I used AirBNB in Peru last year, I paid the asking price - Mistake #1! Never, ever pay the asking price. If they ask for $100 per night, offer them $60, they will usually tell you "the bank doesn't allow it" or even come back with a "special offer" at $80. They will also ask for a $100 cleaning fee or something ridiculous, they got me for that in Peru, took me for a sucker. I'm sure they paid someone $5 bucks to clean the entire apartment when I left. The porter at this apartment complex where I stayed worked 12 hours per day, 7 days a week. Two men, each worked 84 hours a week and each took home $325 per month, before taxes! Labor is dirt cheap in South America and these people want to charge you $100 for cleaning an apartment, make sure you get this waived.
How to proceeed on AirBNB:
1. Offer 30% less, if they say "no" then move on, chances are they will come back with an offer of at least %15 less. I learned this after using AirBNB once. I am going to Rio next month and the person listing the 3 Bedroom Penthouse (Copacabana) was aking $1850 when we started negotiating. Me and my two buddies got the place for $1250 and that's with an airport transfer.
2. Get them to waive all those dumb fees.
3. Read the bad reviews very closely.
4. Be weary of apartments that have only 5 star reviews - no one apartment is appealing to everyone, if it sounds too good to be true it's BS.
Why all the good reviews, you ask??
Back to my experience in Lima. This lady who I rented from in Lima advertised her apartment as "Brand New Duplex in MiraFlores." This apartment was brand new 10 years ago. The bathroom was missing a window and had a piece of cardboard instead. The washer went for hours without stopping, the dryer took 5 hours to dry a pair of socks. The internet worked only when I didn't use it. A lot of hype, a lot of good reviews, but in reality a lot of money for what I got. The apartment walls had mold and the paint was peeling. I got sick in Peru and I wonder if it was the apartment and not the water I drank.
Anyways - I gave this apartment a 5 star review - want to know why, because the lady who listed the apartment let me keep my bags in the apartment a few extra hours on my last day. She told me she wanted to "hook me up" since I had so many problems with the wifi. In reality, she didn't have another sucker renting the apartment that day, if she did, you better believe she would have kicked me out. So I kept my bags in the apartment for about 3 extra hours and she got a 5 star review.
Btw: I later learned that the woman listing the apartment on AirBNB was not even the owner, she was listing the apartment on AirBNB and other persons were listing the same place on other mediums.
Boys, there are a ton of other websites and they all charge fees, do your homework and sometimes getting the apartment at the last second is the best way to go, when these fools are desperate. Save your loot and spend it do fun stuff. Remember, you are the consumer, you have the power, stick those hefty fees and prices up their you know what. Everything in life is negotiable.
How to proceeed on AirBNB:
1. Offer 30% less, if they say "no" then move on, chances are they will come back with an offer of at least %15 less. I learned this after using AirBNB once. I am going to Rio next month and the person listing the 3 Bedroom Penthouse (Copacabana) was aking $1850 when we started negotiating. Me and my two buddies got the place for $1250 and that's with an airport transfer.
2. Get them to waive all those dumb fees.
3. Read the bad reviews very closely.
4. Be weary of apartments that have only 5 star reviews - no one apartment is appealing to everyone, if it sounds too good to be true it's BS.
Why all the good reviews, you ask??
Back to my experience in Lima. This lady who I rented from in Lima advertised her apartment as "Brand New Duplex in MiraFlores." This apartment was brand new 10 years ago. The bathroom was missing a window and had a piece of cardboard instead. The washer went for hours without stopping, the dryer took 5 hours to dry a pair of socks. The internet worked only when I didn't use it. A lot of hype, a lot of good reviews, but in reality a lot of money for what I got. The apartment walls had mold and the paint was peeling. I got sick in Peru and I wonder if it was the apartment and not the water I drank.
Anyways - I gave this apartment a 5 star review - want to know why, because the lady who listed the apartment let me keep my bags in the apartment a few extra hours on my last day. She told me she wanted to "hook me up" since I had so many problems with the wifi. In reality, she didn't have another sucker renting the apartment that day, if she did, you better believe she would have kicked me out. So I kept my bags in the apartment for about 3 extra hours and she got a 5 star review.
Btw: I later learned that the woman listing the apartment on AirBNB was not even the owner, she was listing the apartment on AirBNB and other persons were listing the same place on other mediums.
Boys, there are a ton of other websites and they all charge fees, do your homework and sometimes getting the apartment at the last second is the best way to go, when these fools are desperate. Save your loot and spend it do fun stuff. Remember, you are the consumer, you have the power, stick those hefty fees and prices up their you know what. Everything in life is negotiable.