Last summer, I was finally able to experience AirBnb for the first time. For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, AirBnb is a website/app that helps you find more affordable lodging and tourism experiences as opposed to booking through hotels and other typical vacation sites. Typically, these places are homes or rooms that people rent out in popular areas. For the longest time, I was extremely sketched out by the whole premise. I wasn’t sure how reputable most of the places on the website were, and doubted any of them really looked like the pictures. Call me a scaredy cat, but I was extremely cautious when first looking at the site to try to find a place to stay.
Last July, a couple of my friends and I wanted to head up to Canada for a long weekend, and most of the crew I was going with really wanted to find a place to stay through AirBnb. Since there were 6 of us, it seemed to be much cheaper to go through the website of which I had minimal experience with as opposed to through a legitimate hotel website. My friends found one that they liked, and within minutes they booked it. I didn’t want to share my doubts with them so as to look like a wuss. The pictures on the website made it seem like the apartment we would be staying in to be extremely nice; however, I didn’t want to get my hopes up, as I doubted the place was actually as decent as the photos listed.
I can happily say that I was pleasantly surprised. The renters who owned the apartment were extremely communicative, and responded in a very timely manner to any questions or concerns that we had. The place itself was also a very nice size and was extremely clean. To my utter surprise, everything was exactly like the pictures. And it really was SO much cheaper than going through an actual hotel. Overall, I would highly recommend booking through AirBnb! It really is a legitimate source to book through for most of your travel needs. It’s highly convenient and not overly pricey, especially if you’re traveling with a larger group of people. I’ll definitely be using it for all of my vacation lodging needs from now on!