For our trip to Colorado, we were able to stay at a friends condo for our three nights skiing in Vail, but we needed to book a hotel for our two nights in Denver. While perusing the hotels, my co-worker sent me an e-mail for a sale from AirBnB - first time users could get one free night! We had been wanting to try out AirBnB for a while, and since I wasn't finding any amazing hotel deals, this seemed like the perfect opportunity.
We found this amazing loft located right in downtown Denver, and with our free night discount, it was cheaper than any hotel in the area. The place was beautiful - so well decorated and spacious. The homeowner described it as the love-child apartment of Indiana Jones and Anthony Bourdain - and we definitely agreed.
It had everything we needed, was super clean and well-heated, and even had a covered and gated parking garage for us to park our rental car. The homeowner (who we never met, but communicated with frequently over e-mail) was very attentive and nice - he answered all of our questions before we arrived, and offered great restaurant recommendations in the area.
However, it being our first time using AirBnB, we were a little surprised about how strange it felt to stay in someone else's apartment. Although it was incredibly clean and well-stocked, we naturally felt like we need to tip-toe around so as not to disturb anything. I've stayed in rental houses and condos at the beach before, but staying in an apartment in the city (that wasn't adorned in generic beach decor) felt different somehow. It definitely wasn't a deterrent, but it was an aspect that you don't experience in a hotel room.
There also is a tiny bit of clean up involved post-stay - for us it was nothing more than washing a few dishes, wiping down counters and putting linens/towels in the washing machine. And although the homeowner set up a great system to retrieve our key without him being there (he stored keys in a lockbox close by), it took some time to get the key, get the garage door opener, park the car, and carry our suitcases up a few floors to find the apartment. Our flight arrived late at night, and we slightly missed the ease of just showing up to the hotel lobby and being taken care of.
But those cons were small compared to the pros: plenty of space, amazing location, a full kitchen (although we didn't end up using it), and all at a much better price than a tiny hotel room. We definitely felt like we got a good authentic feel of Denver, and we loved being in walking distance to many great restaurants and shops.
(the view from our window)
So, would we do an AirBnB booking again? Definitely, but depending on the circumstance. If we were staying in a place for more than two nights (and wanted to save money by cooking meals at home), and were splitting with another couple or friends, it would definitely be worth the savings for the space and home-iness gained. However, for a quick stay (and in this instance, we really were barely there), the ease of a hotel might be worth the extra cash.
All that being said, I 100% recommend this loft if you are staying in Denver, and I'm so glad we tried AirBnB for the first time. It made our adventure more exciting and I loved taking pictures of the beautiful space. And now we know the pros and cons of renting someone else's space, and we can choose the best option for our adventure at hand.
