St. Germain, Paris
This place was just aight – small studio on the 4th floor. We booked this the day we arrived because we missed our Couchsurfing Host Nicolas before he left for work. Instead of chilling with our bags all day while waiting for him to come home, we booked this for our first night.
The host Thomas was kinda shady – his employee met us to give us the key, then said we needed to pay a 20 Euro cleaning/laundry fee in cash. Huh? We only got to speak with Thomas on the phone. He said that this was stated in the policy in the AirBnb confirmation email, but it wasn’t. They probably try to just take advantage of people who are too lazy to look it up. I forwarded the confirmation email to him, who said he would contact AirBnb because the email should have mentioned that. We ended up not having to pay the 20 Euros.
Amsterdam, Netherlands
The host Shawna was cool – the spot was a separate apartment behind her family’s house. The place was in the Jordaan – really close to everything we wanted to do. Safe area with stuff to eat and see nearby.
Corte Vecchia, Venice
This place was nice – it was a true Bed & Breakfast where the owners Antonella & her Husband served us breakfast in our rooms each day. They’re both architects and lived in the same building. The room was private, clean and romantic. You can tell that they put in a lot of attention to detail with the furnishings and decor.
San Lorenzo, Florence
We had a good time in Florence. Our host Breditz rents out 2 rooms in his big apartment and calls his place “the smallest hostel in Florence”. You definitely get that hostel vibe with the way he decorates the common areas. The rooms feel like you’re a guest in his home, though. It was nice because we basically had the whole place to ourselves. He was out of town, and his Mom was our host. She spoke 97% Italian and luckily Mel was able to communicate with her. She was sweet and liked us.
The place itself was right next to the leather marketplace. It was a 1 minute walk to the Duomo and a few minute walk to some hella good steak and a Bolido sandwich that we still talk about years later. I’ll add the details here when I find them.
Rome, Italy
Our hosts Alessia and Silvia made this place one of our favorite AirBnbs from the trip. They gave us great food recommendations, tips on which buses to take (Tram 8 was right outside), and served us breakfast everyday. They even had Roma Passes for us to purchase. Super cool! We referred my parents to them when they went to Rome and they enjoyed the stay too.
LAVAPIÉS, Madrid
Lavapis is a diverse neighborood that’s always buzzing with activity. We went to many of the suggested restaurants / areas in Iaia’s handwritten guidebook (very dope) and they were all great.
The apartment itself was very cozy. A few times we just spent the entire day at home chillin. This is where we each bought an iPhone 5 when they came out on apple.com. We enjoyed the CDs that were available for us to play (the song we had on repeat was a cool spanish-vibe version of The Tide Is High)
2 memorable food spots: A “no frills” rotisserie chicken spot with coquetas, and a counter bar that served “zapatilla” sandwiches and grilled Padron peppers (had to order a Coke because they were so hot – but good!).
Barcelona, Spain
Nothing to write home about.