With all the listings in Airbnb, how do you find the best one for you? Here’s a tip: Think carefully about what you need.
I don’t travel as much as I used to but last weekend, we traveled to a nearby city and I was planning for us to stay in a hotel but I prefer staying in a place where I can wash baby bottles comfortably as well as re-heat food.
I’m the kind of person who does a lot of digging before booking a place so I thought I’d share it with all of you.
Location
The first thing I look for in an Airbnb listing is the location of the place. Is it in a nice, accessible neighborhood? Is it close to places I need to go? Is it quiet or noisy at night?
I like to plan out and create an itinerary for our trip so I know which places we need to go. So I go from there and find the best place out of all the available options I have.
I look for must-visit restaurants, shopping malls and places to visit nearby using the map tool. For our recent trip, we stayed in a condo near Centrio in Cagayan de Oro city. It had everything I was looking for in a place. The location was perfect.
Superhost
I prefer staying in places of Superhosts because it means that they have provided outstanding hospitality and garnered good reviews from people that stayed in their place.
The next time you search for a listing, make sure to filter the results to show places of Superhosts if this is something that’s important to you as well.
However, there are lots of cool Airbnb places without the Superhost status.
Always read the reviews in their listings to give you an idea of what to expect before you arrive.
Reviews
I always, always read reviews because I know that pictures can be misleading. Some have professional looking photos while others only have photos taken by phone so I go to reviews to help me decide if I would like to book that place or not.
When I read comments that goes “the photos don’t do this place any justice at all” then I know the place is definitely better in person.
Like in this recent listing that we stayed at, in the pictures, the place looks small but I read in a review that the “place was bigger than I expected” so when we arrived at the condo, the place was actually bigger than in the photos. I thought it would be hard to move around especially since there were 3 of us staying but there were lots of room to move around in.
House Rules
I love Airbnbs because they have house rules so it’s easier to know if a place is for you or not. For example, there are places where pets aren’t allowed and if you’re planning to bring your dog with you, you can easily skip that listing.
I choose places with House Rules that aligns with what I need and what I look for. No loud music at night, conserving electricity by turning off lights and any appliances off when you go out and infants allowed are some rules I always look for in a listing.
Amenities/Freebies
The recent Airbnb that we booked had a free parking space in the condo’s parking lot (3rd floor) so that’s really what sealed the deal for me. We were traveling by car and if we stayed in a hotel, I’m pretty sure we’d have a hard time securing a parking space. I inquired in another listing that I was considering but they have a fee for renting a parking space.
Strong internet connection is another thing I’m always looking for in a listing so I can stay connected and get some work done. Most places have good internet but I did find a few listings with reviews that said that the place was great but the wifi was intermittent or slow.
Here’s a quick room tour from our recent Airbnb:
I have stayed in different Airbnbs in different countries and I find that these places are great if you want to save money by cooking your own food, have privacy by having a room or place on your own instead of a dorm in a hostel. It’s also great if you’re staying longer in a city as they offer weekly and monthly rates.
Airbnbs give me that homey feeling despite being in a new city. How about you? Do you prefer a hotel or Airbnbs? Let me know in the comments!
