How to use AirBnB, Booking.com and Hostelworld
There was a time in the last millennium when one had to go to a brick and mortar travel agent to book a hotel in advance. Alternatively, one could just show up, guidebook in hand, hoping that the place listed was still in business, given the substantial time lag between writing the book and its sale to the reader. In Europe one had the alternative of finding a private room upon arrival, brokered by the local tourism office, conveniently located next to the train station. Like many things the Internet has irrevocably changed this.
AirBnb is wonderful when one wants a personal experience of living with a local. It has become a great cost-effective alternative to staying in a generic, soulless hotel room. A friend on the North Fork of Long Island makes her stunning, historic home available to guests, giving them a glimpse of the area’s unique history. In the summer the area’s hotels and motels are often sold out. So extra rooms made available through AirBnb are a blessing for stressed out, beach headed New Yorkers. But it can also work the other way. In some less developed parts of the world hotels and hostels are so inexpensive and plentiful that in low season it makes less sense to stay in a private home where the hosts might not be experienced in running such a business. One can end up stepping over the kids’ bath toys or see that the owners have barely managed to change the sheets before vacating the room themselves. Having said that, I made a friend for life in Managua through AirBnb. Rebecca, a professor of gender stories at the University of Managua, truly made me into a part of her family and was incredibly dedicated to keeping me safe in that part of the world. In Nairobi I had many interesting talks with Mutheu about Africa today. She brought me some of her own herbal tea when I did not feel well.
Booking.com and similar sites can purvey great discounts. Booking only hours before arrival we found a great rate for a room at fancy conventions hotel in a remote town in Saxony, Germany. As not to jeopardize their regular business they had registered a second account under a different name to cater to budget travelers. But on the Island of Koh Rong, Cambodia I ended up in a shed that even a backpacker would have only considered as a last resort with my prepaid Booking.com reservation. After all everybody can register their property.
Hostelworld and similar apps are focused on shared rooms for backpackers. A whole new generation of hostel entrepreneurs has figured out that a well-run hostel can be more profitable than a regular hotel by stacking multiple people in a room. Backpackers all want the same things: a private charging station for their smart phone and secure luggage storage before they take off with the next night bus. The staff usually knows what one wants before one goes up to the counter. The more successful hostels turn into chains. They know where the backpackers are going next, as they all travel on the same tourism highway. So they open places in those locations as well. I found this to be especially true on the Banana Pancake Trail, the Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand circuit that gives a younger generation of mass tourists the illusion of backpacking.
The lines between the three types of bookings are becoming blurred. Hotels have caught on to posting on hostel booking sites and vice versa, some bed and breakfasts use Airbnb and private homeowners list on Booking.com. If one searches carefully, one can find different prices for the same place on different sites. The pricing appears to be random and is not necessarily cheapest on the hostel sites even though they attract the most cost conscious travelers.
So how does one search for a place that fulfills one’s expectations and more importantly how does one find a place that actually looks like the posted photos and is value for money?
Ratings by former guests are the new gold standard of the industry. Unfortunately, not all of them are honest. Read some of the reviews! If the wording seems too generic, it might have been posted in India by a rating service paid for by the owner of the establishment. All websites though take precautions to limit these types of activities. If there are an overwhelmingly large number of good ratings, it is often safe to assume that they are genuine. All sites are getting better at managing their listings; AirBnB identifies ‘Superhosts’ and Booking.com offers ‘Genius Deals’. On the other hand, a lack of ratings might unfairly discriminate against new places. One also has to take into account how individual perceptions vary. For one person the absence of a spare roll of toilet paper and no hair dryer might be a deal breaker, the next person does not even notice.
Photos can give some indication but can be misleading in both directions; a picture of a beautiful room does not capture the dust bunnies under the bed and the hairs in the shower drain. As an opposite example, I booked the Jade Hotel in Hue, Vietnam, a rather plain looking structure judging by the photos. But the service level of its staff that brought me a cold drink and fruit plate the moment I walked into the air-conditioned entrance hall, was totally outstanding. As for hostels, every town has at least one party-central place with an attached bar or something to secure cheap alcohol. Depending on one’s preference, it is worth it to go through the photographs the hostel has posted on the booking site. If there are lots of shots of people toasting one another it might not be the quietest place to stay. Airbnb has taken to offering its clients professional photography recognizing that homemade shots do not always do a place justice. Pricing on all sites is driven by supply and demand. Sometimes it’s cheaper to book through a site, at times it is the same or there is a slight surcharge. I remember being snowed in and walking into a hotel in Brun, Czech Republic. After being told their rack rate I checked the price on Booking.com on my smartphone and made an internet reservation for a lower price while standing at their front desk. The grumpy clerk got even with me by giving me a room on the highest floor as far from the elevator as possible, despite the place being almost empty.
But these apps are also victims of their own success. Recognizing their profitability, the field of accommodation bookings is becoming more crowded every year. Sites like TripAdvisor are now offering reservations for places to stay. But AirBnb is retaliating by adding booking sites for ‘Experiences’ which is a direct encroachment on the territory of TripAdvisor and local tour operators. But it is also an opportunity to broaden the base of locals benefiting from tourism dollars. Even the savvier travel bloggers are now offering direct links to the places they review, usually pocketing a fee in return for clicks. Other share economy apps such as Uber, Lyft and Taxify are making sure that travelers get to their booked places, putting old fashioned taxi touts, trying to hijack to dodgy places where they earn a commission, out of business.
All of this is just the beginning of a totally re-engineered world of hospitality!
