Tips For Women To Stay Safe At Airbnb.
Safety is the utmost concern for girls while traveling solo. Be it a long trip or a shorter one, international or domestic, girls who travel solo are always concerned about being safe, especially when it comes to their accommodation. If any of your female family members or friend or you are planning a solo trip in near future, share the following tips with them to choose a safe accommodation with Airbnb.
Here are some tips and tricks to ensure a happy, safe, and satisfactory stay experience.
Go for listings with high reviews (4.5+ rating)
Always look for properties with high reviews and ratings. Hosts who are highly rated are
ardent to keep it that way. High-rated hosts are reliable, professional, and helpful and will make sure to meet your expectations during your stay with them.
Avoid listings with ratings lower than four stars, and also stay away from listings that do not have any reviews or bad reviews. 0 reviews sometimes can mean that the listing is new, but it could also mean that they have gotten bad reviews in the past and had to remove their old profile and start over. It may be a little dubious to think like this, but when it comes to safety, you have to consider all aspects, and better not take any chance.
opt for a super host
Hosts earn a Super host badge with their consistent great hospitality and good reviews from travelers who have stayed with them in the past. They are motivated to keep their status and be Super hosts. The primary benefit of staying with a Super host is that it is not likely for their booking to get canceled. To maintain the Super host status, they must have a cancellation rate of less than 1%. They can lose Super host status if a host cancels their guest’s booking which harms their future bookings as a host. Therefore, an Airbnb reservation with a Super host minimizes the chances of being subject to a last-minute cancellation. You can easily filter Super host listings when looking for a property on the Airbnb platform.
View location on google maps
Although a listing won’t give you an exact address before a booking, an Airbnb map will provide you a piece of pretty good information about the location and neighborhood of the property. Google maps can give you a sense of if the property in an area is easily accessible by cars and if you could easily be picked up or dropped off by a taxi or if you have to walk to do so how much distance you have to cover.
Another benefit of it is that on Google maps you can drop a pin location and map out
the distance and suggested routes to places you intend to visit. Google maps are also helpful because sometimes the accommodation looks close to the city center or main tourist attractions on the Airbnb maps, but there may be a possibility that’s not the scenario.
While traveling alone, by staying in or near a city’s center, it is less likely that after exploring all day you have to walk down alone through eerily quiet streets to get home.
Look closely at the photos of windows
The positioning of windows can tell you a lot about the property and its location. Always look for well-lit and ventilated places and avoid dark and dungeon-like accommodations with few or no windows. Also, pay close attention to the positing of windows to ensure privacy.
In case of choosing accommodation in a city or town, avoid Airbnb which is on the ground floor. Always connect with the host to know more about the property. Airbnb's that provide more privacy is more secure for solo female travelers, it is less likely to have strangers or neighbors gawking inside the unit.
Book an entire place
Sharing a unit with strangers is not comfortable for anyone. For solo female travelers, it is best to have a private place with no shared bathroom. While looking at listings on Airbnb you can easily select ‘Entire Place’ when putting filters. Private rooms on Airbnb can offer shared bathrooms, and you can have to pass through a shared area to access your room. An ‘Entire Place’ on Airbnb can include apartments but it will ensure a private bathroom within the unit. Some boutique hotels will sometimes put their spaces on the Airbnb platform. You can also, opt for them.
Book as early as possible
Late booking often leads to few stay options on desired dates. The earlier you book, the more options you have to choose from. With more listing options the chances of getting a nice and desirable place in your budget become high. Do not wait for too long to book or avoid making last-minute reservations. Making a late booking puts you at risk of paying higher rates for the place that fits your criteria or having limited options to choose from.
Don’t overshare with the host
On Airbnb, guests are required to write a brief note about themselves as an introduction to the host. Keep that description short and simple. You can give a compliment to their listing, and let them know that you are respectful of rules and neighbors and that you are looking forward to staying. Don’t give importance to you traveling alone and that you are unfamiliar with the destination. If you don’t wish to highlight the fact that you will be on your own, you don’t have to tell them. You can tell them that you may have a family member or friend joining you. Most Airbnb charges the same rate for 1 guest or 2 guests, so you can also make a reservation for 2 guests instead. Depending on your level of comfort, you can maintain privacy as you like.
Make all the communication and transactions via the Airbnb platform
Airbnb has its own highly secure on-platform system for travelers to communicate with the hosts. It’s convenient and comfortable. Even though Airbnb provides guests and hosts with one another’s contact details once the booking is confirmed, it is recommended to do all your correspondence via the Airbnb platform. That is necessary and helpful in case any issue arises and you have to contact Airbnb customer service. Airbnb does not encourage communication outside its messenger, and will usually hide any phone numbers or email addresses that are sent out in a message.
Share the listing details with someone
Whenever you travel solo, sharing your accommodation details and location with a family member or friend is a good practice. As soon as you get the exact address and location of the property share it with someone. You can always share the listing’s link as well until you have the actual address.
Final Thoughts
Traveling alone is an experience every woman should have. It makes you more confident and aware of yourself. By remembering certain things and following some tips you can have a safe and great Airbnb stay experience during your solo trip.
Just be cautious and aware.