Airbnb can help you find somewhere to stay tonight, wherever you are
Airbnb is a service that has been around for a while, but has just recently released an Android app. The basic idea behind it is for you to rent out your house, or even just a room of your house, for someone to stay in on a nightly basis, and then prospective renters use the app to find a place to stay, connecting the two parties. This allows you to make some extra cash, and that guest room that almost never gets used will actually have some guests in it. The places available to rent range from beach houses to castles, and everything in between.
The Android app is fully featured, meaning that you can do everything you need to do to book a place to stay directly from the app. There is no need to use a web browser at all. It’s pretty simple to get started, but you do have to have an account in order to book a place to stay. Accounts are free to sign up for, so there is no worry about starting an account, even if you don’t think you’ll use the service for a while. You can also browse as much as you want without signing up.
In the app there are a couple of ways for you to find a place to stay. You can browse by different categories if you are planning ahead, or by GPS. If you find yourself stranded somewhere without a roof over your head, the GPS search will list the places closest to you available for rent. Once you find a place you think you might like by looking at the picture and price, you can view lots more information by tapping on the price. On the information page you can see a description of what you get for your money, property details, amenities, location, host information, and any reviews that people have posted. There are also additional pictures and a way to contact the host if you need more information. I’m not a big traveler, so I don’t see this getting any use in my near future, but I’d be interested to hear any stories of people that have used this service. Hit the jump if you want to see what the app looks like.
[airbnb]
