My Thoughts on My First AirBnB Experience

My name is Allison and before I went to Nashville, I was an AirBnB virgin.

Yup, you heard me right. I love to travel but I’d never stayed in an AirBnB before.

But Nashville was different. For starters, it was the week leading up to the draft and you couldn’t find a hotel room for under $300/night anywhere near downtown, and next, I wasn’t going to be by myself. I was going to be with my partner so I felt a little safer. I’d heard some stories about women staying in AirBnBs and how shit went horribly wrong, so I was sure to steer clear of them. But since I wouldn’t be alone, I figured it’d be less likely that the owner of the AirBnB would try to attack me (that happens, right? No? Okay, sure).

Anyways, with the help of my friend, a Nashville native, I started looking at possible candidates for our trip. I found three options within our price range, cleared the locations with my friend, and then sent them over to Nick. He chose the logical way – the one that said in the description it was rumored that Jimi Hendrix had once stayed in the same building. (To be honest, I make a lot of my decisions the same way.)

I contacted the owner, he approved us within minutes, we paid, and that was that.

I was the first to arrive on our first day in Nashville and I got the key easily from the little lockbox, opened the door, and threw my stuff down. I looked around a bit and then went to sit, smell the fresh air on the porch, and wait for Nick to arrive.

I took it as a good omen that on a table was Eat, Pray, Love (a book I love) and a book by Neil Gaiman, who’s the husband of Amanda Palmer who I’d seen in concert three days prior

First thing I noticed: The door into the apartment building was not locked. In any way. This is unheard of in New York City because if you don’t have a doorman, you at least want there to be one, if not TWO locked doors between a robber and your apartment. But there was no lock to be found on this door. Hm. O-K. I took that as a sign that the area was safe.

Second: There were only two locks on the front door to the apartment. This isn’t so abnormal because a lot of apartments in NYC only have two locks, but I have three, and if I lived in a building without a doorman that had no lock on the front door, I’d probably have four. But again: it’s the south, so it’s totally safe, right?

Third: The neighborhood immediately around the building was really suburban. Like, it was an actual neighborhood. Fortunately, though, it was only a 3-minute walk from a coffee place and a few restaurants and a 5-10 minute walk from the 21st Street S area that had a lot of stuff on it.

I managed to sleep pretty well in the apartment, despite the lack of locks on the doors, and I never even heard any weird sounds (we were on the third floor – had we been on the first floor, it’s likely I would’ve been more nervous). We were woken up by the sound of leaf blowers one day though, which was odd since that is NEVER something you’re woken up by in New York.

The apartment was really clean and more than spacious enough for two people. The kitchen was cute and there were a couple of coffee makers and some coffee, too. There was a TV that had Netflix on it and there was also air conditioning in each room which was super important because it was hot as hell in Tennessee.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was really nice to have a little balcony too!

What were my overall impressions of staying in someone else’s home? I thought it was good value for the money (I think it was $89/night). However, I’d like to stay somewhere closer to where I’m spending most of my time next time so we don’t have to spend so much money on Ubers and Lyfts (we would then spend a bunch more money on the AirBnB so it’s a catch 22).

I don’t think I’ll ever stay in an AirBnB by myself though, for safety reasons, but if I’m traveling with people, sure.To be honest, I still kind of like the vibe in a hostel better than having your own place. You get to meet and chat with other travelers, there’s always coffee and snacks around, and oftentimes there’s always security at the front door.

If you want to stay in this AirBnB, you can check it out here. Happy sleeping!

(This was not sponsored. We paid 100% for this stay and the owner doesn’t know that I’m writing this so these are all my authentic opinions.)