Unsurprisingly, the experience was often much less expensive than hotels, albeit with less privacy.
Lots of people used Airbnb to rent our rooms in their homes.
(Of course, it was a bargain.)
Hannah Stryker / How-To Geek
In 2023, Airbnb is a totally different thing—for the most part.
Many jurisdictions have ruleslimiting or banning Airbnband other short-term rentals.
I’m going to argue that Airbnb just isn’t what it used to be.
An example of a listing Airbnb still proudly advertises as “$155 per night” with the default settings.
The Airbnb Experience in 2023
Of course, Airbnb disagrees with most of my argument below.
Now let’s talk about the modern Airbnb experience.
This means it can make Airbnb a terrible deal for short stays.
However, Airbnb hides this fee by default.
When searching for a property, you might see a property that is $150 per night.
Read the fine print!
Airbnb pointed us at thetransparent pricing updateit announced in November 2022.
It takes a few clicks to find the more “transparent pricing.”
Worse yet, that cleaning fee doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t have to clean.
Expect to bothpay a cleaning fee and have to clean the placebefore you leave.
You may have found yourselfvacuuming and washing the towelsas you were getting ready to leave.
From the online discussion around Airbnb i’ve seen, these tasks were surprisingly common throughout 2021 and 2022.
But you don’t know what to expect from an Airbnb.
Some Airbnb hosts have expected their guests tomow the lawn during their stay.
It’s a surprise.
Did You Know Airbnb Allows Cameras?
(In Some Rooms)
I’ve never seen a hotel room with a camera in it.
However, Airbnb doesallow cameras in common areasif they are clearly disclosed and visible.
We’ve just seen morestories of hidden cameras in Airbnbsthan in hotel rooms.
Who wants tohunt down hidden camerason vacation?Checking for bedbugsis annoying enough.
Of course, a hotel might have a camera outside your room in a hallway or common area.
Did We Mention It’s Not Necessarily Cheaper?
Maybe you want to think about how your communications with your host will affect your star rating.
But that sounds exhausting to me.
Hotel rooms are often cheaper (spin up the numbers!
Really, it’s great.
I’ve had great experiences with hotels over the past few years.
That’s certainly a good argument for larger groups to pick an Airbnb.
Airbnb has a post on its site aboutAirbnb’s benefits for family travel.
So perhaps it depends where you go.
For years, I avoided hotels and felt Airbnbs were the superior option.
Maybe you still prefer Airbnbs.
