As a traveler, I tend to find myself in a variety of different lodgings when I'm abroad or exploring my home country. I was hesitant about trying out AirBNB since that experience would be dealing directly with a person's home, but launching a blog like this, I decided it was time to check it out.
I took the initiative by making plans to visit a waterfall loop in the Shasta and Siskiyou counties and choose my AirBNB lodging in that area.
Selecting the Property
I had heard from several other lady travelers that they had noticed that AirBNB fees had gone up over the last year. As I looked at varying properties across California is general, I figured out why prices had gone up: the cleaning fees. In this current Covid era, property owners are taking extra precautions to ensure the health and safety of their guests. However, certain properties had cleaning rates that cost almost as much as the rental fee itself!
While understandable, it makes just as much sense to rent a hotel room for the same price now. Though some of the AirBNB properties were luxurious, unique, and even converted from train cars, the word that they were cheaper than hotels is proving to be untrue now.
In the case of being a solo traveler, the properties I was looking into were rooms that were separate from the property owner's home. This was more as a matter of safety rather than privacy. For my first time, I wanted to feel as safe as possible, and staying inside a stranger's home with them was a little outside of my comfort zone. Maybe someday I'll give that a try so I can blog about that as well, but for now, I'll just stick with separate rooming arrangements or hostels for cheaper rates.
Despite the choice to not book a room at the owner's home, those options were the cheapest offered. The cleaning fees were also much less than for guest houses and apartments. So, for peace of mind, I went for the more costly option of a guest room, and found one for a decent price. The choice I made was a part of the same property as the owners and hosts, but it was completely separate from their home.
The Stay
I only took three pics of the property, so most of what I will be documenting from here will be in word form. The property appeared to be formerly part of the garage and converted to a living area. The entry had French doors that were unlocked by a code provided by the hosts on the day of the stay, and entered in to a small living area.
Behind, there was a small kitchen with some dishes, a microwave, a mini-fridge, a small tea arrangement and sink. Then there was a bathroom with a claw-footed bathtub/shower combination, and a nice sized bedroom with a big bed and a flat screen TV. Most of my food was trail snacks that didn't need to be removed from my car, but I had a breakfast of a Panera bagel and some snack trays of cured meats, cheese and crackers for my lunch that needed to be refrigerated.
Shortly after booking the property, the host reached out to me to inform me that before I checked out, I would need to clean all surfaces I had contact with and that the cleaning directions would be inside of the armoire in the bedroom. Lo and behold, I found it right inside the door.
This explained why the cleaning fees were lower, but all things considered, it was a fair trade. For a lower fee, the guest takes about 20-30 minutes to clean up after themselves. So I spent the majority of my time in the bedroom and prepared for the rest of my journey starting early in the morning.
The bed was comfy and had a good arrangement of pillows, and the TV provided options to various streaming services. Unlike your typical hotel or motel lodging, which usually supplies basic cable or satellite options, this AirBNB allowed access to Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu, though you as the guest would need to provide your own login information. Since I don't have any of these streaming services, I selected a free service and relaxed until I went to sleep.
I rose early in the morning and zapped the bagel in the microwave since there wasn't a toaster, and ate a quick breakfast before gathering my items and starting the clean. I referred to the list in the armoire and wiped down all surfaces, and found a broom behind one of the doors and gave the rooms a quick sweep before loading back up and heading for my next destination.
The checkout required me to reach out to my host, who thanked me for staying and for cleaning up after myself as I had agreed to.
My Thoughts on the Experience
One thing you should know about AirBNB is that a good part of the experience relies on the guest/host relationship, even if it's brief, and very much encourages both to leave reviews for each other. As a first-time guest, some hosts are a little reluctant to accept their request to stay, but that wasn't the case with my host. She was very communicative about the expectations of the guest and did a wonderful job. She left me a glowing review for my first stay, and I responded in kind. It was a good experience.
However, since AirBNB does focus so much on a guest rating, it does add a bit of anxiety, especially for someone trying it out for the first time. This was a big factor in choosing a property instead of a personal room. While the host's lodgings were splendid, I didn't sleep well because I was concerned that I would be a less than stellar guest. While this was clearly overthinking, it still prevented me from getting the sleep I needed, though I still functioned well enough the next day.
The added pressure of being a good guest rarely factored in with other places I'd stayed while traveling. As far as I know, whenever I've had issues at the properties I'd stayed at in the past, they were dealt with in a professional manner because I wasn't the cause. Even though I was sure I'd been a good guest at other hotels and travel lodgings, with AirBNB allowing the host to give feedback, I felt insecure.
As an experience, I would say that it was a good new one for me to try. It also helps travelers be mindful of how they treat their lodgings, whether AirBNB or hotel chain, and I think it's something all solo travelers should try for themselves at least once.
On the whole, I think I prefer hotels though. Again, my host was great, so this opinion is based more on staying at a place where there isn't so much pressure to be perfect. When I stay in a hotel, I'm just looking for somewhere to stay so I can enjoy the adventure I'm on, but when I'm at a person's home or rental property, there's a slight strain added in making sure that you show the utmost respect for their property. I'm not saying you shouldn't be that type of guest wherever you go, but hotels for me are places to relax and revitalize before I venture out again.
And, if I'm being honest, I can earn rewards with hotels!
Still, I would like to thank my host again for a lovely experience. I may try AirBNB again in the future, but for now, I'll probably still stick with the tried and true lodgings I'm familiar with.
So, What About this Waterfall Loop?
Wouldn't you like to know?
Tune in next time for the details on how I spent my trip! I checked out the waterfall loop, and I'll be detailing my personal experiences and give my two cents on how best to see these waterfalls.
Until then, stay safe, and get ready to travel again!
Images courtesy of Giphy
