The most obvious travel must-have is Air BnB — I use this travel app often, specifically booking rooms in Costa Rica and a few more times locally in New York City and New Hampshire.
What I like about Air BnB is it’s often more affordable than hotels, especially in popular, tourist destinations.
The concept is this: Hosts can rent out a room, an apartment, a guest house, etc.
The hosts have a background check and you can filter the search categories, that’s if you want a room in a house (cheaper) or if you want to rent out an entire guest home, which would afford you some privacy and also allow you to share other rooms with those traveling with you.
You pick a place to “rent” through the app, and you use the app to contact the person and to also pay. Air BnB has good privacy policies, so the transaction is done there entirely.
It may seem bizarre to rent a room or home from a stranger for brief windows, but whenever I use Air BnB, the hosts have largely been friendly, and they provide great service because they’d like to get your 5-star review.
Another Air BnB perk: It’s more personal. Booking a room or a house from someone who lives in the travel destination also means I get great recommendations, including where to go and what to see, places to eat or perhaps areas to avoid.
That connection can sometimes be much stronger, with a real host, than staying in a hotel.
Air BnB also lets me read the reviews in advance and I can check the comments to see if pictures are realistic.
Once you’re done with your stay, you leave a review for the host, so you contribute to the community writing recommendations.
One caution: The hosts also review you.
So if you really want to let loose, a hotel might be a better choice. Sometimes, you may have to tip-toe around or be especially considerate. As long as you don’t do anything crazy, I’ve always received 5-star ratings, which sometimes could give you priorities in terms of booking.
MY PROMO CODE IF YOU BOOK: A $40 credit on your next trip:
LINK: www.airbnb.com/c/crystalb3287
Use the link to download the app and use my code for your $40 credit.
It won’t cost you anything, and I get future credits if you book or share the code.
