Airbnb P2P Accommodation - Community Marketplace for People to List, Discover, and Book Unique Spaces (Apartments, Houses, etc.)

neil on 27/05/2011 - 00:09
Last edited 27/05/2011 - 00:10

Airbnb has been featured in a few news stories lately. More recently Techcrunch.

Airbnb is a trusted community marketplace for people to list, discover, and book unique spaces around the world online or from an iPhone device. Whether the available space is a castle for a night, a sailboat for a week, or an apartment for a month, Airbnb is the easiest way for people to showcase these distinctive spaces to an audience of millions. By facilitating bookings and financial transactions, Airbnb makes the process of listing or booking a space effortless and efficient. With 50,000 unique listings available in more than 8,000 cities and 167 countries, Airbnb offers the widest variety of unique spaces for everyone, at any price point around the globe.

Video explaining it

It seems like quite a good service compared to hotel prices. An example of Melbourne accommodation:

In the middle of Collins St. for $116/night for an apartment is a bargain.link

I was a bit confused if you have to stay with the host or if the apartment is yours for the duration (like a hotel).

This explained it:

What is the difference between an Entire Place, a Shared Room, and a Private Room?

An entire place means that you will have the entire place to yourself. The host will not be in the apartment with you. A shared or private room indicates the host will also be at the location while you are there. A shared room is considered an open room like a living room, common space, or shared room with other guests. A private room is considered to have a higher level of privacy, and usually is a room with a door.

Has anyone tried this service? Going on holiday in a few months and would like to try this out instead of getting shafted with hotel prices.

http://www.airbnb.com

General Discussion

Comments

  • retiredfeline on 27/05/2011 - 00:12

    I read somewhere that wimdu, which we saw a few days ago in deals, is a clone of airnb, or the other way around. Sorry, no experience, but watching with interest.

    • neil on 27/05/2011 - 00:33

      Ah yes, didn't even realize that. http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/45215 I believe Wimdu is a clone of airnb. Unfortunately, Wimdu is quite small. Nothing much in Australia. Just checked KL and there is nothing at all.

      I don't think I would stay in a place without reviews whether it be an apartment or a hotel room.

  • RandomNinja on 27/05/2011 - 10:35

    I used airbnb to book my accommodation in New York and had a good experience. It's all pretty casual, bit like craigslist in that you deal directly with the owner for bookings (at least I had to). Although it might show as available on airbnb, sometimes it's already booked (eg: through another service?).

    The place I stayed at was an investment apartment specifically for short terms stays so was pretty much like a hotel room.

    I'd recommend the service, but ultimately depends on the vendor (and their reviews)

  • drexxx on 05/01/2012 - 11:44

    did anyone end up trying it? sounds interesting :)

    • neil on 05/01/2012 - 12:30

      I wanted to try it in Europe but found it more expensive than hotels especially as some charged a cleaning fee which is not worth it for a 1 or 2 night stay. It's probably good if you are looking for accommodation for a whole family and staying a week in one place. As for Wimdu, most places I've checked didn't have accommodations listed on their website. I still like the concept but I guess these sites needs to gain more traction. I can see it being successful here as hotels are a ripoff.

    • [Deactivated] on 05/01/2012 - 12:48

      Also depending where you are going.

      Look at the travel wiki here

      http://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/category:travel

      If its to the US I found VRBO quite good but like Neil said its also great for longer term stays. They are branching out into other countries although the pickings are not as good in some countries, until they get traction

    • drexxx on 05/01/2012 - 13:02

      Ah cool! thanks for the feedback and advice.

      I am going to Europe on my own. So I guess it's not economical for me to use Airbnb or the like for the moment. But will look into it when im not going solo.

      Hope you can help with this: What's the equivalent of www.Adioso.com for flights around Europe? Thanks

      • neil on 05/01/2012 - 13:17

        I used http://www.skyscanner.net/ as it included the budget airlines (e.g. ryanair, easyjet). As for booking accommodation in Europe, I used hotelscombined to find a midpoint between price and quality as I was travelling with the wife. hotels.com was offering a 10-15% coupon code so used that site mostly. I also used Priceline via betterbidding as Priceline usually ends up the cheapest but you need to be patient and research quite a bit.

        If you are travelling as a couple then you'd want the whole apartment/house but airbnb does list just rooms but then you need to interact with your host. Probably won't be so bad as you are a single traveller and by some accounts the host is usually happy to show you round town.

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