History of my relationship with Airbnb: 10 countries, 17 apartments for a few days and 2 houses for a month. What have I learned for myself in 4 years and will I continue?

Honestly, there have never been any serious problems with airbnb.ru, and I am 99.9% satisfied with it. Wait, where did one hundredth go?

What accommodations can you find on Airbnb?

Almost anything - rooms, apartments, bungalows, villas and even tree houses! It usually takes from 30 minutes to an hour to search for an accommodation option in one city - I look at photos of apartments, read reviews of “experienced” ones (I also translate foreign languages). I also compare prices with RoomGuru - it happens that the good old 3-star room also wins.

My Airbnb Review

Our apartment for 4 people in Jerusalem - $100/night

Note: and if not the first, then here's a life hack - register your mom / dad / friend (remember that the bonus is not entered, but automatically credited when you click on the link), and the discount coupon will work again. 🙂

Step 2 Let's go further - search for housing for travel. Booking apartments is available in almost any city in the world. To do this, set the parameters you need on Airbnb:

• city
• dates (since 2019, the numbers drop out along with the cost - convenient)
• and the number of people by clicking "apply" and then "accommodation"

and here they are - all the rental options for your dates, from a luxury townhouse in the center to a bum-style tent by the lake (did I say, for any budget? 🙂).

What are the filters?

• Housing type(whole dwelling, separate or common room) - I usually don’t choose anything here, I’m guided immediately by the ads. You can spank, for example, the first option, and the house / apartment will be completely in your - temporary - possession
• Price- you can choose the limit amount that you are ready to pay per day (from 0 to 50,000+ rubles)
• Book instantly– see one step below
• Trip type(for families / business trips) - in my opinion, not a very relevant filter, because. a more interesting and cheaper option can be found simply in the feed
• Other- if necessary, indicate the number of bedrooms, amenities, area, or check the box "unique accommodation" (hut in the forest, yacht or houseboat? 🙂)

Step 3 We study housing - a brief algorithm is as follows:

• look at the prices
• determine the location on the map on the right (when you hover over an ad, its price tag is highlighted on the map)
• we open some vending apartments
• read reviews

When you click on an accommodation, you can see detailed information about the rules / conditions of accommodation, photos of rooms, reviews of travelers and the owner. I advise you to CAREFULLY go through literally every letter. The site works in Russian, so there is also a magic “translate” button. Check out the Amenities section. It happens that the owners also include breakfast - they are quite simple, but still nice 🙂 Plus, it saves both time and money.

Our apartment in New York (Brooklyn) for $67/night for two - it has a robot, a fireplace and even a cinema (more info via telegram @howtrip)

My advice on how not to fly by and not overpay:

1️⃣ I never choose apartments that no reviews or a small number of them (2-4). Although I admit that everyone starts somewhere, and that cool loft with zero responses in a month or two will become a super-selling offer. But I'll probably skip it.

UPD: I changed my mind and now I'm looking at the "novelties". And all because they sometimes offer a 20% discount for the first 3 guests. Booked like this twice already, and successfully!

2️⃣ Of the whole bunch of rave reviews, I note those that are automatically generated by the service itself "The host cancelled this reservation...". This means that the owner canceled the reservation for so many days before the arrival of the traveler - if there are 3 or more of them, I pass by.

3️⃣ An important factor - frequency and response time owner (can be found below reviews). They demonstrate the attitude of a person towards Airbnb - scores or is really responsible.

4️⃣ There are several lines above the red "Request a booking" button that make up the final cost, but these particular ones are not always found:

• Cleaning fee- I don’t see the need if I’m going for 3-5 days or even a week. In principle, it is small - up to 2000 rubles for the entire stay
• Weekly/monthly discount- this is the most favorite 🙂 If you book an apartment for more than 7 days, then some hosts drop 10-15% of the price, and if for 3-4 weeks, then the discount can reach up to 30-40%! That is why Bali cost me 400 rubles per night.

5️⃣ And someone enters and security deposit. You can find out about this in the "House Rules" section, expanding them in full. Interesting that he not written off and is not frozen on the card when booking (and even more so is not given to the owner in cash). If the owner complains about the damage after the eviction, Airbnb considers the claim (of course, with your participation) and issues a verdict - pay the amount or forgive. I haven't had any experience with pledges yet.

6️⃣ Don't click on "Request Reservation" At once. First, write to the landlord (in the "Master name" section, the "Contact" button): ask something about the apartment or just mention how you liked the option. But be sure to check, whether the desired dates are free - the calendar can also act up. In addition, it will save you money from the insidious instant booking.

7️⃣ What is "instant booking"? The host set the automatic confirmation of the reservation, not manual. Accordingly, the money on the card is frozen immediately, without waiting for the final word from the owner. In fact, this is a convenient option, and overlays (cancellations) occur extremely rarely 🙂 The red "Request a booking" button is normal, and "Booking" is instant.

8️⃣ Browse cancellation policy. Flexible, moderate, strict - the amount that will be returned to the card depends on them if you decide to cancel the apartment.

Step 4 After your request, the host has 24 hours to accept or decline your booking. If the outcome is positive, payment is made, and airbnb.ru opens access to all information about the accommodation - the exact address, phone for communication.

What should be considered in matters of finance (how payment is made):

• Airbnb takes a commission from 10 to 15%, the value of which depends on the cost of the reservation
• Payment is always in rubles, not in dollars or euros, even if the cost is indicated in such currencies. And it is better to use a ruble card, in order to avoid crazy conversion

• If you select "Split payment with friends" - a friend will not be able to pay with bonuses. They can only be used by the person booking the accommodation.

Step 5 Wait for the trip and contact the host the day before to clarify the details.

Entrance to the house in the center of Barcelona where we rented an apartment - 30 euros / day

How can I contact Airbnb?

For all questions, write to support www.airbnb.ru/help. Unfortunately, call it won't work, they just don't have that option.

I recently discovered their Vkontakte page - vk.com/airbnbhelp, there is also a good connection.

What happens if a booking is cancelled?

Canceled by owner: full return funds or a transfer against another booking. Canceled by you: full/partial refund (depending on conditions).

If you choose accommodation with flexible cancellation, then there will be no problems. Always pay attention to this. In January 2018, we canceled a booking in Thailand - the money was returned to the card within 2 days! 🙂 Important: The refund is made to the card that was specified when booking.

By the way, if you are going to only one country for a week or 10 days, then I advise you to look at the cost of tours, it often happens that they are more profitable independent travel(applies to countries such as Thailand, Spain, Greece, Tunisia and other popular destinations):

What are the advantages of the Airbnb.ru website? Positive feedback from tourists

The apartment where we lived in Paris (August 2018) - 65 euros / day

1. Most low prices for apartments all over the world. And it is true! This is especially noticeable in large and expensive cities. As mentioned above, many offers are discounted if booked for a week or month. It is also profitable to rent an apartment with a company, when converted per person it turns out to be more budgetary. You can find cool offers for quite sane money. So, in Phuket, I rented an apartment for 600 rubles a day with a pool and a gym. Not bad, right? And in Barcelona - a room for 600 euros for a whole month.
2. Simple and clear site. This, of course, is not a completely tangible plus, but many services have big problems with this.
3. All sorts of options - you can find a chic apartment with a view of the whole city, a small and cozy apartment in a residential area with locals. In general, the choice and prices for every taste.
4. Renting accommodation on Airbnb, you get to know the locals, you feel the culture of the country. Which is quite difficult to catch if you check into a hotel and communicate with an employee at the reception, programmed to smile.
5. The service solved one of the main problems for many - full payment - and now it is not necessary to give the full amount when booking. It can be divided into two parts, and the second one can be held ≈2 weeks before the trip. Condition: total amount - from $ 250, travel date - no earlier than in 4 weeks.

What are the disadvantages of the site? Negative Feedback

Our accommodation for a day in Moscow on Bolshaya Sadovaya - 4200 rubles / day for three

Let me say a few words first. So I read the messages, and I think if everything was as bad as some describe, then Airbnb would have been blown away a long time ago. Well, and through one, of course, the blame for everything is the inattention of the user himself.

1. If you've been referred to a specific place - like Michael's cozy apartment in NusaDua - you won't be able to find it by name. This has been a very uncomfortable moment for me.
2. Payment upon booking. Now it is already possible to divide the amount into two stages, but back in 2017 this was not the case, which did not suit me wildly. Money, in fact, is in a "suspended" state for several months, and maybe quite large sum. Airbnb finally went to meet customers. I know you will say that you can book a hotel without paying at all. But here, when canceling a reservation, significant losses are incurred. ordinary people for whom this is not something that would be beneficial. And this is offset by cheaper prices than hotels. On the other hand, you can always cancel your booking (for certain time before arrival) and the service will return the full amount based on the conditions that were specified in the apartment profile.
3. If there are any problems, the support service takes a very long time to respond to emails. It's okay that problems rarely arise, but they do happen. Last time I have a question about a refund. Surprisingly, the money returned faster than the employee answered - 2 days vs. 5 days 🙂
4. Negative reviews about Airbnb abound: I got caught by a fraudulent host who scammed me into a bad apartment or canceled a reservation a week before check-in. But just for such a case, reviews about housing, host ratings and the ability to contact before booking are introduced. Always carefully study each comment, see the date of registration of the profile and photos of housing. If you have any questions, be sure to write to the landlord - this is the difference between Airbnb and the hotel search engine, that he - about communication and expectation. In addition, the service is really client-oriented - any cancellation is accompanied by a discount coupon, and money is returned for non-compliance with the conditions (after proceedings). But this does not eliminate the need to look for new housing and unpleasant emotions. This is where one missing hundredth is hidden.
5. Speed ​​- people are not always online and after booking you need to wait for the owner's confirmation. Therefore, if you book accommodation in the morning and plan to check in after lunch, it is better to look for hotels through Roomguru.

By the way, if you settled on Booking, check: did you receive a refund of 1000 rubles >> from the booking? :)

Is Airbnb booking eligible for a visa?

Embassies accept airbnb visa bookings. For example, we made a Spanish Schengen and attached several confirmations from this site. You can easily do it for a visa to the Czech Republic, France and other countries.

Click View Travel Plan and print a detailed receipt. Names and dates are displayed there.

What other options does Airbnb provide?

In addition to accommodation on Airbnb, it became possible to book various entertainment and events with locals. For example, we booked:

• surf lessons in Bali for 450 rubles instead of the usual 1500 rubles on the beach
• yacht trip in Barcelona for 4200 rubles per person
• cupping and a lecture on coffee from a cool barrista in Barcelona for 1400 rubles
• jeep safari in Dubai for 1500 rubles (morning)

Profitable? Without a doubt. With the help of the site in Los Angeles you can learn how to make ice cream, book in Paris sightseeing tour, in Rome buy tickets for the locals concert. All this is available by clicking the "Impressions" button.

And since 2018, Airbnb Plus search for luxury accommodation has been introduced. The options marked with this sign are cool dwellings with maximum amenities and hospitable hosts (and a corresponding price).

FAQ

1. What to do if the apartment turned out to be completely different from the photo?
   Send photos and videos of your property to the Airbnb Help Center right away. The complaint is usually considered within 3-4 days, but the entire amount + non-pecuniary damage is returned.
2. What should I do if, after confirming the reservation, the host asks to pay extra or reports that he has to cancel the reservation?
   In no case do not cancel yourself, otherwise, in which case, you will not be able to return the full amount. Please contact the Support Center.
3. What does the review mean: “The host cancelled this reservation _ days before arrival. Is this an automated posting?
   The host canceled the reservation so many days before the arrival of the tourist. If there are many such marks, I close the ad. Although, in fact, the owners also fall under fines for "draining", and considerable ones.
4. Canceled the booking, but lost/replaced/stolen the card specified in the profile. How to return money?
   Funds are returned not to the card, but to the account to which it is linked. If you reissued the card, the issue is resolved by transferring the amount from the account to new card. If you closed the account itself, then you need to contact the bank with an application. Recently, I myself encountered such a problem - everything was quickly resolved in a week.
5. I want to change / shift the dates of the reservation, the owner approves, what should I do?
   In the "Trips" section there is an item to change / cancel. Enter new dates, the host confirms, you get an updated booking.

This is my review of airbnb.com. I am friends with the service and have not caught any hint of “setups” for three years. What will be yours? 🙂 Share in the comments!

Airbnb coupon and 3 more ways to save

1️⃣ It is more profitable to rent a house for a week or a month, because usually from 7 nights a discount of 5-15% is given, sometimes more.
If you need to stay for 2-3 days, then it’s easier to take a hotel or hostel on RoomGuru or. On the second, by the way, you can also get a 1000 rubles discount (for any booking)

With a discount, accommodation for 7 days will cost less than 6 or 5. And renting for a month will be more profitable than for 3-3.5 weeks. It happens that the monthly discount starts from 27-28 days.

2️⃣ Why not take a chance and look for new offers (special icon next to it)? Some hosts offer a discount on the first 3 bookings, and it can go up to 30-40% of the initial price.

3️⃣ Some apartment owners add a fixed cleaning fee. It is a tangible amount (whoever sets it), especially if the reservation is for 3-5 days. So try to find accommodation without cleaning. You can write to the host and ask - what if I clean it myself? :) Sometimes they go to a meeting, and the price goes down. But if against, you should not insist.

4️⃣ Naturally, a life hack that many people know about is a coupon of 2100 rubles for the first booking. BUT! Even if you already have an account, follow the link, register a new one for your mother, sister, aunt, friend, and voila. So far in 2019 it works. And you can even apply for yourself if you have changed your passport or you have a driver's license.

Additionally: watch the conversion. We already wrote about this in our article, in short - at the bottom right of the Airbnb website there is a currency switching feature.

Copying of materials is allowed only with the obligatory indication of a direct, active and open for indexing hyperlink to the site.

How to rent a house

A little secret for those who are looking for accommodation for two. Find an apartment / room for one person through the search, and then add a second guest in the selected option. Please note that rooms for two or three guests may be more profitable even than those listed in the category for singles.

Search filters make it much easier to choose accommodation: Internet, parking, the possibility of events, smoking - this is far from complete list criteria to select suitable options. In addition, the ability to search by keywords has been implemented, which allows you to find apartments with an office / workplace / next to key locations. It is convenient when you need housing exclusively for work or business negotiations; the choice of housing on the map of the area will allow you to stay exactly next to the office of the desired company.

The issuance of housing in the search depends on many factors, including profile data and the specifics of the trip.

Verified photos

The photo in the ad can tell a lot about the place of rent. The Airbnb sign in the upper right corner of a photo means that the photos were uploaded to the site by the host. And the Verified Photo sign says that there was an Airbnb photographer in this place and did a photo shoot. That is, the photo is exactly true.

Don't be afraid to live in a room

If you're not a sociophobe, try renting a room rather than an apartment. First, the room will cost you less. Secondly, communication with the owners of the apartment will solve many everyday issues: there will be someone to ask about the nearest pharmacy / ATM, or maybe have a drink together in a nearby bar. Read apartment descriptions and user profiles carefully - it usually indicates whether the owner wants to spend time with guests or not. To maintain your privacy, check if the room is locked.

Response rate

Want hosts to respond quickly to any of your questions? Pay attention to the number that stands under the owner's photo in the ad. "Response Rate" is a metric that indicates how often the landlord responds to inquiries. Hosts who have this indicator above 90% respond as quickly as possible.

If you need an apartment right now, look for options with the "Instant Booking" button, which allows you to make a reservation without waiting for confirmation from the owner.

Reviews

Read reviews! Travelers who have lived in this place write honestly about how they spent their time there. However, the lack of any feedback is not a cause for concern. Just ask all the most important questions for you on the site so that you understand exactly where you will live. In addition, an apartment that has few reviews yet can cost less. Travelers also publish reviews about hosts - you can find out in advance their character and manner of communicating with guests.

We monitor the behavior of users on the site and do not allow cheating positive reviews. For example, when a tenant and a landlord are constantly booking a room with each other, the system may consider this as an attempt to create a positive rating on the site.

Security

Booking, payment, communication between the tenant and the landlord, reviews - the information that we carefully monitor. Airbnb's analytics collection system takes into account many factors, based on patterns of potentially harmful actions (in many ways, this is similar to what eBay successfully implemented). Each property hosted on the Airbnb platform is assigned "trust points". Listings that score low are automatically tagged for closer scrutiny, helping to track money laundering and other forms of fraud. System works great - for 6 million residents in 2013 conflict situations that demanded payment of compensation from the company were noted only 700 times. And don't forget that we always have hot line customer service feel free to complain.

Do not forget to study the profile, this will avoid cases of communication with "random" people.

Communication with the owner

We tend to communicate with the owners kindly. Discuss in advance the standard set of questions: how will the keys be handed over, is there Wi-Fi in the apartment, adapters for sockets, a hair dryer, pets, is it possible to use the kitchen, where is the nearest store / pharmacy, how quickly and by what transport can you get to the city center and so on.

It is possible and necessary to bargain with the owners for housing. You can convince the owner to change the rental price. When booking at the last moment, it may be more profitable for the host to accept you than to leave the apartment empty. Is it possible to significantly reduce the cost of an air mattress, folding bed or sofa? No. But when settling in with a family for normal money, you can rent really good apartments.

Some owners are worried about their property and usually ask for a small security deposit. After you leave the place of residence, the deposit is returned to the card (provided that you left the apartment safe and sound). The return period to the card is determined by your bank. To avoid controversial issues (in case the owner tries to accuse you of damaging property), it will not hurt to offer the owner to make a detour or take a picture of the room on your own when you move out of the apartment.

Of course, you can perfectly do without all of the above. But you can get much more good impressions (or even get them at all), and in some cases save money, with the help of our tips. If you have any observations or questions that are not mentioned here, please leave them in the comments.

This is a site that allows you to rent accommodation from local residents of the city you are planning to visit. You can rent a shared or private room, an apartment, a house or a whole cottage - in general, any place where you can come, leave your things and spend the night. To do this, you just need to enter the destination, arrival and departure dates in the search.

How is Airbnb different from a hotel or hostel?

The hotel is expensive. However, price does not always guarantee quality. And even if you decide not to save on vacation, it is hardly worth giving most of your money for a room where you will appear only to sleep.

Hostels are the other extreme: they are affordable, but you can forget about privacy. For one decent hostel, there are a dozen with terrible conditions in which you definitely will not feel at home.

Let's dwell on the main advantages of booking through Airbnb:

• The service allows you to rent a house at a price that suits you.
• From the photographs you can study the situation in the apartment and understand whether it will be comfortable for you there.
• Hospitable hosts (they are also called hosts) will not only show you the apartment, but can also advise interesting places in the city, meet at the airport, explain how to use local public transport.
• You can rent an apartment for any period: for a weekend in a neighboring city, for a week on vacation, and even for a month or more to live in another country.
• Payments go through Airbnb, which acts as an intermediary. This means that in disputable situations you can get your money back.
• You can rent housing immediately for a group of friends or the whole family. It won't be that expensive.

All this is great, but there are also disadvantages. You can rent a house located in an inconvenient area. Or run into scammers who post fake reviews and photos on the apartment website that do not correspond to reality.

So that you can avoid such troubles, we have prepared a list of recommendations, following which you will find a suitable option for yourself.

1. Complete your profile

To book a property through Airbnb, you must first apply. Confirmation from the owner is required: until this moment, funds from your card are not debited.

Some hosts provide an instant booking service so that an apartment can be booked without waiting for confirmation. Such announcements are marked with a special lightning symbol.

Sometimes hosts refuse to confirm a booking. No, not because they don't need money. Imagine yourself in the place of landlords: they trust their apartment completely to a stranger. A half-empty Airbnb profile without a photo and personal information will not help you connect with the host.

So add a photo of yourself (preferably one that looks friendly) and write a short story about yourself, including your age and occupation. If you have already rented apartments through Airbnb, you have positive reviews from previous hosts, then this will be a big plus.

If you're getting rejections rather than positive responses, it's most likely something to do with your profile. Give the host a little more information about yourself and try to impress someone who is not going to destroy his house. :)

2. Explore the area

If you're traveling to an unfamiliar city in a country you've never been to before, search the internet for information about areas. And be sure to check the location of the apartment on the map.

Usually people look at beautiful shots of an apartment and completely forget to check the surrounding area. This is fraught with consequences: you can rent a delightfully renovated apartment in a dilapidated house, which is located in an area where trash is never cleaned and suspicious individuals roam.

So check: go to Google Maps and enable the feature Google Street View: see photos of the building and "walk" around. It's good if there is a stop nearby public transport, cafes where you can have a bite to eat and drink coffee, supermarkets.

If you are going to a new place in quality, do not rent an apartment two hours from the center: all the most interesting sights are usually located there. Is it worth it to spend precious time traveling there and back every day?

3. Use discounts and promo codes

If you're not yet an Airbnb member, ask a friend who has rented an apartment through Airbnb to send you an invite. So you will have a discount of 1,500 rubles for your first trip, and your friend will receive a reward from the service.

Many Airbnb hosts are willing to offer weekly or monthly discounts. Usually they range from 3 to 50% (depending on the location of the apartment, season, popularity of the host). The discount offered is usually listed right next to the price.

But this discount does not affect the service fee, which is non-negotiable.

Some hosts simply don't know they can set discounts, or don't do it for no reason. Therefore, do not hesitate to ask the owner a question about directly, even if the site itself has a zero in this field.

4. Compare your needs and host offerings

I understand all this charm of beautiful photographs of the apartment. But you need to ask yourself not only how cool this place is, but also whether it is right for you.

To answer this question, you must clearly understand what you are looking for. So take a piece of paper and a pen and write down your most important needs. If you need an apartment not just for one night, but to live there for a while, decide what amenities you need.

Do you mind living with a neighbor or do you not want to run into strangers in the kitchen every day? Do you smoke? Do you want to invite guests? Do you need internet? Are you going to cook by yourself or will you have breakfast in a cafe?

The apartment differs from the hotel in that it gives you the opportunity to feel a little local. Therefore, I want to see in it the same as at home: good Internet, a kitchen with a stove, or at least a refrigerator and a coffee maker. The presence of a washing machine is not a prerequisite, but other things being equal, I would prefer an apartment with it.

Elena Khrupina, Airbnb user

Compare your needs with the host's list of amenities. Read the list carefully and don't rush to ask questions. Hosts don't like to answer questions that are already answered in the text of the ad.

Please note that the Airbnb fee is non-refundable on any cancellation.

9. Leave feedback

After each trip, do not forget to rate and write an honest review. Describe your impressions about the apartment and the owner, cleanliness, renovation, location. Write about the pros and cons. This will help not only the next travelers, but also you.

The more reviews a host has, the more trust potential guests have in him. The more positive reviews you have, the less likely you are to be denied a booking.

Today's tourists are breaking stereotypes perfect holiday that have existed for decades. They prefer rented inexpensive apartments or even rooms to luxury hotels. What caused such a shift in priorities?

• The availability of communication between people, which appeared thanks to the Internet.
• Understanding that it is better to travel around the world often and economically than luxuriously but rarely.
• The fact that hotel prices are often difficult to reconcile with the concept.
• And, finally, the emergence of a unique service that made the dreams of many fans of traveling abroad come true.

, or, as it is often misnamed due to its difficult-to-pronounce abbreviation, RNB is a rental property around the world on one site. It all started with three friends in San Francisco who decided to rent out part of their apartment for the duration of the conference in 2008, when all the hotels were full. Of the furniture, only inflatable mattresses were available, and they prepared breakfast for the guests themselves. Hence the name AirBed&Breakfast(air mattress and breakfast), shortened later to Airbnb.

It didn't take long for the buddies to turn a temporary job into a business. Today the company is valued at $26 billion, it provides real estate booking services around the world (about 200 countries) and is a serious competitor to the hotel business. Tourists have appreciated the opportunity to rent an apartment abroad, which is why hotel owners are forced to constantly reduce prices so as not to lose customers.

Benefits of renting private housing

saving money. In most countries, self-rental accommodation is cheaper than a hotel. The difference in price is especially noticeable if you are traveling around the world with a large company or family. In addition, the ability to cook your own food will also save a lot.

Huge selection. In addition to booking apartments, on the site you can find many other options, both budget and luxury. It can be a room in a house with the owners or a luxurious mansion by the sea. There is a suitable accommodation for every budget.

Comfort and coziness. Parents traveling with children know how difficult it can be to keep fidgets within the four walls of a hotel room. In the apartment, children (and adults) even abroad will feel at home. After all, you will be surrounded by such familiar and necessary things as furniture, a kitchen, a washing machine ... No hotel in the world will convey the local flavor the way private housing does. Having breakfast on the balcony, with a cup of coffee and a croissant, you will feel like not a tourist, but a true Parisian, for example.

Communication. By choosing the option of living with the owners, you do not just save on the cost of housing. You get free language practice and an excellent guide. After all, who can tell about the city better than its inhabitants? As a rule, people who rent rooms are quite sociable and hospitable, so they will be happy to tell you a lot of interesting things.

How to rent an apartment abroad with Airbnb?

By going to the company's website, you can view rental options around the world, however, registration is required to fully use all the features. Those who mastered so many letters are now waiting for a small bonus from and Airbnb— discount for the first booking. By registering through the following link, you will receive $14, which you can spend on renting an apartment.

Get a $25 bonus on rental housing

The company takes the security of all parties very seriously, and is trying at this stage to weed out random and not quite adequate people. Therefore, the first thing to do after registration is to fill out your profile on the site. Add a photo, links to your social media profiles, upload a scanned document. Tell us a little about yourself: where do you work, what are your hobbies. Landlords are the same simple people, but they have the right to refuse you if something seems suspicious or unreliable to them.

Accommodation search

Renting a house or a room in almost any country in the world is no more difficult than finding a hotel in a booking system. The search form is simple and clear: enter the desired city, dates, number of guests and click on the red button. As an example, we will have a week for two in Rome.

Further still easier. We put a tick in front of the required type of accommodation (whole house / apartment, separate or shared room) and see what they offer us. You can choose options on the map or use a variety of filters by clicking on the appropriate button.

It is possible to choose the area, the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, Internet access, washing machine, parking and other amenities. You can choose whatever you want, but remember: the more checkboxes you put, the less choice there will be of housing for rent. Therefore, mark only the things that are really necessary, and look at the rest for specific options.

How to make a choice?

By clicking on any of the housing offers, you will see detailed information about it: photo, description, amenities, maximum number of guests and more. What should you pay attention to?

Price. It may vary, depending on the number of guests and the rental period. Please note that the cost at this stage is not final. Commission will be added later. Airbnb(on average, 8-10%) and a cleaning fee after your departure (if the owner indicated it as an additional service).

Cancellation conditions. There are five types, from flexible to super-strict. Carefully read each of them, and make an informed decision, what is best for you: save money, risk losing money if you cancel your trip, or overpay, but get a money-back guarantee.

Pledge. Some owners require an additional deposit to book their apartments. The required amount is blocked on your card and released 48 hours after your departure, unless the host submits evidence of material damage caused by you.

Calendar. It will help you find out which dates the accommodation is already occupied and which are free. Be sure to compare prices, they can vary significantly from day to day.

Reviews. By clicking on the landlord's profile picture, you will see reviews from guests from all over the world who have already used his services. For the first time, it is better to choose accommodation with the maximum number of positive recommendations, so as not to spoil the impression of the service with misunderstandings.

Photo of the apartment. If the picture has an Airbnb watermark, then the photo was taken by an employee of the company or has passed verification. If there is no icon, then the landlord himself photographed, which means that the original may differ slightly from the image.

Feedback. If you have any questions, you can ask the host through the site. Pay attention to the " Response rate". It talks about how quickly a person responds. If you are in a hurry, it is better to choose those who have this indicator above 90%.

Booking and paying for an apartment through the Airbnb website

After making sure that the accommodation suits you, you should send a booking request to the owner by clicking on the appropriate button. Only after he agrees, it will be possible to proceed to payment. You can avoid waiting by choosing one of the options with instant booking, where confirmation is not required.

There are two payment options available: PayPal or credit card MasterCard/Visa. Everything is as usual: fill in the data, check the box "I agree with the conditions", press the "Book" button.

An important nuance. You transfer money not to the landlord, but to the service Airbnb who acts as the guarantor of the transaction. Once you arrive, you will have 24 hours to make sure the accommodation is in order and as described. Only after that the owner receives the amount due to him.

After making the payment, you will receive an email with all the necessary information: the owner's address and mobile phone, receipt, booking confirmation and travel plan.

In case of any misunderstandings, from any part of the world, you can call the round-the-clock Russian-speaking support service. Upon arrival, be sure to go to the site and leave a review about the accommodation you rented. This will help other people planning to rent an apartment abroad. In addition, the owner may leave feedback about you as a tenant, adding a "plus" to the reputation.

How do I list a place on Airbnb?

Why not? The rules of the service do not prohibit being both a landlord and a tenant at the same time. While you are traveling the world, your house is not idle, continuing to "eat" Communal expenses but, on the contrary, brings in money. If you happen to own a property in a tourist or resort town, a sin not to use such a chance. Earned can be spent on new ones.

I'm afraid the review of the Airbnb.ru website can only be good. I will tell you everything about booking apartments and apartments, getting discounts and about my personal experience.

This travel rental service is a damn good thing! I respect, appreciate and use it on my trips. What I will talk about in this review about the service:

• I will list all the stages of booking apartments, apartments and houses;
• I will reveal some of the nuances of booking through Airbnb.ru;
• list the pros and cons;
• I will also tell you how to get discounts and coupons on their website.

Read also our detailed master class on collecting things and documents for a trip:.

What is Airbnb?

It is the world's largest private rental travel service. Service statistics: 800,000 different housing options, 190 countries, 34,000 cities, over 17,000,000 guests who booked accommodation in this service. The numbers are amazing!

The service works in many countries and has local versions for each language. It is most convenient for Russians to use a fully Russified site.

What kind of accommodation can you find and book through Airbnb? Truly anyone: these are apartments and rooms, houses and cottages, residential boats and bungalows, castles and even cave apartments!

Over the 6 years of its existence, it has become wildly popular and truly fashionable (one design is worth something!). This is good news, because the more people know about Airbnb and use it, the more listings there are in their database. There is less and less left on the world map settlements where you can not find accommodation using this service. For example, I lived in Crimea, booking accommodation only through Airbnb - in every city I managed to find a suitable accommodation option. The only exception was the small village of Olenevka on Cape Tarkhankut - none of the owners have mastered this service there yet ( addition: after the annexation of Crimea to Russia, Airbnb no longer works on the peninsula). What to say about big cities- the number of interesting offers there just rolls over! Sometimes you can spend more than one hour at the computer, looking at option after option, where one is better than the other.

In general, the birthplace of Airbnb is the USA, California, San Francisco (who would doubt it?). But, as I already mentioned, the service works in many languages ​​​​(an impeccable Russian version of the site) and has several large representations in different cities(including in Moscow). So there will definitely not be any problems using the service due to language barriers, and in difficult situations the support service in the Russian Federation will help out.

My review of Airbnb.com

I would certainly criticize this service, but that's just not for anything ... I use it regularly and am satisfied with everything. Indeed, nothing comes to mind that one could really find fault with.

Perhaps the only slippery moment associated with the operation of this service is the risk of stumbling upon a bad owner who will try to do something bad. But this human factor- it cannot be completely eliminated, and the problem in this case lies not in the booking service itself, but in human nature. At the same time, the management and technical support of the site is doing everything to minimize the risks of both residents and owners (read more about this below).

It is not surprising that most of the reviews about are positive and even enthusiastic responses. I've even come across several examples of travel bloggers (who have also written reviews of Airbnb) that after they first used the site, they completely stopped using hotels on their travels. Yes, in general, now, with rare exceptions, I myself live only in apartments found on this particular accommodation booking service.

Booking apartments and apartments on Airbnb.ru

The procedure is this - you go to the site, find the right housing in the right city for the right dates, write off with the owner, book, pay, come, live and enjoy. This is in short. But you can go into more detail:

Stage 1.

To get started, it's best to register right away - you can view housing options without registering, but of course, you will need it to make a reservation. Take advantage current promotion and get a $32 bonus upon registration - a discount on your first booking!

Tidy up your account: add a photo, link to your Facebook page and phone number, write a few lines about yourself - all this is necessary to confirm that you are a real person and give future landlords an opportunity to get to know you.

Stage 2.

Now you can start looking for housing. To do this, enter the required information in the search box: destination, dates and number of guests. This will open a page with available options. On the left there will be a map with a mark of them territorial location, on the right - photos of housing with its price, as well as search filters. You can limit the price range by setting a minimum and maximum amount, select an area, type of accommodation, and more.

By clicking on the offer you are interested in, you will see Full description this accommodation, information about the owner, reviews of previous guests (if any). Read, compare and choose the best option.

In general, the device of the Airbnb.ru service is very convenient and intuitive (the developers are diligently working on this) - so you can easily navigate the site from the first minutes.

When you have decided on the accommodation option, it is time to contact the host. Do not immediately press the booking button, but for starters, it’s better to just write a message to the owner with a couple of lines about yourself, about the dates of the trip and ask all the necessary questions. I do not recommend booking immediately, because it is possible that the owner, for some reason, will not be ready to receive you on the dates you need, and then you will have to wait for the refund of the money frozen by the service for payment (the money will, of course, be returned in this case, but Better to avoid such nonsense, right?). Therefore, do not make sudden movements, but start with a friendly conversation with the landlord :)

Stage 3.

When the host answered and gave you the go-ahead, you can proceed to the booking with payment. Payment can be made by card or via PayPal. Enter the required data and check the dates again.

As for the calculation of the cost of apartments and apartments booked through, there are several points to consider:

• The price may change slightly from day to day due to currency fluctuations.
• The cost of housing may be different for different seasons: at peak tourist season it is often higher (although it all depends on the owner, because he can set one tariff for the whole year).
• The site charges its own service fee, the amount of which depends on the amount of the reservation - usually about 10-15% of it.
• Sometimes the host may also charge a cleaning fee.
• Sometimes the owner may take a deposit for the safety of property - this is typical for solid apartments and apartments, where there is something to spoil, destroy and break.

When you make an Airbnb booking request, the host has 24 hours to approve your request, if they don't, your account won't be charged.

And the service also has such a thing as instant booking (marked with a lightning bolt icon). Its essence is that the reservation is made automatically, confirmation of the owner of the accommodation is not required (that is, he agrees to accept any guest on any dates). But still, I recommend contacting the owner first - anything can happen, it may turn out that for these dates the accommodation is already reserved by someone else using another apartment rental service (this happened in my airbnb practice: everything ended well, but nerves frayed).

Stage 4.

When the payment is made, and the owner of the accommodation has approved the reservation, the service will give you access to all information about the accommodation: address, location on the map, contact details of the owner. Now you can go on a trip! By the way, many consulates accept a printout with information about the fact of booking an apartment through many consulates as a document for issuing a visa (my friends and I used the reservation of this service to obtain a Dutch visa).

The owner will receive his money for renting the apartment a day after your check-in, provided that there are no complaints from you.

Want discount coupons? No problem! I once wrote an article with a list of them: "" - use it to your health (only not all of them will be relevant anymore - time flies, coupons get old and die). I learn about new ones - I will write about it on the site.

Undoubted advantages of Airbnb

1. Convenient usability - the site is pleasant to be in and it is extremely easy to use. Searching for and booking a place on Airbnb takes minutes.
2. Opportunity to save on housing. Often, renting apartments and houses from private individuals is a more profitable option compared to staying in hotels and even hostels! No guys, I'm not kidding! First of all, this applies to those cases when a company (3+ people) goes on a trip. When I went with my team to (let me remind you, there were three of us), Airbnb gave the most profitable options in comparison with hotels and hostels: in The Hague, we lived in an apartment in Chinatown for only 2700 rubles per day and should have also been found through this service, but since we missed this option, we stayed for three nights at the hotel.
3. Interesting and original accommodation. The huge advantage of the service is that it presents a wide variety of accommodation options. You can even find fantastic options: from bungalows in Africa and tents in the Israeli desert to medieval castles and real palaces! In general, why live in boring and monotonous hotels, if there is such a thing?
4. A chance to feel like a local. Living in a real apartment, not a hotel room, is like putting on a skin local resident, the surrounding space begins to feel differently, and you join the rhythm of life of the inhabitants of this city. The perspective of perception changes - from a tourist you turn into an observer who sees the life of the city from the inside. And this feeling is worth it.
5. Cashless payments. You do not need to carry money with you to pay for rented housing, all financial issues are resolved through reliable mediation.

Cons of Airbnb and risk minimization

This, of course, is the risk of stumbling upon a fraudulent host. For example, when you check in, it may turn out that the owner will demand an additional payment for accommodation, even though everything has already been paid on your part through the system. The service does everything to avoid this. An important element of the service is a system of reviews, ratings and recommendations that both tenants and owners can put down to each other after cooperation.

Almost all people are attentive to the reviews left about the owner and his apartments by previous tenants - therefore, if some owner behaved badly in some way, the dissatisfied tenant will simply make him a good "ay-yay-yay" in the form of an abusive response, and no one will go to such a host again. Conversely, if a lot of positive reviews are written for an apartment, then there is nothing to worry about and you can confidently book this accommodation on Airbnb.ru. So always pay attention to reviews and recommendations.

You can also complain about bad hosts to the service support service: fortunately, I didn’t have to use it, but I read that it works fine and solves problems, and, it seems, in case of any troubles, Airbnb also gives victims coupons for a 50% discount -100$ for the next booking of new apartments and suites.

Another way to reduce risks is to choose hosts with a verified profile. Confirmation goes through Facebook, binding to the number mobile phone and documents. It goes without saying that the owners with the most confirmed profile are more reliable comrades than others.

And it will not be superfluous to pay attention to the age of the owner's registration on the service (this is displayed in his profile): if he registered on the site quite recently, then this is not the most reliable option. You can also check the rental calendar of this housing - if there are days reserved by someone else, then there is a little more trust in this owner and his housing. Of course, these verification options are very conditional and do not guarantee anything, but it definitely makes sense to take them into account.

Airbnb listings to book

We are here, on the site site, we are engaged in everything, including compiling selections the best places where to stay while traveling. In the vast majority of cases, to compile them, we use options with. So if you decide to become an avid Airbnbnb-shnik, then you are welcome to familiarize yourself with our heading "" and already compiled selections for Barcelona, ​​Berlin, Amsterdam, Rome, Istanbul, London.

Here is such a voluminous and informative review about - it seems that I told in it about all aspects of booking apartments, apartments and houses from private individuals. Travel and use Airbnb - it's much better than hotels!