Beginners Guide To Airbnb: Guest Edition

Nowadays it is becoming increasingly popular to become a digital nomad or work remotely, which has made Airbnb a great place to find long and short-term accommodation, as it is easier to find and book a house, room, or apartment than renting something by other means. Even though Airbnb is a great place to find nice places staying in an Airbnb can turn into a nightmare if you don't book the right place, but don't worry, in this Ultimate Guide for Airbnb travelers I'll share everything you need to know about how to book the best Airbnb for you and avoid bad listings (and experiences). Let's take a look!

Book In Advance
Booking in advance is one of the main things to do, if you don't, you can end up in a crappy Airbnb.

Rushing can cause you to miss details in the ad that can later slap you in the face, believe me, I say this from my own experience: during my last family trip to Playa del Carmen I was about to leave my Airbnb and had to find another one quickly to stay in Merida Yucatan, so I looked for available places and found one that looked like a humble but nice option for a reasonable price but since I was in a hurry and the ad was a bit misleading I thought the location was close to the main avenue in Mérida and didn't check the map in detail, so when my family and I got there the neighborhood was a rather ugly and felt unsafe and it was about 40 minutes by foot from the main avenue, that's why you should avoid booking without anticipation at all costs.

Check The Listing In Detail

This point goes hand in hand with booking in advance, the more time you have to review the listing in detail the better your choice will be. Checking the photos, house rules, what the place offers/amenities, the description, and the map/location will tell you everything that you need about the place to avoid bad surprises and you can also use this as proof in case the accommodation doesn't live up to what it offers.

When I booked my Airbnb for my trip to Cancún I made the mistake of not checking the listing details and didn’t notice that it said I had to pay a $3K MXN deposit and an extra cleaning fee of $400 MXN for taking my dog with me, plus I think the host wanted to be paid in cash so I reported this to Airbnb customer service. The host ended up only charging the extra cleaning fee (which was unfair since they should've included that in the total price).

Don't Share Any Personal Info With The Host

This is very important and another reason why you should check the details of the listing. If the host says that if you book with them you have to share a photo of your ID, or if they ask for it once you have booked, I would strongly suggest you look for another Airbnb. Sharing additional information with the host can be dangerous as you don't know if the host could misuse it. There is no need for a host to ask you for additional things like your ID as Airbnb has already requested it from you before and they have everything covered so that both hosts and guests are safe and secure under their service.

My family and I made this mistake with the first Airbnb I rented in Mérida this year. I didn't see that in the ad it said you had to send photos of your ID to the host if you wanted to stay at their place so I booked my stay and then the host asked me for the photos, I wasn't sure but I had to send them since I had booked with them, long story short, we had to ask Airbnb to help us cancel the stay with them because the place was in bad condition and we felt unsafe there when we were leaving the property the hosts came and had a verbally aggressive attitude towards my family and me. This made me really regret sharing the ID photos with them and it was also unsafe as they now had the address, full name, and details of my dad who was the one that booked the stay, and Airbnb customer service couldn’t delete the message. So remember, say NO to sharing additional personal information with Airbnb hosts.

Review the Cancellation Policies

Nowadays Airbnb allows hosts not to offer full or partial refunds if you cancel your stay with them, which in my opinion, sucks for many reasons. The Airbnb's I mentioned before, had terrible cancellation policies or not at all; the one in Cancun was totally awful, if you wanted to cancel they only refunded you the cleaning fee which was nothing compared to the full price.

In some listings you have to pay extra to be able to cancel and get a refund, this has made me dislike Airbnb services a little bit because not so long ago all the listings had decent cancellation policies and therefore I always felt backed up by Airbnb in case I had to cancel my trip. If you book a stay without a refund option you're risking your money, so I'd recommend paying extra for having this option or looking for a listing that offers better options.

Don't be Fooled by the Superhost Badge and Reviews

Yes, what you just read. You'd think being a Superhost and having good reviews is enough proof and guarantee to know that you've found an excellent accommodation, but there are times when this doesn't apply: the Mérida booking I had to cancel had a Superhost badge and great reviews saying that "the place was awesome and the location too", but they forgot to mention that the house had broken windows, a terrible door and the location actually sucked.

After this bad experience, I learned my lesson and from now on I'll pay more attention to the photos, details, location, and others about the listings before booking. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying all Airbnb's with the Superhost badge and good reviews will be bad, I'm just saying that this isn't always 100% accurate so it's important to check carefully where you stay.

Always Report Broken Things or Other Details
If you check in and notice that something is broken, scratched, stained, or anything else, report it right away to your host. If the host is a bad person or notices after you leave and you didn’t report it they could blame you and make you pay for it.

Always Communicate via the Airbnb Chat

To remain protected under Airbnb's user protection remember to only communicate through Airbnb's chat and only use external communication methods when strictly necessary.

Final Thoughts

Whether you're a digital nomad or a regular traveler, now that you've read all the do's and don'ts before booking an Airbnb, you're ready to choose the best one. I hope you find these 7 tips useful!

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