Also, in cities, I'm not sure I even want to spend enough time in wherever I'm staying to have a memorable experience. The city is the experience, not the place I'm staying. Not that I hang around where I'm staying most places but definitely not in cities. Or if I do, it's because I'm working :-/
Really? How "at home" can you feel when you are in a total stranger's home?
>"If I want something cheaper, ..."
This is certainly not always the case.
>"if I want something well located."
Right, because all hotels are always in some completely undesirable part of town, far away from anything and everything.
>"Airbnb is always the answer."
No, it is not.
Have you tried it? I've heard that argument before but I do feel "at home" when I'm travelling and airbnb'ing. When you're coming back to a hotel after a dinner or a night drinking it just doesn't have this feeling. As I said I still remember the Airbnbs I've been to just because I felt like I "lived" there for a while.
> This is certainly not always the case.
It is constantly the case in my experience. I've airbnb'ed in France, HongKong, Japan, the US, the UK, China, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, ...
> Right, because all hotels are always in some completely undesirable part of town, far away from anything and everything.
For the same price, yes.
> No, it is not.
I'll still recommend you to give it one more try!
Yes I've stayed at people's houses whom I didn't know very well. I don't think paying for the experience would have made me feel any more "at home."
>"When you're coming back to a hotel after a dinner or a night drinking it just doesn't have this feeling."
Exactly but it has the feeling of "wow someone came in and cleaned, there's fresh towels, toiletries, water and the bed is made." And I don't have worry about playing games with reviewing people or being reviewed.
Lots of people just go home when they want to feel at home.
Say what you will but in my own anecdotic experience (I travel a lot) I do feel like I’ve lived in these cities for a bit when I airbnb there. And I still remember all these airbnbs even after many years.
Your credential signaling - "I travel a lot" adds no weight at all. I too travel, most of the year and have been around the world more than a few times at this point in my life. Living like a local is about many things - establishing friendships and relationships with people that live there, its about establishing a routine, its about having life experiences there. But it most certainly has nothing to do with staying in a hotel vs staying in an Airbnb.
Well I'm glad I did then, because I truly feel at home when I stay in an Airbnb, and I don't feel at home when I'm staying in a hotel.
Of course living in a city is about more than just having a home, but it gives you that feeling, for a bit.
> "I travel a lot" adds no weight at all
Of course it adds weight. I have the actual experience of living in different cities (and different continents) and I've been staying at airbnbs and hotels enough to understand the difference. Now again, these are just my personal anecdotal experiences, but saying that it is absurd is absurd. You can't objectively think that living in someone's "home" is not more homely that staying in a hotel.
It is almost always a worse experience than a hotel. Also hotels get screwed on taxes in a way airbnb doesn't.
I really don't get this kind of opinion, just because it is so binary. Hotels are great when you need to quickly check-in and check-out, although the experience vary grandly and they can get pretty bad and pretty expensive.
On the other hand if I want to feel "at home", if I want something cheaper, if I want a kitchen and if I want something well located. Airbnb is always the answer.
There's something really impersonal about staying in a hotel that you don't get with an Airbnb (although some airbnbs are pretty bad as well).
I remember almost all the airbnbs I've stayed at. I usually forget about how a hotel room looks a few days after checking out. Try to think about this, you'll be surprised ;)