Airbnb: It Worked for Us!

A few weeks ago I asked your opinions on Airbnb. I was in the middle of planning our vacation, and since we were going to be gone so many days, I wanted to see if I could maximize our budget with affordable lodging. We ended up using Airbnb three times, and we had a really positive experience in all three. (Three very different experiences, but three good ones!)

In case you are also new to Airbnb, I thought I'd tell you what we loved and what we learned from our time!

First Experience: Near Springfield, Illinois

Our first night out on our trip, we stayed just outside Springfield, Illinois, in an Airbnb that was relatively new. It was kind of a gamble for us, because it was so new, there weren't even any reviews to read yet. Gulp! I chose it because the hosts looked nice and I thought their profile info looked friendly. Thankfully this was one time the internet didn't lie and turn me into a Dateline special. They really were as wonderful as they promised to be.

This Airbnb space was in the basement of their country home. It was a walkout basement, so we had our own entrance, and they had a darling little living room set up in the main area. There was also a workout space, had we wanted to use an elliptical or treadmill. They had a pool table and a bunch of toys for guests with kids. It had a super comfortable bedroom, a nice bathroom, and even though they didn't have a built-in kitchen area, they had set up a little area to make a kitchen! Fridge, microwave, coffee pot, snacks, and even a little skillet!

The hosts were so, so nice. They met us when we arrived, invited us to make ourselves at home, wander through the garden, see the chickens, and they even brought us homemade blackberry pie that evening. We invited them to sit with us for a while, so we all ate pie together, and then the husband stayed to shoot pool with Ryan. (I don't know how, so he needed a buddy.) Before we left the next morning, the wife offered us some goods from their garden.

We loved feeling like we made new actual friends, hearing their story, and interacting with them. We absolutely felt like it was home and we belonged there. The little extra touches of a white noise machine in the bedroom, a handwritten note welcoming us, and the homemade pie offering set the Airbnb bar really high! And after a long day of travel and sightseeing, the quiet of the country was such a lovely way to end the day. Here are a few pictures from our time at the first stop:

Second Experience: Kansas City, Missouri

The second night of our vacation, we stayed in Kansas City, Missouri. This stop on our trip was something we wanted to do just to try to break up the long drive from home to Kansas. We've been through Kansas City before, but we had never stopped to explore it. Our time was spent in the middle of the city, in the Plaza area. Since we're not from there or remotely familiar with the area, we weren't sure what parts of Kansas City were safe to stay in. We also learned that hotel lodging in that part of the city is pretty pricey, and it just wasn't in our budget. So....Airbnb to the rescue!

This time we stayed in a guest room in a man's house, so we were right in the thick of his actual living quarters. There's a whole funny story with this one (too long for this post) but it ended up that he was out of town for the weekend, so the night we stayed, it was just us and a college intern who happened to be living there for the summer. (His room was on the first floor of the house, and ours was on the second. We did see him briefly, but we didn't have a ton of interaction with him.) We had a bedroom and bathroom for our use, and we happened to be there on a night when no one stayed in the room on the other side of the Jack-and-Jill bathroom, so we had complete privacy.

The house was in a very nice neighborhood and we felt safe there. He was within walking distance of the Plaza and canal, so we were able to just leave our car there and walk to everything we wanted to do that evening.

I felt a bit like an intruder, just roaming around this guy's house when he wasn't even home, storing my food in his fridge, and running in and out through his garage, but I'm sure if I did this more, I'd feel used to it. The winning moment of this experience? He had a rooftop deck that overlooked the city. Now that was a cool way to enjoy the sunset. And we know without a doubt we never would have been able to afford to stay in this part of the city aside from a place like this. Here are some photos from that experience!

Our Third Experience: Columbia, Missouri

After spending a few nights with family and friends, we returned to Airbnb life on our way home. We had spent a day at a water park in Kansas City (Kansas) and our next destination was in Monticello, Illinois. They're about six hours apart, so we decided to take a couple of evening hours after the water park to just drive, so we would be closer the next morning and not have to spend so many hours in the car. Columbia landed close to the two hour mark, so we found a place there!

Much like our first experience, this one was the basement of a home, and we did get to meet the host this time. (We arrived late, after dark, and the house number wasn't well marked, so we were struggling to know if we had the right place. She saw us outside and came to greet us. Her little space was very homey and cute. We had a bedroom, bathroom, living area, and kitchen (with full refrigerator, sink, and stove) at our disposal, and a private entrance out the back of her house.

This host was an artist, so the whole space was filled with art, and much of it was hers. (I know the paintings were hers because of her signature. I'm not sure if the photography was hers or not.) She had also left food for us in the fridge, so Ryan made us eggs for breakfast the next morning before we left. We were super tired and a bit burned from our day at the water park, so it was nice to have a little spot just to rest and recuperate! Other than seeing her when we arrived, we didn't have a chance to interact with this host much, but we were thankful for her home!

So here's what we loved:

* Affordability. Because we were just passing through and in most cases just needed a bed and shower, this was way more affordable for us than paying for a hotel room. In fact, for these three nights combined, we paid $188. I'm pretty sure we would have paid that (or more) for the night in downtown Kansas City alone!

* The experience. We loved meeting our hosts in Springfield. We loved the chance to be in the heart of downtown in Kansas City. We loved the unique space in Columbia. Hotels (though wonderful!!!) are awfully predictable. These three nights gave us the chance to experience something unique and new, and that was fun for us.

* Bang for our Buck. More than just being affordable, it was great to have (in two of the three places) basically entire homes at our disposal. We enjoyed all the comforts of home in each space.


And here's what we learned:

* We are whole space kind of people. This is probably more true of me than of Ryan. Though I wasn't scared or uncomfortable in the second home, it sure was nice to have the whole area to ourselves. Staying in a guest room probably won't be our first choice in the future, just because it wasn't as freeing to us.

* We really like it! While we probably won't abandon hotels entirely, I foresee this being a new way of travel for us. We liked it enough to go back over and over!


So there you go! The Shaffer Airbnb experience!