Are you planning a vacation soon?

When planning a trip, the main question people ask themselves is where should they stay? at a hotel or an Airbnb apartment?

In the past few years, Airbnb became a very popular, cheaper option to stay at while traveling, and made travel much easier and cheaper!

I’m a true lover of Airbnb apartments, but at the same time, many people prefer hotels, and the whole “hotel experience” while going on vacation.

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What Is Airbnb?

Airbnb is the world’s largest accommodation sharing site. You can book stays at different apartments all over the world! whether it’s only for one night, a week, or even a month if you want to!

On Airbnb.com you can rent someone’s home, apartment, or even book a stay at an interesting place like a boat, treehouse, or a cottage.

In addition to renting a place to stay for your vacation, Airbnb offers unique experiences, mainly interesting tours with locals! These tours are unlike normal tour packages, and can start from a pub-crawling tour, local cooking classes and much more!

Airbnb VS Hotels

I discovered Airbnb while searching for cheap ways to lower the costs of traveling.

At first, I didn’t know what to think or decide. I was used to hotels, I love staying at hotels – but at the same time the lower prices, at the great locations with Airbnb apartments just attracted me more.

The first Airbnb apartment I stayed at was last year in Bucharest, Romania. AND I LOVED IT.

The apartment was located in the old town area, which was so beautiful. It was also close to many restaurants, supermarkets, and central public transportation.

For 5 nights, the whole apartment cost only 280$ for a couple!

I also booked an Airbnb on our trip to Prague a few months ago, and that cheap apartment, that looked beautiful, was located on Wenceslas Square, which was amazing.

It also saved us a lot of money because everything was so close that we mainly walked around, and barely used Ubers or public transportation.

The same goes for Montenegro, we booked a cheap, lovely apartment that was a 10 minutes drive from Kotor’s old town.

For the other vacations I went on, and for my upcoming trip to London next month, we booked hotels through Agoda.com or Hotelscombined.com, which are my favorite hotel booking sites.

What I Like About Airbnb?

1. Usually You get more than what you pay for – like I said earlier about my Airbnb experience in Bucharest, you usually get more than what you paid for – a lovely place, at a central location, including a kitchen, TV, Netflix, and even a heated floor! All of this for only 280$ for five nights!

2. It’s an opportunity to “live like a local” – usually Airbnb apartments are located in local’s buildings, and your neighbors will probably be locals. Also, there is 99% chance you’ll have a kitchen in your apartment. You can go to a local grocery store, which is a total fun locals experience by itself, buy some groceries and cook your meals in your Airbnb apartment!

3. You can be in touch with your host through the whole stay – a host is the person that rents you the apartment.

You can be in touch with them throughout the whole stay, ask them anything you need or want. Usually, they keep at the apartment a book with all of the things you need to know about the apartment, the area, and the destination as well.

But if you have more questions, they will always answer.

How To Make Sure You Book A Good Airbnb?

Honestly, it’s easier to stay in a bad apartment instead of a bad hotel.

Here is what I like to do to choose a good Airbnb:

1. Look for a “super host” – these types of hosts are the best-reviewed by guests hosts. They are the most helpful, have clean and comfortable places that are highly rated on the Airbnb website.

You can filter out your setting when searching for a place while looking at a “super host” only apartments.

2. Look at photos – there aren’t many apartments that post non-photogenic pictures of their place, so it is kind of tricky.

What you need to do is look carefully at each apartment you are thinking of staying at. Try choosing the best place that looks the most realistic and nice in the picture.

Pro tip: If a host shares many more pictures of the area instead of the place itself, it’s definitely a warning sign about the place!

3. Read reviews – a place could look amazing online, but if you won’t read the reviews on the place, You could miss out on the part where people say it isn’t clean, or that the next-door neighbors listen to full volume music at 01:00 a.m. or maybe that there is a mouse problem in the apartment!!

So, make sure to read all of the reviews the place has.

Another important thing that is worth mentioning, is that you have three options for staying at an Airbnb apartment. You can either book the whole place to yourself, or rent a bedroom in a shared apartment.

You can read more about it in my newest travel ebook “The Secrets To Traveling Like A Pro”, which is currently on SALE!

What’s In The eBook?

✮ All the needed information about how to book cheap flights? (tips, hacks, and resources)

✮ Everything you need to know about booking a stay – Airbnbs, and hotels (tips, hacks, and resources)

✮ Important tips on renting a car

✮ A completed guide on how to plan a good full trip

✮ How to save money on your trip? (tips, hacks, and resources)

✮ Travel resources

✮ Travel planning template

Who is this book for?

If you are a true travel addict, or even if you just love to travel and want to do it more often, or just learn how to do it for cheap, this book is for you.

You’ll learn the best travel tips, hacks, and get all the travel resources you’ll need to plan the best cheapest trip without missing out on anything!

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When Should You Choose An Airbnb Over A Hotel?

If you are traveling on a budget, in most places Airbnb is a cheaper accommodation option.

If you like cooking your meals while traveling – Airbnb has a kitchen where you can cook your meals, and save money on the food subject as well!

If you want your travel experience to be from a local’s point of view – Airbnb apartments are located in local buildings in the city’s neighborhoods.

Staying at a local apartment is the best way to have a sneak peek into the local’s life.

What I Don’t Like About Airbnb

Airbnb’s aren’t always the best options. If someone takes really good shots of the place, and you see it online, it doesn’t always mean that it looks that good in real life.

Also, you can only contact the host through Airbnb’s website, which means that you don’t have someone to contact in case of a very important question or problem, that you need an answer to as soon as possible.

Why You Should Book A Hotel Over An Airbnb

An Airbnb apartment isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. I’ve also learned that Airbnb isn’t the best option in every destination.

There are places that an Airbnb is more expensive than hotels, or isn’t worth the money.

When you should consider staying at a hotel instead:

Your flight arrives late at night in the destination, there is no public transportation, and it is hard to find your Airbnb, or if the host’s hires someone to give you the key to the place, but they or the host can’t be reached because it’s late. In this case, hotels are better because usually, their front desk is open 24/7, and there is always someone to greet you or help you in case you can’t find the hotel.

Airbnb’s are located in local areas, and are more difficult do find. On the other hand, hotels are easy to find when arriving at the destination.

If you find hotels being cheaper than an Airbnb apartment at the destination you are visiting, choose a hotel- if it has a kitchen, even better!

But even if the hotel room doesn’t have a kitchen, you’ll still want to book a hotel, because it’s much cheaper (in that destination).

If you are willing to stay at an Airbnb, but your flight arrives late at night, you can book a one night stay at a hotel, and the next day, you can go to the Airbnb apartment

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