
Lately Airbnb is criticized by many travelers for becoming more and more commercialized, filled with people who only want to make a profit, loosing it’s soul, by loosing the whole social component. We are all kind of disappointed that most listings nowadays are either professional hotels, hostels and bed and breakfasts or private people renting out empty apartments and not space in their own homes. If we wanted to stay in a hotel we would book a hotel, am I right? By the way, in some countries, like Japan only registered hosts are allowed to legally list on Airbnb.
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Post Contents
1. Disable Instant Booking
Instant book is a setting in Airbnb that enables booking without having to request approval from the host. This is mostly done by commercial listing and less done by hosts who invite people to their homes.

2. Set Filters
Even if you filter out all “Whole house” you will still get a lot of hotel rooms and hostel beds in your search result.

Try adjusting the price range a little bit and also use the map to zoom out of the city center.

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Many people live in the suburbs so if you are only looking at listings in the city center chances are high you only find overpriced hotels.
3. Book Within 3 or 1 Months Of Your Stay
4. Read Reviews
When you have found a booking that seems good to you the last step is to read reviews. You want to read about how much the host interacted with the guests and how the overall atmosphere was between guest and host. That way you can make sure your host wants to talk to and spend time with you when you are their guest.

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Lena
Authors Note:
None of the experiences in this post are in any way sponsored and have all been payed for by myself. The opinions stated are all my own and have not been influenced in any way.
This posts contains affiliate links. I receive a commission if a product is purchased through one of these links, at no extra cost to you. Please support me by purchasing products through my links!
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Lena is the creator of the Social Travel Experiment. Planning her trip around the world took a lot of effort. To make it easier for future world travelers she has made it her mission to teach others how to have an unforgettable trip around the world, through short stays with locals, without wasting valuable time or money.