Warning to you "Airbnb'ers"

Well at the end of the day they couldn't even sort out that Hacienda del Lago "no license or permit" issue so to think they will be cracking down on all the "illegal" rentals around here is absurd. Sure they will go after the obvious ones that are running large hotels/B&B's quite openly with street signage, local advertising, etc. but even then a few pesos will get any inspector to carry on down the street.

Unfortunately, I think this group is pissing into the wind. This municipality has much bigger fish to fry IMO. And for the record.....I don't belong to this group. I am a "mind your own business" kind of guy, especially here in Mexico.

One thing the muni is good at is collecting the income taxes once you are in the system. My accountant screwed up paying my taxes in January and by Feb. 3 there was a guy from the muni office ringing my door bell and presenting me with a fine. Of course my accountant paid the fine for me along with the overdue taxes....

I stayed in an Airbnb house in Savannah, Georgia in February. We rented the house for $500 for the week. We had two big bedrooms, one bathroom, a large well stocked kitchen, a living room and dining room as well as a large fenced backyard.
Savannah is an expensive city as it is a heavy tourist visited town so this well placed house was a bargain.
I would use Airbnb again in a heartbeat.

Geez, Shana, what were you going in Savannah, Georgia! Granted, I have not been there in 50 years. Is it a nice place now?

So, I have a question. I've stayed in many B and B's but not yet in an AirBnB. I get the differences between the 2 in terms of a business model but as an experience, how does staying in AirBnB differ from a local B and B?

An Air B&B, in my experience, is likely to be someone's casita, or equivalent NOB and elsewhere, and undoubtedly results differ. I stayed at one in Tucson, and it was okay, but results vary. I am not sure I would do it again, but it depends on the rental. Sort of like renting a casita.

Results vary greatly from what I have read. Some Air B&B's are a sofa in someone's living room or a twin bed in the office/second bedroom. Some people rent out a casita or their entire house. Some people end up in beautiful places at very reasonable cost. Others are not so lucky.

They still sound like the same thing so now I'm thinking "AirBnB" is just  clever marketing for BnBs.

Do you get breakfast at Airbnb too?

AirBnB offers 3 types of listings; an entire house (apt), a private room or a shared space. Breakfast is at the option of the lister. We choose the entire house and don't expect any food included. We prefer this option for the privacy and ability to cook our own meals. We have stayed at many Airbnb's around the world. You have to do your own research regarding location and aminities. Some cities include the appropriate taxes in the rental fees. That is only fair business in our minds.

AirBnB is simply a marketing website. It is no different that TripAdvisor, VRBO, Booking.Com, etc. They allow far more to be listed than just B&B's in the literal sense.

That's what I thought!

The only difference between Airbnb and a 'conventional' (whatever that is) B and B is the accommodations may vary more. It's a clever marketing tool. I'm looking forward to staying in one.

What is the significance of the 'Air' part of the name?

AirBnB is a name of a website, not a description of a rental type. There is no definition to describe anything that is listed on AirBnB. Perhaps at the beginning AirBnB services were offered mainly to the ma & pa renting out their bedroom and offering breakfast, but not any more. There is everything from whole houses to hotel rooms listed on there now.

Trailrunner wrote:What is the significance of the 'Air' part of the name?

The company founder started by renting out an airbed on his living room floor.
https://www.ted.com/talks/joe_gebbia_how_airbnb_designs_for_trust

The history of Air B&B is really interesting. It began in San Francisco when two roommates decided to help with high rent by offering an air mattress in their living room and breakfast to friends needing a place to stay. Hence the name. If you go to Wikipedia you can read all about the history and how it operates.

mattoleriver wrote:

Trailrunner wrote:What is the significance of the 'Air' part of the name?

The company founder started by renting out an airbed on his living room floor.
https://www.ted.com/talks/joe_gebbia_how_airbnb_designs_for_trust

Ohhhhh! Thank you for answering my question! Now it makes sense.

Lady Otter Latté wrote:The history of Air B&B is really interesting. It began in San Francisco when two roommates decided to help with high rent by offering an air mattress in their living room and breakfast to friends needing a place to stay. Hence the name. If you go to Wikipedia you can read all about the history and how it operates.

I understand now. Interesting.

Additionally, about a year ago, I was asked by a friend in Baja to boycott AirBnB, and the owner, for the people of Todos Santos. Apparently, he broke ground and started building a McGiant resort on the beach and fenced off all public access to locals and the local fishing community. I do not know what transpired after that but I think an amparo was issued.

We've stayed in lots of Airbnb places and had the full gamut of experiences from great to barely OK to awful. Housing costs being what they are now all of the East and West coasts the only way we can even think about visiting places like Seattle or Portland (let alone SoCal) is via Airbnb as even a cheap hotel is well over $120 a night for the most part.

Nomadic Matt wrote a great guide to using this and other sites. I like to use the agglomerator site alltherooms.com which includes homeaway (aka VRBO), Airbnb and other sharing sites all in one search.

Here's Matt's article

http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/guide-renting-apartments/