Top tips for Airbnb booking to ensure memorable experiences

Here is my wife’s and I story when we booked an apartment from Airbnb for the first time to immigrate to Australia. This story refers to the Oct 2022 when we bought our flight tickets to Australia and were about to find accommodation before travel to Australia. After some investigations and because we didn’t want to find a shared room with other families, we decided to choose Airbnb as our best and the last option. We found Airbnb options the best choice thoroughly suited with our needs.

When you decide to choose Airbnb for an accommodation, it is essential to consider some fundamental factors to avoid struggles and dissatisfaction during your contract with Airbnb host. Stay with us in this real story as we shared our experiences here to help you enjoy your trip as much as possible to make a fantastic and memorable experiences.

Book your Airbnb rentals with good recorded hosts:

Always consider to reserve your Airbnb rentals with super hosts, verified hosts or hosts with good reviews who were active on Airbnb for long time and hosted too many guests. Communicate with your host by message and ask questions to confirm if everything is fine and scheduled. Unfortunately, I made a bad mistake and trust to a host who was thoroughly new to Airbnb with only one guest review. Although it was a perfect apartment with a fantastic view and complete amenities, the host and his services were terrible.

Imagine how it can be worse when my first problem raised just three days before my flight. Three days before my flight he increased the accommodation rate and asked me to pay $2000 AUD more. It was something like scamming and made me angry. We refused to pay extra money, and because it was impossible to find a new place just three days before my immigration, we postponed our flight for one month to have enough time to find a new place.

Check everything on arrival

During this month, we researched many apartments but couldn’t find a suitable one because the prices had increased, and we had to pay more for an apartment with a lower quality and conditions. Therefore, we decided to start a negotiation with the same host to bargain the new price and finalize the deal. After negotiations, we paid $1000 more and finalized the deal.

After 24 hours of flight when we arrived at the our destination you cannot imagine what we saw. A semi-painted apartment with paint color smells, too much mess, and rubbish. The host was about to paint the bedroom, and asked us to help him change the bed and pillow covers. He told us he was sick and stayed in the hospital for several days, so he couldn’t make the apartment ready and clean. It was about midnight, and we were tired of 24 hours flight. There were lots of mess in the kitchen and bird residue on the balcony.

I didn’t know it was possible to contact Airbnb Customer Service and let them know about the apartment status. I should have called them, but unfortunately, I didn’t. I trusted him and did sympathy as he told he was in hospital.

It is possible to call Airbnb contact center and customer service72 hours after your arrival and complain about mess, amenities and everything that makes you unsatisfied.

Ask your host for daily essentials

It is the host’s responsibility to provide you all the facilities that mentioned in the property advertisement. If you are out of shampoo, hand washing liquid, toilet paper and other daily essentials, ask your host to provide. If the host refused, call Airbnb Support Team and complain about your dissatisfaction.

Be careful when checking out

At the time of the checkout, double check everything with host to make sure everything is in good conditions and undamaged. It is your responsibility not to damage the property and keep the furniture and other amenities in a good condition. Make the apartment standard clean and take out your rubbish. During the checkout, check everything with your host and solve the issues if there is any.

We stayed in that apartment for one month and during this period found an apartment in the same building. It is difficult to rent an apartment for the first time in Australia without having any background and references.

As I told you at the beginning of the story, my host cancelled my reservation three days before my flight. In this situation, Airbnb fined him because of last minutes cancellation. At the checkout day, when we wanted to left the apartment, the host was at hospital, and we couldn’t deliver the key to himself. So, he asked us to give the keys to the new guests as we were in same building.

Although it is the guest’s responsibility to make the apartment clean, but it was not our responsibility to change the bed cover for the new guests and provide daily essentials for them. Can you imagine what happened to the new guests? Yes, they became angry and unsatisfied at their first day of arrival. The same thing that happened to us at the first day.

Cover yourself with the images and videos

Unfortunately, after two days, the host accused us for damages to his furniture, and provide fake photos and videos to Airbnb and requested a price for damage. Fortunately, my wife took a video from everywhere before we left the apartment and shared with Airbnb. In my opinion, he wanted to rebate the Airbnb fine by his cancellation by accusing me to damage to the apartment. We had lots of back and forth with Airbnb to prove that we didn’t do anything wrong, and finally we did. That is why I am saying to check out the apartment in front of the host.

Make your Airbnb booking unforgettable

Our first experience with Airbnb was terrible with a bad memory, and we all know many people reserve their shelter with Airbnb and enjoy their holidays. My purpose of sharing my experience with Airbnb is to notify you that by considering small tips you can make a better Airbnb reservation, create a better memory and enjoy your trip as much as possible.

Please share your ideas and experiences you had with Airbnb in the box bellow and let us know more about that.