We are here to settle the debate one and for all: Is it better to stay in an Airbnb, a hotel, a hostel, or a timeshare? There are so many options and it depends on the place, who you’re going with, what you’ll be doing, and what you budget. If you’re comparing Airbnb vs hotel or timeshare vs hotel then this is the episode you need to weigh what’s best for your trip.

In this episode we go over the pros and cons of each type of accommodation, amenities and experiences you can expect in each, share stories from our experiences at all four, and recommend the best accommodations for the different kinds of trips you might take.

Hotel, Airbnb, Hostel or Timeshare – What’s Better?- Episode Transcript

4 (54s):
Welcome to this week’s episode of the Travel Squad Podcast.

1 (58s):
Today, we are going to break down the pros and cons of staying at a hotel, Airbnb, timeshare, and Hostel. We’re also going to give you a lot of tips on how we researched these locations and some funny stories and insight of our experiences along the way.

3 (1m 11s):
Hotels can be such an experience. You know, I love the robes and the slippers and the AC, but so can Rumi was strangers and beer pong until the late hours of the night and a younger crowd screaming at the bar right outside of your Hostel room. But hotels, hostels, Airbnbs, timeshares, they all bring something unique and special to your trip. And depending on who you’re with, how long you’re going, where you’re going, the situation will kind of determine which one’s best for your trip.

2 (1m 40s):
So I used to do a lot of traveling on my own and my early twenties, and I’ve stayed at my very fair share of hostels. So I’m looking forward to discussing that because let me tell you, I am going to talk about the pros. There’s a lot of pros about staying at a hostel and at the same time, I’ve reached that age where I’m just so over that shit who stayed at a hostel here, me,

4 (1m 60s):
Me, you stayed at all. Still y’all

2 (2m 1s):
Stayed in one, but have you stayed at one by yourself?

4 (2m 4s):
Negative, only squad ventures.

2 (2m 7s):
Okay. See you that changes the game up a little bit. So I can’t wait to get into all of this.

4 (2m 10s):
Well, it’s perfect because hostels is first up that we’re going to talk about. However, I do want to say Zaina you have not convinced me otherwise to stay at a hostel outside of a squad trip, because I remember back to our Billy’s episode, you and Nicole were talking about a hostel called dirty McNasty, which I don’t know if that really seems like a place I’m like, oh yeah, I should stay there. So, you know, that’s some of the cons or pros maybe of a hostel is the name and what it brings to the table. Huh?

2 (2m 38s):
It’s a little bit of a wild card. You never know what you’re going to get.

4 (2m 41s):
Well, keeping with the hostels. Let’s talk about some of the pros though, cause I really don’t want to rag on them. They are a fun experience. One of the biggest pros is they are cheap and by cheap, I mean inexpensive in terms of cost-wise and they save the traveler, you a lot of money in the process,

3 (2m 58s):
Super affordable in, you can even in a lot of hostels volunteer to work there in exchange for your free stay. Like it’s that cheap?

1 (3m 7s):
Have you done that? I

3 (3m 8s):
Haven’t.

2 (3m 9s):
No, but you know what? When I used to travel through Europe and I was staying at hostels, you always saw help wanted for the different hostels. And so you’re right. I mean, it is a really amazing way to meet people while staying in one place and planting roots. But you know, like Jamal said super cheap and affordable. This is my early twenties. So if I were to be in my early twenties again, then hell yeah, I’m going to be staying at hostels. So it really is a great option when you are looking to save money.

4 (3m 35s):
Well, we did Hostel when we did squad trip and we’re staying in Cusco and we were excited about it for many reasons. One, because most people that were staying there were obviously going to go to Machu Picchu, just like us, regardless of they were going to hike it or take the train. So that’s the good thing about hostels is you get a specific type of traveler that has most likely shared and aligned interests in you on what you’re going to be doing while you’re there.

3 (3m 59s):
Does anybody remember the name of the hostel and Cusco that we stayed at

4 (4m 2s):
Marijuana I think is what it was called.

3 (4m 4s):
Yes. That was my first Hostel experience. And also my first like real international trip and what a great Hostel, that was super fun. It had hacky

1 (4m 15s):
Facts, ping pong, table

3 (4m 17s):
Bean bags to sit and drink the Coca Cola.

4 (4m 20s):
I think at night they had like beer pong competitions and things like that. So it really is a fun lively atmosphere, but that goes back to what you were saying earlier, Kim in the intro is that it really depends on what type of trip you’re trying to have, which will really dictate. What’s going to be better line for you Hostel hotel, Airbnb timeshare. And if you are a backpack, traveler or looking to meet like-minded people and share fun experiences with Hostel would be good for you. I see somebody here wanted to mention that this is a great place to meet romantic interests.

3 (4m 53s):
Okay. Do you have any stories of that from your early twenties?

2 (4m 56s):
I, you know, there was one time I was, oh shoot. Where was it? I think I was in Croatia. Yes. I was in Croatia because when I got there, I made friends with the girl who was working at the front desk. And so she was like, oh, well, you know what, I, right now I have you in a room with a German and another nationality. I don’t even remember. Right. But two different nationalities. So she’s like, do you want me to put you in that room? Or I can put you in the room with the three Spanish boys and

4 (5m 25s):
You wanted the Spaniards.

2 (5m 26s):
I was like, oh my God, put me in the room with the three Spanish. So she did that for me, which was really nice, but they ended up being boring and they just wanted to be on their computer the entire time. And I wasn’t really there to stay in the Hostel.

4 (5m 44s):
Sounds like they should have gotten a hotel.

2 (5m 47s):
Well, I mean, like they’re saving money, right. And if you’re more than one person, it’s not as bad. Right. But when you are by yourself, then you’re just meeting all those different people. Or I remember being in Paris once and I was meeting up with a girlfriend who was there with her sister. And so they were in their own place, but I stayed at a hostel and the hostel could fit up to six people in one room. And so the room that they put me in since I was all by myself, was with five other Polish girls. And they were so fun. And every time I ran into them, we were always laughing and just having fun. And they kept inviting me to go out with them. And I was like, I really, really would. But I’m, you know, I’m here with a friend and we’re just, you know, they’re with their dad. But anyways, like you can just always meet people.

2 (6m 28s):
And it’s a really good time.

3 (6m 29s):
Not only that, but they usually also sell different tours. So I know when we were in Cusco and we discovered our Hostel is selling tours to rainbow mountain, we got so excited and we jumped on that spontaneous trip. So it’s like experiences that weren’t in your plans that you discover through your Hostel is a big pro.

2 (6m 47s):
Yeah. Because the person who’s working the front desk knows that stuff. So you can always ask them

1 (6m 52s):
Yeah. Another pro and we didn’t even put this in the show notes. Like the Hostel we stayed at had a place to do laundry at a pretty reasonable price.

3 (6m 58s):
Right.

1 (6m 59s):
And so we were going to continue on our adventure to Machu Picchu and we had the opportunity to wash our laundry before we went, which was really cool.

3 (7m 6s):
We even rented a towel from them that we brought with us to Machu Picchu.

1 (7m 11s):
We did. And that’s true. Good memory. Did we

3 (7m 13s):
Share three ways to,

1 (7m 16s):
I may have shared it three ways.

4 (7m 18s):
That was that the towel for the shower experience on day three. Oh yeah.

1 (7m 22s):
Also another pro is some hostels offer free breakfast. And the Hostel that we stayed at in Cusco did offer a pretty legit free breakfast that had like oatmeal. Yeah. Breads

4 (7m 34s):
Some fruits, danishes. They had a lot of stuff. Your coffee, your teas, even outside of breakfast, they had a coffee and tea station that you can go to regularly. Obviously in that cafeteria area, then they will sell meals for lunch dinner. Those aren’t free. But if you stay at the right Hostel, Buckham hard and get that free breakfast buffet and you know, got to say it, we love the breakfast. Buffets, hostels are known to have them more often than not.

3 (7m 58s):
Then that one we stayed at also had a restaurant. And I remember being there when there was a soccer tournament of some kind on, and it was just packed full of people, drinking and cheering.

4 (8m 8s):
It was football, Kim football, football. We were in south America, got to call it director.

2 (8m 14s):
I’ve stayed at a hostel once where I was the only person there. Not even just like the room to myself, but the entire Hostel was to myself. Wow. Yeah. So this was in split Croatia and I showed up and the guy who was running it had a note on the door saying that I’m out to dinner with my family, but here’s my number for when you arrive. And I called him and he came running and he was actually, he was, I think, a few years older than me. And he was so fucking good looking. He was a really good looking guy. So anyways, no one was there. Like, this is an entire Hostel with maybe like 10 or 12 rooms, not a single person because I was there in off season. So he had to open it up for me. He gave me a room and he’s like, but no one else is here. So like, it was like legit.

2 (8m 55s):
The entire place was to myself.

1 (8m 56s):
That’s awesome. Yeah.

3 (8m 57s):
That’s a good pro to mention too is just because the room has six beds or eight beds or 12 beds doesn’t mean they’ll all be filled. I was in Thailand with a group of friends. There was four of us total and we had a room of six and no one ever used those other two beds. So we had the room to ourselves, private, just like it was a hotel, but like a fraction of the cost. Fuck them hard.

4 (9m 15s):
And while that can be a pro that’s a perfect segment into the cons because that can definitely be a con. We may not get so lucky. And then yes, you are sharing rooms with people with strangers, which if people are staying in hostels, they should be respectful. Usually most people are, but let’s not kid ourselves. Lots of people are not respectful. So you gotta be mindful of, Hey, can some of my stuff be stolen potentially. I mean, it’s the reality. It definitely can happen. And also too, you are sharing room with strangers. So maybe they’re snorers. Maybe they’re just night creatures and not respectful of quiet while you’re trying to sleep. So you have all those possibilities

3 (9m 51s):
Or they’re on a different schedule and they’re getting up for a hike to go at three in the morning, but you’re sleeping in or trying to sleep in that day.

2 (9m 57s):
I remember one night, I think this is somewhere in Europe and it was me and Nicole who you’ll know from beliefs and the Mexican wedding episode. And we’re trying to go to bed and the lights are off, but there was two people who would not stop talking. And it was in another language and it kept getting louder and louder. And so finally, one of the other guys who was there, turned on the light and he’s like, Hey, my role trying to sleep, trying to get it down a little. I can’t even do an

4 (10m 19s):
I like it Australia now more, keep it a download. I love how you did the Australia

2 (10m 25s):
Actually supposed to

7 (10m 26s):
Be brilliant

4 (10m 28s):
Australia. And all of us took it for Ozzy. I could speak for everybody else, but anyway, it was good, nonetheless.

1 (10m 34s):
Well, one thing Jamal did mention, and, and it’s a great squad. Tip Is you should have a lock. If you’re staying in a Hostel, a lot of hostels have an area where you can put your suitcase or your belongings. And then what you want to do is while you’re out, lock it up so nothing can get stuck.

4 (10m 51s):
Absolutely. And keeping with the shared room itself, hostels have shared restrooms. So do keep that in mind, some hostels, specifically rooms in particular, not all the rooms within the Hostel will have in suite restrooms. So those are obviously more expensive. So again, you get what you pay for otherwise you’re in communal unisex bathrooms for the most part, unless you have an ensuite restroom. When we were in Cusco, we were in a six person sleeping quarters that had a restroom specifically for us. So since we were four of the six, you know, it wasn’t too bad. I don’t want to say we were hogging it cause we definitely weren’t. But it definitely makes a difference when you’re the majority in the room. I feel like,

1 (11m 31s):
Yeah, we did splurge a little bit on the infant bathroom. And let me tell you something, let’s just think we were in Peru and there was so many rooms to that Hostel. If we didn’t have an in suite bathroom, you can’t flush toilet paper down the toilet. So you have to be mindful of how often they’re being cleaned. Because if you’re going, I mean, to be honest, if you’re going number two and everyone else is going, number two, all of that trash is piling up in the trash can because you can’t flush it down the

2 (12m 2s):
Toilet.

4 (12m 2s):
And that’s one thing just in general, maybe people don’t know the United States is one of the very few countries that allows you to flush toilet paper down. Lots of places, especially in Latin America or even places in Europe, no toilet paper down the toilet. So that’s what Brittany’s referencing. If you’re in that communal bathroom, she’s worried about the pile up. She mentioned that because she’s notorious for doing the pilot,

3 (12m 22s):
No pun intended.

2 (12m 26s):
Have you ever had to wake up in the middle of the night, three in the morning and you’re just like, man, I can not wait until the morning to pee. So you have to find the keys, lock the door and then walk all the way down the hall in your pajamas to go find a restroom.

4 (12m 37s):
Sounds like you know that. And it sounds like it sucks.

2 (12m 39s):
I know it very well. Yeah. But you know what? You get used to it.

1 (12m 42s):
You also know what it’s like to get up in the middle of the night and barf your brains out.

4 (12m 47s):
Luckily, we had an incident.

2 (12m 48s):
I was about to say, we splurged on that. Right? We got that in sweet.

3 (12m 51s):
That’s a good point though. That on suite really sometimes isn’t that much more than a, a dorm with no bathroom. So check the prices compare. And if you’re a backpacker who like every $5 counts and, you know, go with what you got to go with, but if you have a little wiggle room, then the en-suite usually isn’t a splurge up from the other rooms. Yeah.

2 (13m 11s):
And another thing that you should know about hostels, which could be a con is that it does have an age limit at some of them. So it is really that younger. Can you,

3 (13m 20s):
We believe that we are too old to stay at some hostels.

2 (13m 25s):
I

4 (13m 25s):
Remember

2 (13m 27s):
I remember being young in my early twenties and seeing those on hostelworld.com and I’m just like, oh man, that sucks. What are they going to do? But now that I am that age, I’m just like, okay, I know what they’re going to do. They’re going to get a fucking hotel. They’re going to be comfortable. But

4 (13m 41s):
That’s another good point because that brings us to another con is hostels can be loud because I don’t want to say everybody who’s there is really there to party. But again, you can see with some places having age requirements in general, you know, backpackers other cheap travelers and by cheap, I mean, you know, just looking to save a buck, exploring the city that they’re staying in a really good way. It can lead to a little bit more rowdiness. So if you’re looking for some peace and quiet, regardless of it’s in the room or not, you’re probably going to have noise on the outside with those beer pong tournaments. Some places even have movies that are watched in a communal area. And so you can hear it. So do keep that in mind. It is going to be a little bit more loud and not a lot of quiet.

3 (14m 20s):
Another con is that you’re not going to get your robe and your slippers at a hostel.

4 (14m 27s):
You can bring

1 (14m 27s):
Her on

3 (14m 28s):
Though. You can bring her around, but also you might not get even a towel. You might have to rent a towel or the soap dispensers and things like that. Basically the amenities are cut to a minimum to keep that Hostel price down.

2 (14m 40s):
And you want to bring your slippers for the shower too, cause you definitely don’t want to go barefoot into those shots.

4 (14m 45s):
Zane has walked out with athlete’s foot,

2 (14m 49s):
Not with athletes, but I brought my shoes. I may not always bring my gloves, but I brought my shoes for the showers,

4 (14m 57s):
But hostels are a really fun place to stay. They can have a lot of cons, but they can also have a lot of pros, some of the best search platforms in terms of finding the appropriate hostel for you will be hostelworld.com, hostel geeks.com and Hostel bookers.com.

3 (15m 14s):
Zayna when you booked that fabulous beach front Hostel, what platform did you use

2 (15m 20s):
That was, are you talking about beliefs or the time that we accidentally booked a tent instead?

3 (15m 25s):
That’s what I was referring to the tent.

2 (15m 28s):
I think it was hostelworld.com. I mean, I always just used to do everything from hostelworld.com, but yeah, when Nicole and I were at the border of Mexico and to go into beliefs, we ended up renting a Hostel room that night, but it accidentally ended up being a tent. So we all had our own tents outside on the beach, which is pretty cool. But again, like I’m getting a little bit old. And so a lot of the reason why I was like joking around at the beginning and about like, I don’t want to stay at hostels anymore is you get used to a certain type of lifestyle. But if I could be in my early twenties again, I don’t want to, but if I could be, I would stay at hostels and I would go as cheap as fucking possible.

4 (16m 3s):
Just so everyone knows Anna’s pushing 40 now.

2 (16m 7s):
Not that old

3 (16m 8s):
Middle of the road there. I think being that I’m 31 years old, I would still consider staying at a hostel. If I was going to do like a month long Europe trip or, or month long Latin America trip, will they let

1 (16m 21s):
You?

3 (16m 22s):
And there are some that I will not be qualified that I have to get a fake ID to be younger.

4 (16m 27s):
But again, I think that goes to the point. It depends on what it is you’re trying to do on the trip. Right. You know, if it, depending on what you’re trying to do the location, so again, hostels can be fun, but they can have some cons too with everything.

2 (16m 40s):
It builds character. If you can stay at a hostel and if you’re going to do it by yourself, do it.

1 (16m 45s):
One thing that I want to say about hostels that we haven’t mentioned before is it’s not a place where you can really unpack your stuff. Like a lot of the times when you go to a hotel, you want to get your laundry out and unpack and put things away. Or if you’re in a place for a long period of time, if you’re staying at a hostel for a long period of time, you still can’t really unpack anything. Yeah.

3 (17m 2s):
That sucks.

2 (17m 3s):
I do have a final thoughts.

1 (17m 5s):
Let’s hear it.

2 (17m 5s):
So I remember one of my closest friends in Lebanon, I had been moving west to east, through Europe, staying at hostels the entire way until I finally got to Lebanon. And she said, okay, well, because you always stay in hostels. We’re going to watch that movie Hostel.

3 (17m 19s):
And

2 (17m 21s):
I just want to say that that movie was so inappropriately named because it had nothing to do with hostels. I mean, I get where they were going with it, but no,

3 (17m 32s):
They were just simply PR preying on people, staying at a hostel. Yeah,

2 (17m 35s):
Yeah, yeah. It has nothing to do with the experience itself. And you know what? I don’t like scary movies. You can skip it.

3 (17m 40s):
That was a disgusting gruesome movie. It really was. I have a question for you guys. We want to talk about hotels as well. So when we were in Cusco, we stayed at a hostel a few days, I think for three, three or four. And then we went on our hiking excursion to Machu Picchu for four days. Our last night we decided to splurge on a hotel and it wasn’t even that expensive. But when we opened those double French doors into our hotel room,

4 (18m 4s):
It was a beautiful colonial style building hotels. So that’s why we had the double French doors as Kim has described

3 (18m 10s):
That like the most magical thing we walked into,

1 (18m 13s):
Yes, it was like a luxury we’re like, wow, we really splurged and treated ourselves on this

4 (18m 20s):
Trip. They had a breakfast buffet. Oh.

3 (18m 21s):
And it was

4 (18m 22s):
Good. It was pretty bomb.

2 (18m 23s):
I didn’t know you were at the hotel with us.

3 (18m 25s):
I didn’t end up.

4 (18m 26s):
I say I was going to say, I don’t think Kim was a, therefore she checked in and then didn’t see her until the next day. But that’s a story for another time, I guess. But yes. Perfect segue Kim, moving onto the hotels. Let’s talk about some of the pros. I think hotels are pretty much the most common place that people stay when they’re traveling.

3 (18m 45s):
Robes are frequently found in hotels, slippers, all of those nice amenities, some nicer hotels will have like really luxurious body wash and shampoo and towels and AC,

4 (18m 57s):
I just want to throw out real quick here, as we’re talking about hotels. Yes. Some hotels aren’t necessarily five star four star. When we’re talking about hotels in this, we’re talking about more high-end ones. We’re not talking about motels. Although we are motel people at times too. So no judgment on that. But we’re talking specifically that minis and luxuries at hotels.

2 (19m 16s):
I remember being in Japan and you know, this was Brittany’s mom was there and the next morning she was saying, oh yeah, did you see the shishito? Facewash? And I was like, what? I missed that. So later that night, when we were back at the hotel, I saw the shishito face wash. And I’m just like, that is what hotels bring you luxury stuff in the bathroom.

1 (19m 35s):
We had a Nespresso machine in the hotel room in Japan robes, like Japanese robes that you could put on.

4 (19m 43s):
They gave us kimonos.

3 (19m 45s):
Mono’s wow. I remember one time

4 (19m 47s):
The slippers, but they’re slipper people because they don’t have shoes inside the house. So the slippers were,

3 (19m 52s):
We also stayed in one where the tile outside of the bathroom was heated. So what we needed at the showers, heated floors, did

1 (19m 58s):
We stay one, one in Jacksonville?

3 (20m 0s):
I think that’s where it was. Yeah. And it was nice. Cause it’s a cold place. It was a

1 (20m 3s):
Cold place.

2 (20m 5s):
You know what else? The hotels in Japan always had. What? Shoe horns. Yes.

4 (20m 9s):
They

3 (20m 9s):
Got a shoe. Oh, to put it on.

4 (20m 11s):
Did they help you put on your shoe without having to bend and tuck your finger into the heel to get it through? But we’re just, we’re stuck on Japan. Although I

1 (20m 19s):
Have one more comment. I mean, how can you knock it over their toilets?

2 (20m 26s):
I knew that’s where that was going.

1 (20m 28s):
But like even when we were in China, they had toilets with the hoses or in Lebanon. They have the, they have the hoses as well, same as in the Philippines for the days when you’re in Europe.

4 (20m 41s):
But that’s just common bathroom stuff, I guess. Not necessarily for the hotels, although That’s true.

3 (20m 48s):
Maybe a hostel in Japan.

4 (20m 50s):
I need to check out hostels in Tokyo. Now

3 (20m 52s):
I think without a doubt, anytime anybody enters a hotel, the first thing you do is like, put your stuff down and scope everything out. Look at the shower, look at the soaps, like test the bed out, open the curtains, go on the balcony. Like it’s one of my favorite things about just entering a hotel.

2 (21m 7s):
Another plus about staying at a hotel is you have air conditioning and heating. We didn’t mention this under the hostels, but I have stayed at some hostels in the middle of summer in Europe without an AC. And it is disgusting and it is sticky and it is so hot. And when you were at a hotel, you never have to stop and think, oh, I wonder if they have an AC. I wonder if they have a heater. It’s just first.

3 (21m 28s):
Oh my God. I blast it. I am freezing cold in the hotel room and I love the blackout curtains.

2 (21m 34s):
Oh the

3 (21m 34s):
Blackout. I just want to get a hotel and sleep.

1 (21m 37s):
Okay. Have you ever been to a hotel where they’re like, would you like a tour of your room?

3 (21m 42s):
I have actually the Cromwell in Vegas and the guy takes our bags, walks us up there. He shows us, you know, some stuff around the room and he shows us if you go into the shower, the walls of the shower are also in the room. There’s like no division. So when you turn the lights off, whoever’s in the showers, like a silhouette of their sexy body.

1 (22m 1s):
I see. Yeah. In the Philippines, one time we had a rain shower that could also be converted into a regular shower. And so they were like showing us the features of how to use that or, and they had a special bath tub Chu. So it was really cool features that they had in the room. But one thing you did say Kim was when the guy brings your bag up. So you’re assuming the hotel has a bellhop or someone that can bring your bags up to the room, which is a pro to a hotel.

3 (22m 28s):
And just that there’s someone you can call get anything. I once room service, condoms up to a hotel room and they were there very fast.

4 (22m 40s):
I would expect

3 (22m 42s):
It was at the Westlake village in, in thousand Oaks, California, out out that’s where the lead for the bachelor and bachelorette,

4 (22m 49s):
You know, I think that’s the case is because thousand Oaks before the porn industry moved to Florida used to be big and thousand Oaks. So they probably use in those hotel rooms galore and they were like, oh, here’s the, here’s the condoms

3 (23m 0s):
A little bit later in the day. Just for fun. I called it as for loop.

4 (23m 6s):
It’s just trying to push it. See I got

2 (23m 10s):
Okay. So when you asked for condoms, did you give a specific number and if not, how many did they bring?

3 (23m 16s):
No, I, I think I started trying to be like shy about it. I was like, so I know you guys have some stuff on hand that you can sometimes bring to people

4 (23m 25s):
You weren’t asking for an extra toothbrush or I forgot my razor. She’s asking for condoms over here.

3 (23m 29s):
And I think it was like a sample pack of three or two movies.

2 (23m 34s):
I did not know that. So good to know.

4 (23m 37s):
I guess that can be put into one of the pros that we had listed, which is the concierge category. I guess you have yourself a concierge or room service bringing some rubbed dubs. But my favorite thing about staying in a hotel, really, especially if you’re in a new place and don’t really know the concierge are so helpful, they actually want to help you. They have the best recommendations for restaurants, activities to do in the place that you’re staying. So concierge is one of the best parts and pros of staying in a hotel.

3 (24m 3s):
We can get a lot of stuff, room service too, from them. Like if you forget an outlet or a charger for your phone toothbrush, safety pins, if your clothes break nail file kits, razors, like if you forget something that’s a huge pro of being in a hotel.

1 (24m 17s):
Yeah. At times Zaina had her earring fished out of age rain by the concierge.

2 (24m 22s):
You know, I felt so bad about that so bad. He wouldn’t even take a tip and he did it all in a suit and a smile. Thank you.

1 (24m 30s):
But I don’t even think we’ve even mentioned like the amenities, like the gym, the spa, the pools, those are some big perks hotels have. And if you stay at the right hotel, they’re going to be amazing.

3 (24m 42s):
On-site bar

4 (24m 43s):
Onsite bar on-site restaurants, number one. Yes.

1 (24m 48s):
Even said free breakfast booth.

3 (24m 50s):
Oh my God. Ah, and you don’t get those at a lot of the luxury or nicer hotels. It’s the ones like holiday Inn and days in those kinds of places give you the pre-breakfast. Can

2 (25m 1s):
We just back it up for just a second back

1 (25m 3s):
It

4 (25m 3s):
Up, back it up

2 (25m 5s):
When Brittany was talking about the amenities, I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been on squad trips and we see the pool and we’re like, oh my God, that’s such a nice pool. I can’t wait to go to them to the pool and have a hot tub later tonight. And we never actually make it because we were too busy having an easy day.

1 (25m 21s):
Well, you know what, Zena, you missed out on the amenities in the hotel in China, but Kim and I found them real well.

4 (25m 29s):
I’m just going to throw this out again. Kim and Brittany were taking nudies of each other in the tub, down in the spa area. Well Zaina was having a blackout in the room for Michelle. So that’s, that’s what happened. I forgot what episode we went into greater detail on that end. But

2 (25m 44s):
What episode? Number three for China, go back and listen to that guy.

4 (25m 48s):
But I don’t think we talked about that specifically. And there were times in and out in an episode, we were talking about freakouts, but that’s neither here nor there another pro that I do want to mention real quick before we move on to the cons of the hotel that we didn’t touch upon is the privacy in a hotel. If you’re going with a group of people and we know we’ve discussed this as the squad, sometimes we’ll share a room, but sometimes we’ll split rooms and not share. The privacy is very, very clutch and sometimes much needed in a hotel. You have your own restroom. And that sense don’t have to share with other people who you’re traveling with. You can, you know, instead of having to put a little tie on the door to let people know, not to come in, you just have your privacy.

1 (26m 24s):
Yeah. In fact, last month, Kim, Jamal, myself, and Louie all made it to Breckenridge. And we debated if we were going to get a room together, but we all opted for privacy and Kim and Louie got their own room and Jamal and I got our own room.

3 (26m 40s):
There’s no debate. I’m not really with you guys with my boyfriend too. I was

4 (26m 43s):
Going to say, given Kim’s story about the thousand Oaks hotel and the rubbers, I mean, you know, we need her own room. And apparently at this point,

3 (26m 49s):
Maybe the first night when we stayed nearby, the airport was just, you know, sleeping go. But not the other one that was as vacation.

1 (26m 58s):
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2 (27m 8s):
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3 (27m 51s):
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4 (28m 6s):
I purchase your comprehensive Travel Squad Podcast, itinerary on our website at Travel Squad, Podcast dot com, best of all, they’re on sale right now for $25. That’s 50% off the regular price. So travel on over now to get yours today. So we’ve talked about lots of the pros of staying in a hotel. Do one of you ladies want to start us off with some of the cons

3 (28m 29s):
Cons a hotel because it comes with the amenities and the privacy are usually going to come with a higher cost. Then you can expect from a hostel. Obviously you pay for that. And in fact, sometimes they sneak in fees like parking fees, 40 fucking bucks to park. What the

1 (28m 42s):
Fuck, what the fuck per day, some

3 (28m 44s):
Self parking or

4 (28m 45s):
Resort fees,

3 (28m 46s):
Resort

1 (28m 47s):
Fees, resort, fee,

3 (28m 48s):
Excuse me.

4 (28m 48s):
I know you’re going to charge me for wifi when I’m here in the United States. And I could just get my own data. You’re going to charge me for the gym when I’m not even going to the gym maybe necessarily, right? So if they have them, I can understand, but it’s just like, that’s a really big pet peeve. And I will say this about Vegas. Vegas used to be really good about, you know, having free parking at the major hotels. Now they’re getting cheap and shiesty on it, starting to charge for parking. They’ve already been in the resort fee game for a while, but that is one of the things that comes with staying in hotels is those added up fees.

1 (29m 19s):
And I hate when a hotel is listed for like 35 bucks a night. And then you start to add on like the taxes or the extra guest expense or the resort fee. And then like, by the end of it, you’re like 200 bucks later

3 (29m 33s):
Might as well call them spirit airlines,

1 (29m 35s):
Serious.

4 (29m 37s):
Another con to the hotels is going to be no kitchens, you know, more than not, they will have a microwave and a refrigerator. So that can be a pro, but no kitchen. So that means eating out more, which means a larger expense. Now some people may want to be eating out a lot when they’re on vacation, which by all means good for you. We like to do that every once in a while. But every once in a while, we’d still like to make our own meals be a little bit healthier. Know what it is that we’re cooking. So con is the no kitchen. Yeah.

3 (30m 5s):
That kind of sucks. Sometimes when you’re traveling and you have no other option, but to eat out for every meal, it’s kind of, it gets old kind of searching for somewhere to eat. What are you going to order nowhere to store leftovers. Yeah.

1 (30m 17s):
Yeah. Another con too is if you’re traveling with a large group, you have to spread out your party because the rooms only accommodate, you know, two to four people. When you’re at a hostel, you can get a room with multiple people. When you’re an Airbnb, you could pick a large Airbnb or a timeshare, but for hotels specifically, you might only be able to book two or four people in a room. So your party may need to spread out.

3 (30m 37s):
Yeah. That would suck. Or if you do a four people in a room, it can be kind of tight, get dirty. And it is a pro that they have room service to clean your room and make your bed, which is really nice, but still four to a room like the max is kind of

1 (30m 49s):
Tight, limited mirror space, limited bathroom,

3 (30m 52s):
Shower rotation.

4 (30m 53s):
I was going to say was Zana here. We got to throw this shower rotation

1 (30m 56s):
Issue though.

2 (30m 58s):
No, I have a theory about that, but that’s another time

3 (31m 1s):
Let’s hear it. What’s your

2 (31m 2s):
Theory. No, it’s all good.

1 (31m 3s):
No, we want to hear your theory. The

3 (31m 4s):
Listeners want to hear your theory.

2 (31m 7s):
It’s not me. It’s not me.

4 (31m 9s):
All I will say. Zayna is when you haven’t been on squad trips, I’ve never heard an issue with the rotation of the shower.

3 (31m 16s):
I’m going to, I think Zena’s on to something because really it was just that one trip we had an issue with.

4 (31m 22s):
Oh, I know it’s an inside joke.

2 (31m 25s):
You know what? You guys may be laughing and whatnot. But if I like to shower first, it’s not a big deal. It becomes

4 (31m 34s):
An on air freak out.

2 (31m 36s):
No, no, no. I mean that in the sense of like, I do like to shower first. Okay. So I’ll say, oh, can I shower first? It takes someone else getting irritated in order to have that. So if someone else is getting irritated, they should ask themselves why they’re getting near it. There is no

3 (31m 50s):
Issue unless someone disagrees with me

1 (31m 53s):
And it’s like the fairness of it. And if you think that you’re able to do it every single time, I mean, there’s a lot of things that go into it, but we’ve never had any issues, any,

3 (32m 2s):
So stay in Hostel where there’s eight showers you can pick from,

4 (32m 5s):
You can see why this is on the con list because it’s brought up a hot topic of debate. But moving on,

2 (32m 11s):
I just want to say like, I’m feeling very triggered right now. I’m very, very angry.

4 (32m 15s):
I threw out earlier. Zaynav, we’d say it as an inside joke just to rag on you. No one really means that when we say it.

2 (32m 20s):
Okay, well moving on to the next one.

3 (32m 22s):
So I think a con, but could also be a pro is the hotels cancellation policy. Sometimes they don’t allow you to refund or only within a certain amount of time, but often on the pro side, they do have really good cancellation policies. You can cancel up to like 24 or 48 hours before I know as a little bit of pro and a con, I guess on when you book on Expedia, they have different hotels. Either let you pay deposit, pay the rest then or pay nothing and pay when you get there. Or sometimes you have to pay in full. And they, there is not that option. So it could be a pro or con depending on the terms.

4 (32m 53s):
Yeah. And I think hotels, I mean, they really have the luxury aspect of them. A lot of them, you know, again, we’re, if we’re not staying like at five star ones, but you know, nice hotels, they have the amenities. They’re nice. They offer that privacy. They have the cons of having no kitchen having to spend more money out to eat, but they are really nice places to be if you want to pamper yourself. Okay.

3 (33m 14s):
I also want to say going back to pros, because I guess there’s a lot of pros for hotels. Sometimes they’ll do little events. There is a hotel in Seattle called the hotel max and every day at like from five to six or five to seven, they do craft beer hour. So you can go down to the lobby and get free craft beer from Seattle.

4 (33m 31s):
I remember when Brittany and I got to a hotel in the Florida area, Miami area, when we were going to Biscayne and dry Tortugas national park, we had just missed their happy hour at their bar in the lobby. And I was like, oh wait, we missed a happy hour.

3 (33m 47s):
Oh, remember we stayed at Paris and Las Vegas. And they had cookies.

1 (33m 51s):
Yeah. And then when we went to Victoria falls, we stayed at a safari lodge and every day at one o’clock they did a vulture feeding right outside of the hotel, which was,

3 (34m 2s):
Or the St. Regis in Princeville. And they did

4 (34m 5s):
The champagne.

3 (34m 6s):
Yes.

4 (34m 8s):
Well, now that we’re on the topic, let’s just mention a few of the favorite hotels that we’ve actually stayed at. Brittany mentioned one, which I want to bring up again, which was the Victoria falls, safari lodge when we were on our Africa trip. And it was a beautiful, like what you would stereotypically imagine as like an African lodge overlooking a natural watering hole that elephants giraffes, Buffalo crocodiles, they all went into that watering hole. They had the vulture feed. And as she mentioned, that was an amazing, amazing experience. And I love that hotel

2 (34m 42s):
And the entire hotel was outside. You know what I mean? Like even when you eat your outside, basically your bedroom is the only thing inside,

1 (34m 49s):
Like an open air law.

4 (34m 50s):
And they had beautiful mosquito nets too. So you were protected in that sense when you were in the room, but yeah, it was open air lodge, really looking out into natural African Savanna habitat. That was really, really awesome. And the St Regis that you mentioned to Kim,

3 (35m 4s):
That one was really

4 (35m 5s):
Nice. Princeville, Hawaii,

1 (35m 6s):
The most balls to the walls. I’ve gone on a hotel. Must’ve been Atlantis in Dubai. Oh yeah. Woo.

3 (35m 12s):
That one was so nice. Those beds. I had six pillows on my bed,

1 (35m 16s):
Six pillows on your bed, beautiful shower. And then even inside of the hotel, the aquarium aspect of it, where you can walk through part of the resort and see all of the fish and the steam race swimming.

3 (35m 30s):
They also stocked up your hotel room with water bottles.

4 (35m 33s):
Oh yeah. And then the balcony that overlooked, the beautiful city of Dubai had the water park. They had this jacuzzi tub that was halfway between the room and then to the bathroom here. Yeah.

3 (35m 44s):
And with our stay, the waterpark was free,

1 (35m 47s):
Free entrance.

4 (35m 48s):
You did mention this robes. They gave Russia

3 (35m 51s):
The roads. That’s the first thing I put on. As soon as we got in that room,

1 (35m 55s):
They even gave a little tote to take like your towel to the waterpark. Damn. They hooked it up.

3 (35m 60s):
I want to go back

4 (36m 1s):
So many great hotels that we’ve been to. I don’t want to list all of them, but off the top of our heads. I think those are the ones that are standing out at the moment.

3 (36m 8s):
I love hotels because they’re starting. Some of them will have these great personalities. So I’m like this Hawara in Palm Springs has all these beautiful neon, orange and pink and green. That’s like super cute, super trendy. And then the last one I want to mention is the line in Austin, just look amazing, like resort vibe by the pool that looks out into the Arboretum. So you really feel like you’re with the public, even though you’re in a private area and just like super cute to core and like,

1 (36m 31s):
And it was on the river, wasn’t it?

3 (36m 33s):
It was on the river. Yes. So for some rooms you have great views of the river or on the other side, great rooms of the city. Can’t say enough, good things about it.

4 (36m 41s):
Well, you got me on one last one that I want to throw in before we talk about a couple worst hotel experiences. Cause something’s coming to my mind here, but on the pro one, I’m going to take us back to Africa. When we were at this one hotel that was right outside of Kruger national park. They literally told us we have to keep our doors closed because if you leave them open, even just for a little bit, as you’re going in, monkeys are gonna come in and like steal your stuff. In the whole grounds area of our hotel was like littered with monkeys. It was a really awesome experience. And they were like, if you literally go outside this gate at area, you know, we might even be attacked by animals. Like there’s a, we were in the thick of it, but this hotel was real solid, real nice. It was awesome.

3 (37m 19s):
That’s cool. That’s really cool. Very unique. Stay

4 (37m 22s):
Brittany. I know you have a couple worst hotel experiences. This is one of them. One of them was with me. One of them I know was on a trip with Kim. Why don’t you mention a couple of those?

1 (37m 32s):
Well, Jamal, when we went to Florida, when we went to universal studios, we stayed at a motel six there not really a hotel with a motel, The entire hotel smelled like a wet dog is,

4 (37m 45s):
And you can tell the carpet had like a stale smell and smell like a wet dog. Don’t know if it was all the people sweating from the humidity. Cause I’ve, I’ve said this before. And you know, if we have listeners in Florida, sorry, it’s not my thing. So you know that, that might’ve been something to do with it. We

3 (38m 2s):
Do have listed, sorry. I love Florida.

4 (38m 5s):
Kim loves Florida.

1 (38m 6s):
Kim, why don’t you tell us about the hotel we stayed in, in Palm desert.

3 (38m 9s):
Brittany said, how much do you want to spend on a hotel? And I said, as

1 (38m 12s):
Cheap as possible.

3 (38m 13s):
And we got that. There were probably people living there. There was a lot of riff Raff.

1 (38m 20s):
It was like near a train, train tracks. It was very sketchy.

3 (38m 24s):
Stay inside. Most of the time, I also stayed. I went to Tijuana once and they have these hotels that are really great. I don’t know if they are sex hotels or not, but this one you drive through and you tell the prompter person that the, whatever I want a room, you drive in, you park in the garage and then you walk into your own house. So it’s really private. And they have like pools in the middle of the hotel, hot tubs in your private room. And then every room has its own like neon lights. And there’s a bunch of weird sex stuff there too, but we couldn’t get this one. It was sold out the day we wanted. And so we were driving around, it was a holiday weekend. We ended up booking this, we call it the Bates motel because it was just the bare bones, minimum sketchiest hotel I’ve ever stayed

4 (39m 3s):
In

3 (39m 5s):
The next day. We ended up staying another day so we can get the nicer one. But yeah, the TV, I think the buttons on the TV was like an old school, tiny TV mounted on the top of the wall. The buttons were missing even on it.

4 (39m 17s):
Oh, wow. Well, one thing I just want to say talking about worst hotels real quick here is do check and look at photos of places before you go and do your research. Whenever you’re booking something and more particular, you know, if you’re booking online, whether it be direct or through Expedia booking.com, hotels tonight.com, wherever one time, Brittany and I were going to the Philippines on a family trip and we were using a tour company in the sense that they book all your hotels, arrange your transportation, but you do everything on your own. And we got the itinerary. It wasn’t finalized yet. And we were looking at the hotels and I’m so glad we did because one of them was the most sketchiest looking hotel ever.

4 (40m 0s):
I did all the research on it, saw that it looked, I don’t even know how to describe it. It looked like a straight up dump quite honestly. And yeah, well then we switched it to someplace else within that itinerary. And then when Brittany and I were in that location in El Nido and Palawan, we saw that one hotel and we looked at each other and mutually said, thank God we did not stay there. So always do look at the photos. Yes, photos can be deceiving, but they can also be revealing.

3 (40m 26s):
What are some of the platforms that you would recommend people book hotels on?

4 (40m 30s):
Well, I mentioned a couple, well, I was just going off on my tangent there and doing your research, but expedia.com, booking.com hotels tonight.com. I know you like hotels tonight. Camera is one of your favorites.

3 (40m 43s):
Actually. I mentioned the hotel max earlier in Seattle, and this is one that I booked on hotels tonight. And I was watching the price for like a month on all these different platforms. And I ended up booking it same day on hotels tonight for the cheapest price I saw. So there you go. That’s a good one for your spontaneous people out there,

1 (40m 60s):
And you can always call the hotel directly and see if they have a better price and what you’re seeing online or see if they’re running any specials or deals. So that’s always an option as well. Okay.

3 (41m 9s):
I love to look at the deals and the specials because if you’re planning on staying multiple days or you’re planning on dining at the hotel, they often do have great bundle packages. Well, they’ll give you a dining credit. Maybe it’s $10 more for the total stay, but they give you a $50 dining credit. So really do your research in those, in those regards. Sometimes I’ll throw in free parking, no resort fee, extra nights stay for free. So don’t always take the Expedia price at face value.

4 (41m 34s):
All right, check it out of the hotels and checking in. We’re moving on to Airbnb’s

3 (41m 39s):
Airbnb’s are fantastic. Especially if you’re traveling with a group of people, whether it’s four or it’s 14, Airbnb’s usually have good accommodations for large groups

1 (41m 50s):
And they can be very cost-effective because you’re renting out a whole space rather than several different hotel rooms.

4 (41m 56s):
Yeah. And some Airbnb is couldn’t be as simple as, you know, somebody’s studio or a one-bedroom apartment or home, but when you’re going to certain locations and you know, now we’re at 2, 3, 4 bedroom places, and you’re going as a group of people that price per night may seem like a lot, but when you really do the breakdown of, okay, who’s coming on this trip, this place is large. We’re all going to share a beautiful Airbnb home. You know, it really does become cost effective. And one of my favorite pros on top of that is you’re staying in a home. It’s coming with a kitchen, so you can make your own food.

3 (42m 28s):
I’ve eaten some great meals you’ve cooked in Airbnbs.

4 (42m 31s):
I try my best to what can I say?

1 (42m 33s):
Yeah, not only do they have kitchens, they have living rooms, washers, dryers. And then of course like it’s like a home. So you get bedrooms and there’s that privacy aspect of it as well.

4 (42m 44s):
Yeah. And I really think Airbnbs are great for families. I know we said this earlier, too, you know, great for large groups can be cost-effective, but even going as a family on a trip, whether you’re a family of four, a family of five, I think Airbnb’s are really good in that sense, because you really are in another place, but really, almost like you’re in your own home. So it makes it a lot easier than really being in a hotel.

2 (43m 5s):
So I learned the hard way that when you’re booking an Airbnb, you have to really pay attention because you either rent out the entire house or you rent out a room in someone’s house

4 (43m 14s):
Either way.

1 (43m 17s):
Well, either way Airbnb has put on the website by a host and the host can have a lot of good local recommendations for you. It can might hang out with you. They might even call a restaurant that they are friends with the owners for, and then get you a reservation at the restaurant that you couldn’t get yourself.

4 (43m 33s):
That just happened to Brittany and I, when we were in the Virgin islands with our Airbnb hosts. So it’s reality.

2 (43m 38s):
It was just about to say that’s a very, very specific example.

3 (43m 43s):
That’s actually happened to me when I stayed in an Airbnb in Rome, Italy, the Airbnb host actually walked us to a restaurant we’d just gotten there, walked us to a restaurant that he knew, the people, he recommended the food and they sat us down and we ate right there. Great recommendation. Yeah.

4 (43m 58s):
And if you’re in a foreign country too, and you don’t know the language, you know, I, if they’re hosting, they probably do know a major language like English, right. So they can help you and almost in a sense, be your concierge help you make reservations, give you directions. So it’s

3 (44m 13s):
Yeah.

4 (44m 13s):
So it’s a pretty good local guide. Not that they’re, they’re guiding you, but in that sense, yes.

2 (44m 18s):
You know, when we were in Cuba and none of our Airbnb hosts spoke English, so

4 (44m 22s):
Those places

3 (44m 25s):
In Trinidad, the guy didn’t speak English. I think he

2 (44m 27s):
Did. And Trinidad, remember he only spoke Spanish. You sure? The one that partied with us in the nightclub really? Yeah. He only spoke Spanish.

3 (44m 34s):
That’s interesting. The hosts are also really helpful in that sense. He made us breakfast in our Airbnb.

1 (44m 41s):
Amazing.

3 (44m 41s):
Yeah, that was, that was amazing. I remember we had coffee and it was like some of the best coffee I’ve ever had. And I asked him where I could find some and he actually went and got it for me and brought it back.

1 (44m 51s):
Oh, that’s so sweet.

2 (44m 52s):
And that’s one of my regrets because I didn’t drink coffee at the time. And I heard everyone talking about how amazing that coffee was and I’m like, ah, coffee. But now I’m just like, oh my God, I wish I’d tried that coffee.

4 (45m 1s):
Cubans have really good coffee.

2 (45m 3s):
Actually I missed out.

3 (45m 4s):
I would die for more of that coffee

1 (45m 6s):
And another pro, or is that Airbnb is have the ability to do personalized touches. Like the Airbnb that we stayed at in Saint Thomas had beach towels, beach chairs, scuba gear. So it all fit the area that we were in. And then we stayed at another Airbnb in Oxnard. And she, the host got us some desserts for that night, which was really sweet. And she wrote a card with our name and like, it was a very personalized touch.

3 (45m 32s):
That’s really sweet. I’ve seen like sign-in books and different treats being left, but I wanted to just formally state my lifelong desire to stay in an Airbnb. But my boyfriend, so Louie for listening has already confirmed with the Airbnb, these extra touches. So like rose pedals, when you open the door, she had a pain. That is my dream to have an experience like that.

2 (46m 0s):
Well, I have a question, but it’s hard to follow up with the question after that. But Jamal and Brittany, earlier off air, you guys were talking about your experience in Virgin islands and you made the comment that your host was a Superhost. I didn’t know what that meant.

4 (46m 16s):
Yeah. I think what it means, because Brittany does more of the Airbnb bookings. But I think you have so many reviews at such a high level that it’s a specific category within Airbnb. Like you’re deemed as super hosts, you know, no one has issues with you. They speak highly of you. Things of that nature, they go above and beyond. Like we were talking earlier, he made reservations for us at a sold out place because he knows the owner. He has all the amenities in the location for a beach vacation, right? The beach chairs, the snorkel gear, an ice chest for your alcohol when you go to the beach because they allow open containers on the beaches over there. So, I mean, that’s what qualifies to be a Superhost is your reviews and just added touches, which people mentioned to Airbnb and they give you like Superhost category.

3 (46m 60s):
There’s also a new feature you can search in Airbnb, Airbnb plus. And these Airbnbs are styled, like super cute, great spaces, great furniture, like really, really pretty cute Instagramable places. And now you can select that feature and only look for places like that. Oh, that’s

1 (47m 17s):
Really

3 (47m 17s):
Cool. That would be great for things like bachelorette party or birthday party or, you know, some kind of like trip you’re taking with a group.

1 (47m 24s):
Yeah. I was also going to say one of the pros that we haven’t mentioned yet are the amenities. Some Airbnbs have, like, I know Kim, you went and stayed in an Airbnb that had ocean views.

3 (47m 33s):
Oh yeah. That was so nice. Oh my

1 (47m 35s):
Gosh. They might have pools or hot tubs or balconies or patios, or, you know, like a whole bunch of different amenities. Each place is going to be personalized, of course, but that is a pro to some of the Airbnbs.

3 (47m 47s):
Another one of my dreams,

4 (47m 50s):
If you’re listening

3 (47m 52s):
With Airbnb is to, to rent it for a month and actually live in it. And since I work from home, I can work too, but I would love to do that. And they do a 20% discount when you book a full month. That’s

1 (48m 3s):
Really cool. I didn’t even know that. And where would you like to do that for a month?

3 (48m 6s):
Maybe Austin or somewhere? I haven’t been like Nashville so I can go and explore a little bit so I can still work, but then like have evenings to live like a local

4 (48m 14s):
Cool. Do remote working. Now’s the perfect time. And there’s a COVID, but with all the pros with anything, there are going to be some cons. One of the biggest cons of an Airbnb is going to be the unreliable amenities. As Brittany was saying, each place is different. You know, these are people’s homes or rental properties, so everything is going to look different. And on top of that, but what we mean also by unreliable amenities is, and this isn’t necessarily like a hotel. It depends on what the host is going to do. You may not have soap in there. You may not have shampoo and conditioner AC. Yeah. So you do have to keep that in mind of where you’re booking, that that may be the case.

1 (48m 52s):
They also charge extra fees for cleaning.

3 (48m 54s):
There is a cleaning fee. Sometimes there’s a deposit too, that you have to put down. I know we did a staycation in San Diego and the deposit was a thousand dollars and that was, you know, fucked

1 (49m 4s):
You hard.

3 (49m 4s):
Yeah, definitely. They there’s a whole story. We got, you know, railed even harder than that, but

1 (49m 11s):
No lube,

3 (49m 13s):
No lube

1 (49m 17s):
Another con can be that most Airbnbs are in residential neighborhoods and are farther from the downtown area. And so you might have to travel a little bit farther to get to a restaurant or to the beach or to explore the downtown area even, or

3 (49m 31s):
It may be hard to find it with the directions.

1 (49m 34s):
Yeah. That can be hard to,

4 (49m 35s):
I think, one of the biggest cons of Airbnbs, and I think this really goes back to who the host is. And are they a Superhost? Are they irregular host? Are they just a average in the middle host is going to be sometimes the annoying check-in process. We’ve had a couple issues like that one time at an Airbnb for me and Brittany, but didn’t you have a really inconvenient one in Rome to Kim.

3 (49m 55s):
Yeah. When, when I went to Italy, Rome was the first place we went. So first moments in Italy, we walk from the train station to the Airbnb, pulling our luggage down the cobblestone road. We get there and I told them what time we’d be arriving. So he said, okay, I’ll meet you there around this time. And I think we were there maybe like 15 minutes early. So I was trying to contact him through Airbnb, but I didn’t have phone service in Italy, or it was really slow and flawed tips. If you do have phone service, like T-Mobile gives it to you internationally and it’s not working for you, turn your phone off and back on. And that usually helps kickstart the wifi on your phone. So there you go. So, but we hadn’t figured that out yet. So we’re having trouble getting in touch with the host, messaging him or waiting out there.

3 (50m 38s):
And like he said, he’s coming. So I guess we just sit here and wait until he shows up. And he did show up, which is great, but it was like, kind of like shit.

4 (50m 46s):
Yeah. One time when Brittany and I were staying at an Airbnb in London, this is before we had international data that was included. You know, sometimes they’ll give you the check-in instructions the day of, and a few hours before. So if you’re just getting off a plane, don’t actually have service nowhere to connect to really wifi. You’re kind of in that limbo of like, I need to find it or I’m paying international fees. So sometimes the check-in process, if it’s not spelled out early and ahead of time for you can be a little cumbersome when you get there and create issues. So that is, I think one of the biggest cons that can put a damper on a trip with your standing in Airbnb,

1 (51m 22s):
Another con is sometimes they don’t always have good cancellation policies. And the also have the option to cancel on you. Has anyone had that happen here? I

3 (51m 31s):
Don’t think so.

2 (51m 32s):
I’ve not had anyone cancel on me, but I know like Nicole is dealing with terrible story because she was supposed to go to Hawaii. COVID hit and he wouldn’t refund, even though you couldn’t go to Hawaii.

1 (51m 44s):
Well, let me tell you, we have had an Airbnb be canceled on us, but it did turn into a pro because it was canceled on us. Airbnb did give us, did refund us and then gave us a credit equivalent to the amount that we had paid.

2 (51m 59s):
Sweet.

1 (52m 0s):
Yes.

2 (52m 1s):
What was the cancellation for you guys?

1 (52m 3s):
Japan. They canceled a Airbnb in Japan. We were going to see in this Airbnb for a week. So we had paid like 600 or something dollars for it and they refunded me completely. And then they gave me a $600 credit that I had to use within a year.

2 (52m 16s):
It wasn’t because they canceled on you days before it was some kind of, no,

4 (52m 21s):
It was well ahead of time, the Japanese government was revamping the rules for Airbnbs, making sure certain people got permits. If I remember correctly, our host at that time did not. So they were forced to, but regardless or not, you know, hosts for whatever reason can cancel on you at any time up until before, as long as they’re going to refund you. Right? So I’ve never really had that happen with the hotel, but minus that issue in Japan, I’ve heard of other instances where people have been canceled on,

3 (52m 47s):
Especially with COVID. I know some of the governments were making rules that Airbnbs were not allowed to book. So you either couldn’t book or they would cancel you. Or there were certain number of minimum stays required like a month or two weeks. The quarantine periods.

1 (53m 3s):
Interesting. You say that because in the Virgin islands, they did have a period of time. It was for a month where they were not accepting any new booking through Airbnb or any hotel platform.

4 (53m 12s):
And we booked a week before that one at a place. And we were good.

2 (53m 15s):
You guys said too, that your host lost out on like $40,000 or something.

1 (53m 20s):
Yeah. He had a refund $40,000 within 2020 because of COVID

3 (53m 24s):
Pesa. Another thing is it’s not always available everywhere. There’s a lot of cities that are trying to fight back against vacation rentals and therefore banning them in certain neighborhoods or certain cities. And those happen to be sometimes the ones you actually want to be in.

1 (53m 39s):
And our complex here, we can’t rent our place out as an Airbnb.

2 (53m 43s):
I think San Diego itself is having like a little bit of an issue because what it is is like someone can obviously make double the cost of renting out their place as an Airbnb, then using it to rent. Right. And so then now we have less spaces on the market to rent, which makes it harder to find places to rent, which drives up.

4 (54m 2s):
Well, we already have a housing shortage here. Yeah. So I mean, there’s issues within any state within any city and there’s always going to be the pushback. So that could be a con again, you can make the reservation, it gets canceled because there’s some sort of local ordinance change on you. Right? So I think those are some perfect examples of the cons and that could affect the trip if you’re you’ve booked and you’re ready for it and saw the place and are all excited. But you know, that comes with the territory.

1 (54m 27s):
Zina. What’s been your favorite Airbnb that you’ve stayed in

3 (54m 29s):
Havana.

2 (54m 31s):
I would say it’s the one actually in Chinatown, in Cuba. No, I’m just kidding. That was like the worst.

3 (54m 37s):
That’s when Zena accidentally booked a room instead of the whole place. And our host was very scary.

2 (54m 43s):
Got mad at Jordan.

3 (54m 46s):
He got mad at me cause I met a Cuban boy that showed up and knocked on his door and he was,

2 (54m 51s):
They gave us, he gave us two sets of keys, only one worked for downstairs. Kim Jordan. And I came home drunk one night at like, when we’re screaming at I fell, come down and open it up and she’s on the fourth floor. Like that was a crazy experience. But I don’t know. I, everything to me is a blur. I have to really sit down and think about an experience and whether or not it was a hotel or an Airbnb. Kim,

1 (55m 15s):
Do you have a favorite Airbnb?

3 (55m 16s):
I think the one that’s just fresh in my mind is near via de Guadalupe in Mexico. We stayed in this Airbnb that was in a gated community on the very top of the hill. It was the last house on the top of the hill and had gorgeous views of the ocean. It had nice, huge, like tabled eat out there and a wind swing. It was really, really

1 (55m 35s):
Cute. Jamal, do you have a favorite Airbnb?

4 (55m 37s):
You are coming to mind for me right now. One is going to be our most recent one. We’ve been talking about it here and the us Virgin islands. I really enjoyed our Airbnb a lot. The host was great. The place was even nicer on top of that. But the other one I’m thinking of is going to be the Chicago Airbnb that we stayed at on our squad trip. That was real awesome. I was like classic Chicago architecture, brick home type look. And it had a balcony that overlooked downtown Chicago and just so beautiful. So I would say those two are sticking out the most of all the ones that we’ve stayed up,

1 (56m 10s):
I even give the us Virgin islands, Airbnb, any justice. I mean it had two master bedrooms. It had a patio with ocean views. It was just super beautiful with would vaulted ceilings.

4 (56m 22s):
So the host is building a pool down below too. It’s not done yet, but he’s building

1 (56m 26s):
And it was on the third story. It was amazing. So I don’t think he did that justice.

3 (56m 30s):
I stayed in a really cool one outside of Palm Springs too. That was two bedrooms, but it had like 150 different types of chairs and different seating areas. And it was in a secluded property and everything was like really like desert hipster, kind of decor. Super cute. Before we move on from Airbnb. I just want to say Airbnb is not the only platform where you can book private homes. There’s vrvo.com. And there are several, several others besides Airbnb, but let’s check out of our Airbnbs and move into a similar, but very different kind of fusion place to stay. You guys know this one. Well, because you actually own one. So tell us a little bit about timeshares.

4 (57m 8s):
So timeshares are a great place to stay on vacation. Now, most people, when they think of timeshares, they think of the ownership aspect of it. And yes, you do have to own, but sometimes timeshares will actually rent out and they can be found on platforms such as Expedia that we were talking about and other rental platforms. So you can find them without being the owners. But what I like them is because they’re almost like Airbnb is, but hotel style, right? You know, the one person doesn’t own it. It’s owned by a company, but they rent rooms as studios, one bedroom, two bedroom, three bedrooms. They have kitchens, they have washers and dryers.

4 (57m 49s):
They have game room areas where if you want to get out of your room, you can go play pool. Some of them have movie theaters that you can go in to see they have their pools, their jacuzzi. So it’s pretty much like staying at a hotel, but at the same time, having your own apartment,

1 (58m 7s):
Another pro to a timeshare is they do have free offers. So for example, you watch a timeshare presentation and in exchange, they might give you a free ticket or half off the ticket to do a cruise or an excursion that you want to do,

3 (58m 21s):
Or a gift card

1 (58m 22s):
Or a gift card.

3 (58m 23s):
Brittany, this was one of the most interesting things I ever saw. She’s not easily persuaded. We

4 (58m 29s):
Went to,

3 (58m 31s):
We went to a timeshare presentation in Kauai.

4 (58m 33s):
When we were staying at our time, she

3 (58m 35s):
Was a sliver of an inch away from signing onto a second time share.

2 (58m 39s):
I remember going into it and Kim are like, oh my God, I hope she doesn’t hit us up. Cause you know, the idea is that they want to sell you a timeshare. And so Kim and I were like, oh my gosh, I hope she doesn’t hit us up. And I was like, Kim, just tell her no, tell her you have bad credit, whatever, but giving

3 (58m 52s):
Each other pep talks before we go in,

2 (58m 54s):
They didn’t even fucking look at us with Brittany at the table. And then we’re in the middle of this master negotiation. Like it was back and forth. It was fucking exhilarating. It was so exciting. And on top of that, we were fucking running low on coffee creamer. And it was like $10 at the store. And we had

4 (59m 16s):
Hawaii’s expensive two

2 (59m 17s):
Days left and they had a shitload of individual coffee creamers. So we load it up with all the coffee creamers that we could. We all sat at the table, joking around, fuck them. And then later the lady comes out and it turns out, I don’t know if Brittany or this later are fucking each other harder, man, but they’re going at it. And it was just so exciting to watch. Thank you for that, Brittany. We

1 (59m 40s):
Didn’t end up buying that fucking timeshare by

3 (59m 42s):
The way. Cause squad tip. When you’re at a timeshare presentation, they will try to get you to stay longer, to keep negotiating. Brittany told them from the front we have 90 minutes and 90 minutes we have to leave. So when that 90 minutes came up, she was like, Nope, Nope, Nope. Gotta go. Gotta go. Gotta go. So have your out before you go in,

4 (1h 0m 2s):
It’s true. Right? Because the free gifts and offers that Brittany was talking about, we mentioned some of them’s will be straight cash. It’ll be on a gift card. It will be when we were in Hawaii, it was a buy one, get one free for the sunset cruise on the Nepali coast. Right. And those are expensive. So we were like, all right, we’re going to invest an hour and a half of our time, get those little goodies and freebies. And like Zaina was saying on top of that, we fucked him hard with that coffee creamer because food and everything is outrageously expensive in Hawaii. But beyond just that, they do give you nice amenities. I remember one time when Brittany and I were staying at a timeshare and Las Vegas, they were like, do you want to come see one?

4 (1h 0m 42s):
We knew we weren’t going to buy one. We’re like, all right, we’ll get a hundred bucks towards dinner tonight. What else are we doing this morning? And then they had like a beautiful breakfast buffet. So they do give you stuff to butter you up and not sense. You just have to be firm with the no. So that can be a pro getting some free stuff. When you’re staying at a timeshare

1 (1h 0m 59s):
And timeshares are really good for families or for groups, the squad has stayed in a timeshare, but it would be really great for a family because they have up to three rooms for timeshares as well. They also have amenities like tennis courts, pools, hot tubs. Even sometimes they have like barbecue grills where we did barbecue dinner. One night,

3 (1h 1m 18s):
Ours had free popcorn too

1 (1h 1m 19s):
And free coffee.

4 (1h 1m 21s):
And then you could go in and rent DVDs and they have DVD players in there. So again, think of this really as a hotel, but again, your own private residents. That’s what the time share is for you on that. And so it gives you all those amenities that we talked about with an Airbnb, the ability to have your own kitchen, to do some cooking. If that’s what you want to do, depending on where you’re staying, such as a place expensive as Hawaii, when you buy your food in bulk, like we did at Costco and did some cooking for some of our meals, you save a lot of money that way too. So that fro can’t be understated having your own kitchen.

3 (1h 1m 54s):
The other thing was the washer and dryer was so clutch. We washed and dried our swimsuits and towels every day

1 (1h 2m 1s):
And a place like Hawaii. You really need a washer and dryer because everything ends up. So

3 (1h 2m 5s):
Fucking Sandy. The other thing that was cool is we all did our laundry before we came home from that trip. Love

1 (1h 2m 11s):
It.

4 (1h 2m 11s):
Yeah. So we didn’t have to do laundry, just unpacked our suitcase and everything was cleaned. So again, whether it be timeshare or Airbnb, if your Airbnb has laundry, that is a solid pro,

1 (1h 2m 20s):
You know what? I’m going to throw out a squad tip. So right before we went to the us Virgin islands, I bought some of the tide pods. And I packed those because I didn’t want to have to buy laundry detergent and worry about, am I going to waste it or is it going to be enough or it’s going to be too much while we were gone. So I just packed some tide pods and I did some laundry. So all of my clothes came back clean from the Virgin islands.

3 (1h 2m 46s):
They didn’t pop in your bag or anything.

1 (1h 2m 47s):
No. I put them in a plastic container.

4 (1h 2m 50s):
C N an Airbnb, depending on the host may or may not have the laundry detergent for you, even though they provide the washer and dryer. However, every timeshare we’ve stayed at has always included your however, every time share that we have stayed at has always included our detergent. So we don’t need those for the timeshare.

1 (1h 3m 8s):
Unfortunately like everything else timeshares do have cons. And I want to say one of the biggest cons is they do have service fees or expensive guest certificates. So if Jamal and I aren’t the ones to rent it out and someone else wants to check in because they’re renting it from us. They do charge a pretty hefty fee for a guest.

2 (1h 3m 27s):
Okay. Another one too, is that you have to check in on a certain day. It’s not like you can decide to go on a Tuesday or something like that. It’s very, very specific.

4 (1h 3m 36s):
That’s a very good point. I almost forgot about that. That’s so true is they are specific on the dates. You have to check in. Some, most of them are because they’re rented out in like week format for people who own them. Now a lot of newer timeshares, they’re on a point system versus weeks. So if you’re an owner, you can choose a specific day. But sometimes even if you’re a renter, they’re set days that you have to choose. So that can be a hindrance in terms of dictating. If you could stay there or when you can go on a trip and keeping with that theme, they are sometimes specifically week rentals. So you have to stay in one location for a week. So that could be a pro depending on if you’re in a small island like Hawaii, like we were, but if you were going someplace else and there’s lots of things to do around in the vicinity, but not quick within a day drive, you’re just like, well, shit.

4 (1h 4m 25s):
Now I’m stuck here for a week and now I may pay more money to stay one night at a hotel to be closer, to do something I want to do elsewhere. Right. So that is a very big con

1 (1h 4m 32s):
Another big con is that there is pressure to attend a presentation or to buy a timeshare.

3 (1h 4m 37s):
And yeah, you get those perks when you make it through, but it’s like a stressful situation.

4 (1h 4m 42s):
Yeah. Brittany almost bought one way. So he could walk out of there and getting real screwed.

1 (1h 4m 47s):
Like I almost always buy one,

2 (1h 4m 50s):
But you know what tip is that if you really don’t want to buy a timeshare, then just let them know that your credit is shot. You just filed for bankruptcy. Like, no, but you know, like they can’t do it’s, it’s based on credit. They’re going to have to run your credit. So when you tell them that upfront, just know that if they’re still trying to pressure you like that, there has to be some kind of illegal aspect and you can even call them out. Like, dude, I just told you my credit is shot. Even if it’s not just, just it’s

4 (1h 5m 14s):
Tip, I have a squad tip for you guys,

2 (1h 5m 17s):
Give it

3 (1h 5m 17s):
To us.

4 (1h 5m 21s):
Timeshares allow you, after you purchase them, you have a certain time period. That’s called a right of rescission to tell them that you want to cancel it for your full money back, but do be aware depending on what state you’re in. Sometimes it’s three days, sometimes it’s 10 days, but I think every state in the United States has a time period for you to tell them that you want out of the contract with no penalties. So if you go to a timeshare presentation, you get suckered in. Don’t feel trapped. You can get out, but just read your contract. But some of the nice places that we’ve stayed at our timeshare we’ve mentioned it, the Wyndham valley high that we stayed at in Princeville Hawaii on the island of Kauai, Brittany and I have stayed at timeshares in Vegas. We did one on Disney property when we went to Disney world in Orlando and we have an upcoming trip to Williamsburg that we’re using our time share just as well in Virginia.

4 (1h 6m 10s):
So really looking forward to that. So they are very nice, but each one of those trips, we’re staying one week in one location. So it makes sense.

3 (1h 6m 17s):
Wonderful. Well, we do have a couple of questions of the week

4 (1h 6m 23s):
Or the week

3 (1h 6m 31s):
So let’s jump right into them. Our first question comes from Joe, from Delaware and he’s asking, what is your opinion on staying in motels?

1 (1h 6m 40s):
You get what you paid for man.

4 (1h 6m 42s):
But Brittany says that knowing very well that we stay in motels quite often too. So like I said, when we’re talking about hotels, you know, we were talking about more high-end ones. We do stay at motels. Sometimes if you’re getting someplace late at night, only going to be sleeping, leaving in the morning, we’re all about the motel game. That is for sure.

1 (1h 7m 1s):
Yeah. If you’re literally going to land at like 11:00 PM and you’re going to be up by like five or six don’t splurge on a hotel, just go to a motel sleep, do what you need to do. Get ready, leave.

4 (1h 7m 10s):
I will say this don’t get a one-star motel of these. Get a two, possibly a three, but yeah, motels are AOK if they’re just a place to sleep and you’re not staying there for the luxuries

3 (1h 7m 21s):
Of course, checked in somewhere and had to check out.

4 (1h 7m 24s):
I have not. I hope to God, that never happens to me.

3 (1h 7m 28s):
I haven’t had to either. All right. We have a second question. And this one is coming from Dale, from South Dakota and Dale is asking, where do you recommend staying in San Diego

4 (1h 7m 37s):
In terms of Airbnb hotel or what area of sense? Yeah,

3 (1h 7m 41s):
I think he’s asking like between the different types of accommodations.

4 (1h 7m 45s):
Okay. Well, I know you have a specific answer can, because we’ve actually talked about this before. Cause we have some friends that come from Northern California that don’t necessarily want to stay with us. And they’ve asked that very same question.

3 (1h 7m 56s):
Yeah. And I think it does depend like who you’re coming with and what you’re planning to do. I think an Airbnb beachfront in like mission beach or Pacific beach would be absolutely amazing. Even better if you have a group, but I, for hotels, I think San Diego has a lot of really great hotels too, from oceanfront to downtown to my favorite hotel in San Diego was the Lafayette in north park. It’s just really cute. Retro all of the hotels face the middle of the pool. It’s like motel style, but it’s really like kind of hipster and has fun summer pool parties.

1 (1h 8m 26s):
I think Jamal and I have stayed in a hotel in San Diego other than the hotel Del Coronado, which isn’t technically, even in San Diego, it’s in Coronado, but it is a luxury hotel and it is worth the stay with the Victorian wood and the beautiful beach front and the restaurants on site and the beautiful city around it. It was worth it.

4 (1h 8m 43s):
I will say if you’re coming as a family or if you’re coming with friends to party, I would go the Airbnb route. I would say if you’re coming as a couple, the hotel route, I think would be the best thing in San Diego to do.

3 (1h 8m 58s):
I’ve had, I had a boyfriend who loved to get hotels and I’ve stayed in a lot of hotels in San Diego and there’s a lot of, a lot of good ones. So if anyone, any other listeners out there want specific San Diego hotel recommendations hit me up.

4 (1h 9m 12s):
Dale, Kim’s asking you to hit her up.

3 (1h 9m 14s):
Dale hit me up. All right, everyone. That’s all we have for you this week. Thank you so much for tuning in. Please keep the adventures going with us by following us on Instagram and YouTube at Travel Squad Podcast. We now have the Travel Squad Podcast. Hashtag if you tag your photos with that, we will share them on our profile. And please send us in those questions

2 (1h 9m 34s):
The week. And if you found the information in this episode to be useful, or if you thought we were just playing funny, please make sure to share it with a friend that would enjoy it too.

4 (1h 9m 42s):
And as always guys, please subscribe, rate and review our podcast and tune in every travel Tuesday for new episodes,

1 (1h 9m 49s):
Stay tuned for next week’s episode, we have some more amazing adventures and tips in store for you.