What is your experience with AirBnB as a guest, not a Landlord?

[Nathan Gesner]

Have you stayed in a few AirBnB rentals? VRBO? Have you stayed in the big city and then compared that to a place in the country near a tourist attraction? What was your experience?

I've stayed in a dozen or more AirBnB rentals, all of them in major cities (Austin, Dallas, Riverside, LA, Denver, Nashville, Orlando, etc.). Over half of them were illegally operated (in violation of HOA rules, city/county zoning, etc.). One of them was shut down the day before I arrived to check in (two days before Christmas in LA). Every single one of them, without exception, was poorly set up. One was a 3bed/2bath unit set up for ten guests, but it had a small 3.8 cubic foot dorm fridge that couldn't hold fit a gallon of milk and they didn't have a single picture, clock, or other decoration on any of the walls. They're usually filled with low-quality furniture that is uncomfortable and sometimes even unusable, like my latest that had four wicker chairs with no cushions so the broken pieces of wicker stabbed my backside every time I sat down. No guest book or welcome instructions. Terrible amenities (e.g. record table and classic records prominently featured in the advertising of a Nashville condo, but no speakers!). Just $300 could have made all these locations much more comfortable and welcoming, but the hosts just don't seem to care. They they all have 5-star reviews as if they've gone above and beyond.

I've also stayed in a few rentals found on VRBO or through private owners. Every single one of them, without exception, has been been legally operated, well furnished, and the owner goes above and beyond to make the stay special.

Am I just unlucky with AirBnB? Do big-city guests just not care? What has your experience been?

[Bruce Lynn]

I either travel by myself or with my wife quite a bit.  I really don't get the attraction normally vs staying in a hotel.  I've seen some cool pictures, but then look at the prices and for $500/night I can stay in a very nice luxury hotel with all the services, instant fixes if anything broken/malfunctions, 24 hour room service, valet parking, luggage assistance and all the other nice things that come with a hotel stay.   I don't always stay at the nicest places, sometimes I like quiet and cheaper boutique type hotels if I am by myself.  I still like to be able to go to the desk at 2am and ask what's open that is good close by, etc.  

I hear of places that sleep 19 people for a bachelorette party, or 20 people on a ski vacation and I guess at one point in my life that would have been fun and maybe was fun....but now that I'm older, going on vacation with 19 people is not my idea of fun.

I hope I never have an insurance claim, but just saw a post on BP about the guy making a killing with RV parked in back of his rental home.  When I asked about insurance he said he thought his homeowners policy would cover it and his guests.  I don't want to have to sneak into a place--like a condo in Miami, because someone is arbitraging illegally, or anything like that.  Just not worth my time or effort or headache at this point....and really for no better place than a hotel room and doesn't seem to be any less costly.