For big groups or families with kids it might make more sense, since the places are generally larger than a standard double hotel room.
But for the classic solo traveler or couple, a hotel is the better option nowadays.
Dont really know how the ratios here are but i would guess solo/couple is about 70% of travels?
Even as a couple, we prefer to pay extra to have a kitchen and a living room to just hang out in. If we literally just need a place to sleep a hotel is fine, but we enjoy actually living in the place we're visiting.
That being said, the premium you have to pay on this now has become so high that we often reconsider.
Perhaps my experience is biased toward higher end hotels, but I find a good hotel far far more relaxing than an apartment.
Hotel have bars, lounges, lobbies and sometimes terraces. Where everything is catered for you and staff are there to attend to your needs.
If you have any issues or questions about the local area, a receptionist or concierge can help and advise.
Compared to my (admittedly limited) experience with AirBNB where getting any information from the "hosts" felt hostile, and the arrival experience alone often mired by instructions to effectively sneak into your place of stay because it's not supposed to be for holiday lets.
That can't compare to walking into a hotel and having your bags taken off you by a porter while simultaneously being handed a drink (if desired).
I never understood the appeal of AirBnB. All these points about having a kitchen or living room to hangout sounded negative to me. But someone finally explained. It is vacation vs travel.
I’m a vacationer, I don’t want to deal with parking, cooking food, cleaning the place. On vacations, I just want to relax and probably spend as much time out doing things as possible. When tired and not sleepy, I rather hangout in hotel lobby or by pool.
Travelers want to experience new places like locals. So AirBnB appeals to them because they can do grocery shopping in local stores, experience different parts of city that normal tourists don’t.
Thank you! My preference is always for an AirBNB when I go skiing or want to go work someplace that isn’t my house for a week, and you sort of nailed the reason. When I was in Madrid for a buddy’s wedding, on the other hand, my preference was 5* hotel.
That dichotomy makes sense and isn’t how I’d thought about it before.
Not to mention I'm not always there to sightsee. Last year we went back to visit family in California and with Airbnb I was able to book a house for a month around the corner from my sister, so our kids could play with their cousins for the first time in years. It was a boring residential neighbourhood and not a place you'd find a hotel.
My girlfriend and I found an airbnb out by the lake, the owners of the property have direct access to said lake. We'll generally rent it out for 4 or 5 days (friday-monday) and just relax, go fishing, etc.
So we end up using the same airbnb a couple times a year for the experience.
outside of that, however, I have to echo the sentiment that in general airbnb's are not cheaper than hotels, so what you're paying for is a "non-hotel" experience.
I find the room configurations on booking.com are harder for families. Bnbs usually have more configurable space so it’s good to know sleeping surfaces and whatnot.
Booking.com has typical listings if I want to search for single rooms or number of beds. But they aren’t “trustworthy” for what actually sleeps 3,4, or 5 people.
Funny enough I really only use Airbnb in Europe (we live in Europe). I've heard nightmares of people being expected to practically do home renovations before checking out in the US but haven't come across that here. Maybe I've just been lucky.
