Why National Parks Make the Best Vacations
April 21, 2017Karijini National Park – Tansie’s Prime Adventure
April 28, 2017If you haven't used it yet, I'm sure you have heard of it. Airbnb is an online marketplace that allows people to list their personal homes, rooms, and beds for short-term stays. This means that a lot of times, you will be staying with other people in their homes. Naturally, many people have reservations about this idea. Staying with a random person in a random place is a scary concept. Airbnb tries to curb these fears with a background check on its users. In addition, users can review their hosts and vice versa
The Prime Adventure crew has stayed at our fair share of Airbnbs that range from Athens, Georgia to Athens, Greece (literally). Just like any form of lodging there have been some that have been a let down and others that have made our experience in the city more than we could have ever imagined.
There are a few simple keys to finding the right AirBnB for you and your Prime experience!
-Affordability- Location
-Amenities
-Host
Affordablility
So where do you begin? I would suggest that you start by making a rough plan of your trip and having an idea about the location that you want to go. Airbnb works very similar to any other hotel reservation. You start by selecting your city, date, and number of guests. From there you can go even deeper by selecting your room type, price range, more precise locations, and even more. Their user interface is very intuitive so you shouldn't have trouble finding your way around.
Airbnb has shown to be the most cost effective option in a lot situations. In a trip to Europe, I found it to be around the same price as hosteling, but better accommodations. In cities where hotels are very expensive such as New York and San Francisco, we have found that we can save a lot of money and have an enhanced experience over choosing a hotel.
Location
For this one, it is best to just share a story of our own experience. In 2016, we were fortunate enough to visit Athens, Greece for a few days to soak in the sights and history. We knew we wanted to stay as close to the center of it all as possible. We came across a beautiful little apartment with an unobstructed view of the Acropolis and a balcony. Sounds like a dream right? The best part was, it was only about $70/ night. Between two people, this accommodation could not be beat in terms of location and affordability.
How about those times where you are looking for a place where there aren’t many hotel options--like somewhere along the California coast, out west in Arizona, or in Utah. The great thing about Airbnb is, since it is other people's homes they exist in these places too!
Airbnb has allowed us, and will allow you to do discover some places that you thought you never could!
AMENITIES
Just like any hotel, Airbnb has a broad range of amenities that they offer. Sometimes you can rent an entire home or apartment with a full kitchen for your personal use, while other times you’ll rent a room within a house with the ability of using kitchens and common areas. Some hosts will provide things like coffee and breakfast. If you’re staying for a while you may even want to consider a place with a washer and dryer. Be careful in other countries if you aren't comfortable with not having A/C, you’ll need to verify that they have that as well. There are a whole list of other options to choose from to tailor to anyone's needs. Scroll down to see what amenities each location has.
Hosts
To me, this is the most important part of it all. In many of the trips that I have taken in the past few years, I have utilized Airbnb for my lodging needs. The majority of these were a single room with the a host. In this case, reading the reviews on the host that you are staying with is imperative. The host can essentially make or break your experience.
My two favorite Europe experiences were in London, England and Athens, Greece. The main reason I see those cities the way that I do goes back to the host that we had in those locations. Both hosts made sure to go over and above the call to duty. They made sure that we felt like we were at home, but also that we felt like a local in their city. We left these places with memories that was more than the location, but also lifelong lessons about the culture and their day to day life.
Airbnb is an amazing tool to have a Prime Adventure because it completely embodies what we are all about. We want to completely immerse ourselves in the environment that we are currently in, to learn about their culture, share our culture, and to leave a more educated and better person than before we went.
Remember travel can be an investment in yourself if you want it to be. So go out there and live the Prime Adventure LIFESTYLE.
3 Comments
[…] and demand would suggest that your chances of finding cheap lodging are very slim. If you haven't tried out Airbnb yet, New York would be a great city to start. Not only will your lodging be cheaper than a hotel, you […]
Thank you! I book houses on AirBnb for all my trips and I advise it to everyone. I even created a website: https://air-coupons.com/, with all the information translated to all languages of the world and valid coupons. The translation is still in progress; contact me if you can help!
[…] are many options for hotels in and around Barcelona. However, we are proponents of house sharing services, like Airbnb, or lodging in hostels while traveling abroad. My stay in Barcelona supported this stance. Our host […]