Five better alternatives to AirBnB

There are several reasons to consider an alternative to AirBnb when visiting New Orleans. In my opinion, the biggest is Airbnb’s deep impact on the availability of affordable housing and turning what were neighborhoods into hotels. Does that not do it for you? Perhaps you should also consider something that might be more….esoteric…. The aesthetics of the built environment reflecting Instagram and Airbnb. You should be traveling somewhere to experience something new, instead everything is becoming the same. While the new and the foreign can be shocking (if not downright frightening), isn’t the point of traveling to be challenged and see something new? Instead of neighborhoods being mixes of residential and commercial properties servicing local residents, they are becoming carefully curated instagramable caricatures of what tourists think a neighborhood in New Orleans should be. There are many reasons other than affordable housing and questionable interior decorating decisions. The big one being: Safety – licensed hotels, hostels and guest houses have to follow regulations, fire codes, and be inspected. In addition, they have to be limited to one per block and pay taxes. While there hasn’t been any AirBnb disasters in New Orleans yet, it’s just a matter of time before we see them here. Though I’m sure that some hotel owners, managers and employees must be bigoted, part of the regulations they have to follow prevent them from engaging in obvious discrimination. AirBNB doesn’t have any such policy and has had issues with this in the past {link 2 articvle about this}. You might be thinking “thanks for ruining Airbnbs for me, where am I suppose to stay now?!?” We made a handy list of five better alternatives to Air BNB. I know some of you are picking Airbnb because it’s inexpensive. Many non-airbnb options are cheap so I added dollar signs to signify cost.

1. Guest Houses and traditional Bed and Breakfasts. ($$) Before Air BNB there was just regular old Bed and Breakfasts. Generally these are private homes converted to guest accommodations. Often lived in by the owner/operator. They are often cheaper then you think. You can find the best deals using hotel booking sites (like booking.com) to compare prices. They often have great amenities like hot tubs, pools, and saunas.

2. “Boutique” hotels ($-$$$) I’d define these as larger then guest houses and BnBs. The big difference is that usually the owner doesn’t live on site, but there is someone working at the front desk to help. In much of the world they have pensions hotels, which offer simple accommodations for a low price. Here in the States things aren’t so easily defined but we do have something quite similar here in New Orleans both Uptown and a block off St Claude in the Marginy. Some boutique hotels like Ace Hotel are quite large and owned by a national chain consequently, they offer a much more luxurious experience at a price. 

3. Hostels. ($) Hostels aren’t just for Australians anymore! I kid, I kid, but for real: wages have shrunk, everything is more expensive but you still wanna travel? Stay at a hostel for $15 dollars a night! You can have clean sheets in a bunk bed and you’ll probably make friends who will buy all your drinks because they are shocked at how much cheaper booze is in the States. Hostels are a great place to stay, especially for solo travelers because you can and will make friends. These can be real and lasting friendships with people from all over the world! Some hostels offer private rooms at a great rate, which is a great deal if you are traveling with a partner or you just like your space. Hostel.com really works for finding hostels in New Orleans or anywhere really

4. Couchsurfing. (FREE) Back in the early aughts when I was first traveling I’d usually just ask my friends if they knew anyone in a town I was visiting and if I could crash on their couch. That’s what Couchsurfing meant 15 years ago but at some point (around 2004) someone took that idea and created a website around it where strangers could host one another. I know what it sounds like but most people are actually pretty great and as a social experiment it worked. I made at least two really great friends from Couchsurfing and had no terrible experiences. Originally couchsurfing.com was a non-profit that changed several years ago, now you have to pay to create an account and I haven’t used it since. It’s still there and it’s still a solid idea though it’s hard to turn a profit on something like the concept of “couchsurfing” consistently. With social media it’s even easier to just ask your friends and friends of friends if they know someone in a particular town and find a couch to sleep on. Just don’t forget to do something nice for your hosts like take them out to dinner or at least wash the dishes.

5. Help X. (“free”) Help x or help exchange is like Couchsurfing but instead of letting someone stay totally free, you let someone stay in exchange for some type of labor. This is great way to experience a city like New Orleans for a more extended time and make connections with people here. Learn what it’s really like to live in New Orleans but not in a fake curated AirBNB way. Experience it in a real “help a local with their garden or build a fence then drink beers on the porch afterwards” kinda way.