When you travel, do you prefer to stay at a hotel, or at a Airbnb? Of course, there’s not much vacationing going on now. But are you the type of person to prefer one over the other?
Share why if you wish.
Hotel Or Airbnb?
Asking — and answering — life's interesting questions
When you travel, do you prefer to stay at a hotel, or at a Airbnb? Of course, there’s not much vacationing going on now. But are you the type of person to prefer one over the other?
Share why if you wish.
Hotels are such sterile places to stay, which is especially grating over an extended period of time. I like the Airbnb experience as it usually feels more homey.
This is a tough one for me. I like the more personal feel of the Airbnb — it is quite often someone’s house. And as such, they are often in residential neighborhoods more frequently.
But for the social aspect, I think I prefer just a regular old Bed and Breakfast, where the hosts are friendly and charming, and you often mingle with other guests over breakfast. Most of the Airbnbs that I have stayed at my wife and I have been alone and didn’t interact with anyone else.
A hotel will quite often have more amenities. I like to use the workout facilities at hotels, going for a run on the treadmill, and if there is a pool, go for a swim (and even better if there is an accompanying hot tub or even a – gasp – sauna!). And there are often restaurants in and around the hotel, and it may be near shops, or an airport, or something of note geographically.
So I guess it really depends on my mood. But since I need to pick one, I think I’ll opt to add my own answer and choose the (non-Air) B and B.
Definitely hotel. I absolutely hate to stay in someone else’s house, especially someone I do not know. If I stay in a hotel which I do not do often I really must be a good one. I rather like the anonymity of a hotel. It is definitely the introvert in me, with an Airbnb I have to communicate with others, in a hotel I do not have to.
I’ve stayed at Airbnbs that have required me to be social (e.g. I had some amazing hosts when I was in Copenhagen for a week) as well as some that gave me no reason to interact with others at all (e.g an Airbnb in Owatonna, MN was basically a full basement apartment to myself. In Copenhagen I wanted to interact more with people living in a different culture even though it required me to break out of my introverted shell, so now I have new friends. However, in Owatonna, with a completely different experience, I just read and wrote the whole time.
Both experiences were good. I knew what I was getting into with each as I researched thoroughly before booking.
I think it depends on the situation and my mood.
I like B&B’s. The food is better and it’s nice to be taken care of. Though I’m a bit of an introvert, I also enjoy meeting people from other places.
I also like hotels, because I am a very light sleeper and they usually have really nice beds.
I’ve only stayed at 2 Airbnb’s, but they were both nice, and an interesting experience.
While I’m with Laila on sometimes finding the company at a B&B sometimes grating, I usually love talking with the host as they have learned how to interact with people of all sorts … and they usually give great advice on what to do during the day during your stay.
Airbnb helped me stay in places without recirculated air and shared spaces with others (I did RVs!) for covid safety. Also did motels where the door opened to the outdoors. This question is a tad silly in Covid times and I hope people think carefully about Covid safe traveling. (My choices felt strange but sort of put me more at ease.)
Thanks for pointing out the “silliness” of this question. Lee and I have extensive conversations each week when we post questions. Sometimes we want to highlight what’s going on in the world, sometimes we want to escape.
Nice reminder to be careful while traveling.
I like Airbnb’s that let me try out different types of dwellings or are unusual. Also, hosts seem to let you pick the level of interaction and while I am introverted I do sometimes feel like processing my day with a local when I solo travel.
Jill, you and I think of the Airbnb experience similarly. If you do have an active host, I also try to have them help me process my day. (I use them to figure out where to get the best ice cream in town too!)