Hi there,

I have an apartment in London and have advertised my spare bedroom on Airbnb.
Last month a guy from Denmark booked the room for 10 days via the site after we exchanged a few emails.
He will be in London on the 1st September.
This will be my first experience as a host via this site.
The site seems good and the people always answers my emails and everyone seems friendly and helpful.
I am aware that Airbnb charges a fee to the host and the guest and this is how they make their money. It is business after all.
The guy has paid in full via the site and airbnb will release the payment over to my paypal account straight after the check in.
I emailed them asking if I have to click on any buttons as soon as my guest arrives so they can release the payments and they replied quickly that I don't have to do anything else, automatically the payment will be transfered into my account and if I have any more questions to contact them again.
I will report my experience.
marina

Your comments are very useful as I just advertised my apartments in italy and the balearic islands with Airbnb, but I am wondering if this site is reliable.

NYC has very strict laws regarding sublets. If you are looking to rent an entire apartment, the person who has the apartment may be violating those laws. But hosted rentals are a different thing. That's like having a house guest who pays for the privilege. It can be a great way to stay cheaply in a real neighborhood with more New Yorkers than tourists. You usually get a breakfast, or at least coffee, included. And in the best situations, a local host can give you tips on how to get around, where to eat, etc.

Hi everyone,

I promised I'd come back here and write a report about my very fist experience as a host booking a guest via Airbnb's site.
My experience was great, the guest is a guy from denmark, very polite, thoughtful and discreet. The site paid directly to my paypal account on the day my guest checked in so no problems there either.
Caspar my guest stayed in my flat 8 nights and I have to say that it was a great experience. The guy was out and about all the time, didn't get the chance to speak to him much but we chatted in the mornings during breafast and spent a day out for lunch one day just two days before he left.
I am very happy it worked out.
I emailed Airbnb with my comments and my experience and I have now wrote a good review on his profile so other hosts can read it.
I personally will book guests again via the site and will be booking accommodation for myself too when I travel but I will always choose pages that you can read something about the host or the guest. Some people do not bother creating a profile except uploading photos of their accommodation or simply create a profile page but without writting anything about themselves. A picture of yourself is a good idea too. We always want to see the person we are talking with so that helps too.
Best of luck if you're a host of a guest, do create a profile for yourself as it will work better and will help you to meet the right people.

Marina

I am looking to rent a room over Thanksgiving for 4 days. Don't know the New York area however want to be relatively near to the touristy things either a short train ride away or within walking distance. A little apprehensive about doing this through the website however it seems that most recommendations are positiive. Any input on where to stay in NYC?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/22/2010 05:23AM by askanewyorker.

Do not go anywhere them do not give them a cent got me for $2,100.00

Jackie

Our family loves loves loves airbnb. We post our extra bedroom on the site, and we have traveled using the airbnb to Denver, DC, NYC, London, Bisbee AZ, and had the best time staying with really great people who, were so kind and fun to meet, (they've picked us up at airports, loaned us bikes, given us meals, and excellent conversation, and video games!). It's the idea of trying to make travel more accessible and affordable, more personable, and kinda more organic i guess. I'm sure every single listing isn't going to be an A++, but how many hotels and hostels have i stayed in over the years that were subpar. Traveling is always a bit of a gamble, it's an adventure and a step into a certain degree of the unknown!
In conclusion, if you carefully and sensibly use airbnb, and look at the host's reviews, and choose a hosting with many substantial great reviews, and transact all your booking details properly through the airbnb site, you're probably limiting your chances of having disappointment to less than 5%.
It's a service (airbnb)that is "like eating a wonderful home cooked meal at an intimate pleasant dinner party" as compared to eating a generic processed foods meal out at a fastfoods or even an upscale fastfoods restaurant or even a gourmet restaurant(typical hotel offering).

Airbnb is great! I've used it both as a host and a guest. I agree that the best way to use it is through its system (paying and receiving money within airbnb) because that's the best protection.

The system has worked pretty fluidly for me. My biggest concern was vetting guests but I've found that I have all the control. I can review their profile for reviews from other people, and I have the power to ask as many questions as I want before accepting or declining a reservation.

For those of you who rent rooms or whole apartments via Airbnb, do you supply a rental contract? Or is the transaction, less formal? Also, I've seen some people advertise cleaning fees and deposits. Are these legit charges? If so, is it ok to do these transactions outside of Airbnb? Say a refundable deposit via paypal or check? I'm just curious because I'm thinking of using Airbnb over the winter holidays.

Thanks for your input!

I'm not sure how or why your friend paid offline unless he was trying to cheat AirBnB. A guest is not given any of the host's contact information until they have paid all the money to AirBnB so where did he send the money and if he already paid ABnB why did he send anything?
I suspect he tried to get away without paying Abnb's fee by secretly inserting his contact information in his messages to the "host" or the "host' gave him his contact info the same way so he could scam him.

As a landlord in NYC I can assure you no one can be kicked out on the street in this city in less than a month or two once he has possession of the apartment, ie the keys. Fighting eviction even successfully may not be how you want to spend your vacation but that is another matter. Obviously, someone may not know his rights and peacefully leave when asked, but not many New Yorkers would be so agreeable.

I am looking to book a stay in Paris, France via airbnb. I am traveling to the American Hospital in Paris to receive treatment for cancer. I was having a hard time finding a furnished apartment since my stay will be long term. Then I came across the airbnb site. Does anyone have any suggestion on how to handle this in the best way? I would need an efficiency very basic. I thought this could be a good short term solution until I am there and able to look for a flat?
Jay