06 Jun 2015

My First Airbnb

sdairbnb

One of my favorite things to write about on Yow Yow! are my first experiences! Over Memorial Day Weekend, I stayed in my very first Airbnb with Jennie and we learned a lot from our stay. Normally, we are just hotel girls. We like the easiness of it all and the convenience, but while planning for our trip, we knew that booking a hotel during a holiday weekend was going to be pricey. We’ve toyed with the idea of Airbnb before, but this time we actually went through with it. The first lesson that we learned is that if you find a booking you really like, don’t procrastinate! Two weeks before we decide to book, we found a great spot in San Diego with a pool! When we realized that neither of us had booked it, we went back two weeks later and it was already taken.

Though the spot we ended up saying (pictured above) was our second choice, it was actually pretty great! We stayed in a very cute studio in the North Park neighborhood which was connected to the owner’s house, but had its own entrance so it made it feel like we were completely on our own and were able to move about as we pleased. Two of our girlfriends ended up staying with Jennie and I for one night and our host was very accommodating in letting us have them join in on our sleepover. Luckily the couch doubles as a fold out bed! So, we went all and had a proper girls sleepover! Snacks, a few glasses of wine and a good gossip were on the menu, as well as this sleepover head turner which Jennie had brought along!

Since Jennie and I knew we’d be out and about most of the time, we didn’t need very much and didn’t require a kitchen. However, there were a couple of little things that we wished we had – ie) a television, a couple more power outlets, and mirrors for us to use to get ready in. As nice as the bathroom was, four girls in it is not ideal.

My other complaint was that Jennie and I were woken up at 6:30 AM one morning by the child and dog running around upstairs. It was a small hiccup and it only happened once during our stay, but other than that it was pretty much a perfect stay. I love how our host had a very detailed manual for us when we arrived to show us restaurants in the area, how to use things in the home, and how to clean up on our last day which was important to me because I wanted to leave the house as clean as it was when I came into it.

I love hotels, but they aren’t always the most cost-efficient for my wallet so I’m really looking forward to my next stay at Airbnb whenever that will be! I just read an article recently though that Airbnb has used some new machine learning tactics to help hosts learn when to raise their prices on certain dates and weekends when there is high volume ie) when there are major events happening in their city and during holiday weekends, which makes me as a guest a little bit nervous.