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Thread: Air B&B

  1. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by rrich View Post
    If your visit is truly to San Francisco, my advice would be to stay in the East Bay that is convenient to BART. Bart will take you into downtown very easily. Parking in San Francisco is almost impossible and very expensive.

    I've always felt more comfortable staying in a hotel rather than in someone's home, even that of a friend or co-worker.
    Thanks for the heads up rrich. We were looking around the Oakland area anyway. I won’t be driving around San Francisco either.

    TT
    Learning to make big bits of wood smaller......

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  3. #17
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    We have been Air BnB hosts and have never had any problems with guests. In fact we have Super host status.

    We have also used Air BnB in the States and Canada as well as here in Australia. Never ha a problem.

    Best part is the dollars saved!!

    It all boils down to thorough research.

  4. #18
    rrich Guest

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    My experience with Oakland is not good. I was sent there for training. The hotel (Holiday Inn) was across the street from the football stadium. My room had been broken into at one time another as evidenced by the damage to the door jamb. I left nothing of value in the room. On another visit I had to go to one of the company equipment sites in downtown Oakland.

    I'm from (Originally) Brooklyn, New York. The term "A cop (Police officer) on every corner means, at the intersection of two busy streets there is a 'Cop at every corner' means at an intersection of two streets there is a cop directing traffic and generally keeping pedestrians under control. In Oakland 'A cop on every corner' means four or five cops, one directing traffic and four controlling the pedestrians. This was mid day and not after dark.

    I'm from Brooklyn, as I've said. I've driven (rental car) through Oakland. Oakland is the only place that I've ever deliberately locked all the doors of the car. My advice is to find lodging in the east bay that is walking distance to BART. (Bay Area Rapid Transit) If not walking distance, then a short hotel shuttle or taxi ride.

  5. #19
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    Some OK, some not so, several bad experiences.

    On one occasion, we couldn't get into the property & the contact details we had been given had been changed, we wasted an afternoon/evening of our holiday just trying to get into our accommodation.

    On more than one occasion we have had the booking canceled, once was after it was confirmed & paid for & we had to then go through a rigmarole to get or money back.

    Then we lost $1000 on the last booking & won't go near them ever again.

    Something went wrong on the web site while we were doing a booking & we ended up booked into the wrong place & they would NOT give our money back.

    They are crap to deal with if you have a problem, you lose, they win, no compensation.

    We use Booking.com now, they don't take the money off your card until after you have checked in & sometimes they don't even take it until after you check out.

    I would much rather use Booking.com than ScareBNB.

    ScareBNB bought themselves a $1000 worth of negative advertising from me.
    Cliff.
    If you find a post of mine that is missing a pic that you'd like to see, let me know & I'll see if I can find a copy.

  6. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cliff Rogers View Post
    Some OK, some not so, several bad experiences.

    ScareBNB bought themselves a $1000 worth of negative advertising from me.
    Thanks for that Cliff. Was this overseas or in Aus?
    TT
    Learning to make big bits of wood smaller......

  7. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by rrich View Post
    My experience with Oakland is not good. I was sent there for training. The hotel (Holiday Inn) was across the street from the football stadium. My room had been broken into at one time another as evidenced by the damage to the door jamb. I left nothing of value in the room. On another visit I had to go to one of the company equipment sites in downtown Oakland.

    I'm from (Originally) Brooklyn, New York. The term "A cop (Police officer) on every corner means, at the intersection of two busy streets there is a 'Cop at every corner' means at an intersection of two streets there is a cop directing traffic and generally keeping pedestrians under control. In Oakland 'A cop on every corner' means four or five cops, one directing traffic and four controlling the pedestrians. This was mid day and not after dark.

    I'm from Brooklyn, as I've said. I've driven (rental car) through Oakland. Oakland is the only place that I've ever deliberately locked all the doors of the car. My advice is to find lodging in the east bay that is walking distance to BART. (Bay Area Rapid Transit) If not walking distance, then a short hotel shuttle or taxi ride.

    Thanks for that rrich. Nothing beats local knowledge. So is East Bay on the San Francisco side or the Oakland Int Airport side of the bay?

    TT
    Learning to make big bits of wood smaller......

  8. #22
    rrich Guest

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    Oakland and the Oakland airport are on the East side of the bay.

    The BART map
    https://www.bart.gov/stations

    There are nice hotels in Walnut Creek and Concord. Before I retired I tended to gravitate toward the better hotels. Now I have spoiled my wife and she prefers the mini suite rooms at the better hotels. There seems to be a lot more hotels in Concord than Walnut Creek. (Our office was in Walnut Creek,)

    Look the area over using Google Maps.

  9. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by rrich View Post
    Oakland and the Oakland airport are on the East side of the bay.

    The BART map
    https://www.bart.gov/stations

    There are nice hotels in Walnut Creek and Concord. Before I retired I tended to gravitate toward the better hotels. Now I have spoiled my wife and she prefers the mini suite rooms at the better hotels. There seems to be a lot more hotels in Concord than Walnut Creek. (Our office was in Walnut Creek,)

    Look the area over using Google Maps.
    Thanks for that Rich. I previously found Portland on that transit map and thought it was handy to a variety of lines. I’ll follow it up.

    TT
    Learning to make big bits of wood smaller......

  10. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cliff Rogers View Post
    Some OK, some not so, several bad experiences.

    On one occasion, we couldn't get into the property & the contact details we had been given had been changed, we wasted an afternoon/evening of our holiday just trying to get into our accommodation.

    On more than one occasion we have had the booking canceled, once was after it was confirmed & paid for & we had to then go through a rigmarole to get or money back.

    Then we lost $1000 on the last booking & won't go near them ever again.

    Something went wrong on the web site while we were doing a booking & we ended up booked into the wrong place & they would NOT give our money back.

    They are crap to deal with if you have a problem, you lose, they win, no compensation.

    We use Booking.com now, they don't take the money off your card until after you have checked in & sometimes they don't even take it until after you check out.

    I would much rather use Booking.com than ScareBNB.

    ScareBNB bought themselves a $1000 worth of negative advertising from me.
    You must have been most unlucky Cliff! We had an instance where the description did not meet the reality and contacted Air BnB by phone. They found an alternative
    for us immediately AND gave us a $50 voucher!

    We did have a bit of a strange host in Honolulu - found him with his ear to the keyhole. Reported this to Air BnB for which we received a thank you.

  11. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by Twisted Tenon View Post
    Thanks for that Cliff. Was this overseas or in Aus?
    TT
    Both, the money we lost was on a booking in Sydney.

    The cancellation after the deposit was paid was in Singapore.

    The other cancellations were Singapore and Sydney.

    The access problem was in London.

    Canada was reasonably good, we did have one place in Toronto that a bit dodgy, lots of weird rules.
    Things like...
    'Don't go in the front door, always use the side door.'
    'Don't speak to the security guards, if they ask where you are going, tell them you are visiting a friend.'
    'Don't order in food to be delivered.'
    'Don't go to the reception desk if you have a problem, email or text us.'
    It turns out it was an apartment in a secure complex that wasn't supposed to be sub-let.

    We've struck a few places that were sub-let when they weren't supposed to be, some of them were the normal residence of the person we were renting off & they would just move out & crash with a friend or family while we were there. No major problems with that, just a bit weird being in somebody's place with all their stuff still there.
    Cliff.
    If you find a post of mine that is missing a pic that you'd like to see, let me know & I'll see if I can find a copy.

  12. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by artme View Post
    ... contacted Air BnB by phone. ....
    How did you manage that?
    Cliff.
    If you find a post of mine that is missing a pic that you'd like to see, let me know & I'll see if I can find a copy.

  13. #27
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    We use airbnb every year when we travel to Japan. All good experiences thankfully. Much cheaper than hotels and with six of us its really then only way.

    More and more are really just private holiday rentals without any real 'love' in the place sadly, compared to the beginning of bnb.


  14. #28
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    Friends here in Hobart had airbnb'd thier place out only to find the clients had run ads in the local rag advertising the sexual services they were a offering. Not real love, as you had to buy it.

  15. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by artful bodger View Post
    Friends here in Hobart had airbnb'd thier place out only to find the clients had run ads in the local rag advertising the sexual services they were a offering. Not real love, as you had to buy it.
    Surely their sisters know the address?


  16. #30
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    For what it is worth here is my experience in Tasmania..

    We rented 3 properties, all self contained and separate.

    Hobart was a converted back of shed. Properly lined, air conditioned. Bed was on a mezanine floor with a steep ladder/stairs. Host specifically flagged this before, it was not a problem for us. $327.90 for 5 nights. Fantastic.

    Launceston was a granny flat in the front yard. It was on a main road, full of mosquitoes. Lots of problems. Nothing was flagged in the reviews nor by the host prior and now there is a dispute over marks on the carpet. The front yard was covered in something, rotting berries or bird droppings. I don't know. We had a pretty unhappy week, not helped by Launceston itself. Pretty awful place.

    This situation is not that big a deal but it really has opened my eyes to how badly this can go wrong. The review system is worse than useless. There are many accounts of airbnb deleting negative reviews, and there is an inbuilt incentive to not make waves. Instead of building trust the system is specifically misleading. I doubt very much that I will do it again. $386.70 for 7 nights

    The third place was wonderful also. Spare 3 bed house on a dairy farm and Oldina. We absolutely loved it and it was such a relief to have some space after the cramped situation at Launceston. $377.78 for 5 nights.

    So 2 out of 3 and cheap as chips. The problem is you are putting yourself in a vulnerable position. If it goes wrong you can be stuck with no where to stay with no notice. You might have someone trying to extort money from you, or there are claims of sexual assault some women have made against hosts, or anything in between. To me it's just too risky.

    I'm planning to build myself a new slide on camper for my ute and go touring with that. I know I'm a sicko but I really like caravan parks. I find almost everyone is friendly, on for a chat and often interesting.

    2c.
    I'm just a startled bunny in the headlights of life. L.J. Young.
    We live in a free country. We have freedom of choice. You can choose to agree with me, or you can choose to be wrong.
    Wait! No one told you your government was a sitcom?

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