Airbnb or Hotel?

I have written before about travelers guilt, especially when we are exposed to countries with a lot of poverty. When we are in lower cost of living countries, it is important to us that we spend our money with the locals. We try to eat at local restaurants and avoid any big international chains. We try to find local tours instead of huge companies, like the big red hop-on hop-off buses that are in a lot of cities. We also try to stay in local Airbnb’s or smaller hotels or resorts with the hope that our housing money will get into local hands instead of the huge hotel chains. But I am starting to rethink my assumptions about the most ethical way for accommodations for the long term traveler. Is Airbnb really the “right” thing to do?

One of my assumptions has been that the chain hotels do not pay well. That is usually the case in the US, but I’m not sure it is the case everywhere in the world. Even if the hotel is owned by a huge corporation, there are still going to be jobs for locals in hotel management, maintenance, and front desk reception that can pay a bit more. Even traditional low cost jobs like house cleaning may be a life-changing position for someone that has never the opportunity for a steady job. I’m sure these hotel corporations take the majority of the profits, but they are also providing many local jobs that might get some workers consistent income. We have avoided cruise ships because of their environmental issues, but also because they are notorious for paying poorly and treating their employees terribly. I don’t think I can put all hotel corporations in that same bucket of cruise ship labor, because it is so much easier for hotel workers to quit and go home. I think many more hotel workers are grateful for their job, but I’m not really sure….

One of celebrated benefits of Airbnb was that it was giving some power back to the little guy. Anyone can take Grandma’s old house and list as an Airbnb and make some money. But I am not sure this is always the case. Many of the Airbnb’s that we have stayed in are entrepreneurs buying up old buildings and renovating them to be multiple Airbnb’s. Are developers like this still the “little guy”? We have stayed in Airbnb condos in high rises where the owners have invested in many units. It is impossible to know if my rent will ever get into local hands or if it all goes to a foreign investor from a richer country.

Short term rentals have grown so much that it now a big enough business to alter the housing market in many locations. Owners can often make more money renting to tourists instead to locals which can reduce the supply of local housing causing rents to skyrocket. Many people are getting priced out of their own city which leads to some severe housing shortages. Many cities like Barcelona, Paris, New York and Amsterdam are limiting Airbnb’s or banning new ones in order to stop the exodus of locals out of their tourist areas. It might be too late for tourist hubs like Venice or Dubrovnik where there doesn’t seem to be much of a local community left in the tourist zones. Considering the housing impacts, it seems laughable to call Airbnb the ethical choice for accommodations in many of these cities.

There are also a lot of horror stories about terrible Airbnb stays. No water, no heat, no wifi, or no AC can be tough things to ignore. There are all sorts of things that can happen that don’t always show up in the reviews. But, we have probably stayed in a over a 100 Airbnb’s and VRBO’s in the last 20 years and never had a big issue (knock wood). We have learned to study the pictures hard and comb through all the reviews to make sure there aren’t any red flags. I won’t stop using Airbnb because I accidentally chose a location in Mexico that didn’t have air conditioning. That one was my fault by not studying the listing completely.

What are the other options if Airbnb’s and hotel corporations have their drawbacks? Many people are avoiding the big online sites and trying to find landlords by other methods. It is possible to find landlords to book to you direct using Facebook groups, local real estate agents or even by word of mouth with other travelers. Chris Gawlik just did a great video about exactly how to this on Chris Englert’s youtube channel. We keep the contact info of good local Airbnb hosts so the next time we are in that town we can book directly. But booking outside of Airbnb, Expedia, or Booking can be a bit risky. We once Venmo’d over $2000 for a long term rental in Mexico so we could avoid the Airbnb fees and taxes. It worked out fine but we were sure nervous until the day we checked in. We could have showed up to a locked door and there would be no way to get our money back.

So where does that leave us and our accommodation habits? Right now we are still using Airbnb for stays of a week or longer. In some places like Costa Rica or a Thai Island, we really want to be on the beach so we will find a local hotel or resort. I still can’t be sure that money is going to be kept locally; they are often owned by foreign investors. We do often stay in hotels on a day before or after a flight or other transportation. Late morning or late night transportation are better handled when staying at a hotel with a reception desk. But do I want to continue this ratio of high Airbnb’s? I think we are going try some new things and see how it goes.

I just received an IHG credit card with 140,000 points for a sign up bonus and gives us every 4th night of reward stays free. IHG has over 6000 hotels including Holiday Inn’s all over the world. I intended for this to be used for just a night before or after a flight but now I think we might try doing some longer stays. These hotel point programs are making many hotel stays near the same price as Airbnb’s. We can even get upgraded to rooms that have couches and kitchenettes.

If money is not the deciding factor, and the ethical factors cancel themselves out, what do we want to do? I really like staying in local neighborhoods and feeling like I am part of the local community. Airbnb’s feel more like I am really living the culture instead of staying in a hotel with other tourists. I’m afraid I might feel isolated away from the real experiences if I stay in a hotel. The chain hotels are often near the airport or outside of the walking zones in some of the smaller towns that we like to stay in. I enjoy shopping at local markets and trying to cook local foods in other countries. By the way… please join our new facebook group Nomadic Cooking if you want some more ideas on Airbnb cooking. I enjoy lounging on my private balcony or private living room more than a hotel room. Especially as we slow down our travel, we spend less days being out and about doing all the tourist sites, and more hours/days where we are relaxing/working in our lodging – so having a decent couch and workspace is much appreciated. But some hotel rooms after upgrades might have these things, and I have heard many things from other nomads about the advantages of hotel programs so I am willing to give it a try. Many people are enjoying staying almost exclusively in hotels by using the points program hacks. We are staying a week in Vientiane, Cambodia next fall and I think we are going to try a Holiday Inn. If we like it, we might get a Hyatt credit card and expand our hotel staying a little more. Different cities and countries have different accommodation options so we are going to decide on a case to case basis. I will report back next year after hopefully I can understand what is more comfortable for us in each situation.