Hotels vs AirBnB

I use AirBnB and VRBO all the time. I'm able to stay in much nicer places for much less of the cost. It does take a little planning though.
I will stay in a hotel if it's a last minute deal like I need to stay somewhere tonight. But I don't use Travelocity or Booking. You actually pay more when you use those site. Book Direct. I'm a Hilton Honors member so I just go to their website. The cost is about 5-6% less if you book direct. I think Marriott is the same. But if you have some time to plan your trip, the options that get opened up to you with AirBnB or VRBO is amazing. Instead of a small little hotel room, stay in a luxury condo with a full kitchen, washer dryer, private garage, ocean view. And if you are looking last minute on VRBO or AirBnB, the Host might be willing to negotiate.

Comfort inn.

If I am staying somewhere for a couple weeks, I might go the AirBNB route if it comes out cheaper, but for just a couple days, I will definitely get a hotel. I am usually so busy doing things away from the lodging that I would not be able to take advantage of all of the extra space and amenities offered by an AirBNB during a short stay.

Problems with renting someone else's house or condo: (1) There have been many cases of hosts putting hidden or nonhidden cameras in their properties. I was looking to rent a townhouse in St. Louis and the host said he had cameras in the common rooms to monitor how many guests were actually staying at his place and to discourage parties. That was a dealbreaker. (2) Many properties have nosy permanent neighbors. If you start bringing women back to the AirBNB, the neighbors may notify your host that you are using their property to bang all kinds of strange. You don't have these problems at a hotel.

Personally we don't like staying at other people's homes anyway. Drives my brother nuts that I stay at the quality inn near the wpb airport, than in a bedroom with a private bath and hottub at his house on the intercoastal. His multi-million home being less preferable than a quality inn is also funny, very funny; just not to him.

Always used hotels until my honeymoon, when we stayed in two B&Bs in Hawai'i, although only one host actually made us breakfast. I didn't like it. Especially the one that didn't cook, made me feel like an intrusive guest in their house. I also stayed in a B&B in NM, and almost felt confined to my room. I used a rental for the first time last year, through VRBO, and it was great.

For short stays and solo trips, I'd continue with hotels. For longer vacations and couples trips, I'm almost certainly going to check VRBO and AirBnB first.

I base a lot of it on the length of the trip; longer = condo, shorter = hotel / resort. It also boils down to the type of amenities you want. Do you want restaurants / bars / fitness center close by or do you just want to relax and be willing to do some grocery shopping and prepare your own meals?

I have grown to like the "plantation" style gated community (guess that naming will go away soon) where you can pick the type of lodging you prefer but, have access to the amenities of the entire property. One I have used lately is the Kingston Plantation in Myrtle Beach:

kingstonplantation.com

You can stay in one of the condos which are in easy walking distance to the beach and restaurants that are in the hotel style buildings or just stay in one of those. Either way you have access to the great fitness center which is not easy to find if that is important to you. They have a shuttle that carts you around to local businesses too.

I base it on one thing: bedbugs. A hotel chain takes that shit seriously. Someone that barely cleans their rental before the next guess isn’t going to do what it takes to fight an infestation, and you can’t pre screen guests for bedbugs.

Also I don’t like the camera thing air bnb has going

I use Expedia or Hotels.com and am quite content. I like the convenience; so long as you book a room before 12 am you’re good and can check in at 3am. Sometimes it’s just a place to crash for 5 hours for me. Plus they will inform you of resort fees when you click on the site. I also like the map feature as I don’t mind driving 15-20 minutes away from the city to save a bunch of money.

I prefer Airbnb’s. Most of them come with a kitchen, which isn’t standard with hotels. And I also like talking with the host. Many of them have really interesting lives. Also one day I’d love to do the same thing myself. It’s nice seeing how they like to decorate a room. There’s more personality than with a hotel.

I also have a dog, and the pet fees + base cost of rooms that accept pets tend to generally be better with Airbnb’s than hotels too, though I found it for many chains it’s not as bad as I thought.

Also, I’ve read about and have met women who have gotten hotels and dealt with certain places that will go after unaccompanied women. (Especially within the Marriott chain). I don’t want to take the risk of having to explain that, no, I don’t have any men with me and leave me alone. At every airbnb I’ve stayed at, none of my hosts had any preconceived notions. They just accepted me as the hipster who just likes road tripping. So if I were to get hotels, that seems like a lot of PITA research I will have to do ahead of time and idk how reliable it would be to even find information for something like that.

—>Sinclair said; “(2) Many properties have nosy permanent neighbors. If you start bringing women back to the AirBNB, the neighbors may notify your host that you are using their property to bang all kinds of strange.”

Most Airbnb’s have stipulations against unauthorized guests and want you to pay a few dollars extra for another person. If that’s important to you, I guess just when booking, claim to also have a “girlfriend” right from the start.

I always check both and go for the best value. When I say value it means more than just cheapest price if it is a pleasure trip. I compare amenities and location to find the best that I can within my budget.

On business trips with an extended stay I might be willing to pay more for the extra space but on a 1 or 2 night stay just give me the cheapest place that looks like it will be clean and safe.

Haven’t done Air B&B yet. I don’t think I’m the type that people would “just love to have” in their home though

Most nights I sleep in my car to save money

^ Yeah, I feel like that is most convenient especially when doing all-day drives. Instead of having to plan anything, just pull over when the drowsiness kicks in. If I didn’t have a dog, I’d be totally down to just buy up a large van. Tho that being said, I met a travel dancer in Portland who did live in a van. She handled that situation by working day shifts and sneaking her dog into the dressing room.

I mix it up, it's really an it depends situation. A lot of times its location based. If I'm going to visit a friend, they often don't live in areas with hotels nearby but I can find an AirBNB closer. Most of our offices have very nearby hotels. The dog is a big one too, if I'm bringing the dog AirBNB is usually a better option, although some hotels are reasonable about pets. If its planned in advance or not also plays a role. If I decide today I'm going somewhere and need a room tonight, I probably won't even look at AirBNB. As backwards as it seems, most of my OTC is at home. It's rare I bring a stripper to a hotel or AirBNB. But, I've never had an issue with either so that doesn't really figure into my decision.

I never have used any of the private rental services my hotel of choice is usually a Hilton I have a membership with them and get discounts and free nights, I also like The Doubletree but they don’t offer as much in the markets I travel to.

I can check into a Hilton without talking to a soul. Get a phone key and you can get in any hotel entrance and your room.

Every Airbnb I’ve been in has been rough. I must choose poorly. I used to travel for 300 nights a year tho

^ yeah the Hilton is really easy and user friendly I very much prefer them to most of the other chains

I have no interest in sleeping in someone else's private residence. I have no clue about the cleaning situation, cameras, nosy neighbors, etc., etc. Also imagine if an OTC gal stole something from my airbnb - what a back and forth nightmare that would be. There isn't much to steal in a hotel room as most everything besides the towels is locked down or too big to take.

Thanks but no thanks. Most of my lodging budget goes to Marriott because I have status and rewards points. For longer stays I book their Residence Inns for space and cooking. I can also priceline nice deals at other solid hotels on the fly in most areas.

My favorite Hilton properties for business are the Home2 suites. NOT the Homewood suites - they're almost all old, ugly and dated. Home2 rooms are huge and pet friendly for no additional charge. I get a King room, and have enough free floor to plot a 8x10 space to play with my Oculus VR

I can confirm Home2 Suites are an OTC-friendly chain.

^ Pretty much any mid-tier chain hotel with side door options is OTC friendly. I never take a date in through the front door if I can avoid it. That includes the Marriott properties, which some escorts will tell you are notoriously unfriendly to young girls checking in by themselves.

That's really interesting. Maybe it was my luck, but I can't ever recall a time I was reprimanded or marked as suspicious for staying by myself at any chain hotel owned by Marriott. But if that happens pretty prevalently, then I feel like that would add on another point to the lower end hotels and vacation rentals. Usually I prefer Doubletree, Fairfield, or La Quinta (depending on location). I always prefer someplace with a side door/entrance, but I won't be spooked if the place doesn't have one.

But that was one of the factors to me as far as deciding where to book, considering I can work from anywhere I travel. I've never dealt with neighbors any more nosy than saying "hi" to me in passing when I'm staying at a rental home. Usually they're all asleep by the time I'm inviting someone to hang out or play (past midnight or something like that.).

airbnb often represses bad reviews, so you can't necessarily tell what awaits you. Bad reviews are bad for their business.

I don't travel much - the last few years most of my limited-traveling has been SC trips - I haven't used AirB&b but I always assumed renting a whole place to yourself would be more than a midtier hotel room.

For me the 3 things I look for when I need somewhere to stay are price, privacy, and quietness. My SC-trips are often 3 to 5 days and the hotel is often the biggest expenditure - as others have mentioned, when I travel I usually don't spend too much time in the room; I mainly need somewhere to get a descent night sleep and be able to take a shower - I don't cook much thus having a kitchen is not a big-deal although having a fridge and microwave is helpful for me personally if I'm staying multiple-days.

Up to now I've usually stayed in 2-star hotels since I mostly use the room to just sleep and shower vs hang out at the hotel or the premises; I'm a member of LA Fitness and can use gyms all across the country and rather work-out there than a hotel "gym" - if I was traveling with someone else, particularly a female/S.O., then I'd likely get a nicer place to stay but if it's just for me I usually go with the cheapest option that will do - but, there is a difference b/w a 2-star and 3-star hotel, and now that I'm older I'll probably start staying in bit-better hotels vs going for the cheapest option that will do.

I like my privacy and why the AirB&B with a live-in host thing does not appeal to me - even when I was young I was never up for having roommates. I also tend to sleep-in late when on the road and I assume if there are other people staying at an AirB&B that it may not be as quiet

@Eve

I prefer a good hotel with experience and excellent service over AirB&B.

I had good luck with the Hoteltonight app finding good deals for OTC the same day on short notice.

Hotels with vacancy usually drop their same day rates after noon if anyone’s looking last minute.

When I get the phone call in the room at 3:00 AM and the receptionist says; “Hello Doc. Is it OK for her to leave?” That’s when I know that choosing the right hotel is priceless.

No AirB&Bs for me.

I like the idea of checking in and then using the side door for company. Never thought of that because I can be pretty brazen and DGAF about what other people think.

^ Literally, same. I've walked in through the front entrance of hotels plenty of times by myself or with a visitor alongside me because my logic is "They have no good reason to question me".

But if it's an option, the side door can definitely save me the social anxiety.

In the last couple of years the hysteria of human-trafficking is leading SJWs to feel "they gotta be on the lookout" - I don't doubt at some point some older PL getting in hot-water by having someone call the cops on him for being with a much younger chick and then the PL having to "explain himself".

I agree no one should have to be hiding their date into a hotel room, but in this day and time perhaps it's not worth taking on the SJWs and having to explain yourself.

I had no idea that Hilton hotels had the option to use a mobile key. Have they always done this? Because I used to stay at DoubleTree and Hampton locations years ago, and it was never brought to my attention that I could use the Honors app to check-in and act as a key.

Either way, I just may book them more often now.

Just noticed the tag line. Hope the trip to Atlanta is a fun one 😁

They've had that feature for at least 3 years. You can always grab your water bottles at the front desk later. Definitely works at the Home2 in Norcross GA!

What I think it is was that back then, I was so anti-rewards because my bookings between hotels and vacation rentals were so divided and dispersed that I didn't think there was a need to stick to just one chain of hotels. At the time, I cared more about pricing than perks, so I've stayed all over the place and not just with a particular chain. I never thought there was a point in downloading apps and stuff.

But now... times have changed.

@spice. I'll be getting lots of work done and hopefully lots of clubbing done ~