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Comment by king_magic | Hacker News Reader

It’s super awkward & sketchy things like this that have prevented me from really trying Airbnb in earnest.

Almost every Airbnb I've stayed in has felt a bit like this--like I'm not really supposed to be there--and it's a reason I tend to stay in hotels.

I appreciate the premise of staying in a city a bit more like a local and having a kitchen, but I'm at a loss for how people get over how it always feels a bit sketchy and anxiety around the inconsistent process.

How they get over? Saving a bunch of $ helps.

Every time I’ve looked at an AirBnb the prices are the same or higher than a hotel or real bnb unless you compromise on location or sketch factor.

I've noticed prices between hotels and Airbnb are closer. I think part of this is cities have caught on and are either charging fees (like SF) or are enforcing more regulations, which limits supply.

In the past (2014/2015), AirBNBs were generally 30% cheaper than hotels and provided better amenities (like a kitchen).

It's the same NIMBYism and real-estate-related corruption ring in many large cities that should be upended. If they don't even care about reasonble-cost housing for their own residents, even less so will they care about reasonable-cost lodging for guests.

"Compromise" on location? Some locations are zoned so they have no hotels/Airbnb at all, so if you want to be in a convenient place, especially without a car, you can only get Airbnb. If you add up all the costs of a trip, you absolutely save money.

Can’t use rewards points on Airbnb in the same way as hotels, though.

100% agreed. I've used Airbnb several times now, and any time I'm in any kind of shared housing environment (e.g. an apartment), I've felt this. At this point, I solely use it for renting entire houses, and that's been fairly fraught with difficulty. (E.g. the last house I was in trying to scam me out of $15k for plumbing damage myself and my guests couldn't have possibly caused.)

I've used AirBnB to stay in, what was essentially, a motel, and also a room in someone's home.

Both felt above-board, even if they were illegal in the area - which I don't think they were (Because I wasn't taking a full-fledged apartment off the rental market.)

I've had many great experiences in Airbnb through trial an error. A few lessons I have learned through trial by fire:

1) Preferentially select super hosts.

2) Preferentially select places with at least a washer.

3) Never rent places that are run with an absent owner unless I am renting the entire place (i.e owner has multiple properties and runs them like businesses).

4) Never rent places that have restrictions (i.e. no kitchen access or partial kitchen access).

5) Never rent exclusively on price.

6) The look and feel have a big impact on if I will rent.

7) I will rent again from hosts that I like. I never chase a new renting experience.

To offer the alternative experience -- I've stayed at >60 Airbnbs around the world and have never had to lie or sneak around. Much of the time I've picked up the keys from the building's reception, telling them that I'm an Airbnb guest.

I'm curious what cities that was in. Because honestly I can't think of a condo or apartment building I've seen that didn't prohibit short-term rentals unless it was specifically in a vacation destination, like a beach town, or if it was in those "hotel/residence" places that are already full of transient guests anyway, where if it was a short term rental you had to rent through the hotel.

As far as I know, the only cities full of apartments that prohibit short-term rentals are high CoL cities in the US and perhaps some parts of Europe. I've travelled all around the US, Latin America, Africa, and Asia without issue.

The first thing I ask when looking for an apartment to rent is if they permit Airbnb’s. If so, I don’t even bother checking out what they have, too many bad experiences with kids getting them to hold very into the late night parties.

Never heard of it London, mine certainly has at least one: I had a guest of a neighbour on a (very) different floor try for some time to open my door - with a key - in the middle of the night one time...

My friend had someone sleep on his floor after mistaking his door for the apartment above.

Before that, I was pretty lax with locking the door at night.

I doubt that I have ever seen a lease agreement that allows subletting.

I've never had these kind of issues.

The article I'm waiting for is how everyone leaves each other good reviews even though some shit went down.

It's kind of a code.

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