Stellar Views From The 33th Floor: An AirBnb Review
It’s as if my review in the Host’s page of the place I stayed in wasn’t long already, I went ahead and wrote a post about it. Haha! 😆 This post is for people like myself who endlessly Google around the internet for any written articles about their AirBnb experience to ease them in and make them comfortable of that idea. Maybe because up to this point you are still torn if you are going to do this (Essentially, the concept is still you staying in a stranger’s house, right? Personally this was my #1 concern haha and other shallow things tbh) or just banish all anxieties, fears and worries and just book in a boutique hotel or hostel.
I know it’s tempting to just book a place just by how it looks, but I’m fickle especially when I’m tight on money. I like to get my money’s worth so I was forced to really, really research. Also, I’m the least motivated when it comes to travel research so consider this a a big progress from doing any formal traveling plans other than following wherever my feet takes me.
First, I made a list of the place’s ‘must-haves’ so I don’t get distracted and waste time looking at other listings just because it’s pretty.
My Airbnb Choice Must-Haves
- Must be accessible to public transportation, easy to find and go to back and forth
- Must be close to the city or at least to a place I am familiar with
- Must have really nice views and in a nice neighborhood
- Must have flexible check in and out times
- Separate beds
- AC
- Solo/private bedroom with our own bathroom
- Must be the same type of place as I stayed in last time because IMHO that flat set the standards 😆
- BRIGHT NATURAL LIGHTING BIG WINDOWS YAS
- Hot shower water 😛
See, what did I tell you about picky? Thankfully, my list served its purpose because it quickly narrowed down my choices down to three. Got to save a lot of time there! In the end I went with this listing: Master room at the citrine condo.
Fast forward to our arrival, it took us hours before we got there partly because of me and my stupidity with directions even with a map. Thinking about it now, we probably should have gotten in a taxi instead of wasting energy walking for hours under the sun which probably was the cause of me relapsing weeks later (right now, actually).
There was miscommunication between me and the colleague of the host who patiently assisted me during the first day. Eventually, we were able to find a middle ground and held conversations through SMS instead. By the last day, I think I got the hang of understanding it. Cool. I’ll remember this for next time, should be helpful.
The place was a different from the photos in the ad, because it was literally a different master bedroom in a different unit. It was still nice, but deep inside I was a sad, upset and disappointed about this quick bait and switch tactic done to me. Also I was really expecting to see what was explicitly displayed in the ad in person and that was one of the important reasons why I chose it, otherwise what was the point of using those photos? I would have understood if I was notified of this days before we arrived, but to be told just when I reached the original building feels ridiculous.
Setting aside my fickleness and pessimism. On the bright side it had everything I wanted but a different looking bed..room less natural-lighted setting, smaller bathroom with awesome showers haha. Bed was shared with who I went with, but room is private and we were left alone literally no one talked to us the whole duration of the stay which was weird but maybe that’s normal for the flat owners. I got used to the casual Hi-hellos whenever you passed a stranger in their own home back here. Idk.
Like I said, the view from the windows outside the room is A+!! Let’s just look at the view to compensate for everything else and wag na maginarte. What the bedroom will be anyway is a place to put our stuff, sleep in and stay for a couple of days. 😛 Haha! So yeah, it turned out decent in the end.
