AirBNB - is it any good?

[Saltire]

As part of my plan to move to the Pattaya/Jomtien area from the sticks in the East, I have been looking at AirBNB and so far am not very impressed. I am looking for a month rental somewhere central to get me started while I look around.

 

The website seems very basic, has limited filters and in general is not intuitive or comprehensive to the same standard as Agoda or Hotels.com etc, which I use a lot.

 

Also what's with only being told the exact location after booking? Location is top of the list. The Base, for example has postings about a full km apart on the map view. (OK I know where it is in reality, but what about the others I don't know the exact location?).

 

Accurate room photos and sea views etc seem to be raised very often in customer reviews, and some hosts seem great, but there are many who get complaints.

 

I will keep looking, but would love to know of any other websites dealing with short term (initially) condo rentals?

 

Should you have a condo for rent please don't hijack the thread, send me a message if you have a serious proposal. Note: it's early days and I am not in any hurry,

 

Thanks

 

 

Edited September 17, 2021 by Saltire

[Ohyesuare]

Yeah AirBNB can be pretty <deleted>ty and the prices are very inflated from what you can get by searching in person but you can find some hidden gems for fair prices sometimes. I think not giving the exact location is a privacy thing but it's easy to tell in Pattaya from the photos or they'll even say it in the listing most times. honeyscoffeehouse.com does one month or shorter rentals at VT6 which is the most central condo you can get. They list on AirBNB or you can book directly, I'd send them an email rather than go by the prices/availability on their website. If you don't care about being central JP Unixx has many fair priced units at Unixx for a fair price but some of their units are pretty tiny. They also list on AirBNB or they have an office right in the front of the Unixx condo building.

[vinci]

i thought Thailand ban AirBnB, i could be wrong

[Jip99]

7 minutes ago, vinci said:

i thought Thailand ban AirBnB, i could be wrong

https://www.airbnb.com/a/stays/Thailand?af=43720035&c=.pi0.pk30409173668_388160754190_c_64065795952&sem_position=&sem_target=kwd-64065795952&location_of_interest=&location_physical=9074464&localized_ghost=true&gclid=Cj0KCQjw1ouKBhC5ARIsAHXNMI_Oi1562i0oxD6GKHccsbBGkpa5-2Qf7Jmi6ndNPqORU7Y7suoug_saAuF-EALw_wcB

[Will B Good]

Reviews are critical (pun).

 

Read all of them and between the lines.

 

We have done a couple over here, no problems, but I prefer pukka hotels.

[Will B Good]

15 minutes ago, vinci said:

i thought Thailand ban AirBnB, i could be wrong

I think in condos there is supposed to a minimum 30 days booking period to try and minimize the risk of morons booking for parties and to help protect the hotel industry.

[Saltire]

39 minutes ago, Ohyesuare said:

Yeah AirBNB can be pretty <deleted>ty and the prices are very inflated from what you can get by searching in person but you can find some hidden gems for fair prices sometimes. I think not giving the exact location is a privacy thing but it's easy to tell in Pattaya from the photos or they'll even say it in the listing most times. honeyscoffeehouse.com does one month or shorter rentals at VT6 which is the most central condo you can get. They list on AirBNB or you can book directly, I'd send them an email rather than go by the prices/availability on their website. If you don't care about being central JP Unixx has many fair priced units at Unixx for a fair price but some of their units are pretty tiny. They also list on AirBNB or they have an office right in the front of the Unixx condo building.

This is great thanks,

 

VT6 looks good. However it is also a good example of how cra ppy ABNB is as its easy to find JP Unixx there, but no searches show VT6, just all the other VT numbers. Honeys website is good and VT6 location is perfect. Thanks

[SomchaiCNX]

On 9/17/2021 at 12:12 PM, vinci said:

i thought Thailand ban AirBnB, i could be wrong

Hence that's why they don't publish their location,  even the the stupid RTP could find them ???? without BMW.

 

[SomchaiCNX]

On 9/17/2021 at 12:30 PM, Will B Good said:

I think in condos there is supposed to a minimum 30 days booking period to try and minimize the risk of morons booking for parties and to help protect the hotel industry.

Nope it is about paying tax, in CNX many owners of condos of Airbnb are Chinese and no money is send to Thailand.

[scorecard]

Also not impressed;

 

I wanted a small house or apartment for one night, found several airbnb possibilities, selected one but further into the booking there was a list of 'can', 'cannot', 'forbidden' etc., added by the owner. e.g:

- Don't touch the fridge door without using a tissue - fingerprints on the steel will bring additional changes.

- Can use shampoo in the shower cubicle but bottle is weighed after tenant leaves, reduction in weight more than 5% per 24 hrs will bring additional charges. Also don't touch the shower cubicle glass.

 

And more...

 

I went to agoda and booked/used a local 4 star hotel, which was excellent. 

Edited September 18, 2021 by scorecard

[ncc1701d]

I tried them out for a while and found there to be more cons than pros. the big one is if they think you've damaged something. And they can basically turn around and blame anything on you. I've also had my "confirmed" booking cancelled as early as 3 days before arrival causing us to scramble to find something else. Pretty stressful. I decided to stick with one hotel chain and make use of their specific membership deals and prefer that.

[earlinclaifornia]

Me and my daughter went to two locations in Bali and both were wonderful booking from America.. 

[iLuvThai]

I don't understand why you think Airbnb is a basic website, because I have used them in Canada, USA, Vietnam and Thailand and I've found excellent places to stay at reasonably priced. Yes I compare what I'm getting with Agoda and sometimes Agoda wins out on a specific need. I also run Airbnb space where I live and it's been very beneficial surprisingly even during this pandemic. 

 

I understand your frustration about not getting the exact location to the property but you could ask Airbnb why and they're very good at answering questions. My guess is it's a privacy issue because you're dealing with mostly private home owners like Myself and I don't want people coming over with low-ball offers.

 

I also understand your concern about people complaining about the space not being what was listed. It's true there are people doing bait and switch. But be sure to NOT ACCEPT those accommodations and let Airbnb know what's going on they're trying to crack down on this type of behavior. And the people that are doing this will be penalized and removed hopefully. Also know this there are people trying to rent spaces that are scammers as well and I would tell you what they do but that would just give up other people ideas of what they could do and I'm not revealing that. 

 

And if you're reading this and you are operating an Airbnb space and you want to know something which you may or may not know never ever let somebody talk you into going off the Airbnb platform to accept money to save even a little bit of their Airbnb fee you're opening yourself up for squatter.

 

I hope this was a little bit of help and good luck with your search.

[Card]

On 9/17/2021 at 12:12 PM, vinci said:

i thought Thailand ban AirBnB, i could be wrong

Condo owners are not allowed to rent for less than a month with AirBNB or otherwise.

 

I have used AirBNB in Europe and USA with few problems and will continue to use them. The only drawback is that owners are allowed to cancel at any time, which affected me badly once. You need to check the room reviews as to any problems likely to crop up and read their terms and conditions, particularly regarding cancellations 

Edited September 19, 2021 by Card

[geisha]

Never used,  but a friend does and always has fantastic deals , like in Venice, Rome, Canada etc.

i think it’s best to choose the “ super hosts” as they have an impeccable track record with Airbnb.

Ive thought about it as have seen some fantastic places in Bali and Polynesia, but I’m worried about cancelations. I imagine myself turning up at Bora Bora, to find I’ve been cancelled , often due to an urgency. So I’ll stick to hotels for long haul trips. 

[Ohyesuare]

Whenever an AirBNB owner cancels it lists it under reviews along with how many days before the booking they cancelled so that way you know when an owner is canceling often.

[Saltire]

9 minutes ago, Ohyesuare said:

Whenever an AirBNB owner cancels it lists it under reviews along with how many days before the booking they cancelled so that way you know when an owner is canceling often.

Thanks, that is very useful information.