I first started using AirBnB back in 2016 when Brey and I visited Ottawa for the first time. The whole concept of accommodation-sharing sites was just starting to pick up, and i slowly found ourselves transitioning from staying in guesthouses and hotels to staying in properties that offered more space, better prices and put us in residential neighbourhoods.
After booking over 20+ properties to date, I’ve also learned a thing or two about finding the ideal space when booking with AirBnB, so here are 12 tips to get you started.
Book in advance. Try to book it couple of month before your trip because it’ll give you time to find an alternative places to stay just incase a host cancelled it or look for a place right after you booked your plane tickets.
Check your preferences
AirBnB has different types of properties and this is something that you need to check very carefully when booking a place.
Entire place – where you have the whole home to yourself
Private room – where you have your own bedroom but shared common spaces like the kitchen, living room and dining area
Shared room – where you’ll be sleeping in a common area like a living room
Hotel room – a new option for boutique hotels and hostels listing their properties via AirBnB
Amenities
Check the list of what they have in the property. Whats included during your stay. Just because you deem WiFi and AC everyday essentials, doesn’t mean every listing will have them. Its Vietnam and humidity there is crazy.
Geolocations or Maps
Whenever I’m travelling to a new city, I like to research the best neighbourhoods to stay in for visitors. For me, that means a location with easy access to public transportation, within walking distance to some eateries, and not too far removed from the city’s attractions.
When booking with AirBnB, you can make use of the map to browse properties that are in your preferred neighbourhoods. As you zoom in to a specific area on the map, more listings will appear, so it’s worth taking your time with this.
Browse all the way to the end pages
Tricky!It’s easy to get stuck on the first page of listings since these are the properties with the highest ratings, best prices and most reviews, however, if you click past the first page, you can find some real gems.
Past the first page, you might find some newer properties with fewer reviews, but there are often great deals to be had. That’s how I ended up booking a designer apartment in Buenos Aires at a steal when it was first listed.
Superhosts
Another way to guarantee a great stay when booking with AirBnB is to look for properties with the Superhost symbol.
A Superhost is an experienced host who provides extraordinary service to their guests and has an overall rating of 4.8/5 or higher. Superhosts are checked for their performance quarterly to ensure they are maintaining these standards.
You can look for the Superhost badge on a listing, or use the filters to only view properties with Superhosts.
Additional Fees
One thing I always do before booking with AirBnB is to compare the final price.
Sometimes one place may have a lower day rate but a high cleaning fee, while another place may have a higher day rate but no cleaning fee making it cheaper!
The price of the rental can also depend on the number of guests staying in the AirBnB. Sometimes there’s an extra fee for any additional guests, which can affect your total.
Plus there’s also the service fee to consider, which is the fee collected by AirBnB for providing a platform for you to make your booking.
Once you’ve narrowed it down to a few properties you like, compare the final price and see which one is the better deal. You might be surprised by what you find.
Reviews
I always, always, ALWAYS read through the reviews previous guests have left so I know what to expect from the AirBnB I’m booking.
I also like to keyword search through the comments. For example, if I’m booking an AirBnB in a busy area, I might search for the keywords ‘loud’ and ‘noise’ to see if previous guests have found the place too noisy to sleep through the night. If I know I need to catch up on work while I’m travelling, I might search for ‘WiFi’ and ‘slow’ to see if any guests have had problems with the Internet speeds during their stay, and so on.
Photos
There are lots of clues about the place in pictures, so this is your time to play detective.
For example, one thing I always look at is the bathroom:
Does it have a shower or bathtub?
If it is a bathtub, does it have that dreaded hand-held shower head?
That’s just a personal pet peeve of mine, but seriously, how do people wash their hair with hand-held showerheads? I always feel like a contortionist trying to scrub my scalp, keep the showerhead between my knees to it doesn’t spray the entire bathroom, and I’m freezing because there’s no water on my body.
Message the host
I think it’s important to ask questions if you’re planning to do a longer stayin an AirBnB. It’s easy to brush off a few minor issues when you’re only staying in a place for a few nights, but when it’s longterm, you want to make sure you’ll be comfortable.
Cancellation Policy
Hosts on AirBnB can choose from 3 cancellation policies: Flexible, Moderate, and Strict.
Some hosts may allow you to cancel 24 hours before check-in and still offer you a refund on the stay, while others may provide no refund at all should you cancel past a certain date.
If your travels aren’t set in stone and there’s a chance your itinerary could change, it’s best to choose a property with a flexible cancellation policy that leaves some wiggle room.
Check In Process
Last but not least, don’t forget to get in touch with your host a few days before your trip to confirm the address and the check-in process.
Some hosts meet you in person to show you around, other hosts have self-check set up with a keypad, and a few hosts may even hide the key in a flower pot (true story)!
Make sure you know how you’re getting in, and have your hosts phone number on hand just in case you run into any trouble and need to get in touch right away.
