Airbnb Experiences

I had a chance to view a couple of Airbnb accommodation homes/ rooms. 

First 2 were to find a place locally for parents to stay over. But they didn't stay over. One wasn't good. Second we didn't book in time. 

1. Worst location- hard to find. House - a mess, cluttered space. Host - friendly and tried best to help. But location and house were unwelcoming and unpleasant. 
2. An individual home. Good location, parking available, shared bathroom. The host was friendly too. Gave personal numbers to talk out of Airbnb site. Note: Airbnb doesn't allow to share phone numbers before booking. 

3 and 4 -- booked online for staying in Vancouver. Didn't see place before. Randomly booked for cheap ones in the location. 

     3. Wonderful apartment. In the heart of downtown. Beautiful views from both hall and room. 3 bedroom apartment and 1 shared bathroom. Pantry and kitchen fully furnished with cutlery and food- breakfast items- cookies, cereal, milk, eggs, granola bars, bread, Nutella, peanut butter, etc. Good lighting in apartment. Tv didn't work. Wifi great. No easy or free parking though. Basement parking not for Airbnb folks. Wish they could provide a visitors pass to park. Oh yes, getting the keys was like a maze or treasure hunt game. The host was responsive, communicated well via Airbnb chat. 

 

    4. Bad experience. Bad location. Host had dog. Not cleaned and ready to check in. Messy and cluttered apartment. He said he couldn't accommodate 3 guests. We canceled it. And lost the money too. Didn't refund. 

So pictures on Airbnb can be very misleading. All my experiences had some drawbacks. Number 2 sounded good but you never know till you stay. Number 4 sounds exciting too- but parking was a pain. Our car got towed away. 

The keys story I definitely should talk about- so first we headed to a 7-eleven near the apartment- looked around the shop- the guy there asked if I was looking for the key cafe. I nodded yes. And he pointed towards a wall that had 4 black boxes. And 2 key pads with touch screens.  I followed the instructions on the screen. Had to look on my email for an access code. Was chatting in parallel with the host asking doubts. Took some time to find the email and access code. Then one of those tiny black boxes opened up. I took the keys from inside it. And followed instructions to finish the process. It makes sure we close the box well. 

From the 7-11, we drove to the apartment. The host just said 8th floor. I had a bunch of keys in hand with labels - front key, room key, etc. and then a fob ( a button like automatic key) that you can scan before a box at different locations. The box recognizes the fob, with a flashing tiny green dot light. 

So I reached the apartment building. Fob works at the building door. Then in the elevator before I could press 8. Then there were 6- 8 apartments at the eighth floor. I messaged the host for the apartment number at that point standing there. Then in a couple minute I got the number. Quickly looked in the apartment and room. That day they had updated a new room key which was hanging in the door knob. I took that new key and hung to the key bunch. 

Then went down to get parents and before that park the car. The fob even worked to open the car garage at the basement and at another point to reach the door to the elevator. 

On the return of keys. I had to do the same. Go to the 7-11, go to the key cafe- slide in the key cafe fob, a blue button like thing. Then again enter the access code for a box to open, placed the keys and closed the box. 

A treasure hunt game right? Don't you agree?