My review of the website Airbnb.ru, where I often rent apartments when traveling. Learn about booking accommodation, getting discounts and taking precautions.

I travel 10-15 times a year and often book accommodation on Airbnb.ru. I like this service. In this review I will tell you how to use it safely and profitably. And using the link below, any new user can receive a discount on their first booking.

What is Airbnb

Airbnb is the world's largest private travel rental service. Service statistics: 800,000 accommodation options, 190 countries, 34,000 cities, over 17,000,000 guests who have booked accommodation in this service.

The service operates in many countries, there is a version in Russian: Airbnb.ru.

Through Airbnb you can rent apartments, houses, villas, rooms, rooms in guest houses, residential boats and bungalows, castles, tree houses, campers.

Our apartment is in an old half-timbered house in Rouen, France. It cost 28€ per day.

My review of Airbnb: pros and cons

I have been using this service for seven years now and have rented dozens of different properties around the world. In my collection: houses in the Azores, apartments in Prague, St. Petersburg, Tbilisi, The Hague, Paris, Rouen, Cane, rooms and guesthouses in Barcelona, ​​Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand.

Why I like Airbnb:

• Interesting. A huge selection of accommodation, more interesting than simple hotels. I try to book authentic apartments with cool design and preferably in houses with history.
• Inexpensive. Often renting an apartment on Airbnb.ru is cheaper than renting a hotel room. For example, in France we saved a lot by living in apartments for 28-50€ instead of hotels for 100€. For a family or group of at least 3-4 people, it is almost always more profitable to book accommodation rather than hotel rooms.
• Practical. Living in an apartment with a kitchen is very convenient and profitable - you save on food.
• Privacy. I’m an introvert, so I love privacy: in an apartment and house that is completely at your disposal, there is more of it than in hotels.
• Excellent support in Russian: they work quickly, they always help.
• Convenient system of reviews, ratings and filters allow you to choose the best accommodation.
• Simple and clear website design.
• Safety. You pay by card on the service’s website; you don’t need to bring cash with you or settle financial matters with the owner.
• Visa eligible. All consulates accept bookings from Airbnb without any problems, I received 4 or 5 Schengen for them.

I have never had a bad experience booking on Airbnb. I am completely satisfied with the service, I can only find fault with the little things.

What I do not like:

• Service commission when renting housing - 10-15%. However, everything is fair, they must earn money.
• There is a risk of bumping into a bad owner. But this is a human factor, the service is not to blame here. But there is a system of reviews of other tourists about Airbnb accommodation and a support service. Next, I will tell you how to choose a reliable host and good housing.

Our authentic apartment in an old house in the center of Tbilisi - for only 1,700 rubles per day.

Choose apartments with reviews and a high rating (4-5) - this is a guarantee that everything will be fine with the housing. Reviews on Airbnb cannot be faked, so all good hosts try to please their guests in order to get good ratings.

Read reviews - people can report important things: for example, the Internet or heating is not working well, noise from the street is disturbing at night, and so on.

Reliable owner:

• has a verified profile,
• a lot of positive reviews,
• I registered for the service a long time ago.

In case of problems, always write or call support. Our apartment in France was once poorly cleaned and we had to sweep the floor ourselves. I thought it was fair to ask Airbnb to refund us the money for cleaning - they returned it the same day. If the housing does not correspond to what is stated in the description, complain and the service will either give you coupons for a discount of $50-100, or provide better and more expensive housing in the same city.

Our cozy apartment in Paris for 50 euros per night.

About prices

The cost of housing almost always depends on the season: in the high season there is high demand and prices are 2-3 times higher. I try to travel during the low season so as not to overpay.

Airbnb charges a service fee, the amount of which depends on the amount of the reservation - usually around 10-15%.

Hosts often include a separate cleaning fee in the bill, but you will see this amount before booking.

Sometimes municipal taxes from tourists are included in the bill (in Italy, for example).

In rare cases, the owner may take a deposit for the safety of property - this is typical for respectable apartments and apartments, where there is something to spoil, destroy and break. In my practice there was only one such example.

The amount you pay when booking is final. When you meet the owner, you will not need to pay anything else.

A house on the ocean is wonderful! My best accommodation, rented through Airbnb.ru. We lived with friends and paid 1,700 rubles per person. Flores Island, Azores, Portugal.

How to book a place on Airbnb

Everything is very simple. Briefly, it looks like this: go to the Airbnb website, look for accommodation in the desired city on required dates, you choose, contact the owner, book, come, live and enjoy. Now more details.

Stage 1. Registration

Fill out your profile: add a photo, link to your Facebook page and phone number, write a few lines about yourself - all this is necessary to confirm that you are a real person and give future landlords the opportunity to get to know you. It is advisable to upload a scan of your document to confirm your account and make it reliable. This is for safety reasons.

After registration, you can invite your friends and receive a new bonus - $17 for each friend. Not a bad and nice discount!

Stage 2. Choosing housing

Now you can start looking for housing.

Airbnb is a convenient and simple service, you can easily figure it out. Enter the required information into the search box: destination, dates and number of guests. A page will open with the available options and their location on the map. There are search filters at the top. You can limit the price range, select the area, type of accommodation, and more.

Open the pages of the accommodation you like. Read the description, reviews, look at the photos. Compare and choose the best option.

Once you have chosen your accommodation, you can book it immediately or write to the owner first to ask any questions you may have. Do what is most convenient for you.

This is what the Airbnb.ru website looks like.

Stage 3. Payment

To book accommodation you will need a bank card or PayPal. Payments are processed through a secure protocol. Recently, it became possible to pay half the amount, and the rest later, about a week before arrival. Please double check the dates and number of guests before paying.

Once you book an apartment on Airbnb, the host has 24 hours to approve your request. If he doesn't do this, the money will be immediately returned to your card. This happened to me once.

The service has accommodation marked “instant booking” - the reservation is made automatically, confirmation of the owner of the accommodation is not required.

Today's tourists are breaking the stereotypes of an ideal holiday that have existed for decades. They prefer rented inexpensive apartments or even rooms to luxury hotels. What caused this change in priorities?

• Availability of communication between people thanks to the Internet.
• Understanding that it is better to travel around the world often and economically than to travel luxuriously but rarely.
• The fact that hotel prices are often difficult to reconcile with the concept.
• And finally, the emergence of a unique service that has made the dreams of many lovers of traveling abroad come true.

Don't have suitable housing? No problem. You can rent an apartment in a suitable location on long term, pay monthly, and sublease to foreign tourists on a daily basis. Or agree with the owner that you, for a certain percentage, will look for guests for him. Why not a ready-made business model? This has been practiced in the West for a long time and is called “real estate management.”

All you need to do to start making money is as a landlord, add a description and photo of your rental property, and host guests. A little advertising on social networks and on specialized forums - and the first guests will not keep you waiting.

Get ready for a long post. In this article, I tried to take into account all the nuances and answer all questions about renting out your apartment using Airbnb. This information is based on my personal experience and the experiences of my friends. So practice, practice and more practice. Go!

How to rent out an apartment through Airbnb?

Imagine the picture:

You boarded a plane to relax in some wonderful country, for example, Greece. You've been lying on the beach all week, enjoying the sun, sea, life and fresh seafood. You met new people, ate delicacies and got a good tan.

And so you returned home, checked your account and were glad that you had a good time and managed to make good money while you were basking in the sun.

But wait a second, is this even possible unless you're a venture capitalist?

Every year more and more people rent out their homes to travelers. Some of them earn six figures.

To make money with Airbnb you need 3 things: an empty house, a room that sits idle or even a sleeping place, openness in communicating with people and the desire to earn money.

The idea of ​​Airbnb is simple - you rent out your home to travelers (often more expensive than daily rent apartments to your fellow countrymen), and travelers rejoice at the opportunity to live in comfort and feel “like a local.”

By helping tourists experience the day-to-day life of their destinations, Airbnb's founders have created a $30 billion company. This service covers 190 countries and 60 million tourists as its clients.

Good news - you can get your piece of this huge pie.

If you prefer to first thoroughly familiarize yourself with a new situation before rushing headlong into the pool, this article is for you. Everything you need to know to successfully make money by renting out your home to tourists is described here. And the basis was personal experience renting an apartment through Airbnb.

How does Airbnb work?

Airbnb is an online home rental platform that offers an alternative to the hotel industry. This is also a good opportunity to make money for those who are open enough to let strangers into their home.

Airbnb connects tourists in need of affordable or unique accommodation with hosts offering a free bed or fairytale palace depending on your capabilities.

Tourists use Airbnb when:

• hotels are crowded (for example, during a festival);
• hotel prices are unreasonably high;
• They don’t like hotels a priori and prefer to live “at home.”

They can come to you either for a couple of days or for several months, all this is agreed upon in advance on the website and we will move on to the technical aspects a little later.

Airbnb retains a small commission from both tourists and renters.

Why rent out your home on Airbnb?

Airbnb has become a very popular platform among renters because it allows you to earn additional money without spending much time and money. But this does not mean that this type of business does not have negative sides.

Opening your home to strangers is always a risk.

Firstly, renting out housing is also a kind of income generation, which is subject to tax by law. For non-payment of tax (if you are caught, of course), you will have to pay a fine.

Secondly, we've all heard horror stories about homes that have been destroyed or stolen by tenants. Statistics show that such cases are less than 1%, but they also occur.

But if you have the courage to let strangers live in your property and resolve the issue of taxes for yourself, then Airbnb can be a profitable business for you.

If you like to communicate, then this service will help you make many new acquaintances around the world. Airbnb is used by many business people, and you will have the chance to meet people from different social circles.

Not to mention the fact that an empty home great spring expenses if you don't use it at all. So why not bring benefits to people who will also pay you for it.

Airbnb Rental Requirements

Initially, to rent out your home on Airbnb, you need to create an account. It's free, both for tourists and for you. To register, you will need an email address, or a Facebook or Google+ account.

Legal aspects

If you live in Russia, then you do not need to make any additional movements. If you, as a decent citizen, are going to pay taxes, then you have 2 options:

• pay personal income tax as an individual. face;
• register as an individual entrepreneur.

Choose the option that is more profitable for you, keep in mind that the individual entrepreneur also has insurance contributions to the Pension Fund.

If you live in another country, check this point in your legislation.

Personal space

By registering on, you must accept the rules of the game - here it is customary to respect personal space. And if you have security devices in your home, such as CCTV cameras, then warn your guests in advance.

Otherwise, the guest may terminate your agreement and request a refund, and you will receive a penalty in Airbnb's system.

Time spent

If you are serious about making money with Airbnb, then be prepared to spend several hours a week on it.

You need to visit Airbnb's official website frequently to interact with your potential guests: answer questions, make arrangements to convince travelers to stay with you.

You also need to confirm the reservation and simply clean up after the guests. Of course, you can delegate the latter to a cleaning company.

Get permission from the owner

If you are a tenant yourself, then obtain permission from the owner to sublease all or part of the premises, specified in the contract, so as not to have problems in the future.

Responsibility

The Airbnb community is built on reliability and trust. Therefore, it is very important to accurately and correctly describe the housing you are renting: provide real photographs and normal living conditions (electricity, heat, running water and cleanliness).

Otherwise, you will be left with negative reviews, your offer will have a low rating and tenants will avoid it.

How to get good reviews

Hospitality is the key to success. Airbnb has hospitality standards. Therefore, if you want to earn good money in this service, then try to comply with them. This will help you get good reviews, which means your services will become more in demand.

The math is simple: good reviews = more guests = more money.

To get good reviews, you need to pay attention to the following aspects.

1. Always update the availability of your rental property. It is important that the platform and future guests know when your property is occupied and when it is available.

2. Provide future guests with information in a timely manner. Be approachable and check in with Airbnb frequently so you can answer questions in a timely manner, tell us more about your property, check-in/check-out times, etc.

Sometimes it happens that having booked accommodation with an unscrupulous landlord, a traveler actually ends up on the street in unfamiliar city. In such a situation, he tries to quickly find a replacement for him, and here you are online.

3. Be proactive. Always prepare your home for new guests. If for some reason you have to cancel your reservation, then do it in advance so that the tourist does not find himself in the situation described above, and he has time to calmly find a new home.

4. Be honest. Provide real information about your accommodation so that travelers' expectations do not diverge from reality. Otherwise, your account may be blocked.

About security

The question of security arises for every sane person who encounters a previously unknown phenomenon, and Airbnb is no exception.

There is always a risk that you will come across an unreliable person. Airbnb hosts have had various situations where the house has been turned upside down after a party, property has been damaged, and in some cases guests have changed the locks and refused to leave.

In Russia, this kind of thing is quickly resolved with the help of the police, but in England, for example, serious problems can arise. They have such a thing as “squatting”. This is when strangers can move into an empty house without asking, and they can only be evicted from there by a court decision, and the legal process is a long process.

Incidents like these got Airbnb into serious trouble in 2011, so they have since implemented a sophisticated vetting system that has become a benchmark in the home rental industry.

You can't be anonymous, and the review and rating system works both ways, keeping both guests and landlords within the bounds of decency. Those. you can only allow trusted people with good reviews into your home.

Before confirming a reservation, parties may only communicate through Airbnb. All messages containing a phone number are automatically blocked. Of course, there are workarounds, for example, sending the number in parts, but do you need it?

Moreover, participants’ bank cards are also confirmed by the system. You can exchange contacts with the guest only after the reservation has been paid, so that you can call and communicate in a more convenient way.

All payments are made within the system using online banking. When a guest makes a reservation, he must enter his card details or pay through PayPal, which also takes care of user security.

Payment is credited to your account the day after the guest checks into your property.

Another important thing is that you always have the opportunity to refuse a booking request if the guest does not seem reliable to you. There will be no sanctions for this; you have the right to accept only those you trust.

If you're looking for more information, Airbnb has a Facebook Connect feature that allows hosts to ask for recommendations from a guest's friends.

If these security measures prove ineffective, the landlord will be paid a guaranteed insurance of $1 million. You will be able to use insurance if your damage does not exceed $1 million.

If you have any problems, you can contact Airbnb and request a refund. Please note that insurance does not cover all property or personal liability, so you may be better off purchasing separate insurance.

How to properly register an account on Airbnb

Filling out information about housing on Airbnb is quite simple. The platform itself is intuitive, so filling out an account won't take much time. But if you want to stand out from the crowd, here are some tips for you.

Heading

Many people underestimate the importance of a bright and catchy headline, and write something like “Bright and modern two-room apartment in the city center.” This is not bad, but there are thousands of such headlines.

To stand out from the gray mass, you need to be a little creative, you need to be remembered. For example, in Minsk there is a “taxi with a squirrel”, everyone in the city knows it. It’s just a man driving his clients in an inexpensive foreign car, and a real tame squirrel lives in the interior of his car. It's a small thing, but it's cool.

There is no need to indicate your city in the title, this is already clear. Travelers first choose a city, and then apartments from the proposed options.

If your home is located outside the city, this is worth mentioning.

Description

The description is simple; it is best if you write about your home clearly and, most importantly, honestly. Include as many important details as possible so guests know exactly what to expect. Do not make false or exaggerated statements.

To look more professional, translate your description into at least English, I recommend also Spanish and Chinese, but this is optional. This way you will generate more trust by your effort to be understood.

Photos

Photos are very important. Most often apartments are rented from good photos. The logic here is simple: the higher the quality of the photos, the more bookings.

Take photos during the day, natural light is best. You can only upload 10 photos to your account, so choose those that will give guests a clearer idea of ​​your space: what it looks like, what size it is, what bed, bathroom, etc.

For ideas, I advise you to contact your more expensive and popular competitors. See what angles they choose and do the same.

Airbnb also provides its own photographers. Photography is free. A badge will appear on your photos that they were taken by an Airbnb employee, which means they are reliable, which will add to your trust. Just find out if this service is available in your area.

Set the rules

Airbnb allows all hosts to set their own rules for guests. Consider your needs, the needs of travelers and your neighbors. For example, do not make noise after 11 pm, do not smoke. Indicate the number of people you are willing to let into the house. You may want to assign them some responsibilities around the house, for example, taking out the trash after yourself, watering the flowers.

Your profile

Your profile is one of the most important elements of your account. People trust people. This means you must appear in the eyes of travelers as a person worthy of trust. Fill out your information so completely and clearly that guests know what to expect from you as a host.

Price

Another important aspect that everyone pays attention to when choosing housing is the price. Before you set your prices, look at your competitors' rental prices. Take into account their location, photos and analyze how successful they are (based on reviews). Look at hotel prices.

While you are a beginner, set the price a little lower than your neighbors for approximately the same housing option. Take into account that you will need to pay an Airbnb fee, buy small things like toilet paper, and possibly pay for the services of a cleaning company.

If you're serious about making money by renting out your home on Airbnb, be flexible with your pricing. Look at market demands and raise or lower prices depending on the tourist season.

Lifehack. It’s very easy to evaluate the season, go to wordstat.yandex.ru. Check "Query History" in the purple search bar. In the line write “hotel Moscow”, instead of Moscow write your city and click “Select”. You will see a graph from which you will understand how often tourists look for accommodation in your city depending on the season.

These are very easy to use; if you know that demand is expected to increase next month, then raise your prices. On the other hand, if you don't have many guests yet, lower your prices until you get at least 2-3 positive reviews.

If you don't want to go through such a tambourine dance, Airbnb has a built-in pricing tool. It will automatically adjust your price based on demand in your area. You can set a minimum and maximum price per day.

Landlord checklist

So, you have set up your profile according to all the rules and even received your first reservation. What's next? Now you need to prepare your home for receiving guests.

Regardless of the level of comfort your accommodation provides, you should always welcome your guests in a clean and friendly manner. Think of your property like a professional hotel, trying to maximize guest experience and good reviews.

Check your accommodation

Remember that your guests' expectations should not differ from reality. Think about how your furniture performs its function. It’s good if there is a washing machine, but if it’s broken, then it would be better not to have it.

Do not overload the space; less furniture is better than more. Ikea minimalism is just right. But you will have to worry about the safety of fewer things.

Get organized

Before renting out your home, do a thorough cleaning. Clean up the kitchen, bathroom, and hallway. Basically, anywhere your guests can get to.

Dirty apartments are what killed many fledgling Airbnb businesses. Nothing supernatural is required from you, just:

• Vacuum the carpets and wash the floors;
• Wipe off the dust, even in places you usually don’t go into;
• Clean your bathroom until it shines. Have you ever heard the phrase: “the toilet is the face of the owner.” Rough, but to the point.

Fix what's broken

Broken wires, flimsy steps, broken furniture - fix or throw away everything that could injure your guests due to its malfunction. Good reviews are important to us, right?

Change the bed linen

This tip may seem obvious, but you'd be surprised how many hostels neglect it. Change bed linen after each guest. If you are too lazy to wash often, buy several sets. This way you will avoid bad reviews. Who would like someone else's hair on their pillowcase?

Empty the refrigerator

This is a “destroy all traces of previous guests” rule. And it seems to be just as unobvious to many hosts as the previous point.

Nobody likes someone else's half-eaten pizza in the fridge. But if you buy salt, pepper, frying oil, etc., your guests will be pleased.

Scrub the bathroom clean

Any good Airbnb host offers their guests 3 basic things: a clean bed, a clean kitchen, and a clean toilet. Always keep these 3 points in mind and you will get good reviews, which means even more guests. I hope this motivates you to be a good landlord.

It will also be a good idea to buy towels, toilet paper, hand soap, shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, toothpaste and anything else you consider necessary. This is not a waste of money, but an investment.

Keep track of valuables

If you rent out a room in your home or have guests staying with you for more than a week, make sure your valuables are in safe places. Keep money, jewelry, personal documents and albums with family photos where your guests do not have access.

If necessary, you can even purchase a safe to give you peace of mind regarding your belongings.

Give guests a separate key

Make sure you have at least one spare key for guests. Never give them your only keys, in case they lose them.

There is always something that can be done better. If good reviews are important to you, here are a few for you useful tips, which are worth paying attention to.

Added Value

It is important to understand that the more attentive you are to the comfort of your guests, the more travelers will rent an apartment from you. If you're serious about making money with Airbnb, think about the added value you can provide to your guests, at least at the beginning of your business.

If you pay attention to the reviews from your popular competitors, you will notice that tourists really appreciate the little things that their rental owners have taken care of.

I know many people who are too lazy to bother with all this, and I understand them, but their results are appropriate.

Don't keep guests waiting

Always greet guests, and if you don’t have time, ask your friends about it. Keep in mind that travelers may arrive at night and will need somewhere to stay.

You can be sure that you will not receive good reviews, if you force your guests to hang around a closed door for hours waiting for guests.

Meet them at the airport

The first impression is the most memorable. The best thing you can do for your guests in this case is to meet them at the airport or train station. Firstly, in this way you will not only significantly reduce the number of SMS with questions about how to get there, but also make life easier for travelers. Believe me, they will appreciate it.

If you don't have the time or desire to go on rides, provide your guests with detailed information about how to get to you public transport or taxi. Communicate the fares and provide signs to help them know they are on the right track.

Help them navigate a new situation more easily

Create a “Welcome Card” (print it on a piece of paper or whatever your imagination allows) and put in it information that might be useful to them. For example, your contact details, list best restaurants, museums in the city and things to do.

The next day, check how your guests are doing. Do they need anything else? If you have time and desire, you can spend it together and show tourists the city. Still, renting out through Airbnb is not quite the same as with a regular home rental/rental; to some extent, it is also a community.

Stand out from the crowd

Try to offer your guests something special to stand out from your competitors. Dinner at a restaurant free excursion, homemade cookies. I guarantee that your guests will be satisfied and recommend you to their friends.

Ask for feedback

Starting any new business is not easy. This is true for your Airbnb business as well. If you are new to the site, you will have a hard time finding your first guest. People usually choose places where others have been before and talked about their experiences. They want to know what to expect, and that's okay.

The good news is that if you are new to the Airbnb platform, you can ask your friends or family members to leave a review. Pay for your accommodation yourself at a minimal price. Yes, you will lose a little money on service fees, but it will be much easier for you.

What to do if you do get negative feedback

Sometimes, even if you tried your best, things can go to hell. It’s only a matter of time before you have your first negative comment on your profile. No matter why guests gave you a low rating, you need to remain calm and try to resolve the situation quickly and tactfully.

Apologize to your guests for what happened. Even if you don't agree with the review. Business is business, and the customer is always right. Let your future tenants know that you regret what happened and will make every effort to ensure it doesn't happen again. If you believe a guest is at fault, you have 14 days after check-out to provide them with feedback.

If the negative review was too negative, then write a public response to the review and explain what happened, tell how you corrected the situation and assure guests that they will not have to deal with this in the future.

All reviews remain forever, so do not give in to emotions, even if you really want to and remain professional, regardless of whether you communicate with the guest in person or resolve issues online. Always admit your mistakes and consider feedback as friendly advice on how to improve.

Don't forget that good communication can always prevent a bad review. Always communicate with your guests and try to make their stay with you as hassle-free as possible.

Often bad reviews are written due to a simple misunderstanding. Therefore, try to be understood correctly.

What's the best way to exchange keys?

The exchange of keys is the first contact with the guest. Try to make it leave a good impression. If you don't have time to greet your guests in person, here are a few ways you can hand over the keys to them.

Ask your friends

The most common way. If you can’t do it yourself, then ask relatives, friends or neighbors. Give tourists the phone number of the person who has the key.

Leave the key at a nearby store

The neighboring store or cafe is also perfect place where you can leave the key. But in this case, you must be completely confident in the reliability of the workers. Also make sure that your guests arrive during business hours, otherwise you will only create a new problem.

Use a key safe

Perhaps the easiest way to exchange keys if you constantly don’t have time and don’t want to disturb your surroundings. Buy a small key safe with a combination lock. Then your guests will be able to get into the apartment at any time of the day. You can attach it directly to your door, or you can place it in some secret place.

You can also install an electronic lock that can be controlled remotely using mobile phone. Or you can give the code to your guests and change it every time they check out.

Surephost icon

If you have received at least 10 guests in a year, then you have a chance to receive Superhost status. To do this, you need to fulfill several requirements. You must respond to at least 90% of booking requests and have over 80% of your reviews being 5 stars.

By receiving the Superhost badge, you will become more visible among competitors, and you will have your own advantages and bonuses.

Results

If you are a hospitable person and are ready to let strangers into your home, then Airbnb can be a good source of additional income for you. But you need to initially find free time to do this business.

Is it profitable to rent out an apartment through Airbnb? The answer is clear - yes. Firstly, renting an apartment by the day is always more profitable, and secondly, foreigners pay more money.

Many people have managed to create a permanent source of income for themselves by renting out several residential properties and earning six figures a month. And you can too, if you like to host guests and you have read this article carefully.

Hi all! In this post we will talk about how to use a website for renting housing abroad. And also about some interesting nuances that we recently encountered.

Surely many of you know about this resource, and perhaps you have already discovered it for yourself a long time ago and are traveling this way. Nikita and I first used airbnb services in the summer of 2014, after which we were absolutely delighted and since then we prefer to look for travel accommodation only there.

So, let's start in order. What is airbnb?

Airbnb stands for Air Bed and Breakfast. The name came about after two guys from San Francisco hosted guests at their home because they themselves needed money to pay for their rent. They had three air mattresses at home, which they offered to temporary residents. Every morning the guys prepared breakfast for the guests. After some time, these guys saw a great business idea in their actions and founded the Airbnb website.

The portal itself says the following about itself:

Airbnb began operating in August 2008 in San Francisco, California. Airbnb is a safe and secure place to rent, find, and book unique accommodations anywhere in the world, right on the website or via your mobile device.

Whether it's an apartment for a night, a castle for a week, or a villa for a month, Airbnb brings unique travel experiences to people at every price point in more than 34,000 cities and 190 countries. Add to that global customer support and a rapidly growing travel community. Airbnb is the easiest way for people to make money by renting out their spare space and offering it to millions of people.

In other words, on Airbnb you can find exactly the kind of accommodation that suits your level of comfort and price. The cheapest option is common room. You rent a bed or sofa in a room where someone else lives. At the same time, you naturally use the shower, kitchen, Internet and all the benefits of civilization that are present in the apartment.

The next option is separate room. An apartment may have several rooms; you rent one of them, but other travelers or apartment owners may live in adjacent rooms. This option is very good for those who have little money, but want some privacy. The advantages of the first and second options are that you can always communicate with the owner of the property, and he, as a local person, will tell you how best to get somewhere, where to go, etc.

And the last option for renting apartments on Airbnb is entire housing. This could be a separate apartment or even a house - it depends on your goals and financial capabilities.

Today, more than 25 million people around the world use Airbnb and more than one million apartments are available for rent. The choice is very large for any budget and for any expectations.

Is it safe to travel with Airbnb?

The answer is yes. The service pays great attention to security. If you are afraid of going to unknown people in an unknown apartment, then think about the fact that the owner allows people unknown to him into his apartment, full of his things. In theory, both are at risk, but in practice we have never heard or read about security problems.

The Airbnb community is built on trust. A verified profile is one of the necessary elements that allows guests and hosts to decide who they want to host and stay with.

Airbnb has provided several levels of verification and identity confirmation. When registering, the owner of the apartment attaches a scan of his documents and links his accounts to in social networks, the guests do the same.

There are two main rules that will help you ensure safety:

1. Please review carefully landlord profile. If your profile is missing any information or photos, write to the owner to update your profile. We always pay attention to the comments left previous occupants. If there are a lot of comments and they are positive, then the landlord is an active participant in Airbnb and can be trusted.
2. Pay for your reservation only through site payment system. Do not agree to transfer money to the owner’s personal account, because... In this case, Airbnb will not be able to help you if problems arise.

What's good about Airbnb?

Let's look at the undeniable advantages of renting housing through this site:

1. Cost. For those traveling alone, the cheapest accommodation option is either a hostel where you can rent a bed, or even free Couchsurfing. Both options are not very comfortable, noisy and not always pleasant. Especially if you are on a long journey and need to work.

For those traveling as a couple, like us, the hostel is not suitable at all. Because renting the two cheapest beds in a room with 16 beds costs more than renting one separate room in an apartment. This is true. Tested in all countries and cities we visited. Particularly noticeable in Scandinavia. But there is an exception - Riga, there are really very cheap hostels there!

Moreover, if you are traveling with a group of 15 people, I don’t even know what can save you except some camping and Airbnb.

2. Feeling of home. The idea behind the Aibnb community is the slogan “Welcome Home.” This is true. A hotel room is, of course, convenient and comfortable, but real housing, a blanket like at home, mugs with funny inscriptions, a guitar in the corner and morning coffee in the kitchen is completely different. Walking around the city, you feel not like a tourist, but a local, because after the walk you will not go to a room cleaned by the maid, but home.

3. Immersion in culture. Not the longest excursion, not the most ancient monument, and not even the most important National Museum, will not help you understand as acutely and deeply the mentality of the country in which you find yourself as the unexpected everyday little things that you find at home. You will see the city and the country as the locals see it. Because you will have the opportunity to become that local.

With Airbnb, you can stay in unique homes of real people - these can be ordinary houses and apartments, or even treehouses and igloos.

4. Comfort and coziness. The good thing about Airbnb is that it makes you feel free. You paid money for housing, they gave you the keys - that's it. You don’t have to hang out with the owner of the apartment, how nice it is on Couchsurfing, you don’t have to endure the snoring of your roommates in the hostel, your things are safe, you don’t have to leave them in the safe every time. You have full rights for an apartment for the rental period - do what you want. The accommodation is usually very cozy, comfortable and pleasant. Everyone, of course, has different concepts of what is convenient and pleasant; more on that a little later. But when traveling around Europe, you can be sure of the cleanliness and beauty of the rented apartments.

But a coin always has two sides, and a stick has two ends. During all our travels, we have more than once encountered various situations in the process of renting through Airbnb, which are better to know about in advance.

What to look for when renting on Airbnb?

1. The service takes a commission ranging from six to 12% of the booking amount. The larger the booking amount, the less Airbnb service fee. It would be hard to call this a minus, because... It is clear that the company's employees must receive a salary and have the means to develop this wonderful resource.

At the end of the booking, you will immediately see the full amount, which includes all fees and the commission of the portal itself. Example below.

2. Some owners, in addition to the rental price, set additional charges. Cleaning fees and damage deposits are common. The deposit for property damage will be taken from your card when you pay the rent and will be returned to your card 48 hours after check-out. If you damage the property, the deposit will not be returned.

As a rule, a deposit is set for those apartments that are quite expensive and have expensive furniture. If you rent cheap housing, most likely there will be no such deposit.

3. Default for people from Russia prices on the website are indicated in rubles. If desired, you can select a different currency in the settings. Given the unstable ruble exchange rate recently, the rental process sometimes turns into an attraction. Because the price of the apartment you choose may change within a few hours. Don't be surprised by this. It's not the owner of the apartment who's being naughty.

4. The cost of the same apartment may be different depending on the rental period. Often renting for a month is cheaper than to rent for two weeks, and then for another two weeks. Because the hosts offer discounts for long bookings. Therefore, if you want to spend 25 days in a certain city, consider whether it might be worth staying for 30 days and thus saving several thousand rubles.

5. The owner of the apartment is not always a virtuoso Internet user, so his profile may contain very serious mistakes. One of the situations that we recently encountered would have been completely unfunny if the owner had not eventually agreed to meet us.

The situation is as follows: the landlord indicated the price per day per person. However, he did not enter into the system the information that for each additional guest the same amount must be paid. Airbnb is a very well thought out system that automatically calculates the total payment amount based on the number of people, number of days, etc. But, of course, if the owner did not indicate some data, then this system does not work. For our part, we indicated that there would be two guests and paid the full rental amount from the card.

When we checked into the apartment, the owner asked us to pay in cash for the “second part of the rent,” which we did not know about. He explained this by saying that we paid with the card for only one tenant, and there were two of us. After much investigation, we explained to him his mistake, but it turned out that all the tenants had previously agreed to his conditions and paid for the accommodation of the second tenant in cash on the spot. Wow! Either he really wanted to deceive us, or he really wasn’t very smart.

The moral is: Airbnb charges you in full! You don't have to pay anyone anything extra! To avoid misunderstandings, before paying, talk to the owner of the apartment via correspondence on the website, discuss the final amount and talk again about how many people there will be. Discuss all the conditions with him and make sure that you understand each other.

6. Although the Airbnb name suggests that you are entitled to not only a bed but also breakfast, you can only count on breakfast if it is indicated in the description of the accommodation. Read the description very carefully! Not everyone has the Internet and a washing machine. To avoid disappointment with your apartment, simply consider your options carefully and don't be afraid to engage in correspondence with the owner.

7. Correspondence with the owner It’s better to only conduct on Airbnb. Because in case of any claims from one of the parties, it can be used as evidence.

8. When you move into an apartment, together with the owner, look at everything carefully and point out broken things, if there are any. Perhaps one of the previous tenants spoiled something, but the landlord did not notice and will blame you in the future. We also had a similar situation. It is almost impossible to prove that you didn’t break anything.

9. All apartments and all owners are completely different. It’s almost impossible to get a complete picture of the property from the profile on the website. For example, twice we unexpectedly found ourselves in the slums, although, of course, this was not written about in the profile.

Sometimes housing is very expensive, but on site you find a lot of dirt, dust, lack of towels and necessary utensils. The owner gives you the keys, and you don’t see him again until you leave, although according to Airbnb rules he must help you in every possible way if something breaks, etc.

And sometimes, you find the cheapest accommodation in the whole city, and the owner goes to meet you at the airport, prepared toiletries, fresh bathrobes for you, stocked the refrigerator with food and comes to cook dinners! All in all, price is not always an indicator of the quality of housing.

Three times already we have received a pleasant surprise. We usually book a private room because... This option suits us best in terms of price. But three times in a row, having paid only the cost of the room, we received the entire apartment at our disposal, because... either the owner of the apartment was away, or constantly spent the night with his girlfriend, or decided to live with his parents. There's always a little bit of uncertainty with Airbnb. 🙂

10. Airbnb is a large and busy resource. It's no surprise that glitches and errors sometimes happen. One day my card was charged twice for a month's rent. After contacting the support service, my money was returned and, as a gift, I was given a coupon for further bookings in the amount of four thousand rubles, valid for a year. For active travelers this is a very useful and pleasant bonus.

So if something goes wrong during the booking process, don't worry! The support service will definitely solve your problem.

11. It’s better to register your account on Airbnb at email you actively use. You won’t receive any unnecessary mailings, but you won’t miss any important emails from the service. For example, if you contact support, all responses will be sent by email, personal account you won't see them on the website.

Another nice functionality of the site is SMS sending. Your phone will receive replies from the hosts, even if you do not have access to the Internet. This is very convenient, so we recommend that you also include your real phone number.

12. Please note that some owners install minimum booking period, for example, three days. And also keep in mind that Airbnb provides an option to cancel a reservation, but each landlord chooses flexible, moderate or strict cancellation conditions.

13. This has not happened to us, but nevertheless, sometimes this happens - the owner himself can cancel reservation. The site provides for fines for hosts, but force majeure happens not only to guests, so you should treat such situations with understanding. As a rule, in the host’s profile there will be a note that he once canceled a paid reservation for someone.

14. Lastly, remember that renting on Airbnb is this is not the same as booking a room in a hotel or hostel. Some landlords do not respond immediately, the available dates may be incorrectly indicated in your profile, and in addition, you may be refused to rent if the owner does not like your profile, and this is his full right.

Therefore, it is better to look for accommodation on Airbnb in advance, have your profile filled out correctly, and also expect that during the “hot” seasons it can be very difficult to find an apartment. For example, during the carnival period in Rio, inexpensive housing on Airbnb was sold out in another two months.

25$

Friends, we hope this post was useful to you! We talked about all the nuances that we considered important and worthy of your attention. If you don't yet have an Airbnb account, we suggest you follow this link: www.airbnb.ru/c/ndatsko1?s=8 and register (copy and paste the link into the address bar). You'll immediately receive $25 that you can use on any booking. Well, we will also get $25. :)

If you have experience using Airbnb or you prefer another way to find accommodation when traveling, write in the comments, we are interested to know how our friends and acquaintances travel. Also, if you have any questions about renting housing, we will be happy to answer them, write!

People from all over the world select accommodation for their trips. Despite ongoing battles with local laws prohibiting short-term rentals, the service today offers more than 2 million accommodation options in more than 65,000 cities around the world. Convenience and completeness of search along with unique places and affordable prices have made renting a property easier than ever, whether you're planning to stay in someone's spare room or rent an entire house.

However, the market for travel services is growing every year, which allows travel companies to develop even faster, occupying new niches and improving their services.

From a designer search service to online platforms for renting inclusive apartments, we offer you a look at 9 worthy alternatives to the service Airbnb from the largest players in the short-term rental housing industry.

HomeAway

American service HomeAway was created 3 years before the appearance Airbnb and is today one of the main competitors of the Californian project. The company provides its users with more than 2 million housing options in 190 countries, which is comparable to the coverage Airbnb. To achieve such a scale, the service year after year absorbed a number of small local companies in various countries, thanks to which today the project HomeAway works on the basis of 50 different sites in 23 languages.

The company offers widest choice properties for short-term rental, including, in addition to standard housing, also ship cabins, villas, castles and farmhouses.

It is curious that since December 2015 the service HomeAway acquired by a global travel company Expedia Inc, under the wing of which other online projects from the travel industry are collected, such as Expedia.com , Hotels.com , CarRentals.com, and others.

Vacasa

Another American company Vacasa is not as large as Airbnb or HomeAway, and offers a total of 7,200+ vacation homes in the US, Europe, South and Central America. However, the main difference from the market leaders is that the company itself supervises the real estate that it leases, and itself maintains a staff of about 1,000 employees involved in supporting the operation of real estate. This approach allows Vacasa maintain competitive prices for renting your home, while providing even more quality services to your clients.

6-Bed Apartment in Escondido, California | Vacasa.com

Inclusive

Founded in the summer of 2016 in response to incidents of racism when trying to rent housing on Airbnb company Inclusive is an online rental platform with a great motto: “We are building a place where you can travel with respect, dignity and love regardless of race, sexual orientation, gender identity.”

The project is relatively new, so it does not provide many rental housing options. However, the company says it already covers more than 130 countries and will continue to work to expand its service.

6-bed private apartment in Marrakech | Inclusive.com

Kid and Coe

Traveling with children always comes with a number of special features. One of them is that hotel rooms often do not offer enough facilities and amenities for children's recreation. Service launched in 2013 Kid and Coe specializes in finding housing options that take into account the important details associated with a comfortable children's holiday. The offers on the site help parents figure out exactly how many people and what ages can be accommodated in certain apartments, and also provide detailed description toys available, and other important little things for children.

The site is accompanied by a considerable amount of additional information that reveals the advantages of renting the chosen housing for both parents and their children.

Service Kid and Coe has 1000+ hand-picked options in 50 different locations around the world, but is not one of the cheapest rental options.

Boutique Homes

4 bedroom apartment in Dubrovnik, Croatia | wimdu.com

Homestay

If the deciding factor in renting a home is price, we recommend that you take the time to search for options using Homestay. The service does not offer any private houses or apartments, and all options available on the site include accommodation exclusively with the hosts. Despite some specifics of such accommodation, you will be able to get interesting experience spending time together with local residents of a new city, who will always be able to help you navigate various issues, and will also be happy to share with you the local culture and characteristics.

Room with balcony in Paris | homestay.com

We wish you successful travels!

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