Are hotels the answer?

One of the reasons that we are able to travel the world is because we can stay in short term rentals. The invention of Airbnb opened up the world to a bunch of us that prefer to stay in places with kitchens and couches and really “live” in another country.

Last month, Joe Gebbia, the co-founder of Airbnb, decided to go work for Elon Musk and Donald Trump which caused a lot of us to throw up in our mouth. By all accounts, the company is still trying to be a good citizen corporation and donate to good causes… so I might be able to ignore that. But, they are still affecting the housing market in many cities all over the world. Many cities and countries are trying to limit their impact because of housing crisis concerns so I really can’t ignore that. I don’t want people buying up housing and raising prices just so I can stay a few days in their city. There are companies offering short term rentals (VRBO, Booking.com, Expedia) but they all have the same ethical problem of affecting the city’s housing market.

We stay in a lot of less-affluent countries and I like to think we are helping the economy by using Airbnb’s, as long as our money is going to a local. With bigger companies buying and managing multiple properties that isn’t always true. We are going to Lisbon next fall and it looks like one company is managing most of the listings. We do try to find small local owners, and as we search we are reviewing host profiles to to determine if its a conglomerate money grab or an individual proprietor. We have met so many fantastic hosts who are really having their lives changed by renting out on Airbnb.

Some of our nomad youtuber friends Brian and Carrie and John and Bev (The Retirement Travelers) both had bad experiences with Airbnb stays, and have decided that the risk of a bad stay is no longer worth it. They are converting to mostly using housesitting or hotels. We have had many minor issues in our 80 or so Airbnb’s we have stayed in, but nothing that rose to the level of claims against the owners or against us (knock wood! We certainly know a similar situation could happen to us). Another youtuber couple Ron and Allie have gone to the extreme and figured out that it can be really cheap to travel the world by staying mostly in hotels using credit card points. This was a little intriguing, so we decided to give it a try. Last year, we got the IHG travel card and we got about 150,000 points from the sign up bonus to start off our hotel points trial. Could this be a replacement for short term rentals?

We first used around 20,000 points on 2 occasions to stay at the Holiday Inn near the Seatac airport in Seattle. This worked great. We got upgraded to suites because we are Diamond members because of the credit card. We were just 1 light rail stop away from the airport and took the first train in the morning. This is exactly what we normally use corporate hotels for – 1 night stays near an airport. But that wasn’t the real test. We wanted to try using it for longer stays. Unfortunately, we don’t really stay in that many places with hotels that match our needs (location, amenities). Our Asia trip in 2025 was filled with stays on beaches in the Philippines or Thailand that don’t have corporate hotels. We then went to Cambodia and Laos which have just a few IHG’s. We found a new Holiday Inn situated in Vientiane, the capital of Laos and booked it for 4 nights for 49,000 points. IHG card holders get the 4th night free which makes it better to book in 4 night increments. This was to be our trial on a “longer” stay.

We were upgraded to a really spacious suite. It had a kitchen and a living room that was separate from the bedroom. This was a new building so everything is new. One of the reasons we really like Airbnb’s is because we get a couch and a TV. This room had a couch! Unfortunately, the TV was bolted to the wall so I couldn’t attach my Amazon fire stick. We didn’t really care to watch the Laos cable channels. The kitchen also had some issues. The hotel didn’t have a free breakfast so we decided that we would eat hardboiled eggs and toast with cheese every morning. The kitchen only had one pot and it was enormous so it was overkill to boil my 12 eggs. We had salt and pepper shakers in the room but they were empty. Luckily, we both have stolen salt and pepper packets stashed in our bags. The kitchen was also missing a wine opener, a knife, dish soap, kitchen sponges, and kitchen towels. Doing dishes wasn’t the best, but we made it work. I think if we had simply asked, we probably would have been able to get everything we needed for free. The staff was really nice, but we decided to live with what we had. It was just 4 nights. And it was free!

The hotel also had a nice pool that we used almost every day to cool off from the heat and humidity of Laos. It is rare to get that from an Airbnb. We were in a fairly good location in Vientiane. We were able to walk to the restaurants on the river or downtown in about 15 or 20 minutes. Unfortunately, the town had a lot of roads tore up and many sidewalks weren’t usable. We took $3 taxis a few times to get around instead of dealing with the Laos roads.

So, did we like our stay? Yes, it was a comfortable room and we can ignore the limited kitchen and TV issues. What is harder to ignore is the ethical problem of where our money goes while in a less developed country. When we stay in Airbnb’s, we often get to meet our local hosts. We love the idea of our money helping out a family that is getting a bit ahead using Airbnb to make some extra money. Of course, that is not always the case, as many cities are seeing big companies buying up condo units to use as Airbnb’s. But at least we have the chance of our money being used locally, instead of being sent to an international corporation. Yes, the hotel is paying many locals to run the hotel but most are not high paying jobs. We also don’t have the opportunity to live in a local neighborhood like we do in an Airbnb. The hotel seems so detached from the country we are supposed to be exploring. Everyone speaks to us in English.

So where are we on our Hotel trial… Pros and Cons.

Pro- It was free! And I can buy points cheaply when we run out. I also get a free night every year with my credit card.

Con- The hotels are not always in the places I want to go. I like small towns more than cities.

Pro- It was spacious and had a separate kitchen and living room

Con- We don’t often get upgraded to a suite, which means usually no kitchen and no place to sit other than the bed. Fine for a few nights, but not a longer term stay.

Pro- It was stress free. We didn’t have to worry about potential Airbnb issues like bugs, hot water, or broken appliances.

Con- Hotels are often not in neighborhoods I want to stay in. I want to be in the walkable area of the city, not on the highway or by the airport.

Pro- Hotels usually have pools

Con- It felt like a sterile American hotel and I can forget I am in another country.

Pro- I had someone at the counter that was always there if I have a problem.

Con- I am not contributing to the local economy as much as would like to. I am helping a corporation.

Pro- Everything usually works in Hotels

Con- There is usually no Washing Machine in the Unit

Where does this leave us? We are going to continue using primarily Airbnb’s and small resort hotels and also going off platform to rent directly from owners. We are also trying out HomeExchange this year but that will be a separate review post. I will try to use IHG points, but looking at our plans for the next year, it is sometimes hard to find a good place to use them. Single nights before flights or long layovers seem like the best time to use them. We might be able to use them for our city trips in New Zealand and Australia next year for some 4 or 8 night stays. The bottom line is that we just prefer real homes and it staying with corporation owned hotels just doesn’t feel right. Once in a while it is nice, but I can’t see us staying more than a few weeks a year. Airbnb’s have big issues, but for now, It is just our personal preference to continue to use them depending on the location and the impacts on the local housing market.

The IHG credit card is a great deal. We got a lot for our sign up bonus and we still have points to use. The card has a $99 annual fee but we will continue to hold the card because it comes with 1 free night a year. It pays for itself. Use my referral link if you would like to check it out.

https://www.referyourchasecard.com/210f/Z09T2B3U21

We are also considering getting the Chase Hyatt card but we are waiting to see if we can get some more use out of our IHG card this year. I expect our housing choices will continue to evolve.