We travel a good amount. Both around the country and internationally. For five of us, hotels sometimes work, but can be cramped. For example, going to NYC, we generally stay at the downtown Conrad which gladly accepts five, but it’s $$. Some hotels have very limited room sizes and choices that aren’t crazy expensive, depending upon demand of course. Someplace else, lots of space and room choice may be far easier.
Our experiences with Airbnb have been decent. Its funny because I’ve seen the vrbo ads poking at the fact that when you use a vrbo you don’t have the owners around. In my experience, the Airbnb which have owners around have been the better ones. They aren’t nosy, you have someone knowledgeable nearby, they care more. The ones with an offsite (probably “investor”) owner tend to have more rules, less personable, etc. The thing to watch is the “cleaning fee” that they charge. We also recently had an extremely late cancellation in an international location. Very stressful. If we cancelled late we would lose all kinds of money. If the owner cancels, there is no penalty.
If you want to be moving fast, come and go, not worry about much, and not really spend time on the property, hotels are a good choice. If you want a decent experience with more amenities, intend to stay indoors at a location, and want more space, more to do, etc. then Airbnb type places are best.
