I’m sorry, I literally cannot stop laughing. Those life sized people & horse are too much! The property itself looks amazing, but I could never.
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It’s something! Looks like they at least got rid of the Joe Paterno memorabilia
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I think they are often mimicking how photos are listed in a real estate listing. Front of house, first floor, upper floor, basement, outside.
Never too many photos for me! I really want to see all it has to offer - or doesn’t!
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Apparently the quote system won’t work for me. But @1214mom mom says
“Plus, the basement was all decked out in Penn State stuff, included that related to the coach who was really bad (sorry, I’m not a sports person and can’t remember his name). It was really kind of creepy.”
That was my reference to Joe Paterno, the disgraced coach of Penn State. The life size cut out looks like Derek Jeter who was a baseball player for the New York Yankees.
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It’s changed since we were there. Used to be tons of Penn State stuff in there.
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I’m sports illiterate so one sports person looks like all the others to me, but I truly appreciate the lay down - I’ve heard of Derek Jeeter is but I couldn’t pick him out in a line up. The other guy…nope.
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All we care about are the views and location. I don’t give a hoot about any of the small stuff in the place TBH - sheets, ants, artwork on the wall, etc. I would care if snakes were inside or abundant outside, but that’s about it. Bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, typical bugs (prefer those to pesticides actually) all can be dealt with as needed. We don’t watch TV, so don’t even need one of those.
If there’s no view or location we like, we’ll skip over the place.
From the rating it seems like a lot of people like the Gettysburg place.
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“Guests should not have to do unreasonable checkout tasks such as stripping the beds, doing the laundry, or vacuuming when leaving their Airbnb,” the company said in its news release. “But we think it’s reasonable to ask guests to turn off the lights, throw food in the trash, and lock the door — just like they would when leaving their own home.”
Gift link
https://wapo.st/3gYSgzI
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@oldmom4896 Thanks for sharing the article.
"Airbnb says that among active listings across the globe, 45 percent don’t charge a cleaning fee. " – I’ve never had a rental that didn’t charge a cleaning fee!
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Not sure if the link will work, but essentially the story says that applications for STR under the new San Diego rules were only half the cap (other than at Mission Beach). So no lottery needed for permits.
They aren’t sure why this is so. Theories are owners didn’t understand the new regulations so either didn’t bother or decided to rent long term instead. That would be good because creating more housing was one of the objectives.
It’s possible a large share of existing AirBnb’s are not privately owned and don’t meet the new regs. This is also good if it releases more properties into the real estate market. Although maybe not so good for vacationers!
We stayed at a couple of VRBO properties for a month apiece when we were checking out San Diego. The first one was ok except for the weird floor plan and excessive spiderwebs. The sunset views were fabulous, however. The second was fine except for the ant invasion. But it was only a block from the Del Mar Beach.
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One thing to keep in mind: make sure the “neighborhood” is close to what you want to see. We have some friends who learned this the hard way in Paris. They found a cute house on Air BnB, but it was a long way from all the main sites. So, it pays to check and double check where the place is actually located.
We stayed in an Air BnB that required a background check and an interview with the owner. That way they could do the best they could to make sure the guests would be respectful of the neighborhood.
I can’t imagine NOT knowing where something I was considering renting is. You may not know the exact address on AIRBNB but you can def see very close location .
Sometimes I think people just don’t spend enough time examine a listing, reading reviews, checking the map, reading amenities, restrictions etc - you could test me on a listing once I’m ready to book!
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Same!
I’m currently staying in a extended family owned vacation home that is rented out as a short term rental. I’m looking at the house through the eyes of this thread. Definitely needs more lighting.
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I think the purpose of the trip and what we will be doing on the trip impacts what my requirements for a place are. The price of the place also matters.
For example, husband and I got a great deal on a place in San Diego a couple of years ago, and we knew it was by no means perfect, but we stayed there anyway (in this case it was a timeshare property, but would have been the same for AirBNB). Same for a last minute trip to Las Vegas.
But when we go to Hawaii, we want a place on the water, with a view of said water, with either a beach or pool close by (Not all waterfront properties are on the beach). We don’t cook anything fancy, but need basic kitchen appliances and dishes.
When we have family reunion type trips, where we plan to spend a lot of time hanging out at the place, we want plenty of space for us to all eat and hang out together, both inside and outside. We also want enough bedrooms/bathrooms to easily accommodate us, and a kitchen that has what you need to cook and serve lots of people. If it’s a city locale, we want to be within walking distance of places we want to go. If it’s farther out, we need parking for several cars.
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Same with me! Is it a good price or could I stay at a fun, nice hotel for less or the same price? Is it in a good location that is close to everything I want to see and do? Is it in a safe location? It also depends on where we’re going for vacation and what kind of vacation I want to have.
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I always do a reverse image search and can usually find the address of the properties, either from local rental operations or sale listings. My preference is to book locally. It’s worth looking into whether the area you want to rent in has a management company. The total cost is usually lower since you can avoid some of the fees.
That being said, we’ve used AirBNB and VRBO all over the world and never had a bad experience. Kitchen equipment may be lacking and knives are never sharp (probably because they’re put in the dishwasher).
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On a trip to Europe with two other couples a few years ago, we rented airbnb-like apartments in Barcelona and Paris and a houseboat in Canal du Midi in the middle week. Surprisingly we all agreed that canal boat kitchen, though smallest in size, ranked best for contents and organization . Of the three, it was nicest for meal prep (when we “ate in”). It seems the Loca Boat company has a good list of essentials + niceties for their cabinets/drawers, and I suspect the inspect and restock if needed between renters.
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We just stayed at a nice VRBO in Nashville. There were no requirements for checkout (he said just leave it neat), and there was plenty of TP, paper towels, etc. for the time we were there. We did do all of the dishes, start the dishwasher, put the dirty towels in the bathroom, and “normal” stuff, but we didn’t take out trash, because we didn’t know where to take it.
An extra that I really liked was this VRBO had a Nespresso machine. I have a very nice espresso machine already, but I’m thinking of getting a Nespresso for my husband (he uses a machine I literally paid $10 for on a Macy’s special).