> I’m writing to you from a home rental in France where we had to rent our sheets and towels.
Yes, that's a French thing, always has been - sorry if that's the first time the author went to France and rented a private flat there ...
> It was on the fifth floor of an apartment building and promised 180-degree views of the city below
Well, did that apartment had any reviews? Probably not. Did the owner had any other listings? Probably not either. But certainly, the apartment was cheaper than alternatives ...
> We just left a rental in Florence. There was a washer, but no dryer
Was that not clearly written on the airbnb listing? Plus, why would you even need a drier mid-June in Florence (when the temperature hovers between 30C and 40C during day time...) - must be an American thing somehow.
Well, I'm a full time nomad traveling 365 days a year. I don't always use Airbnb, sometimes I use booking.com for some week-ends. And sometimes I try to hit local platforms for much cheaper deals. The truth is that I either get gems or get partially scammed with offers better than they are (yes because on local platforms, there is no review of anything, just the promise of an agency at best or of a random local otherwise). I've more than 100 completed trip on Airbnb and never got scammed once - because well, I read the reviews, right, and use some common sense.
I'd love to see alternatives to Airbnb, but unfortunately there is nothing which comes even close.
> Yes, that's a French thing, always has been - sorry if that's the first time the author went to France and rented a private flat there ...
Not just in France, in Germany also not uncommon when renting a "Ferienwohnung". You usually also pay extra for cleaning if you stay for more than a few days. That's just how it works here, but of course it needs to be mentioned in the listing.
> Plus, why would you even need a drier mid-June in Florence (when the temperature hovers between 30C and 40C during day time...) - must be an American thing somehow.
That's indeed hilarious, but oh the horror of putting wet clothes on a drying rack. Driers are simply not that common over here. Electricity is expensive, it's not good for your clothes, plus driers are the number one electrical appliance for creating house fires, so no thank you.
Yes, that's a French thing, always has been - sorry if that's the first time the author went to France and rented a private flat there ..
This sounded wrong, so I asked my French expatriate friends and they're convinced you're smoking something strong. It's not normal to have to bring your own sheets and towels for a short-term stay in France, though it is normal for a longer-term stay.
I went another time to France some years ago and there wasn't anything either.
In both situations though, I asked the owner beforehand and made it clear that providing the linens was conditional for renting the apartment - it's not usual in France to provide linens, as weird as it seems.
But most hosts, especially the ones who care about reviews, will be accommodating.
Sure, you're a nomad, so you're used to how things work in other places, but a lot of people aren't, nor do know how to research local customs nor whom to ask before they arrive. I'm not a traveler, so if I suddenly did arrive in France, the whole bedding rental thing is a totally new concept that I'v never heard of before reading your comment. How would I even know to ask about that sort of thing, if my experience was entirely based on hotels, where that isn't a thing.
When you first started nomad-ding, how often did you get caught out by some custom you never heard of before?
By doing basic research on the entirely separate country and culture you're going to? Does everybody seriously just lack critical thinking and expect everyone else to pick up the slack now?
When I travel somewhere - especially somewhere I don't speak the language - I make sure I know things like basic customs, politeness, emergency numbers, unexpected laws, etc.
I'm French, I've been in hotels and AirBnBs all around the country and in many countries in Europe (Finland, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and France obviously).
About your question, in French hotels: 100% no. Obviously NOT, you don't have to come to the hotel with your own bed linen and whatnot. Hotels in France work exactly like anywhere else in Europe: you book it, you check in, you use the room, you check out, "ciao | bye bye | merci bonne journée" :3
In French AirBnBs (or "home rentals"), and in AirBnBs in Europe: it's a whole different story and it's so completely random. Owners make up rules and regulations, costs and additional costs.
I'm not talking about local 'tourist tax', but literally in some AirBnBs, you see a note when you arrive there: "if you touch that pile of towels, we charge 20€.", "If you leave any dishes to wash we charge 50€", etc. It's crazy in many ways: those costs are NOT announced beforehand (or never accurately), and the rules are completely wacky.
This is what the article is partly about, it has become a cash grabbing, tasteless experience, where greedy people with side hustles are not only destroying local housing prices, but also destroying the actual "(Air)BnB experience".
The conclusion could be "let's all go back to hotels", but this would be massively simplistic :(
> When [home rental marketplaces] started, it was kind of wonderful to be able to book somebody’s house or apartment. They cared about it. They left you gifts and flowers and long notes about the best little restaurants in the neighborhood.
> Now? I can’t remember when we were actually in somebody’s home. It’s always somebody’s side hustle. They own 10 of them and live six hours away and they don’t give a dead rodent about you. The decor is always Early Target. You got a complaint? Send an email and we’ll get back to you. Maybe by Thanksgiving.
The median room in these marketplaces is converging to the equivalent of a motel room, but without any services or amenities.
You're unlikely to get scammed, but if you want something nice, you must pay up... or stay in a hotel.
The problem is owners rent out their space and try to do all the work from afar. Cleaners are rented and just do what their told. No one really inspects the place between guests. No one maintains anything. It's just maximal profit extraction which turns everything into crap.
I would never rent out my home or extra dwelling without greeting the guests in person, being available for assistance, and maybe even showing up at checkout time.
which is why your investment is not going to pay out. Or at least that's what the article is suggesting. You (and the rest) offered a crap experience. Customers wised up. They're no longer renting.
parent post reminded me of my experience living in Hilton Head and working for the local internet provider.
Storms and loss of power are really common in the area and we would get a flood of really belligerent callers with the following circumstances:
- Lives over 1000 miles away out of state
- Owns multiple AirBNBs in the area
- The locks for their doors required an internet connection and power to function
- They didn't have a local property manager
- Their guests were locked out
It was hilarious because they were screaming and hollering and demanding immediate service from the internet company to get their locks fixed because they were too cheap to hire a local to service the properties and reboot the fiber ONT after a power outage.
And this was about 15 years ago, so I think the "recent decline" of AirBNB is exaggerated and that these owners have always been on the platform, they're now just the _only_ owners on the platform.
Quite the take. We do one of the units in our apartment building as an AirBnB. It makes a bit more per month than just renting would.
It is cleaned and inspected very thoroughly between guests. We wouldn't do it if we couldn't offer great service.
Certainly would never want to show up at check-in/check-out though, and it'd probably freak me out if someone did that at one we stayed at. It's not a hotel and it doesn't need to be treated as one.
You say that now, but if you put yourself in the shoes of someone who had been doing that for a while, and likely has multiple properties, then you would very likely be singing a different tune.
If a hotel could offer me a house like experience I would definitely be interested.
I agree with the sentiment that Airbnbs are weird with the checkout chores and lack of regulation, but when traveling with friends I find it so much more enjoyable to be able to hang out and cook dinner and watch TV together rather than all being cramped in one couple's studio sitting on the beds and eating out every meal.
> I can’t remember when we were actually in somebody’s home. It’s always somebody’s side hustle. They own 10 of them and live six hours away and they don’t give a dead rodent about you. The decor is always Early Target. You got a complaint? Send an email and we’ll get back to you. Maybe by Thanksgiving.
Perhaps “staying in someone’s home” doesn’t scale? For example, there’s a point at which buying extra insurance feels necessary, maybe not for an occasional visit from a family friend, or even a friend of a friend, but there is a point.
I used to be a devout Airbnb user. I never had a horror story on Airbnb, and I certainly had a lot of very unique and interesting experiences that I've never been able to replicate in a hotel environment. But ultimately I gave up on it because there was too much friction. Strict check-in hours, strict check-out hours, a list of chores to complete before you leave, not possible to check in at odd hours, nowhere to store your luggage, spotty wifi, the list goes on. Previously I defended this friction with the economic argument - hey, at least it's a lot cheaper than a hotel - but Airbnb no longer wins on cost.
That being said, I still use Airbnb but now only for very specific cases - e.g., some friends and I rented a large lakefront cabin earlier this year. Previously it was my first choice and now it is my last.
(I admit as well that I travel very regularly - around 100 nights so far in 2025 - and that a casual traveller may, understandably, have a different perspective)
My family used VRBO to get houses for winter vacations where we can bring other families and go skiing. With careful research and judicious planning it has turned out okay for last decade of winters. Because it is skiing and usually remote, and we like to cook, we always bring food. To support this, we pack staples necessary for cooking (oil, vinegar, spices) and bring our tools (knives, snack bags, containers for leftovers) because you can't predict if the places will have those. We've been lucky in our experiences that about 60% had those, but not always, so being prepared is great. Planning and setting low but steady expectations is always important.
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> I’m writing to you from a home rental in France where we had to rent our sheets and towels.
Yes, that's a French thing, always has been - sorry if that's the first time the author went to France and rented a private flat there ...
> It was on the fifth floor of an apartment building and promised 180-degree views of the city below
Well, did that apartment had any reviews? Probably not. Did the owner had any other listings? Probably not either. But certainly, the apartment was cheaper than alternatives ...
> We just left a rental in Florence. There was a washer, but no dryer
Was that not clearly written on the airbnb listing? Plus, why would you even need a drier mid-June in Florence (when the temperature hovers between 30C and 40C during day time...) - must be an American thing somehow.
Well, I'm a full time nomad traveling 365 days a year. I don't always use Airbnb, sometimes I use booking.com for some week-ends. And sometimes I try to hit local platforms for much cheaper deals. The truth is that I either get gems or get partially scammed with offers better than they are (yes because on local platforms, there is no review of anything, just the promise of an agency at best or of a random local otherwise). I've more than 100 completed trip on Airbnb and never got scammed once - because well, I read the reviews, right, and use some common sense.
I'd love to see alternatives to Airbnb, but unfortunately there is nothing which comes even close.
Not just in France, in Germany also not uncommon when renting a "Ferienwohnung". You usually also pay extra for cleaning if you stay for more than a few days. That's just how it works here, but of course it needs to be mentioned in the listing.
> Plus, why would you even need a drier mid-June in Florence (when the temperature hovers between 30C and 40C during day time...) - must be an American thing somehow.
That's indeed hilarious, but oh the horror of putting wet clothes on a drying rack. Driers are simply not that common over here. Electricity is expensive, it's not good for your clothes, plus driers are the number one electrical appliance for creating house fires, so no thank you.
This sounded wrong, so I asked my French expatriate friends and they're convinced you're smoking something strong. It's not normal to have to bring your own sheets and towels for a short-term stay in France, though it is normal for a longer-term stay.
I went another time to France some years ago and there wasn't anything either.
In both situations though, I asked the owner beforehand and made it clear that providing the linens was conditional for renting the apartment - it's not usual in France to provide linens, as weird as it seems.
But most hosts, especially the ones who care about reviews, will be accommodating.
When you first started nomad-ding, how often did you get caught out by some custom you never heard of before?
When I travel somewhere - especially somewhere I don't speak the language - I make sure I know things like basic customs, politeness, emergency numbers, unexpected laws, etc.
You are a guest in their home.
Is this a common occurrence in French hotels?
About your question, in French hotels: 100% no. Obviously NOT, you don't have to come to the hotel with your own bed linen and whatnot. Hotels in France work exactly like anywhere else in Europe: you book it, you check in, you use the room, you check out, "ciao | bye bye | merci bonne journée" :3
In French AirBnBs (or "home rentals"), and in AirBnBs in Europe: it's a whole different story and it's so completely random. Owners make up rules and regulations, costs and additional costs.
I'm not talking about local 'tourist tax', but literally in some AirBnBs, you see a note when you arrive there: "if you touch that pile of towels, we charge 20€.", "If you leave any dishes to wash we charge 50€", etc. It's crazy in many ways: those costs are NOT announced beforehand (or never accurately), and the rules are completely wacky.
This is what the article is partly about, it has become a cash grabbing, tasteless experience, where greedy people with side hustles are not only destroying local housing prices, but also destroying the actual "(Air)BnB experience".
The conclusion could be "let's all go back to hotels", but this would be massively simplistic :(
> When [home rental marketplaces] started, it was kind of wonderful to be able to book somebody’s house or apartment. They cared about it. They left you gifts and flowers and long notes about the best little restaurants in the neighborhood.
> Now? I can’t remember when we were actually in somebody’s home. It’s always somebody’s side hustle. They own 10 of them and live six hours away and they don’t give a dead rodent about you. The decor is always Early Target. You got a complaint? Send an email and we’ll get back to you. Maybe by Thanksgiving.
The median room in these marketplaces is converging to the equivalent of a motel room, but without any services or amenities.
You're unlikely to get scammed, but if you want something nice, you must pay up... or stay in a hotel.
I would never rent out my home or extra dwelling without greeting the guests in person, being available for assistance, and maybe even showing up at checkout time.
Availability for assistance is great, but otherwise I have zero desire to encounter you, as a “consumer”.
Storms and loss of power are really common in the area and we would get a flood of really belligerent callers with the following circumstances:
- Lives over 1000 miles away out of state
- Owns multiple AirBNBs in the area
- The locks for their doors required an internet connection and power to function
- They didn't have a local property manager
- Their guests were locked out
It was hilarious because they were screaming and hollering and demanding immediate service from the internet company to get their locks fixed because they were too cheap to hire a local to service the properties and reboot the fiber ONT after a power outage.
And this was about 15 years ago, so I think the "recent decline" of AirBNB is exaggerated and that these owners have always been on the platform, they're now just the _only_ owners on the platform.
It is cleaned and inspected very thoroughly between guests. We wouldn't do it if we couldn't offer great service.
Certainly would never want to show up at check-in/check-out though, and it'd probably freak me out if someone did that at one we stayed at. It's not a hotel and it doesn't need to be treated as one.
Welcome to capitalism, it enshittifed hospitality (among anything else it touched)
I agree with the sentiment that Airbnbs are weird with the checkout chores and lack of regulation, but when traveling with friends I find it so much more enjoyable to be able to hang out and cook dinner and watch TV together rather than all being cramped in one couple's studio sitting on the beds and eating out every meal.
> I can’t remember when we were actually in somebody’s home. It’s always somebody’s side hustle. They own 10 of them and live six hours away and they don’t give a dead rodent about you. The decor is always Early Target. You got a complaint? Send an email and we’ll get back to you. Maybe by Thanksgiving.
Perhaps “staying in someone’s home” doesn’t scale? For example, there’s a point at which buying extra insurance feels necessary, maybe not for an occasional visit from a family friend, or even a friend of a friend, but there is a point.
That being said, I still use Airbnb but now only for very specific cases - e.g., some friends and I rented a large lakefront cabin earlier this year. Previously it was my first choice and now it is my last.
(I admit as well that I travel very regularly - around 100 nights so far in 2025 - and that a casual traveller may, understandably, have a different perspective)
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