thetrainfamilyOn our current European trip alone, we have stayed in 24 apartments that we have booked through (sponsored content) Booking.com or Airbnb. In addition, there are probably twice as many overnight stays on our previous trips. In all modesty, we would like to say that we have some experience in booking apartments. We have collected some good advice for you who are about to book an apartment through (sponsored content) booking.com or Airbnb.com:
– make sure you are either in good time or book at the last minute, as both can have a positive impact on the price. It’s a bit like plane tickets.
– aleays book apartments that can be canceled a few days before arrival. This applies particularly to round trips, such as ours. We have changed our route several times or simply found a better apartment for less money, and it is nice not to be tied down.
– search for fewer people than you actually are. Thereby you can save money. We are a family of five, but mostly book apartments for four people. Sometimes we get an extra cot put in for our 6 year old son and other times we make a bed for him on the floor.
– make sure the apartments have a washing machine if you are traveling for a long time and have some clothes with you. We mostly travel for longer periods at a time (up to 6 months) and don’t have that many clothes with us. A washing machine is therefore of great value. We have coped with washing clothes by hand, but it becomes a bit tiring in the long run to wash each other’s underpants that way.
– choose apartments that are centrally located or close to public transport (if you don’t have a car). We always travel by train and if that is not possible – by bus. It is therefore of great value that we can get directly to the apartment without having to walk far or have to take a taxi when we arrive at our new destination.
– make sure there is air conditioning if you are traveling in hot areas in the summer. We traveled in the Balkans this year and enjoyed the air conditioning until the month of November!
– Most importantly – go for apartments with good ratings from previous guests. Read carefully what previous guests have written. Sometimes the apartment may have received good reviews, but when you read what people have written, you get cold feet. There is a general tendency to write nicely about the landlord. Therefore please read between the lines. It is very easy to book apartments on both booking.com and Airbnb. On(sponsored content) booking.com you even earn points and when you have booked many apartments, you get a 10% discount. In both places, you can write reviews of the apartments, which future tenants can see. On Airbnb, landlords can also review tenants, which is visible to other tenants. We have only experienced nice and friendly landlords. Some have driven us to the train, others have given us fresh eggs, others have welcomed us with sweets for the children, etc.
