8 tips for a great Airbnb experience

The popularity of the vacation home rental site Airbnb has become mainstream and the choice for avid travelers, giving them access to some exclusive resting spots.

Airbnb can be a great tool for making travel easier, more pleasant, and less expensive. Rather than staying at a hotel and paying hotel prices, you can often pay substantially less for more space and usually have a better selection of locations in larger cities.

Here are some tips for a great booking experience

1. Research the location

Don’t be fooled by the “close to city center”, because it seems to be all very relative. It can easily be as far as a 30 minutes walk. Airbnb displays a map showing the approximate location of the listing within a few blocks, but not the exact address.

2. Make a specific search

Start by selecting your destination, when you want to check in and out and the number of guests. It’s perhaps the most critical step to both save you time down the line and ensure you’ll be happy with your Airbnb booking.

You should get a lot of results, and might already be attracted by some of the pictures, but don’t stop just now!

Filter by room type (entire home, private room or shared room), set your budget, and select “instant book” if you don’t want to wait for the host’s approval. You should have fewer results available, but the remaining ones all match your criteria.

And it’s not over yet! Click on “more filters” and get even more detailed: the number of rooms, and beds, amenities available (from TV to fireplace or iron, you name it!), house rules (pets accepted, smokers allowed), neighborhood, host language… After that, you’re sure to be presented only with exactly what you’re looking for.

3. Look at the pictures

Photos are the best way for you to get the mood of a place. The best Airbnb hosts make sure that the pictures of their listing are attractive and representative of what their rental is really like.

Browse through the pictures of the results you find most attractive and build a shortlist with your top picks, before moving to the next step.

4. Read Reviews. Carefully.

Guests who had a verified stay at an Airbnb can leave a review, within 14 days after their stay. Some claim that because they are not anonymous, reviews are biased because you don’t want to leave bad reviews for fear that you will get one yourself and be branded a “difficult guest”.

But Airbnb has that particularity that guests and hosts rate each other, but each can see the review of the other only when both have submitted them. That’s why people are free to be completely honest in their reviews without fear payback by the host in the form of a bad review.

5. Verify your potential host’s Airbnb profile

We’re now stepping into a new phase: ensuring that not only the listing but also the host is good. Many airbnb guest who give a bad rating are actually unsatisfied about their airbnb host more than the lodging itself.

The first thing to do is check if they have a profile picture and their account is verified. If they connected their social media accounts, good, but it’s not a big deal if they didn’t.

Look for hosts who have at least 4 stars and a decent number of reviews. I actually book mostly with Superhosts.

You can also make a search by host on Airbnb and check if a host that you liked has other properties. This is a really handy Airbnb tip if you’re planning on coming back to a city several times but want to stay at different places.

6. Mind the cancellation policy

Six different cancellation policies are available for hosts to choose, from flexible to super strict. You can check out the details for each policy to know what you can do.

Take the time to check what the host’s cancellation policy is set to: your plans could change and you don’t want to have bad surprises.

7. Contacting the host: not necessarily

That’s an easy Airbnb tip to avoid misinterpretation of the accommodation’s description. Some travelers recommend contacting the host prior to the booking, to let them know about your plans or ask a few questions.

Pro tip: The best Airbnb hosts reply within 24h, even less. If you don’t get a reply 48h after your booking, consider searching another listing.

8. Pay and talk on Airbnb

Make sure that you use Airbnb’s messaging system to chat with the host. It might be tempting and more convenient to ask for each other’s number, but communicating via the platform ensures that you’ll be protected against fraud and security issues.

Pro tip: When you’re on the go, the Airbnb app lets you communicate with your host and book your accommodation at any moment!