I don’t recall needing to do anything like that (Ireland is also not part of the Schengen Area). Then again, I traveled over land by bus from Italy.
The worst I expect would be questions asking about what your purpose of travel is, where you’re staying, how long etc
if you enter on a one-way ticket you’ll get all sorts of questions
Finally got to see the balloons on my way out. Balloon rides were canceled due to weather conditions the three other days I was here
And that’s not close to all of them out now!
Here are a couple of low quality photos from the bumpy airport shuttle I’m on now
Any mobile providers I should avoid? I got a Lyca sim and it seems a bit shit where I am right now but maybe everything would be.
I made it, btw. The trip from Straya is an ordeal. Behind my ears is sore from wearing a goddamn mask for so long.
Man I got fucked over by an Airbnb host.
I think I have a good case to get a refund given that he admitted to oversleeping in the Airbnb PMs instead of picking me up at the airport as he said he would. Plus it’s only $17. Can’t imagine losing a 6 year regular guest with a spotless record for $17.
Should’ve thought that the title of the listing relative to the price was too good to be true. But my focus on being close to the airport was so single minded that I didn’t even think about it.
In hindsight, I should’ve gone with a guesthouse or hostel from the beginning. Was just a day after all.
airbnb is my last resort, I’ve used them and even had some decent experiences but there’s just too much variance, ultimately I just want somewhere to sleep and minimal drama.
I’ve found they’re quite good when when reviewed by lots of people, otherwise I don’t bother.
I’ve only had a few issues with airbnb. But I’m also a pretty low-maintenance guest. If I had a family or more expensive tastes, I’d probably stick with hotels.
Anyway, I did get the money back.
Almost every Airbnb I’ve stayed at with good reviews has been fine, but sometimes underwhelming for a 4.9 rating or whatever. Even places that are highly rated you’ve gotta dig in the reviews a bit sometimes bc people will state the negatives and then leave 5 stars.
What happened?
Airbnb for a one night stay?!
Just overnight while waiting for a flight.
Host was unresponsive when I arrived. He offered to pick me up at the airport which I didn’t ask for but never showed, leaving me stranded there. When I messaged and called to try to find out where he was, there was no response for hours. Apparently, he was sleeping.
Guy didn’t even know how his own check-in time. Claimed it was 12 PM when I showed him a screenshot that it was 3 PM. Clearly, he’s not cut out for hosting.
Should’ve gone with a hotel in hindsight. Would’ve cost more but one day airbnbs normally aren’t worth it and some hosts don’t even accept them for fear that you’re just staying there to party and fuck the place up.
Just added up all my AirBNB stays by checking the “trips” section. 96 stays total. Can’t say I’ve had a negative experience. Most stays have met my expectations, with a few exceeding and only a couple being slightly worse. Mostly I go for places with many reviews and read through them if I have doubts. A couple times I took a chance on newly listed places and they’ve all worked out, but I’ll only do that if the pictures are detailed and the host has some credentials on the site (other places with good reviews or positive stays themselves in other places).
I guess I’m as big an AirBNB mark as anyone. I hardly check hotels or Booking anymore b/c the options almost always seem worse to me.
I’m in the bob camp of not being super demanding and mostly looking for a decent place at a great price.
Got 8 more stays scheduled and Rome will have the honor of being my 100th AirBNB stay.
I stay at airbnbs a bunch on US poker trips. Outside the US I’m too much of a last second traveler, a lot of the time I’m not booking anything until the night before, and then I don’t know how long I want to stay.
It depends on the purpose of the trip. If I’m on my own, I tend to prefer hotel. Traveling with family, airbnbs tend to make more sense. Check-in is sometimes a bit of an adventure.
I’ve only had a few bad experiences out of the airbnbs I’ve used. Never had anything that was near what you can read on the subreddit for airbnb though. Those are some horror stories. If you went based on that, you’d think that every airbnb host is a total scumbag.
Anyway by airbnb standards, this guy was pretty low-rated at 4.7 stars. I honestly don’t recall him being that poorly rated when I booked with him since I don’t book places lower that 4.9 and stick with a superhost whenever possible but that’s what he was.
EDIT: Dang y’all make me 60 airbnb stays look pedestrian
I just pulled my records–107 Airbnb stays. The vast majority in the US and Mexico, but also various other countries as random as Luxembourg, Haiti, Colombia, and Poland.
I’ve had some doozies. One time I was double booked and the host put me in a communal space that fortunately had a private bedroom at least but was indeed very strange–in Huntsville of all places. I’ve stayed somewhere (in Houston) where the host clearly didn’t have the right to rent the unit, so I had to sneak in and out of a side entrance. (In Vancouver BC it’s so common for people to Airbnb their units off the grid that 7/11s there have special key repositories just for that purpose.)
Two reasons I don’t bother with Airbnb for most work travel:
The biggest advantage of Airbnb is you can actually stay in a cool neighborhood. This is particularly important when you’re going to a not-that-cool city like Birmingham, Alabama or Jacksonville, Florida. Your hotel options are expensive mediocre hotels downtown with annoying parking, or a Holiday Inn Express-type hotel by the interstate. Not great. Airbnb can put you in a pleasant neighborhood with good restaurants and coffee shops in walking distance. Highly preferable if you have to spend more than one night in the place.
It’s also city dependent. If you go to Mexico City and don’t check out the numerous fantastic Airbnbs in Condesa and Roma, you’re making a big mistake.
I’ve had all good experiences with Airbnb but the cleaning fee thing is definitely annoying.
Did AirBNB for a couple nights in S. Africa. Think it may have been my 2nd stay every. It was great, but I also like the comforts and amenities of hotels. AirBNB for 1-2 nights probably isn’t my preferred option. It was almost too big (2BR/2B, huge living room kitchen/dining area) - was very afraid I was going to put something somewhere and forget it upon leaving.
I dont use these services that much but when I do it’s usually VRBO. Haven’t had any bad experiences and they’re great for group trips or longer stays where I usually want the ability to cook.
I’ve considered moving over to VRBO especially since Airbnb is now shifting towards advertising more high-end and unique stays over somebody renting out a flat or bedroom on the cheap.
