Has anyone ever stayed in the apartment of a stranger and paid for the room?

There is an article in the travel section of today's NY Times where visitors just do that. Tourists rent a room in someone's house, usually while they are there, for a fraction of the price of a hotel. It is not an apartment rental service, but a way for the owner to make some extra money

http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/07/18...tml?ref=travel

One on-line service they recommend is called AirBandB.com.

One SIL has immediately made plans to stay at one in Madrid this September. And we will be in Istanbul in October and are considering it

Any experience would be appreciated.

(I am also going to post this on the Lounge.)

Thank you

It's not for me, but some people may be okay with it.

Not for me either, but I do admire people who like that kind of thing.

Renting rooms in people's houses has been done for decades in Great Britain; they're called B&Bs. I've stayed in B&Bs in England, Ireland, and Scotland. You can usually go to a local TI and they will find accommodations for you.

I've also rented rooms in private houses in the Czech Republic and several places in Austria but these lodgings were not billed as B&Bs even though breakfast was included in the room price.

They've all been very good experiences (except one in Austria that was not very clean). Often you have a shared bathroom but sometimes the rooms are en suite. All places I've stayed were houses rather than apartments.

there have been a few threads about AirBandB - on the USA and Europe boards. Some legit info but also a couple of posters who registered just to advertise their own places,

It seems to be "legit" but less reliable than vrbo and other sites that have at least some guarantee behind them. Seems a bit Cratgslist-ish to me. Not a way I'd book myself but fills a niche

We did it once in Stockholm (not our choice.) The only large city we didn't have a reservation. Went to the tourist office to book a room and there was a soccer game in town so there were lots of people waiting to book. A fellow approached us, said he was a translator and would rent us his guest room. We went to see it and rented it for a couple of nights. We were supposed to have use of the kitchen but he also rented the sofas in the living room to some folks and they stayed in the kitchen all evening. It was not a comfortable situation but we were out seeing the city most of the time so we survived. I would not do it again.

We've stayed in lots of zimmer freis and b and b's in France. Those were great experiences. CJ

Municipalities often make a lot of money from hotel "bed" taxes -- easier for the mayor to raise taxes on the tourists than on the residents, right? -- so some of these places don't last long in Italy. The established hotels complain to the authorities that they are required to impose taxes, carry insurance, etc, so of course they must charge more for their services.

People seem to be in something of a state of denial about the interest that mayors, in large cities and small, have in shutting down some of these operations, sometimes backed politically by wealthy hotel owners.

Most B&Bs and agriturismi in Italy are well-licensed and well known to the local government to be operating legitimately, and their prices are already so low, I don't think it is worth the extra risk to go under the radar for a room whose owner may not be not doing it legally.

More than once my wife and I have gone to chamber of commerce offices (syndicat d-initiatif) in small towns and cities in several European countries, made inquiries, booked a room, and been quite satisfied. The landlords were registered with the chamber and so represented repeat business. The chamber collected a small fee for their service. I read the NYT article. Mark me down as skeptical. Somehow I feel queasy about this kind of service. Unregulated, unsupervised, easy for shady characters to take advantage of tired, unsuspecting travelers. Maybe it's my suspicious nature?

Thank you all. The difference between this and a standard B & B is that a standard B & B is dedciated to visitors, and this is just one one room in someone's home.

The B&Bs I've stayed in have been in people's homes. They may rent out 1 or more rooms but they also live in the same building that they use for tourist room rentals. I've never stayed in a B&B where the owners lived elsewhere except for one time outside Bath where the owner lived in an adjacent building and came over to the guest building in the morning to cook breakfast.

We aren't talking about B&Bs or agri's. This is closer to couch surfing - a step up and for money, but the same concept.

In my post, that should have been >>Craigslist-ish<<

Agriturismi are a perfect example of lodgings created in cooperation with the local government, like I was referring to in my post.

A farmer can't even call the establishment an agriturismo unless it is producing food or wine.

An agriturismo that it is offering lodgings is not "dedicated to visitors". It is dedicated to farming.

The "difference" between the places Aduchamp's SIL is going to and a licensed establishment or one booked through a government-sponsored tourist office is that she has no idea who she is really dealing with, and no way of finding out, and if the owner of the property is pressured to quit renting before she arrives, she may have no place to sleep.

At least when somebody comes up to you at the train station and offers you a room you can see who you are talking to.

This article is talking about apartments and rooms and some of the top 40 on Airb&b are quite expensive - a very far cry from couch surfing. It's just the listings are all in one place rather than getting them from word of mouth, guide books, or local TIs which is how I've rented rooms in the past.

No - typically B&Bs are registered with tourist offices and there are some controls- at least there is a place to complain if there are problems.

Air B and B is just a no controls matching service - anybody can list anything there. It may exist or not. It may be as described or not. the owner may be an upstanding citizen - or engage in a variety of inappropriate activities.

If you choose to use this service I would insist on getting a significant amount of information in advance - including exact street address (look it up on google earth), photos of the accommodation and references from previous guests.

adrienne: I didn't mean they were actual couch surfing (like the famous scruffman of several recent threads). Of course, some are posh, and some not so much.

I meant couch surfing'ish' where one is sharing a house/unit/flat w/ a stranger contacted by word of mouth or that website. IMO it is very couch surfing-ish -- for money and probably a higher quality - but still very 'casual'.

There is absolutely NOTHING wrong w/ that--at all. But maybe I just don't get the point since 'real' B&Bs are so cheap in most parts of Europe.

Just because somebody charges a high price for something doesn't make it worth the price or less of a risk.

I'm sure Air B&B provides all the information up front you could ask for -- except the answer the question whether the owner is legally renting to you.

Air B&B has got a great deal going for itself here: They take from the owner a chunk of what you pay him or her. If the owner pulls the apartment, or your new landlord is visibly a creep and you walk right out the door without staying or paying, or you don't show, it's no skin off AIR's nose. They're just skimming off the top by giving the appearance that this thing is credible because they've created "social media" around it. It's like reading message board advice about travel. People think they are getting something "inside," so they base their travel plans on it.

I see your point, Janis. I'm sure people like the convenience of having so many options in one place on a web site and don't realize there are no controls over the listings.

What's the difference between listings on Airb&b and vrbo where the owners list their rental properties. Does vrbo have any controls or have any agency monitoring the rental listings?

adrienne: vrbo offers a guarantee, of at least some aspects of the rental quality/existence/price/etc. It is at the top of the website.

They didn't always have this, but started maybe 3 or 4 years ago.

Aduchamp, I read the piece with interest. Believe the writer was 26 years old. To each his own. I would rather have fewer nights in a good hotel than share a stranger's living quarters.

It is an interesting alternative. Since we have spent a lot of time in Spain there is a greater comfort. My SIL was also looking for a place were there was a presence of a woman.