Agnieszka Sękiewicz‑Magoń Where to Stay?

While travelling, I look for a nice, safe place at a  reasonable pricereasonable pricereasonable price where I can lay my head for the night. A hotel seems the most obvious choice, but when I heard about a new type of home rentalhome rentalhome rental, I had to try it out, and here is my subjective comparison of a hotel stay and private lodging services.

Some online services involve peer‑to‑peerpeer‑to‑peerpeer‑to‑peer hospitality exchangehospitality exchangehospitality exchange (also called homestayhomestayhomestay) around the world, connecting people who want to rent outrent outrent out their homes with travellers looking for lodginglodginglodging in specific places. You can rent a space for multiple people to share, a shared space with private rooms, or the entire property for yourself.

On the positive side, accommodation rented through such service tends to be more affordableaffordableaffordable than that offered by hotels, even though it is the host who decides how much to charge you forcharge you for [charge for]charge you for an overnight stayovernight stayovernight stay. The selection of properties is just mind‑blowingmind‑blowingmind‑blowing: it ranges from single rooms and houses through houseboats and treehouses to castles, private islands, or even igloos. To my delight, I discovered that private lodging sector offers additional services, such as experiences, restaurant reservations, and classes. The host acts like a personal concierge – what a deal! I would also say that the service is generally safe due to its verification process. The individuals who rent out their spaces are given reviews in the reputation system, so potential customers like me can get a general idea of what the place and the hosts are like.

However, there are some things which I don’t like. Sometimes, what you see is not what you get. Since online service gives only an estimated position of the property on the map, you have to believe the hosts’ listingslistings [listing]listings, and sometimes they are misleadingmisleadingmisleading. Once, while writing an article about a new destination, I booked a place which was advertised as a beach retreat, while in reality it was a 30‑minute walk away from the beach. Another thing is that the whole booking process takes longer than at a hotel: you have to set up your account on the website, go through the verification process (phone number, identification), make a booking, pay for your stay and then get in touch with the host to learn about the details, which can even take several days. What is more, unlike a hotel, private lodging service will charge you additional fees, such as a service fee, or a cleaning fee, which can be steepsteepsteep. Lack of privacy, if you are renting a private room in your host’s home, might be another thing you need to take into account, or quite the opposite - sometimes, while renting a property, you may never see the host, so forget about insider advice or valuable information about local attractions. Oh, and did I mention that you might have to cook and clean for yourself throughout the whole stay?

Does this system of renting accommodation seem a serious threat to the hotel industryhotel industryhotel industry? Well, in my opinion, not really. Hotels will always be the favourite choice for some people, as an average hotel room offers you a bed and a private bathroom with varying levels of comfort. It also provides a daily room service or room cleaning at no additional fee. It does not give you a one‑of‑a-kind experienceone‑of‑a-kind experienceone‑of‑a-kind experience, but instead, offers blissfulblissfulblissful freedom from your regular choreschores [chore]chores, and anonymityanonymityanonymity. However, you might be woken up at 8 am for housekeeping, you will be spending additional money on eating out and you will not have unforgettable memories from such a stay, as all hotel rooms feel the same.

So what to choose? On the one hand, private lodgings are private, often cheaper, and offer the chance to live like a local and save money on meals. On the other hand, hotels are usually conveniently located, chore‑free and help is only a reception desk away. My advice is to do your research, figure out your requirements and desires, and find a place which meets all your needs.

1 Źródło: Agnieszka Sękiewicz‑Magoń , licencja: CC BY-SA 3.0.