Airbnb will give you a refund if the host tries to fuck you over. They tend to mostly take the guest's side. Unless the host has a strict cancellation policy, which I'm seeing more of now.

Also, the obvious positive side to Airbnb is you don't need to pay deposits, first and second month's rent, electric bills, and any other added on BS fees that you do when going through the normal channels of renting a place.

I've only ever had problems on Airbnb when renting a place in SEA; particularly in Vietnam.

Once had a female host that I rented a room from out of her apartment. She got jealous when I brought a girl back and gave her a good pounding in my room. Suffice to say, I was not able to extend my stay at that place. lol Just ask the host if you're allowed to bring guests over beforehand.

Post: #73

I've used Airbnb extensively during the last 10 years. I didn't have any terrible experience ... if you stick to flats with 10+ reviews (5 stars) you're quite safe.

Something I dislike about it is that tenants tend to write much nicer reviews than they would write for a same quality room in a hotel. If Airbnb prices were much lower than their hotel counterparts it would be alright but it's not always the case. As someone already mentioned in this thread, I'd be extremely wary of any neutral/negative comment ...
" bedroom could be brighter " = bedroom was completely dark

Also I hate when owners feel defensive about their Airbnb. Happens often in central / eastern europe. I used to rent a flat in Kiev, 70 euros a night. 45m2, good location and decently renovated . Flat had numerous 5 star reviews.
It ended up being super noisy (due to the building itself) ... I complained about it to the owner. Instead of getting " hi, we're sorry for this " I got something like " I don't understand, noone complained about it before ... maybe you have problems ? are you sick ? "
what the fuck !!

Post: #74

(09-02-2018 11:14 AM)slow_mike Wrote:  It ended up being super noisy (due to the building itself) ... I complained about it to the owner. Instead of getting " hi, we're sorry for this " I got something like " I don't understand, noone complained about it before ... maybe you have problems ? are you sick ? "
what the fuck !!

typical reverse attack psychology of third world countries, inexperienced westerners don't know how to deal with it because they are so used to service staff not talking back

Post: #75

(09-02-2018 11:02 AM)asiaslayer Wrote:  Most of the time Airbnb will give you a refund if the host tries to fuck you over. They tend to mostly take the guest's side. Unless the host has a strict cancellation policy, which I'm seeing more of now.

Also, the obvious positive side to Airbnb is you don't need to pay deposits, first and second month's rent, electric bills, and any other added on BS fees that you do when going through the normal channels of renting a place.

I've only ever had problems on Airbnb when renting a place in SEA; particularly in Vietnam.

Once had a female host that I rented a room from out of her apartment. She got jealous when I brought a girl back and gave her a good pounding in my room. Suffice to say, I was not able to extend my stay at that place. lol Just ask the host if you're allowed to bring guests over beforehand.

I think these Asian female hosts were expecting to hookup with the foreigner but got pissed that he found someone hotter.