Airbnb

You probably can't do much better than Henrietta's apartment in Madrid

My first encounter with Airbnb was in 2012 when I looked for a place to stay in Paris. More precisely I wanted to stay in Marais this time around, and found the price of the hotels rather expensive compared to what you got. Somehow, I stumbled upon Airbnb which (then) was pretty much unknown in Norway and found a chic and big apartment smack in the middle of Marais, and the price was very favorable compared to a hotel.

After that success I decided to give this modern concept of B&B some more shots on the next "round the world" trip. Homestays was booked in Singapore, Sydney, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Madrid and London. Overall, I got excellent value for the money everywhere, and the most interesting places were where I rented a room in someone's house/flat. That way I got to know so much more about the place, and met some genuinely interesting and open-minded people.

If you look around internet I'm sure you can find some bad stories about Airbnb (just as every other hotel/hostel), but if you use common sense I'm sure you usually will be pleasantly surprised. What I'm looking for when I'm booking is this:

1. (Many) Good reviews
2. Newly listed places may be very good value. If it is put some effort into tidying up the flat, and some/many (high quality) nice-looking pictures, you are probably safe. For example, I was the first visitor both in Sydney and in San Francisco, and both places were awesome (as they say in Australia).
3. Avoid someone who rents out a multitude of places. I had no option but doing that in South Beach, Miami. The location was excellent. The apartment so-so, but no way bad.

Lisa & Joe's place in Venice Beach, L.A. left a much better impression than the rest of the city.

When I got back home, I decided to even put up my house for rent if someone (for some unknown reason) wanted to visit my hometown. I haven't exactly been run down by customers, but more than 2500 dollars in less than half a year isn't too bad in my opinion. Of course Airbnb has to earn money some way, and takes some % both from the renter and the host, but I think it is only fair for creating this excellent new opportunity for travelling.

So, if Airbnb sounds interesting for any future trip I would really recommend giving it a shot. If you make an account through this link, you will get 25 dollars towards your first booking (I get 25 as well)

Christal's apartment in Sydney had exceptional views to the opera and the rest of Sydney.