Hotels or Airbnb?

Hotels and Airbnb each have their own pros and cons

When we travel we look at staying in either a hotel or an Airbnb, sometimes we mix it up and do both. Here’s why.

Of course the first thing we look at is price. There was a time when Airbnb was considerably cheaper than a hotel, but that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. With high fees and exorbitant cleaning fees, they both seem comparable.

• Location, Location, Location There is something to be said for being right in the heart of the action. Walking out the door and having a multitude of sites within a few minutes walk is great. But there are times when we want a more authentic experience. There is a big difference, to us, of walking into a coffee shop in the tourist district of a city and walking into a neighborhood coffee shop where you are likely to be the only tourist. It cause us to take a bus to many attractions, but on an extended stay (more than 3 days) we prefer this type of accommodation. And sometimes even being ten minutes from the heart of the action can bring down the price of an Airbnb considerably.
• Amenities Access to a washer and dryer is a big plus for us. It means we can pack less and have the ability to do laundry and have clean clothes. And carrying a bunch of dirty clothes for an extended period of time just doesn’t feel right. Having access to a kitchen gives us the ability to cook some meals or have a variety of snacks at our disposal. Sometimes we look forward to eating out every meal, or sampling a variety of street food. Staying at a hotel in the heart of the city gives us access to a larger variety of food.

• Plan accommodations around your plans. In our upcoming trip to Rome we will have a day and a half before we have to catch an early train to Southern Italy. By the time we arrive we will be a bit jetlagged, and have one full day after our arrival. Since we are leaving the following day I want our travel day to be as easy as possible, so we booked a hotel room close to the train station. Is it my favorite area of Rome? Certainly not. But waking up in the morning and walking a few blocks to the train station is much easier than cleaning an apartment and hailing a cab. It will make the travel day much easier.

• Hotel breakfast. This one is kind of silly, but hotel breakfast is a huge treat for us. Deb typically sleeps in a bit later, which gives me an opportunity to have “First breakfast”, which is typically coffee and a croissant, Once Deb wakes up we have breakfast together and then start our day. All things being equal, there is nothing like hotel breakfast.

• Type of Experience I’ve touched on this before, but we try to consider the type of experience we are looking to have. Are we looking for a more “homey” experience or more of a touristy experience. When we travel somewhere new we will research the different neighborhoods and areas. If something jumps out at us we will consider it.

Those are most of the considerations we use when trying to figure out accommodations. For us, there is no hard and fast rule. We try to consider how we are planning on traveling, and what type of experience we are looking to have