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AirBnB is now available in Cuba

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Re: AirBnB is now available in Cuba

#31

Post by enraged_camel »

ianpurton wrote: post #15
steveridout wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, that's surprising, I've been an AirBnB guest about 10 times and generally had a very good experience. I've had 100% response rate and only once had a problem - which was that the host had a problem with the utilities in the flat and had to cancel my booking a few days before. Annoying, but understandable and well communicated. Perhaps it's worth looking at your photo and description to see if they can be improve…

Not sure if a hosts reputation is affected by them ignoring requests. Problem is, if I need a room I need to know quick if it's available or not.

Yeah, this is why I've been leaning towards regular hotels more and more. You can see dates of availability, and confirmation is instant. With Expedia, I always have that stress factor of "are they going to say yes or no?" and often times I end up placing several inquiries just to cover my bases.

Re: AirBnB is now available in Cuba

#32

Post by rdeboo »

simonswords82 wrote: post #12
ianpurton wrote: post #10

I have mixed success with AirBnB as a traveller. I would say 80% of my requests to stay in a place are either ignored or rejected. I'm mainly talking about hosts from the UK. In the end I just stay in Hotels, it's less hassle, often cheaper. As for Cuba, very surprised if they have 1000 properties available. Getting internet access in Cuba is pretty much impossible.

Yeah AirBnB hasn't really taken off here in the UK as it has elsewhere. Not sure if that's a cultural thing (letting your home out to strangers) or something else. Like you said, much better to stay at a hotel or B & B if travelling to the UK

It does seem to depend on the country. I've had great success/response so far in Western Europe (France, Belgium) but my attempts to book something in Greece were met mostly with rejections. It seemed to me that they don't bother to update their calender, rather they use the Airbnb platform in a limited way: to put out an advertisement. This makes it impossible to search for vacancies quickly, you still need to contact every single host to ask if you can stay.

On the plus side, my best Airbnb experiences were in Greece, there were some fantastic hosts (and houses).

Re: AirBnB is now available in Cuba

#33

Post by rdeboo »

ape4 wrote: post #14

AirBnb doesn't have to do anything to move into a new country. Just accept listings.

The article states that they were previously forced to block Cuban ip addresses and that AirBnb actively lobbied to be allowed to do business there. Also they had to find a way to forward payments to Cubans as most of the banks will not do this.

Re: AirBnB is now available in Cuba

#34

Post by Ntrails »

andreasen wrote: post #17
simonswords82 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah AirBnB hasn't really taken off here in the UK as it has elsewhere. Not sure if that's a cultural thing (letting your home out to strangers) or something else. Like you said, much better to stay at a hotel or B & B if travelling to the UK

Thats interesting. I always thought bed & breakfast was a British "invention". The b&b's (in Scotland) I've stayed at have always been a pleasure, complete with toast and jam. Edit: sorry - didn't read your last paragraph about about b&b. But I would've thought b&b would be in the same market as airbnb?

But almost no actual "B&B"s are using airbnb, in my experience at least. The vast majority are spare rooms being let (or in some cases converted living rooms etc just to try and cope with london rents).

I spent about 4 months "between homes" and Airbnb got me through most of it. It's a hugely mixed experience, but in many ways I'm glad I did it.

Re: AirBnB is now available in Cuba

#35

Post by makmanalp »

enraged_camel wrote: post #31
ianpurton wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure if a hosts reputation is affected by them ignoring requests. Problem is, if I need a room I need to know quick if it's available or not.

Yeah, this is why I've been leaning towards regular hotels more and more. You can see dates of availability, and confirmation is instant. With Expedia, I always have that stress factor of "are they going to say yes or no?" and often times I end up placing several inquiries just to cover my bases.

I agree - though there are a lot of airbnb hosts these days who do automatic confirmation. Like hotels, if you booked it, you got it, basically.

Re: AirBnB is now available in Cuba

#39

Post by kenrikm »

nodesocket wrote: post #3

After watching Conan's visit to Cuba, it looks like an awesome destination. http://teamcoco.com/cuba

Conan almost looks like Caesar Flickerman on the streets of Havana. My wife is Cuban, I grew up in Miami. Cuba is a beautiful country with an interesting culture and a extremely corrupt oppressive government. The government of Cuba lies somewhere between Russia and North Korea for political oppression it is the type of place where expressing discontent the government in your own home can get you thrown in jail for years without judicial process. I do not have the words to describe the soul sucking disparity that exists in that country if you're not coming in with first world money.

Marco Rubio only scratched the surface of the reality in this speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_wKhXurFyI&feature=youtu.be

My brother in Law was thrown in jail for a year just for trying to leave the country. He went into jail 200lbs and exited just over 110bs.

Please understand with some intellectual honesty that people will not risk their lives [1] and face jail time in the equivalent of a Russian gulag if things are peachy dory.

[1] http://bestcubaguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/balseros...

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