Staying an an Air b & b on your own, would you, have you ?

My daughter is an owner of a holiday let, which advertises on various platforms, including Airbnb. It is next door, but with a separate entrance off her drive, its own parking spaces, and a hedge between the gardens, so it is almost private. She does her best to keep out of their way so as not to encroach on their privacy. No question of snooping. But one set of guests left windows wide open when they left, so it was good she was on site.
One set of guests thought they could use her garden though! What a cheek. Another set were there for a wedding and they asked permission and paid extra to have photos taken in her garden.
The day before my daughter went on holiday she had a same day change over, and said it was the worst mess she had ever had to deal with. But that is another story.

To me it’d depend on how sociable (or not) you are. I think I’m relatively sociable but I wouldn’t want to have to engage with an AirBnB owner. I like my private space.

For the same reason I’d avoid holiday lets where the owner is next door, or anywhere near, and liable to be keeping an eye on us, so to speak.

I have just come back from a few days on my own in an Airbnb and it fitted my needs perfectly. It was a flat within a very short walk of the singing course I was on, and two minutes from an M& S food shop.
I could pop back when we had a break, have a rest, eat what I wanted, without having to wander round looking for somewhere. Especially useful for that late afternoon / early evening period when everywhere is closed.
There was one problem. I popped out early one morning to move my car( from a paid car park to free on street parking, with a residents permit supplied) and when Igot back, the key wouldn’t open the door! Fortunately I had my mobile with me, so I rang the owner, who, again, fortunately lived just 20mins away. She drove over, and her key wouldn’t work either. Thank goodness it wasn’t just me being stupid. She organised for a locksmith to come and change the lock, whilst I went off the my singing. She texted me when it was all sorted, and could not have been more helpful. There was a key safe to leave the new key for me.
I have decided I will now only stay either in a hotel which offers meals, or self catering. Airbnbs are fine, if you have the place to yourself. B and Bs can be lovely but you don’t have the same freedom of self catering. I did very little cooking, just used the microwave, but preferred that to eating out on my own in the evening. And then there is that tricky time when the cafés have all closed by 4 pm….. as in my recent thread.

I have never stayed in one on my own but I have stayed in them when I was walking the South West Coastal Path with my (adult) son. Most of the time, the owners did not live in the flat/house we stayed in but there was one odd place (in Plymouth) where we stayed in the house and the the lady owner disappeared up into the attic(she had an en suite up there so did not have to come down). We were just there one night and it was fine but did feel a bit odd!

For reasons I cannot fathom I feel uncomfortable at the thought of air bnb therefore have never taken the plunge. I have friends who use them regularly and swear by them. I use budget hotels if I'm going to be out a lot and something midstream if I might be less active.

No, definitely not. If I'm going away, on my , I prefer a hotel, or Premier Inn. Always had good service from them..

Although she advertises that the occupants will be alone in the house she sleeps in a tent in the garden.

I stayed in one where I worked out that the owner was kipping in her living room.
It wasn't advertised as sole use, tho, and there was another guest.

I use booking.com mostly, now. They have flats & houses for rent as well as B&Bs, hotels and hostels.
I'll shortly be staying in an ensuite room with large shared kitchen in student accommodation which is let to holidaymakers in summer.

I like that booking.com have a period when you can cancel with no penalty, on many properties.

I've stayed on my own in quite a few Airbnb places, often just a room in someone's home. They've always been fine but I've heard of others having poor experiences so I'm less keen now

My daughter had a really poor breakfast of the "in a bag" sort. Put overnight outside her bedroom door.
Read the comments wherever you're staying.

Gad you ate sorted bikergran
Hope you have a good trip.

aonk - I loathe the B&B hosts' tendency to want to fill you in with all the stuff you don't want to think about over breakfast!
They are generally way too chatty.
I have stayed in only six over the years and basically four were the same with their pushy local attractions and early morning conversations.
^ they don’t offer the privacy or flexibility of a hotel^ No! They don't! And not the freedom of self-catering either. I have totally given up on B&Bs.

Ok I'm sorted lol. Booked B n B in Scarborough just for one night "Sea View plus breakfast" £60 (was less without breakfast)

Thanks for all info about Air B n Bs : )

My DD has found a lovely one in Bowness (Windermere). It is a small apartment, not a house share of any description. She is newly divorced and sometimes needs to just get away. Air b&bs come in all shapes, types and sizes. Read the description carefully and check out reviews. Good luck

I only use hotels with good reviews. This is obviously more expensive so I have fewer trips. I’ve never used Airbnb but have stayed in some B and Bs. For me these don’t offer the privacy or flexibility of a hotel. In one B and B in Devon the owners were constantly recommending cafes, restaurants etc and seemed annoyed when we didn’t use them. Also the room only had skimpy white blinds so it was difficult to sleep with a street lamp outside. At breakfast we were offered a second cup of tea but only if we had it on the balcony as they wanted to clear away!

I (female, living on my own) have an Airbnb in my home. Bedroom with en-suite. I have had quite a few men on their own stay with me. No problems. I don’t think personally I would stay anywhere where I had to share bathroom facilities though

I have done aie BnB with my daughter and it was good value
nice clean accommodation on top floor in someones home. But I generally pref self contained accommodation with some where to make breakfast myself .The Airbnb booking platform fees have gone up and are only revealed when you go through the booking process just before you are asked to pay and have increased dramatically over last few years year I found the same self contained cottage was available at £200 a week cheaper on www. cottages.com than the exactly the same accommodation on airbnb site. Sites like booking.com also offer booking facilities for privately hosted accommodation now.

I've stayed alone in bnbs in the original sense - that is someone offering rooms in their own home; no en suite, eating with other guests if they had any. In one case the evening meal was eaten with the hosts which was a bit odd - luckily the food was good!

I’ve never stayed on my own but wouldn’t hesitate to.
We like the space and privacy you get with a self contained Airbnb flat or house.
Parking on site with a garden, no intrusive visits from the housekeeping staff, no small talk with hotel staff, no banging of doors on hotel corridors at all hours, no dogs, the list of positives is massive.
We do only stay with Super-hosts though and friends’ recommendations and read every review.

We let out a property for holidays and the agency we use advertise absolutely everywhere and we very often get Air B and B bookings. They get the place to themselves of course.

As a fairly new widow I would never stay with someone else, although not all air B&Bs involve staying in someone's home with them - some are self contained. I like hotels and will stick to them x

We live in Normandy and let two ensuite rooms through airbnb.
It is not allowed to use cameras anywhere in the accomodation.
All the places we have stayed including our own home have been run like any other B&B.

Bikergran your post reminds me of a teacher friend who said she always went away during holidays. Otherwise, she said with a look of horror, you find yourself painting the ceiling.

I've stayed in 3 Air B&Bs but they have been the whole property. Some AirBnBs are rooms in a person's home. Not for me though. Check reviews as they may give a clearer indication of the set up

We have stayed in lots of Air bnb's over the years. If on my own I would choose two of my favourites. One was a chalet in a family's garden with use of their pool and laundry room. (in Aus) Another near Oxford which was a loft conversion over a double garage. Not far from the main house which would feel safe having them nearby.

My sister and her husband have an Air B&B attached to their home, it is completely self contained like a small flat with a private entrance. They hardly interact with the guests unless they wish to. There are many kinds available, find one that suits your needs. Just because it says 'stay with John or Pauline and Geoff' for instance, it doesn't mean they are right there all the time.

Devongirl I agree, why not, but Air BNB is only one form of accommodation and there are so many other options, from B&Bs of all sizes, hotel, self catering accommodation and when deciding what accommodation to book anywhere there are so many factors to take into account.