The AirBnB Bubble Burst ( Can Hotels Compete )

well we've been in big planning mode for a few trips actually specifically Portugal for this winter and we're also heading down to the USA very soon I know very exciting so that brings us to to today's topic which is hotels V Airbnb but before we get into this weighty subject we're ttin reor and we run a channel called this is our retirement because all the stories that we tell and our experiences is from our retirement and also I see you're sporting another wonderful t-shirt Norm yeah we're treating on Giant Tiger with' uh we we went to Marx Works Warehouse yes unbeknown to those they have Rock t-shirts they had a great selection and I've been after The Tragically hip t-shirt for you don't know how long and there it was yeah right on the Shelf the perfect one that you wanted hey no now we're having to pay big bucks for these ones not like Giant Tiger no we had to increase the budget didn't we we did so we were able to get a couple of really nice t-shirts there and tragically hip one of our favorite bands from Canada Hotel V BNB te oh this is quite quite a fiery topic Norm at the moment and it's kind of funny because if you remember um years back we used to really love Airbnb didn't we we were early adopters of their BNB because it had so many advantages over hotels yeah they were cheap they were great value and particularly one Norm I remember when we were in Edinburgh oh yeah was absolutely fantastic we were right in the heart of Edinburgh and we absolutely loved it that was a great trick we really loved the place we stayed in and we met the host and he was such a Charming gentleman and we had a great discussion with him he told us about his experiences and gave us recommendations and that was one of the advantages of Airbnb was meeting the host on checkin mhm but things have changed our preference now has has gone away from Airbnb primarily because of it's no longer cheaper no I think the prices are really skyrocketed compared to when we were looking before norm and another thing too is seems to be happening an awful lot is cancellations by them for no reason and we ourselves had that um we' booked a place in casai in Portugal we had the flights booked the crews booked everything and two days before we left the host just cancelled on us we were horrified weren't we we were um we were left high and dry now we did work with Airbnb to they found us somewhere else but the stress was awful oh it's was through the roof yeah and these cancellations weren't isolated to that we've had three cancellations in total I booked an Airbnb for a business trip to Toronto once again less than a week going there uh they cancelled saying that they needed the room for a relative well yeah and I think you'd actually paid for that one too no I had and the other sneaky trick that Airbnb hosts do to you is they say you have to cancel because it's a big black mark when you do that and they want that big black mark against your account not their account so they can keep their five star rating the other thing that we noticed especially in Portugal was a lot of the airbnbs didn't have heat or air included in the price they didn't have heat um we were looking at that for this coming trip and to be honest with you in January February March in Portugal it's great weather yeah but the evenings can get chilly and the type of construction in Portugal means that the Interiors are colder than the exteriors and we would flick on a heater every now and then yeah just to take the chill off in fact in all our past visits to Portugal we have used the heat all the time and it is really important and as Norm says a lot of the places we've just been looking at not only didn't have the unit those that had the unit were now then charging you for hydro and internet so that's a double whammy because actually Hydro P um prices have gone up really high in Portugal so you could get you could get quite a Big Bill at the end of your stay well at least €200 EUR yeah the other thing that we noticed and we've got our flights booked for Portugal so we we got those because the the early flights fill up quickly going from um Toronto so we're booked onto a a flight yes so we we want to secure the accommodation but on Airbnb if we book it we pay now so here we are October November time M wanting to go January February or March if you're arriving in February you've already paid for your Airbnb in October or November like three or four months before you're actually going to be there which we were starting to feel really uncomfortable about that that is really paying way too far in advance for something well we want the interest on our money we're not giving it to somebody else no that's very true how about those cleaning fees tin oh we notice that every quote we went on in had cleaning fees service fees in fact we had never seen so many fees and the one thing which is really strange and we did find that when we did stay in them is they expect you to do quite a bit of cleaning before you leave they want you to strip the beds take it all off put it in the washer um do all the garbage get rid of the garbage basically you actually are doing the cleaning job and then they charge you the cleaning fee for doing it as well isn't it which very much so and the other thing that we have found with the average Airbnb and we're not saying this is typical because there are some gorgeous airbnbs that are very well equipped and it's just like moving into somebody's home but the the ones that are more aimed with people who are investors who are just buying it it seems in Portugal they just go to Ikea and buy the absolute minimum we've been in airbnbs where there are no lamps it was just overhead lights oh yeah no pictures on the wall no coffee table um and the other thing is in the kitchen minimal utensils minimal pans um yeah I remember Norm that we'd been going out and buying little glasses and buying egg flippers and things like that cuz they just didn't have the things that we were used to and because we stay in an apartment to do our own cooking you really need these little things don't you you do indeed so how does the hotel Advantage stackup these are what you would term apart hotels yeah and we've stayed in them in Portugal in the USA in the UK uh that one in Edinburgh was an aparted Hotel um so one of the big things is that we can book that now today and for Portugal they're only asking for a €200 deposit and you pay the balance on a right in the US we've just booked a hotel that has an apartment uh for a long stay and they haven't asked for any money we pay when we arrive which we like that in fact we've actually split the trip to Portugal in three different places haven't we and um as Norm said one wanted a small deposit but the other two nothing we don't pay till we get there which we thought was great was really good yeah no installations in hotels they they don't have a relative coming in from out of town and uh and and throw you out we've never had that have we but another thing we really really like too is better security um we do feel a lot safer when we are staying in an apartment within a hotel um we really do because the hotel is invested in their own security so they do have cash cameras in the reception area in entrance ways um so they can monitor who's coming in um there's also an elevator that you have to get through many of the medium to Upper end hotels you have to have a room key card to operate the elevator otherwise it you just stand there and the doors open that's very true that is another big level of security is and then when you get to your apartment in the hotel there's a lock on the door and you're in a you're in a enclosed Corridor so there's many security steps before somebody can get to your room I think another thing too Norm is that we like that they have a safe in in the room too and whereas a lot of airbnbs wouldn't have a safe so you could leave your valuable stuff or just keep it somewhere safe we like that too CU we do travel with cameras because if you know our our um stock photography and we do travel with a laptop and when we're not using them we like to secure them in a safe and so that's another Advantage one thing you don't get in an Airbnb is daily cleaning or even if you're there for a month or two months you don't get clean towels or sheets that's down to you to find a washing machine yeah and a lot of the airbnbs don't actually have a washing machine in so that's the beauty of the hotel is they will change the towels daily and and sheets at least once a week sometimes twice a week and we really like that that somebody comes in and does it all so we don't have to do it and it's rather nice it's a nice Extra Touch and when we are in a long stay as we have been in Portugal in an apart hotel we were at one um we just asked them could you just come in every 3 days we didn't need sheets every day and the towels we can make last for maybe 2 or 3 days yeah so that was really good also in that apart Hotel the frying pan was a bit grungy so I said to the U very very uh nice Portuguese um room service person a woman uh didn't understand English but I showed her the frying pan and so she took that went away came back 5 minutes later with a brand new fineing pan that was awesome wasn't it that was in Airbnb no that was a really nice touch so also depending on the hotel and how much you paying even with an apartment Hotel you often can have breakfast included which is a a great advantage that is a plus in fact a couple of the places that we are staying in um we have breakfast included and um that is really nice it's kind of a bit of a treat isn't it to have breakfast yeah and it's just one less meal to uh to cook but if they if they're very repetitious like they are in the US where it's it's the same old little omelette and scrambled egg and sausage then you have your own kitchen and you can rustle something up more to your preference to get to get variety and if needs be you don't have to go every day if you prefer to cook sometimes in your own apartment then you can alternate go down and that's great gives you choice and of course uh what brings this makes Tina horror struck is that we do intermittent fasting every now and then so we don't eat breakfast and go through till lunch which uh Tina is not a fan of that oh actually that's what we're doing at the moment as we are filming this isn't it you'll probably hear our stomachs rumbling CU we haven't eaten anything yet so we're going to eat just before lunch which will be nice another plus two Norm is um the social aspect of staying within a hotel um a lot of them will have a bar um some will have a happy hour they'll certainly have areas where they have nice cozy chairs you could go down and sit and you know mingle with other guests if there are other people staying there that's kind of nice if you're on a long stay for like a month at a time it is um yeah we all have that uh urge to have social contact and once again you can meet fellow guests and have a drink and just pass away a few hours obviously in an Airbnb you're very much isolated from that the other really nice thing that is available and Tina loves this is a swimming pool oh yes or maybe a gym yes and in fact some of them will have um an outdoor pool if it's warm enough but a lot of them will have an indoor pool too so that means I can swim no matter what the weather's like outside which is kind of nice and on top of that you've got the loyalty points which we are collecting so whenever we stay at a hotel um we'll join their loyalty scheme just in case we stay again so we are collecting points because they go towards free nights so on this trip to the us we joined the Best Western loyalty program and by the time we come back from that we'll be a top tier member that's going to be awesome isn't it and get free nights in a hotel yeah and what we're going to do is cuz we're going to be staying in hotels going down and coming back we'll generally pick a hotel in one of the programs that we've got so they will add up and often when you're staying there they'll either upgrade you or give you some extra freebies or something while you're there so that kind of makes it fun while you're going to your vacation so we like that too we've had little goodie bags and on two of our lowy Point schemes Hilton and Marriott uh we'll get a both get a bottle of water for free as well all nice little touches aren't they so they the the thing with hotels and airbnbs they're they're pretty much the same thing they you can get a one-bedroom apartment in a hotel and you can get a one-bedroom apartment in Airbnb but our preference has gone away from Airbnb when you get your quote on Airbnb years ago it just used to be the the rent that the host charged there was always a cleaning fee but they were quite modest yeah and Airbnb took its cut from the rent that the host posted now you see the Airbnb has put their commission underneath that so you've got the what what the host wants what the cleaning fee and then that service fee seems to be airb B's uh commission and that's why they're more expensive we almost were being charged in Portugal $700 in cleaning and service fees just crazy wasn't it so we decided not to bother didn't we went back to our hotel idea and in the alav there there tons of these apart hotels just as there are in the USA and there's quite a few in the UK as well and I'm sure all over Europe MH so that's our tale of wo Hotel V Airbnb and why we don't stay at Airbnb anymore so we hope that everybody is staying safe and keeping well until the next time bye-bye [Music] bye-bye [Music]

Channel: This Is Our Retirement

Views: 21,649

Keywords: retire, retirement, retirement travel, retirees, this is our retirement, norm and tina, norm and tina retirement, airbnb, airbnb vs hotels, expensive airbnb, vacation rentals, aparthotels, aparthotels portugal, aparthotels the algarve, self catering vacations, vacation apartment rentals, Apartment Hotels Are They Beating AirBnB, hotels killing airbnb, Has The AirBnB Bubble Burst Can Hotels Compete, Airbnb, Airbnb crash, apart hotel, quitting airbnb, why i'm quitting ai

Id: UVlrbHRvmgA

Length: 17min 38sec (1058 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 18 2023