I’ve always been a hotel person.
There’s a kind of magic about hotels—not having to make your own bed is chief among them—that is difficult to match in other types of accommodation. Yet I also understand why they have their detractors. The cookie-cutter, box-style ethos, lifeless rooms lacking whimsy or personality, the strange monetization (am I lazy enough to pay $8 for those Pringles sitting atop the minibar?)
But those drawbacks aren’t generally egregious enough to drive me—like many others of my generation—to short-term rentals like Airbnb, although I see the appeal of them. Convivial spaces like kitchens and living rooms, yards, often with swimming pools (more on that later), plenty of free parking, a chance to “pretend like you live there” (although, admittedly, I’m not a fan of that either).
There have also been mounting complaints about Airbnb and other short-term vacation rentals. In late 2022, the company responded to the two big ones—that owners were often charging exorbitant cleaning fees, and that many also sprung “chores” for guests to do prior to checkout, adding insult to injury (why must I clean before the cleaning that I also paid for?)
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Hotels, for their part, have been more aggressive about highlighting their benefits compared to rentals.
The other complaint about short-term rentals—that they take housing out of inventory and keep housing costs high in already-expensive, in-demand destinations, Airbnb and the other vacation rental companies have been more vigorous in their pushback.
But, in January 2024, I planned to visit Palm Springs with some friends, and they’d found a good deal on a lovely-looking Airbnb close to the downtown shopping district. I needed some friend time, and I thought sharing an Airbnb where we could veg in a living room or by a pool would be perfect.
The place looked super cute–midcentury modern with a heated pool, and we’d each have our own bedroom.
But the day of arrival, there was a slight hiccup. The original property we had selected was taken out of service for maintenance, so we were reassigned to another house in the same neighborhood, which was larger. That wasn’t so bothersome. I equated that with a hotel room being put out of service. That’s comparable.
The new place wasn’t quite midcentury modern—more like early ‘90s adult film location shoot house, but it was comfortable and it had all the convivial areas we were looking for (naturally).
I was also initially impressed with the management company. Palm Springs has some pretty tight ordinances governing short-term rentals, as well as some pretty strict rules about noise—to the point where anything that can be heard outside your property line is verboten. They advised us to take conversations inside during the evening, because voices carry, and they have Airbnb’s auto-book feature turned off, requiring guests to send a little detail about their groups so they can check with the owners for approval.
Pooled Funds
Then I read the fine print about the heated pool. At both properties, there was a heated pool and hot tub advertised, but at the bottom of the listing they outlined that there were fees to heat them: $50 per day to heat to 82 degrees, $80 a day to heat to 85 degrees, and $125 a day to heat to 90 degrees—and a minimum charge for two days of heat.
I get it—pool heat’s expensive, and not everybody wants it. But so are building heat and air conditioning and for that matter, electricity. Do I also get a discount for keeping the lights turned off?
In hotels, this is a non-issue, and it’s one of the unspoken delights of staying in a hotel. Use all the hot water you want, light the room up like a Christmas tree, and keep the air conditioning nailed to 65 when it’s 90 outside—all for one single room rate. And pool heat’s included in the room rate—whether you use the pool or not.
A Non-Heated Discussion
Upon arrival at the unit we discovered another fun feature—the heater wasn’t working. While the pool heat issue is a philosophical one (we weren’t desperate to use the pool with highs in the 60s in Palm Springs that weekend in January) the issue of building heat was foundational—it’s a reasonable expectation for an accommodation that the heating and cooling systems work.
When we turned the thermostat to heat, we heard the igniter buzz buzz buzz behind the door, but it never turned on.
In my bedroom, there was a combination heater/air conditioner that was also not working (at least the heat wasn’t). So, for the first night, we bundled up and rode it out (yes, the desert gets cold on winter nights).
The next morning, Megan texted the management company for help, and we waited some time for a response. Meanwhile, while I was waiting for my coffee to brew (the management company provided some lovely coffee, by the way), I popped open the door to the HVAC system. I’m by no means an expert, but I noticed right away the gas hadn’t been turned on. So, I turned it on, and voila—the system started heating.
We didn’t think much more of it (problem solved, right?) until a property manager dropped by later the same evening. They wouldn’t be able to fix the heat, she said, so she was dropping by with an armful of extra blankets. We thanked her and she left, but had the heat not come on, this wouldn’t have been a satisfactory resolution.
The heat kicked back off later in the day, and then came on again by itself during the evening, but the issue remained that the management company had thrown up their hands in defeat, leaving us to deal with the phantom heater on our own.
Nits and Bits
There were also other issues we wouldn’t have encountered in a hotel. Many owner-run vacation rentals and independent B&Bs also have this same issue, but there’s something to be said about established hospitality brands having specific standards for linens. I’ve been in many a B&B or inn where the linens have been left in the rotation for too long, leaving rather ratty towels and thin sheets.
It’s a little-known fact that the “use-life” of hotel sheets and towels is typically less than six months because they’re laundered and dried and disinfected at high heat after each use, so they degrade pretty quickly. Smaller properties and rentals don’t use the same commercial laundry systems and tend not to rotate linens as frequently. It can be a negligible difference, particularly to guests unfamiliar with hotels, but for me, it’s a definite plus in the “hotel” column.
Another note—and maybe this was a roundabout amenity—but I also noticed all the previous users had left their streaming accounts logged in on the TV. I found myself wondering if “Kevin” was the one who had actually watched all those episodes of Vanderpump Rules in the streaming history, or if it had been a previous guest at the property. Some hotels also allow streaming—like Marriott does with Netflix—but the systems are configured to automatically log your account out upon checkout.
While this particular unit didn’t have weird check-out chores, there was a long list of items to cover in a lengthy welcome e-mail. The address, how to access the property (it took us some time to figure out that you had to hold the front door fast, otherwise the lock wouldn’t engage when it was time to leave), and that the garage was off-limits. In hotels, there’s not as much of a learning curve (except for that one light you can’t figure out how to turn off), because the rooms are more standard.
And finally, the shower amenities seemed a bit watered down. I’m not saying no hotel ever does this, but it’s just another one of the cost anxieties (like pool heat) that come with operating a lower number of units, that are quite frankly good watchouts when comparing hotel vs. vacation rental options.
A Happy Ending
After check-out, Megan e-mailed the management company, and they agreed that we shouldn’t have spent three days in a unit with sketchy heat, so they offered a refund equivalent to slightly less than one night of our stay. This is a pretty decent resolution for the situation, although it didn’t do much to change my mind about hotels, with their daily housekeeping, on-site, 24-hour front desks, brand-new sheets, and full-strength bath amenities.