How I find Airbnb's I love.
I love a good Airbnb. Where you stay can significantly affect your trip. Here’s how I choose where I’m staying.
I have many folders already in my Airbnb just WAITING for the perfect travel moment to strike. In fact, I actually travel just so I can stay in design hotels and really unique Airbnb’s for the most part. Space has always been really important to me, and I think that’s why I went to Architecture School. I decide that the profession wasn’t the best fit for me but I still love design and I very much love when I can tell that a passionate and creative human took the time to design a beautiful space.
Here are some tips on finding truly special places to stay–
Spend some time on Airbnb before you have to travel, just for fun. You can create folders and favorites for different locations so that when you go somewhere, you already have a set of places that you’re interested in staying
Search instagram– that’s how I found Rene Homes and The Bumba House, both are some of my favorite places. Here’s how I searched on Instagram:
I searched hashtags for a specific city until I found photos that just had the feel I was looking for. The search terms were just the city name and travel, so IstanbulTravel, for instance. Once I found some things that caught my eye, I clicked on the profile to see if there had shared anything else from their city / travel. Usually people’s photos who catch your eye share other things that you might like, too. So it’s a bit of a rabbit hole but I find that it works pretty well. You’ll end up finding a photo that they have of a restaurant or a hotel or a neighborhood and from there you can click on that place and see what you find there, and so on.
Use the features in Airbnb like “Superhost” or “Design” and it will pull up only those items that match that search. I tend to only stay with Superhosts. They often go above and beyond to make the stay of their guests very special.
Here’s a list of things I look for in an Airbnb / Hotel–
Good Wifi (if it’s that kind of travel experience)
Cleanliness
Good design
Special little touches
Good location (whether that’s totally remote or right in the middle of the city)
Comfy beds (it’s hard to tell this from a photo but I try my best to assess it!)
A nice shower / bathroom
A thoughtfully-prepared guide for my stay (this of course you only get after booking)
Recommendations from other travelers
A human element- you can tell that a human and not a big company manages the spaces
Remember- some things can look stunning in photos but be very bizarre or different when you arrive. That’s also why I like booking with Airbnb, they help with any concerns you might have. I had to be refunded once because the photos where so different than the experience and it ended up being a corporation who runs a ton of similar units so they cared less about a guest’s individual experience and more about booking as many nights as possible.
Happy Traveling!
