Airbnb
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You are currently reading a thread in /trv/ - Travel
You are currently reading a thread in /trv/ - Travel
Is Airbnb really safe? what's the creepiest shit that happened to you while traveling? Share stories!
>>1095020
>Is Airbnb really safe?
no
>>1095020
Creepiest shit? There was a black guy and his Chinese girlfriend in one house. The kitchen door was always open even though there is a sign telling to keep it closed and the air current just channels smoke from the smoking area to the kitchen. So one day I was in the kitchen with the chinese girl, someone started smoking so I closed the door. The girl immediately left and instants latter the black guy came angry about how I'm not supposed to close the door even if there is a fucking sign on it telling to keep it closed.
Also someone stole my flip-flops there. I'm assuming someone just mistook it for one of the indoor shoe-wear provided by the house but theft is a possibility.
Aside from that still didn't got any issue.
>>1095020
I only book 'entire house/apartment' places from airbnb.
Experiences have all been flawless.
My only gripe is that you have to organize meeting the people to get the keys. Usually they'll offer to pick you up from the airport.
I'm just really anti-social, and would rather rent a place with 0 human interaction.
I have experience both staying and hosting and I've never had anything creepy or dangerous happen to me. The worst thing was a fat American woman blowing up the glass cover on my kitchen fire because she thought it worked like induction plates. Got it replaced and she paid for the damage, but taking away all those fucking glass shards was a pain in the ass like you wouldn't believe
>>1095029
In two occasions where I rented an entire place in Japan they organized a way for you to get the keys with 0 contact. Before you arrive they will give you a code for you to use in a lock that have the key. Like in a video game puzzle.
>>1095105
that happened with me in atlanta, i guess it's a pretty popular method
What's better - couchsurfing or airbnb? Do 10 bucks for an airbnb accomodation give you the comfort you want in comparison with couchsurfing?
>>1095095
>because she thought it worked like induction plates.
Dude....
>>1095113
well with couchsurfing it's not guaranteed that you get a place to sleep whereas with Airbnb, it's more like a P2P hotel kind of thing where the place is (almost) guaranteed
>>1095029
Same here, well with booking entire apartments anyway. I'm not an asspie though.
I have rented AirBnB rooms a couple times. Generally been fine, but I'm too paranoid to like leaving my shit in an unlocked unsupervised area with strangers. One time in Berlin the other room-mates (I took the host's room apparently, while he fucked off to I dunno where) were total potheads. The flat looked (surprise surprise) a lot more dishevelled than in the photos, and these dudes seemingly spent the whole getting baked and being basically anti-social. I wouldn't have minded if they offered to share, but they didn't, and anyway I was there to be a tourist and not a couch-potato. They didn't want to talk to me at all, that was clear, so whatever. I know Germans have terrible inter-personal skills, but it was still very awkward vibes regardless.
Another time, travelling with my girlfriend, we stayed in a spare room with a girl who somehow worked nights and was gone most of the day, but didn't tell us exactly what she did. Some sort of artist/photographer, clearly. Mostly gone anyhow, so no big deal. She did have nude photos of herself in her bedroom (door left open), with kind of a fantasy fairie pixie thing going on.
I still much prefer a private apartment, anyway.
You guys dont rent whole house?
You are asking for weird shit to happen to you.
>>1095167
Why would I do that? What are you talking about?
>>1095167
with Airbnb you can either rent rooms or the entire home.
Usually the price is still less than a regular hotel and you dont have to deal with other people.
thre creepiest part is Airbnb itself
>try to book a stay
> you need to provide a copy of your passport
> ok
> also you need to connect with Facebook.
> srsly? Well I really want to book that room, so ok
> sorry your Facebook does not have enough activity. You need to record a short video presenting yourself
> WTF?! OK HERE YOU GO FAGGOTS
> the system bugs, does not accept the video and does not give errors
Rage delete my account and rage-write a rage message saying how to comply with European law they have to delete my private shit forever.
> Know that they won't
> Live with this feeling. forever.
I Hate you, Airbnb
I really do.
>>1095963
Wtf are you on about, id verification and Facebook connection are optional. It's just that some listings request the former to book and you shouldn't even be able to see them if you don't
>>1095963
you don't have to log in with facebook, but I had to provide a copy of my ID and upload a video. That same error thing happened to me when I tried to upload the first few times. was fucking annoying. Forgot what I did to finally make it work.
>>1095028
city?
>>1095963
I've met guys like you that think everything is "creepy". Your type is really hard to talk to and I have to walkon eggshells constantly
How the hell is a website asking for Facebook in 2016 creepy? Are you just throwing the word around? You know that isnt required right?
>>1095963
I think you can understand why this makes sense though. Imagine you're renting your room, and to make it interesting let's now say you're a very pretty buxom blonde woman who can't even open a jar of pickles without breaking a sweat. Do you really want some lying rando axe-murdering rapist in the room next to you in your own apartment? Shit has happened. Look how many people here flock to CouchSurfing threads asking how they can influence their guests into having sex with them. Do you know how many (truly creepy) of the world's sexually repressed sandnigs and gooks message single women even on places like AirBnB with sexual comments?
Makes sense to have to 'publicly' verify yourself.
>>1095997
Tokyo.
I rented from AirBnB multiple times with my girlfriend. We usually do single rooms for 2 and thus far all of our experiences have been flawless except one.
I rented a room for a week, but my gf had to leave the city early so I wanted to cancel after the first night. The host policy was first night after you cancel is non-refundable but every subsequent night is 50% refunded. Neither one of us knew how to do a formal cancellation on AirBnB so I suggested the host change our reservation days from 5 nights to 1 thinking AirBnB would automatically re-calculate the refund correctly. Instead it gave me a 100% refund on the 4 nights. The host was a total b*tch as soon as she met us. She remained this way throughout the entire first day and then at the end of the night she went back on her word that we could check out later and said we had to leave much earlier next day. She was being passive aggressive by texting us this info and wouldn't talk to us face to face. Long story but the night ended with her yelling at us and discriminating against my European gf. The argument got so intense we just straight up left.
Why they don't say which countries can pay with paypal?
I can't seem to find this info either! Someone knows?
I love airbnb. I've stayed in 6 different places over the past few years and never had a bad experience. I never stay in the shared rooms though; always rent an entire place to myself. It still comes out to be cheaper than most hotels and is infinitely superior. Most places apply weekly/monthly discounts too.
Creepiest shit? I'm convinced the dryer in one apartment warped one of my socks through some sort of portal to another world.
Found out "diverse neighborhood" means niggers.
>>1095105
>>1095111
It's a lockbox guys, it's nothing special.
I have it in my apartment to leave keys to my cleaning lady.
>>1097254
In one of the it was in the mail box... That opens like an old fashioned safe (number to the right, number to the right, number to the left...)
>>1097284
Oh, those are more old school. A lot of people are too retarded to open combination locks so they fell out of favor.
>>1097312
Yeah but the one I mentioned was literally a mail box. When we returned the key it was full of advertisements and bills.
a bunch of my gfs dirty underwear came up missing the day before we were set to check out which happened to be the day the renter paid a surprise visit and left us a note outside the front door saying "thanks, hope we enjoyed the stay, etc.etc."
she noticed it the day of but didn't mention it until a few days later.
when i asked casually in an email a week or so after, the renter stated no one entered our room while we occupied it, to his knowledge.
that's the creepiest
this was in New York/Brooklyn.
>>1097331
Reminds me... stayed in an AirBnB once. Was a female student's bachelor apartment (strawberry blonde, cute), and she just left everything there while she stayed at her BFs while I rented out the room.
Well, she left everything there. In a lower closet drawer was a little fabric box full of dirty clothes, including underwear (yes I snooped). I couldn't help myself, sniffed those fuckers real deep. They smelled great in that rank dried pussy slime kinda way, but I was rock solid. There were reddish blonde pubes in them too... Used another pair to wrap around my dick and fapped, but I was careful not to get cum on them though. I'm not that creepy to leave evidence...
I already posted a while ago but here we go again.
I kind of "boycott" Airbnb. Don't get me wrong, I know it's great if you don't want to pay too much and have a different experience than hotels'.
But the apartment upstairs is constantly rented through Airbnb and my life has been hell ever since.
People party nearly every week, stay up very late at night. You yell at them, they say ok, but then they leave the next day, and another deluded idiot comes in and does the same shit again. Rince and repeat.
They also don't give a fuck about security, always leaving our building's door open so their huge ass party (always at least 4 people, it's a huge apartment) can get in and out freely without the hassle of composing the secret code number to get in. Fuck them.
I already complained to the neighbor but he said he can't control his guests' behavior. I also threatened to call the cops but anyway they never do shit. Did once when they partied until FUCKING 4 AM DURING A WEEKDAY (I have to wake up at 7am and sometimes at 4am for my job) but the cops never came.
Thus why I still go to hotels. I don't even give a fuck, I have free points to spend.
>>1097238
Oh yeah, it's great as a Swede I always rent in diverse areas. I get to enjoy a vibrant community and when I'm lucky my gf will get culturally enriched!
>>1095029
same, did it in reykjavik and barcelona
except that I don't really mind getting in touch with the owned of the place... I actually like it to ask some quick questions
>>1097373
You should talk to your neighbour about the kind of people they take in. Sounds like it's not very discerning. A sign saying "respect the neighbours!" is more than fair. Get the whole building to sign a letter and post it by the main door. Complain to the landlord if necessary. If he's really being totally lax about it and dismissing his neighbours concerns, that is pure cunt behaviour and you may want to lawyer up. His attitude is so dismissive that he'd do just the same himself, it doesn't really matter it's AirBnB guests.
One of my neighbours rents out his apartment to AirBnB, but it's never been a problem. Quiet professional people and couples.
Did once have some mainland Chinese who smoked like chimneys in the hallway/staircase (how nice of them not to smoke in the apartment, eh?)...
Stayed in a more run down area of Quebec City for a night with my girlfriend simply because it was cheap. Nothing bad happened, just the doors on the rooms of the apartment all had locks on the outside of the rooms, and not the inside
>>1095020
I booked a 3 bedroom furnished luxury apartment for 11€ a night in Kraków as my first Airbnb. I was 19 and traveled solo. All I did was show up during the evening, went to the apartment, got a tour by some qt blonde girl, gave me the keys, and then I didn't see her again. Had the whole place to myself for 4 days. Will definitely use Airbnb again.
>>1097329
they're p/o boxes
a native once told me stories about how in the past the yakuza used them to deliver guns/drugs
also by teen moms to dump their unwanted babies, if the kids were lucky to get their cries heard they would get rescued by the workers
>>1095029
Travel seems like a weird thing to do if you're like that...
>>1098534
Installing hidden cameras in your own house is illegal?
>>1098566
Recording people without their knowledge or consent is illegal
>>1098578
That's how we catch abusive babysitters and caregivers here, by secretly recording them.
I've stayed in a number of airbnb's, including all through Turkey, Greece and Italy. All of the experiences were safe and ranged from awesome to, so-so, but still safe. I usually don't like renting the entire place because I like to interact with the host. The only really bad experience I had was in Ottawa renting from a Nigerian who had zero reviews. I noped the fuck out of there as soon as the cockroaches started skittering across the kitchen counter. Don't ever rent from someone with zero reviews.
How much does your reputation and feedback matter on Airbnb in the long run?
I've already had one or two people refuse to rent to me because I had one bad review from some cunt that wanted revenge on me. Luckily they weren't really places I wanted to rent anyway.
>>1098579
It is one thing IF you happen to catch someone in the act of doing something illegal in your own private place of residence where you have invited a person to complete some work. Babysitters aren't renting your entire home or room for a weekend, it's different. Even if AirBnB properities are irregular hotels and somewhat of legal a grey area, there is every right for guests to expect privacy. Depends where you live, but in every civilized country you'd be looking at jail time for spying on guests you rent to.
>>1098617
Can't you make a new account?
>>1098617
False reviews can be appealed via resolution centre of Airbnb. They will remove it for you
>>1098534
People do it. There's lots of instances where landlords spy on their tenants.
>>1098732
> lots of instances where landlords spy on their tenants.
Yea, and it's 100% illegal.
>>1098788
And that stops them? No. It still happens just like other illegal shit
>>1098475
It was in the building entrance and had a fucking slit for mail. Anyone can stick a piece of paper there.
>>1098863
Not really sure what point you're trying to make though. Of course illegal things happen, thanks for pointing that out captain.
I've heard of some cases. Friend of mine plays on a semi-pro basketball team (it's Europe so... lel) and an old coach of his was busted for setting up spy cams in the girl's lockers. Guy got a few years of jail and sex offender status.
I doubt it happens on a large scale though. If so, new avenue of profit for lawyers. I'd get on that shit if I were one! If AirBnB hosts are that paranoid about damage or whatever, they probably aren't renting in the first place. If they're just pervy, that's another thing.
Which countries can pay with paypal?
>>1098610
I think your conclusion should be don't rent from a nigerian. Everyone necessarily has 0 reviews at some point in time.
Used it all over Europe & Japan, never had a problem. Only ever book total apartments and make sure it's got a decent number of reviews and you'll be fine
I have used airbnb ALOT in korea and japan. I have gotten to do and see some amazing things and go to some amazing places not usually accessible to foreigners.
>>1095153
>I have rented AirBnB rooms a couple times.
But what is the difference between renting an apartment from the actual owner, and going on AirBnB and doing it?
An example was Venice. I went to AirBnB to look at the entire apartement, and then I went to booking.com.
Booking.com was a cheaper alternative, so I went using Booking.com.
According to the owner, since she was in the apartment next to me, the people using AirBnB mess up the place more than the people from Booking.com
>>1097668
>One of my neighbours rents out his apartment to AirBnB,
I own an apartment complex, and was wondering, which would earn me more money:
Renting it out yearly, or using AirBnB? The apartment is in Silicon Valley, where the apartment earns me two thousand a month.
>>1098617
Quite a bit.
I'm renting out my apartment sometimes, it has two bedrooms+kitchen+living room. We charge 245$/night, but we're very selective with out guests since some jackass americans partied indoors with shoes on ruining our floor(they had to pay for it) and annoying our neighbors. We only accept guests with good reviews and we have a solid 5 star rating.
The apartment is good but not amazing, but when you're paying 1700$ for a week in a 5 star home you're 100% inclined to leave a 5 star review. We put quite a bit of effort in making it presentable though when we do hire, we make sure it's completely spotless, and we leave breakfast/chocolate etc. for the guests.
>>1100061
airbnb but it's going to be a massive hassle to rent it out to 200 different guests in a year compared to just renting it to 1 guest for a year
Used it a few times, in Tel Aviv, Barcelona and Berlin. I haven't had any problems, it's so much more comfortable than a hotel room or hostel.
>>1100102
Yeh no kidding. I was just wondering about the money earned. I don't mind renting it out to other people, I need to be outside the house more anyways.
>>1095020
rented a penthouse suite overlooking navy pier from a couple two summers ago
the woman was deep cleaning the place when we got there early to drop our bags off
nice people, kept in contact via text the whole time we were there
just look for people who are 'verified' or whatever the terminology is. common sense that if people are constantly staying there, its probably safe
>>1095028
>There was a black guy and his Chinese girlfriend
If you are going to post lues, you should have left out this part to make it somewhat believeable
>>1100319
kek
>>1095167
We rented a whole place that fitted 8 people inside for just 3 of us. It was pretty fucking awesome combining all the beds.
>>1095167
Isn't it more likely for something bad
to happen when you're sharing the space with the owners vs having it all for yourself?
I just signed up to see what it's all about and what is this verify shit? They won't accept my partially censored ID, and it seems like most places in asia require me to verify.
>>1100655
It's an optional security measure, you need to show it uncensored probably. If your fear of the botnet is too high just don't do it, or try with a fake ID like on facebook
AirBnB is convenient, but it is cheaper -- sometimes significantly cheaper -- to find an apartment through sites that locals would use.
I was looking at apartments in Lviv, Ukraine and one was going for around $50/night on AirBnb, while it was just $15/night on a different site in Ukrainian that pretty much only Ukrainian people would use.
>>1095020
I've done airbnb in many different countries including Morocco and I've never had any problem
>>1100878
This. I have never found AirBnB cheaper than apartments, or other local accommodations.
>>1100878
Yeah, I was in the Bulgarian thread seeing AirBnB prices for a month. Shit's $1000 per month minium, are they fucking insane? 99% of people here wouldn't be able to cover rent, let alone bills n livin. AirBnB is alright because it's a convenient front for tourists and hosts would most likely speak a foreign language. The house is fully furnished and ready to go, whereas apts here are frequently rented bare-bones and on a month-by-month basis.
>sharing AirBnB with anyone
why_ever
>>1100906
The high priced ones might just be people who prefer to cater to short term rentals. There's no way to satisfy both ends of the spectrum and cover your costs with airbnb. For example, I set my apartment at 55€/night, which would be too pricey for a month, so I put a 30% discount for monthly rents. If I go lower than that I risk not getting even with bills
>>1100878
How do you suggest I or anyone should look for apartments?
For example, in AirBNB, rooms were like 30-40 Euros/Night "MINIMUM". I joined some Facebook Malta accomodation groups and found myself a private room for 10 Euros/Night.
The thing is Malta's official language is English. How does one look for a cheap apartment in Philippines?
>>1101018
Find a chick to shack up with or hook you up as a local
>>1101018
30-40€ where? It makes a difference.
Anyway, if 40€ is still above your budget, you're not ready to leave the dorm you stingy bastard.
>How does one look for a cheap apartment in Philippines?
It's the fucking Philippines not Norway.
>>1101040
You realize thisn/trv/ where many stay in cheap hostels and couchsurf, and some have even been known to camp. 30-40€ is more than a lot of members average on accommodations
Not creepy, but annoying as fuck
> Have to return to Berlin from long vacation
> Finding proper housing from abroad is hard as fuck, and agency fees are criminal.
> Rent flat in "studentenwonheim" through airbnb. No clue what a studentenwonheim is.
> Get to flat. Turns out to be highly subsidized flats for students.
> A female tenant starts stirring up shit so my landlord (and myself) get kicked out of the place because he's not supposed to rent it.
> Have to tiptoe every fucking time I want to go to the kitchen or toilet to avoid the bitch, cuz I don't wanna get kicked out as I hadn't found another place yet.
Most awkward month ever. For the most part, my airbnb experiences have been 'meh' rate. Most hosts don't really bother spending time with you, and airbnb takes looooong to help you when you get in hot water. If the host cancels on you on high season, you are royally fucked. I will probably stick to hostels from now on.
>>1101043
Sweet lord, yes. 40€ is way more than I've ever spent a night. I think I went as high as 16€ in Helsinki. Cheapest legit place was $1 a night in Cambodia. I'm sure someone here can do better though.
>>1101043
I've been around /trv/ for 7ish years, thanks. The fact remains, 40€ is cheap for single private accommodation.
>>1101052
>No clue what a studentenwonheim is.
Did the 'student' part in the phrase not tip you off? Did you not try a dictionary? It's 2016, numbskull.
Only students are allowed to rent those because they're government funded at cheap rates FOR students. It is surely illegal to sublet them. This is not shocking. You could be an axe-murdering rapist for all she knows. It is kind of rude to rent your place in a shared space without asking other tenants. Imagine you're trying to be a safe studious little student and your neighbour down the hall is renting out his room to a conga line of older loud weirdos who leave the common areas a mess.
It doesn't surprise me... Many Germans put ZE RULES before all else and became unbearable busy-bodies if someone's not doing something ZE ONE WAY it should be done. Cunts gonna cunt, but it's still wrong to sublet in a student apartment.
>Most hosts don't really bother spending time with you
That's the idea. A bit of friendly chit-chat, I'll ask about nearby transit/bank machines/restaurants, then gimme the keys and get lost.
>>1097254
>I have it in my apartment to leave keys to my cleaning lady.
Wouldn't it make more sense to leave it outside the apartment?
>>1102394
Having a trusted person deliver the key is preferable if you don't have a safe place to leave the keys in while you wait for guests to come
>>1101018
It's also English in the Philippines, you idiot.
>>1096283
>make an agreement
>cancel it
>stiff her on money
>complain because she was offended
>play the victim
jew?
>>1101052
what he did was like renting out a dorm room to an outsider....pretty weird.
Could you guys clarify the one thing for me that i don't get? If I rent a room on Airbnb does it imply that I will live with the owner of the house or I will stay all alone?
>>1097373
Depending on the country but you can :
If your neighbor is renting his flat just contact the owner or the people he pay his rent to and complain, usually sublease is against contract policy, he can also get his contract revoked because of regular noise pollution.
If he own the place you can try public shaming like putting some paper in the entrance bitching about noise, door keept open,...
>>1102485
Look at the listing category
>whole house
Means you have the property to yourself
>private room
Means you have a room for yourself but thew owners may be there too
>shared room
You share the room with the host and/oe other guests
If you still have doubts just ask the host via pm
>>1102497
Got it,thanks
>>1102502
But really, read the description and, if in doubt, ask before renting.
Many times I've filtered to show only "entire home/apt" listings and in the description they said something like "we live in the house, but you'll have your own room and bathroom" or they left implicit that they'd be sharing the space with you.
It's like they understand "entire home/apt" as "you'll have access to the whole house at will".
>>1102497
>shared room
I am surprised anyone goes for those. Same thing on Couchsurfing. I imagine homos use that option, and pretty much no one else.
Sharing a room with a stranger? Why else would you do that unless you want to sit on his penis. (And let's be honest, it's only men offering that)
Im going to be in Prague this summer with some friends. There will be 6 of us, do you guys think it would be worth it to rent a place? We want to party and what not but nothing too crazy, we are all respectful enough. Anyone have experience renting whole flats for semi-large groups? or would a hostel be better?
>>1102661
>shared room
Because it is cheap? Better than sharing a room with a dozen strangers at a hostel?
>>1102979
Yea, you're right, sharing a bedroom with one stranger in their secret rape dungeon is a whole lot better. (Protip: it's usually not cheaper than a large hostel dorm)
Good experiences. Would not share a room. People who host can give good tips on how to get around and what to see
>>1103104
This is spot on.
I've stayed in lots of AirBnBs around the US and one in Japan. The only time I had less than a great experience is when I shared a house with others in San Francisco (but it was CHEAP!).
I suggest getting an entire apartment/house, its totally worth it.
>>1102724
In cities like Prague it can be cheaper to get a flat for a group. However airbnbs can be wary of a group of lads for obvious reasons
I tried AirBnB one time. I rented a condo for a week. She took my money but sent me an email right before I left home saying she was canceling. I had to scramble like crazy to get a hotel booked and they had a huge chunk of my credit card for the duration of my trip. Nope.
>>1103582
Often the people live in their properties. Shit happens.
>>1095020
I may be spending a few weeks in Cleveland working as a production assistant at the Republican Convention. The local university opens some of their apartments in the summer for conferences and interns, and that looks to be what I'll use. I may not need to use it the whole time I'll be in the city though. I wonder if I could get away with listing the apartment on airbnb when I am not using it, or will this just end with me getting sued?
>>1103762
Pretty sure you have to be the legal owner/tenant, not that AirBnB really checks. You can't sublet when YOU are in turn already the subletter/renter. It's pretty sketchy, and I assume you will be kicked out if discovered. I doubt your employer paying your bills will be too pleased either.
