/trv/ — >hear nothing but horror stories from people online (especia

my impression is that in America, especially at the lower price point, you can run into some shady characters and room options, and in Europe they might try to ding you for damage you didn't cause, but Asia isn't as neurotic about such things, but that could be a mistaken impression.

But yes, as well, if you just pick the lowest priced one, bad things can happen.

>>2881759
Maybe, some or most of the posts I looked at seemed to also be from Asia/SEA. The worst thing I've found so far in regard to listings is that some are quite sneaky about utilities only listing them in the "rules and guidelines" link. Guessing I will eventually have a bad time but hey that's happened at hotels in the past.

Maybe I am overthinking it, for me a room is to shit, shower, and shave. So as long as I have a room with a door and decent bed, I'm not really too picky about the fact I don't have a thing of coffee or water bottles restocked; or the room only has a standing shower and shitter is down the hall, etc etc.

>>2881760
if the airbnb host has a weird long list of unusual rules or restrictions - avoid that listing

>for me a room is to shit, shower, and shave
untrue, if there's lots of noise you won't have a good time
if the lights or toilet are broken, you won't have a good time
etc.
do your diligence, if it looks sketchy, don't do it

>>2881763
>untrue, if there's lots of noise you won't have a good time
Yeah, but that's kind of hard to set as a baseline metric, what's "quiet" to me is maybe noisy as shit to others. My standards are as long as it's not a 10-dollar hostel noise level, I'm pretty much fine.

> weird long list of unusual rules or restrictions
Guess I haven't seen any, most are the basic like turn off lights/ac when out, no loud sounds from 10pm-7am, please take out the trash every few days, etc etc. Most the normal things you would do at home minus no unregistered guests.

>do your diligence, if it looks sketchy, don't do it
Sure but you do that with any booking. Maybe because I've only done Korea and now doing Taiwan for the first time, I am not as versed as others but most all places I see look fine? I mean maybe some of these horror stories really come from the shacks in Thailand or something but for the 400-500/mo(minus tax) price range I look at in Asia most seem fine.

>>2881764
>Yeah, but that's kind of hard to set as a baseline metric, what's "quiet" to me is maybe noisy as shit to others.
if your accommodation is near a major highway you are gonna have noise, you can't quite always see where it is before booking but if its right in a downtown or near a major road there will be noise
and if you are in an apartment with people above and below you there might be noise vs a standalone unit, things like that

>>2881765
Sure, but that's true for a lot of places, In Kyoto and Osaka both had to hear cars and bikes rev. Tokyo heard the trains given where I was. Was annoying the first night, forgot about it the second night. Guess you just need to take into account if you're a light sleeper or not. I can fall asleep in an airplane, bus, airport, etc without much issue. If I do have issues a bottle of melatonin solves it. I think that's true for any kind of booking regardless the platform.

>>2881758 (OP)
You're paying 10x the real price by using that platform but you do you

>>2881758 (OP)
Airbnb and VRBO etc are hit and miss. I've stayed in some great places and also in some dumps. Do your research.

File: 20260407_191025.jpg (2.87 MB, 4000x3000)

>>2876795
>My mate and I got a penthouse in Cebu city. They 100% photoshop and use wide angle lenses for the listings but that's to be expected. Still fairly nice until the aircons started leaking pretty quickly because I imagine not installing a tundish and having major water pooling is a downstairs neighbour problem - especially when you are top floor.

We could operate the aircon for max half an hour at a time before water started pooling on the floor. I slept reasonably okay considering (I was pass out drunk most nights).

No review mentioned this. It was 4.7 stars. View was good though.

I've used Airbnb extensively both as a host and a traveler around Europe for 10 years (2012-22). I've had a couple horror guests and stayed in a couple shady places but nothing that would put me off the platform for good. Customer support got a LOT worse over the years though. One time they straight up charged an American guest for some money they owed me after their stay...took 5 days. Now it would be impossible

>>2881758 (OP)
most companies that stay in business are not constant horror stories.
its rare for there to be real horror stories that are not just bad luck and people overreacting or squabbling over a few bucks.
people resent paying off someone's inestment mortgage which i get tho

one thing to keep in mind while everyone oversells the size of the place in their pictures, i think italians are very great at making a tiny shitty apartment look normal size.

>>2881846
i had a host who locked the fridge and freezer and made me pre-select which kitchen utensils I could borrow
she was very mentally ill it was a room in a house so I tried to interact as little as possible and got out first thing waking up in the morning

remind me not to book with black hosts + she asked me to agree to rules before confirming my booking - that should have been a red flag + her listing had too many rules
it was a very low price, I shouldn't have taken it

>>2881783
>10x
maybe 2x or 3x in extreme retard cases, but usually you're paying 1.0-1.25x for airbnb overhead. Unless this is one of those "heh chump doesn't know my ultra secret method of where to find cheap deals in Thailand, can't post how btw ya know gotta save the prices from the normies" style bullshit.

>>2881813
>PH
>Cebu city of all places too
Opinion discarded, PH is like a blackhole now with hotels and airbnb/vrbo bookings. Every random ass chinese or korean post covid gobbled up shitholes, fixed up one or two places then used that as the stock photos.

>>2881846
I feel it's mostly this, it's similar to people who book a budget airline then complain the service isn't world class and think if they scream loud enough they will get a gimme. I also think there is *some* level of gatekeeping done to try and make others not use it so prices don't surge, not like that works lol

>>2881853
suck a dick retard

>>2881758 (OP)
I think the "horror" stories are mostly exaggerated or as you say people getting sorted but to be able to enjoy AirBNB you really do need to value the tradeoff of losing privacy and deference in exchange for snooty rulemakers at a lower price. Personally in Asia where hotel rooms are already very cheap I don't think the tradeoff makes any sense so I always stay in hotels, but I can see how in America or Europe it might be fine

I've had mostly great experiences with it. There are guidelines to follow though

1. Never pick the cheapest place, if it's too good to be true is probably is.
2. The rating system is very valuable and one of airbnbs strongest assets. If you pick are place with 40+ reviews and a rating over 4.8 your bound to get exactly what you're paying for.
3. If you have concerns about your booking or something doesn't feel right you can kind of just hound the hosts with questions on the app to see if you're getting what you want/need.
4. Always book a place with full cancellation refund

The service is well past its glory days but so long as you book far enough in advance and take the time to feel out your booking it's still perfectly acceptable. I always stay in airbnbs if I'm going to be in one place for more than a week

>>2881758 (OP)
I've used it heaps in Asia better than hotels or used to be anyway. Now hosts are greedy being more expensive than hotels with none of the service of hotels
Last booking 3 months in advance in Philippines the host declined my booking the day before I flew there, saying I wasn't paying enough money, I replied back saying YOU set the prices you fucking retard
Airbnb didn't care, the host didn't care and I was stranded everything else was fully booked out. Ruined my trip desu senpai and really put me off Airbnb

>>2881855
>Personally in Asia where hotel rooms are already very cheap I don't think the tradeoff makes any sense so I always stay in hotels, but I can see how in America or Europe it might be fine
I don't know
Korea - 500/mo for everything is easy
Tokyo - 850/mo for a guest house in December+NYE
Malaysia(KL) - 450/mo for a full private room
Jakarta - Condo for <400
Thailand(bangkok) ~400 for everything
Taipei - 550/mo

Guess I don't know what standards trv has, I just assume most any airbnb that's a decent value is similar to an Extended Stay in the USA.

>>2881872
>Last booking 3 months in advance in Philippines the host declined my booking the day before I flew there, saying I wasn't paying enough money, I replied back saying YOU set the prices you fucking retard
What? How the hell does this happen? You pay at booking or do that half n half thing.
>Airbnb didn't care, the host didn't care
If the host cancels on you before you get there you get your money back unless you did some BS shit like klarna

This story seems like it's missing a few key points

>>2881875
You pay when you book you fucking retard. Airbnb did refund my money 1 month later how does that help me when I'm traveling the same fucking day to another country
All other Airbnb's were extremely expensive and hotels were booked out or thousands more dollars

>>2881877
You said Airbnb didn't care which usually makes it sound like you didn't get shit back.
>Airbnb did refund my money 1 month later how does that help me when I'm traveling the same fucking day to another country
Credit card then pay off the CC with the refund?

I mean yeah it sucks but hotels do this too

>>2881873
>Korea - 500/mo for everything is easy
This is double the price
>Tokyo - 850/mo for a guest house in December+NYE
Completely laughable
>Malaysia(KL) - 450/mo for a full private room
This is double the real price

Korea is 300, tokyo is 200 for a guest house, kl is 200 for a full private room when you dont use aircucknb

>>2881878
Airbnb are supposed to get you a booking in the same area and instead of that they said oh tough luck buddy
Their customer service has gone to absolute shit for at least 5 years. Plus hotels are now cheaper and you don't have to deal with "super hosts"

>>2881881
>Korea is 300, tokyo is 200 for a guest house, kl is 200 for a full private room when you dont use aircucknb
Ah yes through the old trick of "gave them a firm handshake and looked them in the eyes!, can't tell you or show you where I got those prices but if you're a RealTraveler(tm), you'll know!". I always love these retarded gaslight posts

Those prices are completely normal post covid.

>>2881887
>Airbnb are supposed to get you a booking in the same area and instead of that they said oh tough luck buddy
I have never heard airbnb having to do that, at most they might send you some comparable listings at that price and say hey do you want to apply the credit to this. Never heard anything else.

I would have just put a stay on my CC then applied the credit to it, boom done no biggie. Even landing day of for booking you just lower the cost by doing a hotel for 3-4 days, and airbnb after that.

>>2881758 (OP)
only had good experiences with it, but only used it in philippines. It's also much cheaper than hotels

do you all actually live in the us and just happen to take long ass flights to asia all the time for sex tourism, or is this board much more asian people or something?

>>2881925
I work abroad, there are events like concerts, expos, conventions, festivals and stuff I want to do in Asia. It's easier to just take an airbnb for 2-3 months in. I usually go home in the winter months after NYE, if nothing else just to say hello to family/friends. In the USA you can just do an extended stay for 1 month ~900 in many places or maybe find a good airbnb deal.

Airbnb is kinda nice for month(s) rentals since you can more or less get reviews on the place and more or less get the jist of the fee's and cost. Sure, it costs a bit more than landing and going to find some place or grabbing X random listing on <local equivalent of craigslist> but I don't mind paying the extra 100 for everything to be more or less taken care of + no 'hidden' fees.

>is this board much more asian people or something?
Lots of people go to aisa specifically for the lower cost of living, I've lived in Europe and while it's fine, it's easier to visa hop on 90 days(or whatever) in Asia than dealing with the Schengen hops to eastern europe.

>>2881928
>In the USA you can just do an extended stay for 1 month ~900 in many places
um no maybe in a shared house where you have a room and its in the ghetto of a small very black city
I usually end up paying ~ 140 a night all fees included for 1 bdrm apartments you are NOT getting a month for 900 without making some serious sacrifices.

>>2881930
I've done it in TX plenty of times, you have to use their app/website or call but they do discounts at month rates.

>>2881937
>have to stay in texas for a whole month
wouldn't even if free

>>2881938
LOL that's fair, it's not for everyone. Personally, I'm fine with a 900/mo airbnb or whatever in San antonio after 9ish months abroad. I checked look like extended stays went up from previous years. I'm fine with a 1k/mo place in TX during Jan to mid march. Pretty good temps and food to get. This year I stayed in a shared house(private room) for around 1100/mo around LA older place/house but not bad, just have to deal with LA grabage.

>>2881758 (OP)
>airbnb
>hear nothing but horror stories from people online
all americans

i'm european and mostly travel in europe
never had any problems with an airbnb
partly due to regulations
like airbnb was forced form the start to only advertised the total price, inclusive of cleaning here
partly because private rentals have a very long "tradition" here and were big before airbnb

personally I avoid airbnb nowadays
but for other reasons
I travel with a family of 5 and most vacation rentals big enough don't advertise on airbnb
no clue why (maybe their cut is too high),
but for most cities / destinations you'll only find small 1bd rentals or >2bd big luxury ones, nothing for families
whereas searching directly or via other booking sites gives you plenty of options

File: Screenshot 2026-05-15 025521.png (51 KB, 719x375)

>>2881952
>like airbnb was forced form the start to only advertised the total price, inclusive of cleaning here
Maybe I am a retard but doesn't it have an option for users to turn that on? I mean it shows you at checkout the whole breakdown.

I was looking at a place just now and it breaks it down, just fine.

>all americans
I could see this, I know a lot of americans just assume to leave places in whatever state they figure and can't do basics like take out the trash every few days or don't know just wipe some basic things down in the bathroom/kitchen. I could see that making the host charge excessive cleaning fees

DARE I say
maybe Asia is cheap for a reason

>>2881954
>Maybe I am a retard but doesn't it have an option for users to turn that on? I mean it shows you at checkout the whole breakdown.
yes they changed that globally

the difference
in the EU it was from the start
and the advertised "per night price",
which you also see on the map, HAS to include all cost here (so Total / #nights)

the checkout itself has always shown the total
people were mainly complaining that the prices when searching were not accurate and you didn't see the total until the last page, which is kinda scammy
and then you're rightfully complaining about high cleaning fees

even though the breakdown doesn't really matter
only if the total price (or price / night) is worth it for you
regardless of the share of cleaning cost

>take out the trash every few days or don't know just wipe some basic things down in the bathroom/kitchen
not that you shouldn't do this
but especially the wiping stuff down is something that the cleaning person will (hopefully) do anyway

>I could see that making the host charge excessive cleaning fees
the problem was / is never about the cleaning fee itself
it's that the fee was not included in the initial price you see and then you get surprised with it
and that you found a nice offer within your budget and suddenly at checkout it's double the price

Worst you’ll probably get is hosts asking you for more money off the site for “electric bills” and other horse shit in Asia. You can report them and get them banned after you leave.

Never used it in Europe. Used it in the US. Some hosts are scum and have a lot of lot of inane rules. Some are nice and easygoing.

I hate that they refuse to cancel their other guests who are only renting a couple of days when you’re trying to book an entire month and they fuck up your plans. I guess they’re scared of getting banned or getting negative reviews or something. Bunch of pussies

>>2882057
lol
>book place in Philippines
>goods through fine get message about check in
>SIRS U NEED CALL ME ON VIBER SIRS
>what why? Airbnb communication works fine
>SIRS VIBER I NEED VIBER TALK NOW IT ABOUT UTILITY BILL AND HOUSR BILL SIRS
>no thanks, the listing is all utilities included, I'll stick to airbnb chat
>I WILL EVICT YOU SIRS YOU WILL NOT ALLOW STAY IF NOT CONTACT ME ON VIBER
>okay well airbnb says always chat through the app
>VIBER IS NEW WAY CONTACT SIRS
>oh really let's get airbnb support into this chat so we can clear this up I've never heard this
>10 minutes later get "sorry sirs I meant for other guest..."
>utilities constantly turn off as I run the AC 24/7 at 68F, do lanudry in the unit, constantly use hot pot for coffee, microwave cook things.
>get messages asking me if I am okay and he notices lots of power wants to ensure I am keeping the AC on only when in the unit and not below 70F, turn it up take a pic send it back
>sirs please let us talk on viber I think you have more people in nuit than allow you will have police soon
>tell him I'll get airbnb customer support here to clear this up
>instantly walks it back
>shows up some Chang mixed pino with buck teeth shows up asks me if I have girl in unit he will know and will be charged and kicked out
>nope only into 2D women, and point to some random anime book I bought for a friend back home
>okay sirs because if you have woman here I will see on security camera down stair
>No, we can call airbnb support right now
>instantly says he believes me and leaves no issue the rest of the month
>about a week to check out call customer support with all the documented shit I got, send a report in, get a full refund asked to leave the premises
>get told yes never deal with housing issues or things outside airbnb and contacting outside of
>see CHANG's listings all disappear can't rate or review him
Rest easy knowing some mixed chinese/pino is blowing his lid off due to his account most likely being shut down

>entire home
>top rated
>self check in

not difficult

>>2881938
>TX le bad
Oh boy anon please do tell where you would stay in the USA on the cheap

>>2881758 (OP)
>2 months in Taiwan
airbnb is fine in many places but you're going get something shit in Taiwan for the price, it's not worth it there and technically illegal, get on the faceberg groups if you want monthly rentals
t.1 year in Taiwan

File: airbnbneuroticism.jpg (318 KB, 1054x1034)

It's not a horror story but it is annoying when you get neurotic hosts who treat you like misbehaving children and you have to make sure to not leave any mess at all for fear of getting a shitty review.

Also, I don't bring people back to my airbnb, but it seems reasonable to bring 1-2 guests. I guess they want prior approval but that's such a strangely restrictive policy compared to hotels where you don't generally need approval for a guest.

>>2882300
appalachia, it ain't that cheap, nothing like what people pay in Asia, but there's actually ya know stuff to do if you know where to look

>>2881758 (OP)
Airbnb is fine if you're renting someone's guest bedroom in a big city for a night or two when you're going to see a concert, a sports match, to stay the night next to an airport or something. If I ever book an entire accommodation for myself I always using Booking.com or their own site/contact info because those are generally higher quality and won't force you to clean up the place before you leave. Airbnb hasn't had competitive prices for entire accommodations since like 2016 but it's still great for it's original use case (people in high demand touristic areas subletting their spare bedroom for extra cash)

>>2882432
There's definitely some flophouses on airbnb, if you are, like I am, browsing budget listings, just realize if something is on Airbnb, there's a reason i.e. it's not a place someone wants as their primary dwelling. There's a lot of older, barely maintained homes. I've had worse experiences in cities generally - more sketchy hosts.

"real" listings of cabins and apartments tend to have higher prices than airbnb
im not sure what you are finding on booking.com, I guess I'll check it out next time, but generally self-listed dwellings are 200+ a night or 150+ a night for a hotel room with no kitchen airbnb you can usually get a trailer, the apartment above someone's garage, or half a duplex apartment for 130-160 a night and you get a full kitchen and sometimes laundry

>>2882439
nigga what. most countries have 1-200 a month rent

>>2882439
A lot of legit BnBs use Booking for online advertisement and booking and they're often cheaper than Airbnb units because they reflect the actual accommodation prices of wherever you want to visit. I went on a vacation to the Mosel valley with my wife two weeks ago and I paid 280 euro for four days/three nights in a full apartment of a legit BnB using that site. I suppose the best deals on Booking are for rural areas while Airbnb can be better for staying in a big city.

>>2882443
>with my wife
btw I'm heterosexual, unsure if that's pertinent

>mosel valley
ok so maybe its cheaper outside the us, but not in the us

>>2881906
You're the dumbest person ITT

>>2882069
Last trip to ph same fucking bullshit demanding to talk on WhatsApp or whatever rubbish I say no talk on Airbnb only.
Air the rules are you must give deposit via western union remitly whatever right now or you can't stay
Fuck off you retard that's not in the listing
I hate dealing with pignoys more than you can believe. The last time I stayed a month and I ran the air con 24hrs a day for the whole month on the lowest temperature just because the host kept annoying me with messages about the unit and my stay

>>2881906
>s-s-show me
platform cucks are retarded

>>2882467
You're talking to an imbecile who has only read about travelling online and hasn't actually done any

File: L0L.png (94 KB, 824x262)

>>2881758 (OP)
>book some place in rome
>immediately can tell from the welcome messages dealing with some stupid gen x hysteric woman
>see some box in the room demanding a 50 euro cleaning fee in cash before checkout
>lolno
>leave, lady blows up my messages and demands the cash through airbnb
>some retarded support chat jeet spams my phone number then inbox after i dont pickup all like SAAAAR PLEASE PAY SAAAAR IT WAS IN DESCRIPTION YOU SHOULD PAY
>sigh, look at description, buried at the bottom under paragraphs of GREAT LOCATION bullshit
>still reject the payment, airbnb sides with me, cant charge outside cash fees, eat shit.
>get spammed with more messages with pictures of the room and towels on the ground and some tampon my bitch left somewhere

>book another place in eastern europe year later
>sigh, another hysteric gen x mommy
>shower floods, slip in the bathroom and crash through this tempered glass door completely shattering it
>my bitch has to go to the pharmacy to get some bandages to patch my foot up
>decide not to tell crazy lady, not about to have this bitch spam me freaking out and need to change lodgings in the middle of our weekend
>leave when the stay runs out
>get spammed by the lady accusing me of lying and actually fucking my bitch on the sink or some other schizo story, demands 500$ through airbnb for damages
>still dont pay, cite slip and fall risk L0L
>airbnb sides with me again
Never ever accept payment bros, airbnb just made landlords able to demand money from you so you can pay out before their insurance needs to kick in. Also use paypal instead of credit card cause you can turn off autobill on paypal instead of cancelling your card, in the event that airbnb doesnt side with you
>>2882069
hilarious, BUT id be paranoid about chang entering my apartment and robbing my shit though so id try to leave/refund in this situation. Idc if I get my phone or wallet stolen abroad but idk how ill explain away my work laptop getting stolen in a foreign country

>>2882467
>>2882476
Where are you getting a 200/mo place in Tokyo proper that isn't a cardboard box during December?

>>2882313
I've also been to Taiwan a bunch. It's not illegal outside of Taipei, but they must jump through some legal hoops to register. You can find legal airbnbs in smaller cities and rural areas. However, I'd agree it's usually not worth it. I've only grabbed two airbnbs in my Taiwan travels, and that was because of their location rather than value.

>>2881758 (OP)
>>contact host and mention a few things about my visit
Like what? What could they possibly care about?

>>2882498
It's funny you're trying to make the host out to be crazy when you're clearly the problem.

File: 1710294214109171.png (91 KB, 320x419)

>>2882313
>airbnb is fine in many places but you're going get something shit in Taiwan for the price
OP here, Got a deal 560/mo(after taxes) in Ximen decent sized room+window view, utilities all included, kitchen is shared but not a big issue it's cleaned every day or two by some lady who also cleans the toliet/showers down; though I generally shower at the gym.

Side note: can someone explain to me why /trv/ is so "kek overpaid with airbnb", maybe I don't know but ~15-20/day for a room abroad is completely fine for someone working abroad. Cheaper than any 2 star hotel or hostel that I can find at the very least. I really dread doing the whatsapp/instagram/facebook marketplace style ads because I have virtually 0 idea if it's a scam and what I actually get. I get overpaying sucks but some of these posts make it sound like it's 1000% markup when my look arounds I see I am paying a 10-20% markup depending on the quality/location.

>>2882739
lol yeah go pay the 50 euro cash hidden goy tax paypig

>>2882751
>Got a deal
>560/mo(after taxes) in Ximen
not a deal

Airbnb is fucking horrible and for idiots.
>yeah lemme just arrive in a foreign city with all my luggage in tow and just hope this random person opens the door when I text them
Just stay in a hotel