Okay, that pun didn't quite work, sorry. But give me some credit, Airbnb doesn't really rhyme with anything... Anyway, back to the point.
Ryanair has a sale on and you've realised you can bag a return flight to Krakow for £10. There's one problem though, the only hotel you can afford is a million miles out of the city centre. You give up, resigned to the fact it will all be too expensive and there are no other options right? Wrong. Give airbnb a try.
The first time I ever used Airbnb was back in September 2015 in Orlando, Florida. I aid $20 to sleep on somebodies couch... Ouch! But it was a far better alternative than the $200 minimum hotel bill I would have otherwise footed. Since then, I have used in Florence and Rome, as well as on my most recent trip to Poland. Let us get started, the pros, and the cons:
Pros:
- Price: Not only are Airbnbs cheaper than hotels in general, they have the potential to make your whole experience cheaper. As houses/ flats, most come with a kitchen of some description. I will note though that in Europe this tends to often be limited to a hob and microwave, I have only come across a few with full ovens. This means you can buy food from a nearby supermarket and cook some nights if you want to reduce your costs even more. In addition to this, unlike lots of hotels, all of the airbnbs I have used have free wifi too.
- Privacy: Ok, so this one is a bit questionable, but I'll explain that in the con section. On the whole, being able to rent the whole house gives you more privacy than in a hotel because you can come and go without worrying about maids coming in or the front desk watching your every move!
- Friendly hosts: I have never had a bad experience with a host. The level of contact really varies depending on each host. Some hosts I haven't even had to meet as they have a lock box organised, whereas others have shown me around, how to work the heating and even given me advice on things I can do in the area and the best places to eat/ drink. Most recently my fantastic host in Krakow even gave us a bottle of wine as a present as Harley had mentioned that it was a belated birthday trip! Charming!