It’s no secret that we like to stay in an Airbnb. It’s just so much more flexible than hotels. The maximum we’ll stay in a hotel is 3 days whereas with an Airbnb, we can stay for several days without missing the amenities that our home provides.
An Airbnb will usually cost less than a hotel, allow you to cook your own meals, do your laundry and have a space to work.
Of course, there are advantages of staying in hotels and one of those is when you stay in a Hampton Inn, for example, you have a pretty good idea of what you will get for your money whether you are staying in their hotel in Cluj-Napoca, Romania or the one in Boise, Idaho. Airbnb is different, as there is no consistent brand, so the question is: how do you pick a great Airbnb for every trip?
We believe that we have cracked it, and over the last 5 years we have had dozens of fabulous Airbnb stays and not a single dud. We may have an advantage as not only have we stayed in many Airbnb units in North and South America, Europe, Africa and Asia, we have been Airbnb hosts for 7 years.
When we started using Airbnb as guests, we quickly realized that picking where to stay can be challenging and our first couple of stays nearly put us off Airbnb for life. Fortunately, we developed a system for picking the perfect Airbnb based on these 13 guidelines and tips, which will help you find an Airbnb that is perfect for your next trip.
Contents
1. Create a Wishlist
Before you start searching, create a wishlist for your trip using the function within the Airbnb app and website. If the trip includes multiple destinations, you will need multiple wishlists. An Airbnb wishlist allows you to save listings so you don’t have to try and remember which ones you like. As you find a suitable listing, save it to the Wishlist.
Typically, the Wishlist will contain more potential stays than you can handle and so we will go over the list and reduce it by removing those that, on reflection, are not as good as the best you’ve found. A “No” wishlist, where you save listing that you don’t like, can be useful too; then when you refresh your search, you will know immediately those listings that you like and those that you have ruled out for one reason or another.
2. Apply Filters Immediately
When you start your Airbnb search you enter the location, dates and number of guests, and that’s it: you’re presented with a list of units. Before you look at any individual listings, apply your filters and refresh the search. Apply as many filters as possible, you can always remove a few later if your search doesn’t yield enough results. We always filter by type of place (entire place), Wifi, Washer, Dedicated Workspace and, of course, price; you will need to use what meets your needs.
3. Reduce the Search Area
The chances are that the first set of results will be spread over a large geographic area and comprise several pages. So, after applying the filters, use the map to reduce the search area as much as possible. Again, if you don’t see enough choices, you can always expand the search area or move the map slightly. Location is usually very important, so we will only sacrifice it if we can’t find anything that meets our needs in our ideal areas.
4. Look at the Number of Reviews and Average Score
We start by looking for listings with more than 20 reviews and an average score of 7.70 or higher; 20 reviews is enough to filter out distortive effect of a single outlier review. If the options are too limited, we start looking at listings with fewer reviews and lower scores, rather than those with lower score and 20+ reviews.
5. Review the facilities and pictures
Do you like the photos? Check that the key amenities described in the listing are shown in the pictures. If the listing says that there is a dedicated workspace, is it shown and does it look suitable? Are the washer and dryer that are listed also shown? One thing to look out for when it comes to laundry facilities for units in apartment buildings is to check if they are in the unit or if they are in a shared, public space.
You should also be aware that photos age and you can’t assume that something shown in a photo will be available unless it is also mentioned in the listing details; this is increasingly common with gyms and pools, where Home Owners’ Associations have decided to bar short-term rental guests from using them.
Check the rules and refund policy. Sometimes a long list of rules may be a requirement of the Home Owners’ Association, but a long list of rules driven by the host can be a red flag of a listing to be avoided. Also check for available dates. If your dream listing is booked up before and after your planned dates, there is a good chance that you will need to move quickly if you want to secure it for your trip!
6. Learn How to Read Reviews like a Pro
We put more trust in longer reviews, as the guest has probably put more careful thought into their review. If a listing has only a series of single sentence reviews it can be tricky to work out what the guests really thought about the place. Look for those issues, both positive and negative, that are mentioned consistently in several reviews.
We do like it when initial problems are mentioned, and the guest says that the host responded quickly to fix it: you could have a problem during your stay and then you too will want a responsive host. One massive warning to us, is reviews that have comments about being instructed not to tell other building residents that you are an Airbnb guest. This probably means that short-term rentals are not allowed in the building or complex. We always avoid these listings.
7. How to Assess Negative Reviews
The occasional negative review is not a big deal; you can’t please all of the people all of the time. However, if a problem is mentioned several times, and it would even slightly bother us, we pass on the unit. So, what to do if there is that one bad review and the issue mentioned would bother you?
The first thing we do is to ask ourselves whether the review seems reasonable and balanced? A review that highlights problems, while describing other factors more positively is more credible than one that is just a complaining rant; remember very few stays are all bad and a review that only mentions the bad stuff is rarely the objective truth.
Next look to see if other guests have mentioned the same issue, but in a positive way. Some people don’t like to write negative reviews and so simply skip over problems, so the fact that other guests have not mentioned the issue may not mean much. However, if one guest says that the host was unresponsive while 10 other guests commend the guest for being highly responsive, how credible is the complaint? Maybe the host just missed a single call, and it annoyed the guest enough to complain about it in their review?
Then we try to assess the guest making the complaint. Look at their profile. Guests who have stayed in several Airbnbs are likely to have more reasonable expectations than the first timer. Look at their other reviews, are they serial complainers or is it unusual for them to complain?
If after doing all of this, and reminding ourselves to weigh up the evidence rationally, if we still feel uncomfortable about a unit, we won’t book it.
8. How Does the Host Handle Negative Reviews
We avoid those hosts who become defensive and attack their paying customers for simply making critical comments. Instead, we look for those hosts who show some empathy in these situations.
The best Airbnb hosts understand that they are part of a service industry, that they need happy customers and that every guest is different with different needs and preferences. What that means is that sooner or later every host will get a bad review; how they handle it can tell you a lot about how that host will treat you. This will likely include an apology and either a rational explanation of the issue or comments about who they will address the problem.
Let’s say most reviews say that a unit was very clean, but one guest complains that the unit was not as clean as they would have liked. Which of these two hosts would you prefer to stay with?
The host who responds: “I am sorry that our apartment was not as clean as you wanted. We pride ourselves on our cleanliness, but it seems that this time we got it wrong on this occasion. I have already spoken to the cleaners and shared your concerns, and I shall increase my pre-check-in spot checks over the next few months until we are satisfied that our standards are being maintained consistently.”
Or the host who replies: “I can assure you that when you checked in, the apartment was spotlessly clean so any mess must have been caused by you or simply didn’t exist.”
We might book with the first host, but we will give a wide berth to the host who made the second comment.
9. How to assess new listings
If you can find a good selection of suitable listings in your price range, you probably won’t have to think about new listings, but what if this isn’t the case? Then you will need to consider listings with very few or even zero reviews. Don’t worry you can still find some very good units, and often they will be a great deal while the host tries to gain some traction.
The first thing is to see if the host has other listings and check the reviews for these, most hosts are consistent with their various listings. You should be even more deliberate and careful in your review of the listing details and photographs; does the host seem to have thought of everything that you will need or have some things been missed?
One thing we always do with new hosts is to ask questions through Airbnb. Are the responses consistent with the information shown in the listing? Does the host respond reasonably quickly? Is the host polite and patient? This is exactly what we did when we were considering a brand-new listing in Cairo, Egypt. As we expected, the apartment was great, and the host and his wife were incredibly helpful and friendly.
10. Read Everything Carefully Before You Book
So, you’ve found what seems to be the perfect listing: the reviews are great, and it has everything you need. Before you make that commitment, review the entire listing with great care before completing your booking. Check the rules, cancellation policy, facilities and amenities, and every other detail. Don’t be the guest who has to carry several heavy bags up 4 flights of stairs because you didn’t notice that the building doesn’t have an elevator.
11. Book Early
While it’s true that we have got some good deals when we had to book at the last minute, it is generally best to follow the advice of Fred Pontin, purveyor of cheap package holidays to the British masses in the 1970s and “Book Early.” (Sorry, that’s a cultural reference that will mean nothing unless you are British and over 50 years of age!).
The fact is that the earlier you book, the better the prices and, most importantly, the wider the selection. Only very recently, we returned to a wishlist, which we had created less than two weeks earlier, to find that 4 of the 5 listings saved to it were no longer available. Needless to say, we booked the remaining one immediately!
12. What About Super Hosts?
Unless the number of listings is simply too many to wade through, we don’t filter to limit searches to Super Hosts. We were part of the very first group of about 20 Airbnb hosts to be awarded Super Host status in Jamaica, which we retained for over 6 years. Because of this, we understand that it is awarded based on fairly simple algorithms and by applying this filter you can miss out on some really good listings. If your host is a Super Host, that is great, but a host who is not a Super Host can be equally good or better.
13. Always book and communicate through Airbnb
Unless you know the other party well, and whether you are an Airbnb host or guest, the best way to get scammed is to negotiate a stay outside of the Airbnb app or website. As tempting as it may be to save a few dollars it is almost certainly not worth the risk.
In fact, it should be a red flag if the host suggests it; do you want to be hosted by someone to whom saving a few dollars is more important than honouring their agreement with Airbnb? We have done this a couple of times, but only after staying with the host more than once and getting to know them enough and only if the host allowed payment on arrival, so there was no risk to us.
We believe that staying in short-term rental accommodation, whether that’s through Airbnb, Vrbo or any other site, offers much more value and flexibility when your travel, especially if you need to work. If you follow these simple guidelines, you can book with confidence and have a great stay every time!
Drop us a comment and tell us what you think about these tips and guidelines. We’d be happy to include others if you share them with us.
Author
Nick Abbott
Hi, I’m Nick. Visiting foreign countries has been an important part of my life since my parents moved to Kano in Nigeria in 1977. Since then, as both a military officer and in later jobs I have enjoyed the huge privilege of being exposed to many different countries and cultures.
I am delighted to be able to support my wife Monique and Yes2Yolo primarily by contributing travel articles, providing editing and proof-reading services and being a general sounding board.
Great job Nick! An easy read which provides very useful information!
Glad you found it informative Elizabeth! Thank you!
I need to visit Kingston next time I come to Jamaica
Great tips Nick!
Thank you so much Kalima!