Relatively new to Airbnb but not to the idea of subletting. Like many New Yorkers moving west to LA, we were reluctant to let go of our tiny but beloved 2BR apartment in the East Village where we enjoyed a lower than market rental rate. Which translates to passing along the lower rate to some other lucky renters and still pocketing a little each month to make it worth the hassle.
Fast forward to summer 2010, the recession hit the NYC rental market hard and we had to finally said good-bye to our NY apartment. We launched the Kickass site and have the travel bug something bad. Always on the lookout for a way to stretch the dollar, I came across a Frugal Traveler article in the NY Times about Airbnb, a new social networking service that helps facilitate people who have a couch, a room, or an entire property to rent to travelers tired of the hotel scene and looking for options at a fraction of the cost. Here is the skinny on the way it works:
- Users or hosts post listings of their space, including pictures and description as well as setting their own price. (Airbnb also offers to have professional pictures taken at no charge.)
- Prospective guests can search by city or country, using filters such as price and room type to find exactly what they want
- Travelers contact hosts directly through the web site, which includes user profiles and friend recommendations.
- Dates are confirmed through on-site messaging, and the traveler books directly online using their credit card or PayPal account.
- Hosts receive a reservation request which they can accept or decline. Both parties then receive an itinerary on accepted reservations, and are set to go.
The Airbnb site has a link to Craigslist where we had gotten all of our subset leads to date. The Craigslist plug-in had problems in the beginning, but seems to have been fixed now. Despite the less than catchy name (think airbed and breakfast) the site appealed to me on a number of levels. First and foremost, it seemed like a good way for us to travel and offset our biggest monthly expense: rent. I liked the social networking aspect, where friends review friends and guests and hosts review each other. Over time, this keeps both parties on their best behavior and gives other users information to make more educated decisions. I liked the ability to screen inquiries to ensure that I felt comfortable with the people staying in my home. I also liked many of the smart features on the Dashboard, such as the calendar, email reminders, and various options for payment including check, direct deposit, or Paypal. It also has security features that prevents personal information, such as address, phone, or email addresses of either the host or potential guest to be released until an actual reservation is made. Within days of setting up our account, we had several inquiries about our place. Since then, we have had over 2,000 online views of our property, around 35 requests, and agreed to rent to five families so far. For additional protection, we require a 100% deposit and a $75 cleaning fee. These terms are negotiated apart from Airbnb and are payable directly to us as opposed to through the site.
We’ve had a few hiccups since using the site in terms of scheduling. Emblazoned with confidence from our first couple of Airbnb experiences, we decided to up the ante and rent our place for 3 weeks to 3 different families during the time we were planning a Northwest road trip adventure of our own. Plans began to change about a week before our first guests arrived. Good news – AJ booked a job that paid well. Bad news – we would have to postpone our NW trip a couple of days and we had already committed to rent our place to a family traveling all the way from Switzerland. Of course, we had the option to cancel on them, but who wants that Karma? No problem, I say. I have a couple of vouchers to stay at the Crown Plaza in close by Commerce where AJ could complete his work and I could entertain the kids for a few days. Surrounded by industrial buildings, casinos, and an outlet shopping mall, Commerce is not exactly a resort destination. But the rooms were clean and spacious, they had a pool that we had to ourselves, and who doesn’t love room service and pay-per-view movies? The staff was friendly, helpful, and responsive, even when I reported that the boys accidentally flushed the remote in the toilet and needed a replacement and when I called to report that the boys accidentally locked their Star Wars action figures in the room safe and needed it to be unlocked. Rolling with it baby.
The next hiccup occurred before AJ finished the first job and was informed that he booked another job that would require us to postpone our trip another week. This would also conflict with the dates that we had rented our place to the next family, coming from Indianapolis, Indiana. Good news – our good friends in the neighborhood were leaving for vacation and needed someone to house and dog sit for them. Sweet! Still Rolling.
Just when we thought we would finally start our trip and head up to Oregon, AJ’s work again came into play and we had to postpone our trip due to meetings related to another potential job. This conflicted with the third and final family renting our place from Albany, New York. Still not a problem, I say. I have vouchers for a resort in Palm Springs. Let’s go. It’s close enough that if AJ booked the job, he could drive in and finish it while I stayed poolside with the boys. At this point, we finally decided to keep rolling with the momentum as it came, bag the NW adventure, and chill in Palm Springs until the last family left.
Using Airbnb and other discount resources has had mostly expected, and some unexpected results. It’s recently forced us to get out of our comfort zone, improvise, yet not spend any more than if we had just stayed home and kept to our normal routine. All in all, I think we still came out ahead financially and we learned that it’s not that hard if you roll with the punches. Every family we’ve rented to has been respectful and left the place in great shape.
Using Airbnb has made it more likely that we hit the road. We’ve not used it to find accommodations, but perhaps that’s around the corner. In fact, Airbnb hasn’t just changed the game for our Kickass crew. Sites like Airbnb, Couchsurfer, VRBO, etc. have grown in popularity so much that major cities like NYC have passed regulations to ban short-term rentals and prevent home dwellers from subletting their spaces to anyone for less than 30 days in order to combat the growth of this cottage industry and steer the dollars back to NYC’s struggling hotel industry. Good luck with that. the word is out – use good sense and you can turn sites like Airbnb into a real tool to help get yourself out there and find a little more adventure – in and out of town!
The legislation brings up an interesting point I guess: How does turning our places into “air” b & b’s affect our neighbors, etc…? In a perfect world it wouldn’t because all of the subletters would be awesome, cupcake-bearing human beings, but I can see how in apartment buildings, for instance, it might cause some security concerns. It’d be a shame for gov’t to put the kibosh on this cool, new trend before it has a chance though.
No kids, but I am in awe of your site. Really useful information about really fun stuff (and really fun people!)
While airbnb seems like a great idea, a way to help the “small person” and keep it out of cooperate hands. Or even a cool way to explore a new city, It truly has to be acknowledged for what it is. Its not hospitality or a business, the costumer is not always right. I can assure you of that. It is simply putting all your plans and hopes for a pleasurable trip in the hands of someone that you obviously do not know, that lives a different probably complicated life and if traveling to nyc..A NEW YORKER! which hell lets be honest they are not known for accommodating, or hospitality on the sidewalk, never the less to accommodate you in their home.
I, an open minded individual took that leap, actually still in the process of leaping. The farther I go, the higher up I see..The more lost I am in this chaotic world of web pictures and start to think.. A hotel with their small minded rules and certainty to have a place to stay once you get to a foreign city.. Does indeed sound much more appealing. IM screwed, maybe you don’t have to be. OH and good luck getting any help from the 3rd party. Ha!
Mariea,
You bring up a good point. AirBnB is not a hotel, and is not a full service accommodation. If that’s what you’re looking for, stay in a hotel, spend the money. What it is is an affordable alternative for people looking to travel on a tight budget. Is there a roll of the dice? To be sure. And if you strike out your only recourse is to move on and give a bad review – there is no management with which to levy a complaint.
We do take issue with your statement on New Yorkers. New Yorkers are, in fact, quite hospitable and helpful to visitors. Where you, and many tourists, are getting tripped up is in not understanding New York sidewalk culture. It’s simple: the sidewalks are the highways of New York. people are using them to get to work, to the doctor, to a meeting, to drop their kid off at school. And, like the highways everywhere else, there is little patience for folks moving too slowly, or drifting from lane to lane. For many people who visit New York their only walking experience is mall walking. Well, the equivalent form of driving results in many insults hurled at the driver – from the privacy of the hurler’s car. Highways aren’t known for hospitality toward shitty drivers. In New York the mall walker will hear the same, but it’ll be as they walk past you. Remember, you are on their highway. Keep that in mind and you’d be fine.
As for New York accommodations in general, unless you’re willing to lay down significant dough, even New York hotels suck. Sorry your experience turned sour. I can tell you everyone that’s stayed in our home has had a great stay and at a great deal.