Experiences with Airbnb: Our Stays in Airbnb and a First Time Airbnb Guest Coupon

We hosted guests in our house for years through Airbnb before we actually tried the service ourselves. But on our recent trips to eastern Canada, New York, and Colorado we got a chance to experience the other end of Airbnb.

We treated our adult children last year with an excursion to New York City to see the musical Hamilton. Yes, it is as good as people say it is. We met my daughter and her husband and my son there so were five of us in all. As you know, New York is not the least expensive city. We were going to need at least two hotel rooms and anticipated $200 to $300 a night. This sounded like a good opportunity to investigate an Airbnb stay.

We were able to find a third floor flat with three bedrooms, a living room, and a kitchen for $300 a night. It was located within walking distance of Little Italy where we took a food tour. And it was only a block away from a subway stop.

One of the things that I love about New York City are its neighborhoods. I would much rather stay in one of the small neighborhoods than in the hustle and bustle of Midtown near the theater district. Give me a flat in the upper West side, Gramercy Park, or Soho over Midtown any day.

We were able to pick up some groceries to save money on meals, and all in all, it was a quite pleasant stay.

Our 2nd Airbnb stay was quite different as it was in a small town near St. George, New Brunswick. This apartment was adorable. It was an attic apartment over the owner’s house. At this point in our trip, It was just my daughter, son-in-law, my wife and I. This apartment had two bedrooms dining room living room full kitchen and one bathroom. The bathroom even had a full washer and dryer set up. The house had lovely gardens and a pool, although it was not pool weather during our stay

My first reaction was, “I could live here!”

One of the reasons we stayed in this apartment was that we were in an area that did not have many hotel options and again an apartment with two bedrooms was more affordable. This was easily the kind of apartment that would be great for a long-term stay.

My third Airbnb experience was a little less ideal. I stayed by my self in a private room with a private bath just a couple of light rails stops from downtown Denver when I was there for a travel conference. The room was great, the house was cute and the location was terrific. But… my wife, whose sense of smell is more acute than mine, could not have stayed there as the owner was overly fond of scented candles.

At the same time, my wife was on Long Island staying in a small cottage with a private entrance that she found through Airbnb as she attended a niece’s graduation.

We were actually encouraged to start hosting Airbnb by talking to some of my travel blogger friends like Larissa from ChangesInLongitude.com. She and her husband Mike spent half of the previous year in long term Airbnb situations before coming to spend a couple of days with us.

In some Airbnb stays you get the entire place or at least a completely separate part of it. Some, like our house, are just one or two rooms and a shared kitchen. If you want your privacy, the first one might be a better match for you. If you want to interact with the locals and get more insight into the area then a shared room might work great.

For renting a place through Airbnb, make sure to pay attention to the reviews. Did the people who stayed there before you have a great experience? Did they mention the scented candles? If they had issues, what kind of issues did they have? Do they have particular hints about how to get the best experience out of your stay?

Airbnb also offers some more unusual stays like staying on the boat or a treehouse. It can be a great alternative to a hotel for one night or many nights. We have made some long term friends through hosting with Airbnb, so you might have that experience as a guest. Or… Airbnb might just save you money, but that’s not too bad either.

Click here to save $40 on your first Airbnb stay.