Last year, I had a brilliant plan. In order to fund travel while I'm not working, we would list our apartment as available during J's holidays on Airbnb. If we got a reservation, we would plan a trip around it. Since then, we've gotten numerous requests, but none of them has worked out. Then, last week, I got a request for July and we are going to Paris for five days! We are staying near the Eiffel Tower (in the adorable apartment pictured above) and I'm looking forward to taking Coco to the Jardin du Luxembourg and making a day trip to Versailles.
Airbnb is an awesome way to travel if you're on a budget. Once we subtract the money we'll get for renting our apartment from the cost of our Paris train tickets and apartment rental, it only cost us 188 CHF! Not completely breaking even, but very affordable nonetheless.
I'm a little nervous about preparing our apartment for Airbnb guests. I would love to hear about your experience, either as a host or guest. Any tips? Have you ever used Airbnb or done an apartment swap?
I love airbnb. I have used it in Brussels and Paris, and will be using it again in Boston and NYC this September. I love to have the option to cook for myself, and to have a place to go "home" to, if I need a break during the day. Both times in Brussels and in Paris the apartment owners were there too, which didn't bother me at all. They showed me where everything was, how everything worked, and then pretty much left me to do my own thing. I appreciated meeting the people who live there and I enjoyed talking with them. They let me use any of their teas or coffee, and in Paris breakfast was provided, which was nice, but not totally necessary. I think just access to jams and butter would have been enough because then I don't have to buy new jars for just a couple days' use. I think your idea to rent out your flat while you go away is a brilliant idea! Have fun in Paris!
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Also, I wouldn't worry about having an apartment that looks like a hotel for your airbnb guests. My philosophy is, they have chosen to rent an apartment because they want to be somewhere that isn't so terribly sterile, like hotels are. I mean, I choose airbnb exactly for the lived in feeling!
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