Wednesday, December 2, 2015

6 reasons to Stay With Airbnb

IMG_3297 PA215863 PA215883 PA215859 PA215881 PA215838 PA215876 PA215885
Oh hey there! Today, folks, we're talking Amsterdam. One of the questions I was asked most when I was out there was where did I stay, so I thought it'd make sense to start with that! We decided to go down the Airbnb route, which is what we did back in Iceland at the start of the year and loved it, and - from asking around - it's definitely the way to go in Amsterdam. There's SO much choice (seriously, check it out if you don't believe me) and something there for every price point. We decided to go for Ron's apartment and I'm so glad we did; it was only a 10 minute tram from the centre of town and right on the canal front, straight across from the zoo. Plus, as you can see, it came with a big ole dollop of interior inspo. Ron himself was absolutely lovely, even leaving us with a personalised map with lots of his favourite restaurants and spots marked on. Don't get me wrong, I still bladdy love a nice hotel but it is nice to mix it up now and then, so I've put together a little list on why airbnb might be for you:

1) If you choose an apartment with kitchen access then you've got the option to make your own breakfast/lunch/dinner to save you eating out every day. Dolla dolla saved instantly. It's also pretty handy if you're GF/coeliac etc - it can be quite hard finding places abroad so this way you know exactly what's going in your food.
2) It's a great way to get tips from a local; most hosts are more than happy to share their favourite restaurants/hot-spots with you that might otherwise have gone under the radar.
3) Nosiness. I friggin love seeing inside other people's houses so airbnb's a bit of a dream. I've picked up many an interior tip this way (most recently being Ron's blown up photo collage of his New York snaps which you can see above).
4) Flexibility. You can normally work out check-in and check-out times that suit both you and the host so that you're not arriving in a city with 4 hours to kill before you can check in. Even though our check out was 12, Ron let us keep our cases there for the afternoon until we had to go to the airport to save us lugging them about Amsterdam, and often you can arrange for a later check-out altogether if they don't have anyone staying there that night.
5) If you spend a little extra time looking around then you'll start uncovering gems with exciting extras; I spotted everything from hot tubs to roof terraces on there.
6) It's like a little home from home. One night we were pretty knackered from hoofing it around all day, so just got in some food - including a big-ass tub of ice cream - and watched a film. Bliss.

So there we go! Next up, what to do in Amsterdam. Or maybe a photo diary? Decisions, decisions...

Amy