NANDINI VAIDYANATHAN compares her experiences of using Airbnb in Europe vis-à-vis India
We are big fans of Airbnb. All our holidays in all parts of the world are planned around Airbnb stays and experiences. We have been doing this since 2017 when we first discovered the joys of having a whole home to yourself (sometimes even with a garden) as opposed to just a pokey room. Of course, since we also love cooking this made more sense as we could walk down to the supermarket in whichever city we were and cook up a storm in our Airbnb kitchen.
We first started using Airbnb outside of India. Our experience was so phenomenal that we decided to cut-paste it to our within-India travel too. And discovered that the Airbnb experience within and outside India are so vastly different that it could be two separate companies almost. It is about this difference that I want to talk today.
Remember in my last column I mentioned that my next few columns will be liberally laced with French flavour, as we did a month-long road trip in France in March-April this year? Well, except when we stayed in Poligny in my partner’s parental home, everywhere else we stayed in an Airbnb. The locations were, Paris, Annemasse, Annecy, Nancy and Strasbourg. In other places such as Dijon and Macon, we stayed either in a service apartment or a hotel as we couldn’t find suitable Airbnbs.
We have kind of perfected how we choose a particular property. We only choose premium properties with a garden, balcony or courtyard, we book the whole place, we always look for a super-host, we have a set of amenities that have to tick-box and of course, depending on what our activity in that area is, we choose the location. So if it is only city tour, we like to stay in the central business district. If we are there for trekking, we seek isolated properties in the mountain from where we have convenient access to the trek base.
We had Airbnb’d extensively in Europe prior to this trip and had the most heart-warming tales to tell. And this trip turned out to be no different. In every location, we had beautiful apartments, well furnished (although by the end of the trip we realised all of them were furnished and decorated from IKEA), well maintained, well ventilated. The kitchen may be small but had everything you needed to cook your meals. Which included oil, salt, pepper, spices, the works. The apartment access was invariably through a code which was shared with us a few hours before check-in. We never met a single super-host but we had conversations with them on phone (very few people in France use Whatsapp, only SMS!) whenever we needed to. There were clear instructions left for the guests which included garbage disposal. All in all, an extremely easy, convenient, pleasant experience.
The apartments looked exactly the way they did in pictures on the Airbnb site. The amenities were exactly those that were listed. The service was exactly that which had been promised. If we were surprised it was because in many places, the super-hosts had under-promised. Everything was process-driven and worked precisely as it was meant to. In most of them, we found the super-hosts had gone above and beyond in trying to put together information for all things touristy.
Our conclusion: Airbnb due diligence in Europe is very much in place.
Now cut to India. Like I said, since we cut our teeth on Airbnb in Europe, we naively thought that our experience in India would be similar. Over the years, whether it is in cities or mountains or beaches, what we have experienced is this. Firstly, the requirement of being called a super-host is very diluted in India. We have met super-hosts and we have stayed in properties where we have been charged an arm and a leg − both not justifying the tags. The photographs are either photoshopped or taken by a professional who has been told to make the property ‘look good’.
Secondly, the amenities don’t match up to the listing. The bathrooms may not have running hot water or the AC may not be in a working condition. The upholstery and linen may be old, faded and screaming to be replaced.
Thirdly, the kitchens are rarely well equipped. They don’t provide the basic ingredients such as salt, oil and masala. Even the crockery and cutlery have seen better times. Fourthly, even when you rent the whole property, we have seen, especially in the mountains, the caretakers entertaining outsiders for a meal and pocketing that money. Fifthly, the biggest difference between Europe and India is that there are caretakers on every one of these Airbnbs in India. Yet hygiene is highly suspect. Fresh bed and bath linen have to be asked for with insistence. And if you don’t feel like cooking, the caretakers rustle up a meal for you.
Sixthly, we have noticed the emergence of a middleman in the Airbnb space in India. Earlier it was the owner who signed up on Airbnb for his property. Now it seems there is a broker who aggregates several properties from different owners and provides listing and service on Airbnb! In Europe, many superhosts took pride in mentioning that the property was their home once. But in India it seems these properties are either bought or rented for the express purpose of listing on Airbnb, so the heart is missing!
Lastly, India is almost 25 years ahead of France in digital technology, yet none of these properties has digital access, and are still relying on locals to provide access, upkeep and maintenance. Whilst it is good to have human interaction (I must say we sometimes missed this in France), unless it is of professional order, it makes a huge dent in a traveler’s experience.
Our conclusion: there seems to be not enough due diligence by Airbnb in India.
