I recently had the good fortune of trying out what the SF startup Airbnb had to offer. The site allows people to rent a room or apartment to others in need of one, usually for a few days or a few weeks. I took a trip to Paris with my boyfriend, and he really wanted a kitchen. Vacation rentals are expensive and hotels weren’t quite the vibe we were after.
We hit up Airbnb and there were a ton of listings in Paris. We were won over by a place in the 11th Arrondissement with an incredible balcony. After setting up a profile we checked with the owner of the place, and within an hour she let us know that we could have her studio for the three nights we were going to be in town. The whole experience was surprisingly effortless.
Our host gave us directions to her studio and stuck around long enough after we got there just to tell us about good places in the neighborhood to eat. Everything was as described and because we had to meet the owner of the apartment face to face, I got the impression that there’s less funny business than the average apartment rental.
We would have loved to do it again in Brussels but the availability just wasn’t there. Hopefully, in a few more years, this useful service will go truly worldwide.