The Disadvantages of Booking Your Stay on Airbnb
/While there are definitely many benefits to booking on Airbnb (which I’ve written about in this article here), you may find that it’s not always the best option for your travels. As a full-time traveler who has lived and worked remotely across the US, Europe, and the Middle East over the last few years, I’ve had plenty of great experiences with Airbnb but have found that sometimes it’s more advantageous to seek an alternative. This article describes some of the disadvantages of booking your stay on Airbnb.
1. Too many options and too much variety
While some may be excited to see a wide range of options on the Airbnb platform, it’s understandable that for many the experience can be overwhelming. Having too many options can make it difficult to even know where to start, especially when there are additional variables such as accessibility, security, and host experience and professionalism.
2. If you filter for everything you want, the options can become too limited
Airbnb offers helpful tools to find listings that match your exact criteria and budget, with the ability to select specific amenities, indicate your desired number of bedrooms or bathrooms, and set a minimum or maximum price per night. However, you may find that once you filter for everything you want, your options may dwindle down to just a few, or that your perfect place may not exist at all or may not be available during your desired travel dates. To find more options, you may have to compromise on some amenities or shift the map-view to open up geographically. You could increase the likelihood of finding a perfect listing by searching far in advance, though it may not be realistic or wise to do so considering Airbnb’s varied cancelation policies, which I touch on in point #7 of this article.
3. It’s time consuming to sift through to find quality options
Though its wide offering of unique properties can be viewed as a benefit, the reality of having many different types of properties on Airbnb can also be viewed as a disadvantage. It can be time consuming to compare and contrast each individual listing, and even if you are able to filter for all of your desired amenities, you may have to carefully study the images and read through property descriptions to determine which would be best for your stay. It can also be hard to keep track of what you liked about which listings, and I personally find myself spending a lot of time toggling between listings and adding them to my wishlists, only to forget or get confused about what it was exactly I liked about them.
4. Standards are mixed for tidiness, design elements, and stocked amenities
Even if you find a place that offers all your desired amenities and is highly rated, once you arrive you may find that others may have different definitions of “spotless”, “well-designed”, or even “quiet”. While hotels are rated by a certain star standard and other vacation rental platforms curate and certify their offerings, Airbnbs are really only graded based on their profile descriptions, photos, and guest ratings.
5. Amenities that are standard in most hotel rooms may not be common in Airbnbs
For example, if an amenity like air conditioning is important to you, you would be better off booking your stay in a hotel. While some Airbnbs do have air conditioning and you can filter for it when conducting your search, you may find that many apartments in major travel destinations across Europe (like Paris) just don’t have air conditioners.
6. Availability changes quickly
If it takes you a while to decide on an Airbnb listing that you liked or if you have to wait for others to confirm, you may become frustrated to see that availability changes quickly and that listing may no longer be open for your desired dates. I am thankful that Airbnb has been introducing new tools like searching for flexible dates or showing you multi-property stays that would work within your timing, but once your dream listing becomes booked, it’s rare that it will become available again and you’re left to continue searching for other options.
7. Minimum stay requirements can vary
Airbnb hosts can set minimum stay requirements which may apply to their entire availability calendar, or over certain days, weekends, holidays, or seasons. As opposed to a hotel which usually allows for a guest to book for a single night, an Airbnb property may require reservations of at least 2 or any specified number of nights. Depending on your desired dates, availability may be limited due to the minimum stay requirements set by the Airbnb hosts in the destination.
8. Cancelation policies are rarely flexible
Not only do cancelation policies tend to vary between each Airbnb listing, but they are rarely flexible or allow for cancelation at all. While the policy is helpful for protecting individual hosts, it’s not very accommodating for travelers like you and I who may potentially have a change in circumstance or unexpected trip delays. I have noticed that Airbnb recently started offering trip insurance for an additional charge, but I have not personally used it and do not know if the policies are helpful.
9. A host can cancel on you
Because many Airbnbs are managed by individuals and not by professionals, there are potentially more reasons why a host could cancel your reservation which could leave you in an unfortunate situation with few alternatives. Airbnb has announced that they are increasing the penalties for hosts that cancel reservations to prevent situations like these from happening, but as a guest with a canceled reservation it’s still up to you to find an alternative.
One tip for reducing your risk as a guest and avoiding an inconvenient cancelation is by choosing a listing from an Airbnb Superhost. Superhosts have earned recognition by receiving consistently high ratings and must maintain a very low cancellation rate to keep their status. Superhosts are motivated to maintain their status because over time it can increase their earning potential and occupancy rates. Therefore, if you book with a Superhost, there’s less of a risk that your reservation will be canceled.
10. Accommodations for last-minute changes or extensions may be less likely
Airbnb properties are listed on the platform individually, which makes it very convenient for guests to view availability, and for hosts to achieve higher occupancy rates. But in popular destinations, the Airbnb you’ve reserved may be fully booked both before you arrive and after you depart, meaning by the time you need to make a change or extension to your reservation the additional days may not be available. If you were to book a hotel or another accommodation that manages multiple rooms or units on a property, management has more flexibility to add nights to your reservation, and could likely shift their bookings around to make sure you have the same room throughout the duration of your stay.
11. On-site assistance isn’t always available
Many listings on Airbnb are private apartments or homes, and while they are ideal for a sense of independence and privacy, it’s likely that if you were to require assistance for any reason you would have to contact someone that’s located off-site. Additionally, you may have to coordinate an appointment for checking in ahead of your arrival- whereas for a hotel with 24-hr reception you could show up whenever is convenient.
12. Costs aren’t always a savings
Once you filter through listings and find a place that matches your criteria for comfort and convenience, you may notice that the costs of booking on Airbnb are not necessarily less than what you would pay for a hotel stay or alternative accommodation. Considering cleaning fees, taxes, and service charges in addition to the nightly rates, the costs can add up and can potentially be higher than other options.
Though the topics listed in this article describe some disadvantages of booking your stay on Airbnb, depending on the type of traveling you enjoy you may find that it’s still a great option for you. I personally book a lot of my personal travel on Airbnb and have had countless great experiences. If you’re interested, you can read another article I wrote titled “The Benefits of Booking Your Stay on Airbnb” or any of the others listed below:
Alternatives to Airbnb
Apart from standard hotels, some alternatives to Airbnb include: Plum Guide, Blueground, Sonder, VRBO, Vacasa, local agencies, or direct bookings with vacation rentals. Do you have a preferred type of accommodation, or have anything to add to my list here? Let me know in the comments below.
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