Travel accommodation

2014/08/13

For my Europe 2014 travels I made use of 3 types of accommodation, those being: Airbnb, Hotels/B&B and stayed with friends. I had heard of Airbnb way before I decided on my holiday and thought I’d give it a go. Basically with Airbnb there are hosts and guests. As a host someone would list their room/apartment on the site and put up pictures and all sorts about the listing and then people (guests) search the site for listings.

I spent literally hours on the Airbnb site before I made bookings searching first by my dates, area, then filtering by property type and then by price. I’d then look at each listing and see where it was (approx. as you don’t get to see exact location - for privacy reasons I assume), what they offered and any restrictions etc. Reading the reviews and seeing what people had said about the listing was something I did quite thoroughly to see what other guests had to say. I’d then narrowed it down to a few and prioritise them and then contact the host to ask a few questions and see if the listing was free (there is a calendar on the Airbnb site but sometimes hosts don’t always keep that updated).

Once I decided on a place I’d then do the booking. Airbnb charges a small booking fee but it isn’t a massive amount. I estimated that using Airbnb I was paying maybe 1/3 the price of what hotels or B&Bs would cost me, maybe even less depending on location/cities etc. I used Airbnb for accommodation in 10 of the locations where I was. I never stayed in a place for more than 3 nights so I thought even if I didn’t like a place I only had a few days to be there.

Airbnb

• Groningen - https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1290735
• Amsterdam - https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/188347
• Brussels - https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1462934
• Frankfurt - https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/641894
• Mannheim - https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1031185
• Stuttgart - https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1858606
• Prague - https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1509112
• Vienna - https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/173375
• Berlin - https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/175982
• Barcelona - https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/152638

I was very happy with the Airbnb options I chose. Some were better than others but all are much like the pictures on the site. Some had few negatives (eg 4 flights of stairs to negotiate with my luggage), nothing major but I knew those small things going into it. It was really a great option to use, the hosts were able to provide some great info/advice on things e.g. where to get a nice meal close by and best travel options for certain things etc.

Hotels/B&Bs

I used hotels in Bratislava and Budapest for logistical reasons, only being there 1 night and not needing to worry about maybe awkward checkin times etc. Dublin I only stayed at the B&B for one evening after my friend’s wedding as it was close and meant I didn’t need to put out friends or anything to get back to their house.

• Bratislava - Loft Hotel Bratislava
• Budapest - Hotel Castle Garden
• Dublin - Ferry View Guesthouse

Both Hotels were really nice, the B&B was adequate.

Friends

• London - I stayed with K&A out in Teddington which was an quick & easy +-38min train ride from Waterloo Station
• Cambridge - I stayed with S&L one evening after a great day of sightseeing round Cambridge, we had a fantastic meal that L prepared
• Ireland (Kildare) - I stayed with VM out in a small town called Robertstown which was very relaxing and meant I did different sort of things with her and their family, V was on leave while I was there which was really cool. I feel we are way closer friends now after my stay over there
• Munich - I stayed with CW where I had stayed before so I knew the place and how to get there etc. It was cool to be able to do things with C&L in the evenings and on the weekend.

I really appreciated the hospitality and how I was spoilt by all my friends. Your generosity will be always remembered and I hope to be able to repay the favour if/when you get to Cape Town.