AirBnB

AirBnB What is it?

Founded in August of 2008 and based in San Francisco, California, Airbnb is a trusted community marketplace for people to list, discover, and book unique accommodations around the world – online or from a mobile phone. Whether an apartment for a night, a castle for a week, or a villa for a month, Airbnb connects people to unique travel experiences, at any price point, in more than 19,000 cities and 192 countries. And with world-class customer service and a growing community of users, Airbnb is the easiest way for people to monetise their extra space and showcase it to an audience of millions.

I discovered Airbnb when we were going on a cruise last November. Our cruise was leaving from South Hampton and we needed affordable (!!!) accommodation in London for 3 people. Crazy I thought .... but then.....

I stumbled across Airbnb and found fairly quickly an amazing two bedroom penthouse apartment with 360 degree views of London, complete with two sweeping balconies and all mod cons including a drop down movie screen. And all for $250 per night. I was shocked and amazed and also rather sceptical. However when we turned up in London the apartment was even better than advertised and was the highlight of our trip.

So from personal experience I can highly recommend, not just Airbnb but also the apartment in London. here is s link to Paul and the page listing his apartment. Make sure you tell him Cruise Crazies sent you.

But Airbnb is even better than a place to simply find accommodation. 

As I was so impressed with how easy it was to use, I thought, we're going away for 6 weeks, I guess we could rent out own place. So one night I listed our little cottage in Melbourne for what I thought was an exorbitant price of $150 per night. I was amazed at the response, within 24 hours I had 3 different people wanting to rent it.

As it transpired we couldn't find some one to mind the dogs and we had to remove the listing - however one couple said they'd be quite happy to look after the dogs while we were away. See my listing here.

So next time you are planning a cruise why not consider using Airbnb to rent out your house while you are away. They make it very easy, will send a photographer around to take pictures for free, and they handle all the credit card billing. You can also add the cost of cleaning to every new rental.

Done right, you could actually make money while you cruise the world.