Airbnb Pros and Cons - Guest Edition 2023

When Airbnb got famous at first, many people only saw the advantage of renting out an Airbnb and staying at one, money. It was a great side hustle for people to earn extra money and a cheaper solution for gusts than hotels.

However, as time passed, people discovered that Airbnb has many more Pros and Cons. It is essential nowadays to know about these pros and cons as we, as guests, always want to make the best choice, and Airbnb is not simply the best option anymore, specifically when we compare Airbnb vs Hotels. 

Airbnb Pros and Cons

PRO: Airbnbs are great for group travelers

Unless you are very rich and book suits in the penthouse of las vegas hotels, you may find hotel rooms small for big groups of people. Many families and families like to travel together and do not want to miss out on any time of their vacation away from each other, and Airbnb makes that possible. There are small and large apartments on the Airbnb website, and as you see in the screenshots below, it is very easy to filter the website.

As you can see, guests can even choose the number of beds and bathrooms they need. Also, there are many other filters to use for finding the best properties.

CON: Airbnb is not cheap Anymore!

I'm pretty sure you have also noticed that Airbnb properties are not as cheap as they used to be, and sometimes they are even more expensive than hotels. Bein cheap was the biggest advantage of Airbnb back in the day, but it is all gone now. However, there are still many ways to get Airbnb discounts while booking properties. So read our blog on How to get Airbnb discounts to learn some tricks.

One reason that Airbnbs are not as cheap as it used to be in their unfair prices on Airbnb fees and cleaning! Sometimes these prices are as high as the rent price itself! Fortunately, there are ways to Avoid paying Airbnb fees.

I will go through one of the ways of booking Airbnbs cheaper very quickly but click the links above for more tips. 

Airbnb properties can be found cheaper on other websites, but as you can not check all the websites yourself, we have developed RatePunk Airbnb Feature that can help you out! See the Screenshot Below.

Click here to download the Browser Extension!

PRO: Flexibility with Check-in and Check-out time

This is one of the pros of Airbnb that I personally like a lot. When traveling, you often want to check in to your accommodation sooner than you are supposed to, or you may want to sleep more in the morning and check out from the place later.

Airbnb can be very flexible when it comes to this matter. You only need to talk to the host and ask for an earlier check-in or later check-out. obviously, there are no guarantees here, but trying is always worth trying.

CON: Cancellation policies vary from property to property

What is the cancellation policy of Airbnb properties? There is no straightforward answer, as each host sets their own policies!

This is already bad because you need to read each property's policies and familiarize yourself with the rules, but it gets worse as the Airbnb customer service does not help! There are many stories of Airbnb customer service not being helpful in different situations. You can read some of these stories on the Airbnb Subreddit.

PRO: You can have a better local experience staying at Airbnb

You are basically renting an apartment in the city you are visiting. You will have neighbors who might have lived there for a long time, local shops near your entrance door, and many other local attractions. This can give you a better feeling of how life is in that place compared to staying at the hotel, where you will only see other tourists and not get a local vibe.

You will understand local life better if you choose to use Airbnb's long-term stay feature and stay there longer. 

CON: Limited availability or Airbnb restrictions at your destination

Obviously, the number of Airbnbs appearing in many different spots of the cities has increased a lot during the past few years. However, this still does not mean there are Airbnbs everywhere. As the demand is also high, you may encounter many situations when you can not find an Airbnb near the spot where you would like to stay.

This inconvenience will push you to book your stay somewhere far away from where you wanted to stay. This has become more and more of an issue since many countries have introduced regulations and restrictions on Airbnb rentals.

PRO: Various types of accommodations are listed on Airbnb

Hosts on Airbnb have become very creative during the past few years, making this game way more interesting than before. Nowadays, you can find many different types of accommodations around the world, and some are very interesting to stay at. I mean cabins in the jungles, near the beach houses, small tiny apartments, art-crafted lofts, and luxury apartments on top of the mountains.

This option of Airbnb is very cool when you compare it to hotels where they mostly look the same and have less creativity on them.

Check different types of Airbnb accommodations.

CON: Safety and security concerns

I see this as one of the most important reasons someone should choose to stay at a hotel over an Airbnb. There are many risks for guests staying at Airbnb, and you can read the whole article on Airbnb safety issues for guests, but let's mention some of those here.

First of all, you do not know from whom you are renting the place. There are many stories when the guest has been bothered by their hosts. hosts have entered the house without prior notice, or they have canceled on the guest last minute, which resulted in them having no place to stay.

Also, it has happened that some of the Aibnbs posted on the platform were illegal and resulted in problems occurring for the guests who stayed there.

PRO: Airbnb has more Amenities and Facilities

With Airbnb, you get a full house, well usually, and a full house comes with many facilities and amenities such as a fully equipped kitchen (which is probably the most important one), TV, washing machine, maybe swimming pool, etc. Having all of these in one property makes a living more convenient while traveling.

Although, I should mention that not all properties actually have all of these amenities, and this example is only when you book somewhere with these facilities. If you do not check these, you may end up in an Airbnb with shared facilities, even the bathroom. So as I post this as an advantage of Airbnb, it could also turn into a disadvantage as well.

CON: Limited service

If you are staying at a hotel, it is the hotel's responsibility to provide you with the necessary services, but it is not the case with Airbnb.

Although, as my personal experience suggests, if you can book an Airbnb with the right host, they will try to help you as much as possible. 

If you want to be a great host for your guest, make sure to read our blog post on Airbnb Tips for Hosts.

Hope you enjoyed reading this blog post about Airbnb's Advantages and disadvantages.

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