Housing. Airbnb.

We had been booking through airbnb.com for over a year now and have had very good experiences with about a dozen of rental properties, including here in U.S.A, Canada, and France.

Here are a few things why we like using Airbnb:

There are lots of options to accommodate personal needs. Search filters include Room Type (options are: Entire House, Private room, or Shared Room), Price Range, Number of Beds/Room, Amenities, Facilities, House Rules, Neighborhoods, or even by Host language.

Can be as picky as getting a place with a decor that suites your taste. Can’t get better than that, right?!

Very convenient with kids.
- Get a home-like feel. As a baby, our daughter, Ashley, used to scream every time going into a long and sometimes dark hotel hallway, not mentioning a standard size hotel room with not much light.
- Most places have kitchen so cooking is always an option. I really appreciated having a kitchen during our two weeks France trip last year. I was able to make sure our then, 2 years old daughter had a home cooked meal, plus it sure saved us some money for not eating out all the time.
- Washer and/or dryer are very handy when traveling for more than a few days or anytime traveling with a child.

Get a better feel of local atmosphere. Great way to meet and interact with local people.
Can search by location (using the map option). This is my favorite way to search, especially when we intent on staying in a specific area.

Some things to know when using Airbnb:

Need to create personal account.
Once registered, short description is required in introduction so hosts know a little something about who they will be letting into their place.
There are lots of “instant booking” options, where others require confirmation from the host.
The host has 24 hours to respond but most hosts get back way sooner than that. We normally start looking for the ones with the most starts.
Another thing to keep in mind is language barrier when visiting foreign country. We have learned that learning basic language phrases helps a lot when it comes to talking with hosts who don’t speak English in person. Although, it’s very easy to communicate with them through the Airbnb account as there is a translator option.

We have booked our Airbnb rentals for the upcoming May trip to Spain as soon as we had a set itinerary in January. The sooner, the better as there are more choices.

Here are some of our pictures from the past rentals: