My First Airbnb Experience – Review

As some of you may be aware reading my previous posts that I stayed in an Airbnb for the very first time during my weekend away at Dublin.

I initially had reservations when I made my booking. My older bro told me about his negative experiences with Airbnb such as multiple cancellations and double bookings and advised me AGAINST . It was so contrary to the overwhelmingly positive reviews from other travellers on the world wide web.

Naturally my head was thrown in doubt but everyone’s life experiences are different and decided to go for it. If the Airbnb stay isn’t go well it was 100% on me.

Hosts and Hospitality

Thankfully that was far from the case, from the moment I was wondering around the streets looking for where exactly my accommodation was to the very last footsteps out of their place. I the. I met Shay, one of my two Airbnb hosts, when he spotted and called out for me before I was starting to walk like a headless chicken looking for his place. I then met Margaret, my other Airbnb host, who was literally just prepping my room as I walked in.

The whole situation was like I had been away for years and my own mum was cleaning my bedroom and setting it back to how it was before I took off for a long and my dad couldn’t wait for me to get back after a very long time. The feeling I had was one of being welcomed and noticed.

Throughout my whole visit Shay and Margaret were very friendly and helpful. They always took time to make me feel at home and give me the low down on the hotspots in Dublin. This was much like my B&B hosts at Naples and to see that kind of consistency was reassuring.

They were both well-educated about their local area and they made sure I understood Beaumont and Gaelic culture more than I did when returning to the UK compared to when I arrived in Ireland. It’s great that they taught me about Beaumont because the more rural, surburban areas of cities [your Beaumonts for example] rarely get the recognition they deserve from travellers/tourists (I’m saying it with my chest) and sometimes I am guility of the same thing too so it’s nice to be able to go away and at least communicate it to everyone else.

Fun fact: Airbnb is Based in Dublin.

Bedroom

My sleep for the one night I stayed was amazing! Had no trouble falling asleep. The mattress and beddings were clean and immaculate. No complaints whatsoever and proving that the rush Margaret was in for resetting the duvets and beddings was well worth it.

It’s roomy enough to have all your bedroom essentials fitted  and there was a sense the the room belonged to me . Without saying much about my bedroom at home (which I’m grateful for), I’d even go as far as to say it’s the kind of bedroom I’d ideally want to have myself: work desk with a chair, massive book shelves, carpeted flooring etc. There was also a plug extension available so it was a nice safety to have in case I had left my travel adaptor at home.

If there was one issue, and it’s very small, it was the fact suddenly the WiFi cut off from 11:30 in the night. Possibly cos the family switch off everything from the mains around that time daily to reduce costs on electricity bills and be more economical so I understand. I’m here for it!

Final Word

Personally it was always going to feel a bit strange and anxious staying in the home of a stranger for the first time in my life, not counting flat shares at Uni and as part of summer camp jobs. However my first Airbnb experience was a resounding success.

Going back and thinking about my bro’s experiences, this is an example of never perceiving that one’s life experience is like the bible or quran on someone or something. It may have just been a string of bad luck he had with them.

Rating out of 10: 9.5/10

You or a friend can get £25 off your first booking with Airbnb if yourself or them sign up to it via the link here or Airbnb image at the bottom of the post.

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Johnny | Johnny’s Traventures