I scrolled through dozens of apartments and 99% of them were either too expensive, too far away from Central London or too small. Finally I came across the apartment which I stayed in. It looked extremely attractive on screen. Key word: looked.
Kinda near Central London. Yes that's what I'm looking for.
It's beside a tube station and a bus stop. Nice.
2 rooms? Yeah I need two rooms .
Wifi and heating is included. WIFI.
Oh also the apartment is beside a cathedral, a food market and stuff. Oh yeah that's nice too.
And this is where it gets interesting. I showed my parents the photos of the apartment and they were as amazed as I was because, I mean, just look at these photos. Don't they look like a fine ass place to live in... at first glance, yes.
My first reaction when I entered the apartment was 'wait did we get the wrong place?'. The apartment was smaller than my living room. But it's impossible right? How does the apartment look so big in the photos?? And then what my friend told me hit me right in the face. A few weeks ago he was telling me about how his Uncle, when selling his house, would turn on all the lights, open all the curtains so that the whole house was brightly lit in order to make the house bigger.
That's why.
The other huge problem was that the toilet mirror was too high up and there was only a small full body mirror so no, you can't take your daily OOTDs. Too bad boys and girls. Also the shower was pretty slow.
Now I'll just list down the disadvantages of an airbnb apartment.
Firstly, it'll be the compromise of your safety. Well it's obvious that the landlord has the keys too so it'll definitely be a risk to leave any expensive things in the apartment. There's also the issue of multiple renting. There's a recent news report about a lady who had been renting an apartment for a couple of months. But what she didn't know is that the apartment is being rented out as a love hotel while she's out working.
Secondly, there's the issue of hygiene. Most airbnb landlord provide towels and bed sheets and necessities as such. How unhygienic will it be if they didn't properly sterilise the towels right? In my case, there was a hassle washing the towels ourselves because we requested for a change of towels daily but it wasn't carried out.
Lastly, I find it kind of dangerous to live in an airbnb apartment. My apartment was in Old Street which is this super quiet place in London. Actually everywhere in London, except for Piccadilly and Chinatown, is pretty quite at night. So it's really easy to be mugged or whatever in this kind of places, especially if you look like a tourist. It's safer to stay in a hotel because most grand hotels are located in bustling areas, and there are also security guards standing guard around the hotel.
This photo was actually taken outside the tube station near my apartment. It was only at around 9 pm(?) but all the shops were already closed.
But y'know of course there are the benefits that you can gain from an airbnb apartment which you can't from a hotel. As I said earlier on, the reason why I wanted to live in an airbnb apartment was because I wanted to feel more like a local and really get the London vibe which I highly doubt is possible in a series of room service and grand lobbies. Despite all of those negative points I pointed out, I'll still probably try out more airbnb apartments when I travel next time (probably the more pricey ones) it really makes you feel like you're a local rather than a tourist. Greeting neighbours on the way out, going to the nearby cafe where all the neighbourhood locals hang. Seriously, I wouldn't have fallen in love with London so hard if it wasn't for my choice of accommodation.
Thanks for reading!
https://www.airbnb.com/
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