Hotels are fun, and even cheap hotels have their charms. But sometimes, you have to dig deeper. Indian hospitality is justifiably famous — captured by the slogan, Atithi Devo Bhava, which means The Guest is God.
If you want to have a new experience you need to come out of the confines of a hotel room. To fully experience this philosophy in action, and to really get to know the culture when you travel in India, you have to stay with an Indian family or in an Indian accommodation that is more homely than a serviced apartment.
Is Airbnb Safe?
Airbnb has lots of safety and security measures in place to make sure that you stay safe. First of all, guests and hosts are both required to provide identification to Airbnb, usually in the form of a scanned ID.
They also verify your phone number. Both guests and hosts receive reviews that allow you to see their history on Airbnb. All payment is handled through Airbnb itself, so you won’t get stiffed by your host or guest. For guests, if necessary, Airbnb’s customer service can be contacted 24/7. As for hosts, Airbnb will cover up to $1,000,000 in damage, though there are some exceptions to this.
But as safe as Airbnb is, remember that nothing is ever 100% safe. Bad experiences can happen from time to time with Airbnb, just as they can with hotels or hostels. To reduce your chances of a bad experience, read on.
TIP NO.1 - Use Linkedin
Most of the AIRBNB Superhosts are available on Linkedin and you can go through their background and education. This will help to scan through initially and decide who do you want to stay with. Also if you share common interests, passion, hobbies or experience.
Tip no. 2- Private room Vs Entire place
If you are travelling with a group you may feel safe almost everywhere but when travelling alone or with small kids- here are a few things you should consider before confirming your stay.
a. Location of the property- in terms of a local police station, hospital, your local embassy or known friends. When I travel to places I have never been so far- I try and ask friends on Facebook or their relatives about safety of that place. I also ask the Host to provide me a full address of his/her property so that I can put it on GPS and look for nearby areas, neighbourhood, police station etc. One more thing I just started doing is googling the apartment complex- most reputed builders in India like Prestige, Purvankara, Aparna, Godrej, Tata and others have good amount of security personnel available with round the clock security.
Caution: Never ever handover your travel document, passport or other such important documents to anyone. Best to carry them with you while you are out for sight seeing etc.
Tip no. 3- After checking in
We recently read about the hoax spread by some stupid AIRBNB host claiming that he is filming guests in his apartment- it has not been proved. Bad publicity stunt! However, just toby on the safer side- take some time to go through the place- look at the drawers, wardrobes, and familiarise yourselves with refreshments, amenities, stationary and other items provided by the host. If all looks good- you can relax!
Tip no. 4- For Solo Women travellers
Well, I may sound like a total hypochondriac or Paranoid but I would always advice a solo women traveller to buy her own booze, water and eatables and not depend on what is provided by the host or cooked for her. I advice to buy pepper-spray, a local SIM card and travel with a Personal Safety kit. You can always buy these on Amazon as well. Always carry a local SIM, a smartphone with apps like OLA, UBER, MERU already installed in them. All of these taxi providers are pretty much available in all popular cities of India and provide GPS tracking and other safety features provided you book using the app. Women safety is a big topic in India so if you google your city (where you are about to stay) plus women safety as a keyword in google- you will come across patrolling vehicles numbers, mobile apps, distress numbers etc. Make sure to take a snapshot and keep them handy. For all states in India 100 from your phone lands up at the emergency desk of the police station control centre so mug this one up!
Tip no. 5- Phone Search
All over the world, phone numbers can now be searched to look for a person's real identity. In India there is this service as well, it is called (as you may already know) Truecaller. Truecaller has more than 2 billion phone numbers and you can search a person's real name in case he is using an Alias on AIRBNB as a host. You need just an email (Gmail/Microsoft) to register. You may also copy paste the number on Google to see relevant mentions in some OLX ads, University records or electoral rolls. Trust me- it is worth a try!
Tip no. 6- Pay attention to Reviews
As reviews are guests' curated content, take some time to go through the reviews. Most people just look at 4 or 5 stars- and don't care to read detailed reviews at all. I shall highly recommend reading reviews in detail if you have time at hand. Not to name any names but I noticed this.A property that was hosting mostly bachelors got 5 stars reviews over 9 stays but when my sister's family stayed there, they realised that it was very close to shady bars and slums so venturing on the road after 9pm was a bit of a bad experience. When i came home and started submitting the review I realised that 2 ladies have already mentioned this in their reviews and obviously felt stupid that I never paid attention to those.
Tip no. 7- Local Knowledge
To get the best out of your homestay experience make sure you take full advantage of your hosts’ local knowledge. They will be able to advise you on things to do and see in the local area and help you arrange any activities, ensuring you are charged a fair price. Eating at your homestay offers the opportunity to try some delicious home cooked food and many of the hosts’ are well known for their cooking. Don’t forget to ask for the recipes of your favourite dishes, a souvenir you can share with your friends back home as you recreate the taste of India in your own kitchen.
Tip no. 8- Safety again!
Before booking or even after you have checked in- make time to go through the House Rules, Home Safety Card, and House Manual. Go outside, in the corridor and figure out fire extinguishers' location, emergency exists, elevators available and society office of the apartment complex. If possible also get the maintenance office, security office and doorman number. Airbnb's Host Protection Insurance program provides primary liability coverage for up to $1,000,000 per occurrence in the event of a third-party claim of bodily injury or property damage related to an Airbnb stay.
Here are some examples of what the Host Protection Insurance program should cover:
You will see my property listed on the right hand side that says "CITY CENTRE DESIGNER 1BHK Apartment" When you follow this link and land up on my listing- you will see a small briefcase icon next to it which means that it is business travel friendly as well. We have mhostedmany women travellers and solo business travellers as well. Would be happy to host you too. I hope you will find this post helpful.
If you want to have a new experience you need to come out of the confines of a hotel room. To fully experience this philosophy in action, and to really get to know the culture when you travel in India, you have to stay with an Indian family or in an Indian accommodation that is more homely than a serviced apartment.
Is Airbnb Safe?
Airbnb has lots of safety and security measures in place to make sure that you stay safe. First of all, guests and hosts are both required to provide identification to Airbnb, usually in the form of a scanned ID.
They also verify your phone number. Both guests and hosts receive reviews that allow you to see their history on Airbnb. All payment is handled through Airbnb itself, so you won’t get stiffed by your host or guest. For guests, if necessary, Airbnb’s customer service can be contacted 24/7. As for hosts, Airbnb will cover up to $1,000,000 in damage, though there are some exceptions to this.
But as safe as Airbnb is, remember that nothing is ever 100% safe. Bad experiences can happen from time to time with Airbnb, just as they can with hotels or hostels. To reduce your chances of a bad experience, read on.
TIP NO.1 - Use Linkedin
Most of the AIRBNB Superhosts are available on Linkedin and you can go through their background and education. This will help to scan through initially and decide who do you want to stay with. Also if you share common interests, passion, hobbies or experience.
Tip no. 2- Private room Vs Entire place
If you are travelling with a group you may feel safe almost everywhere but when travelling alone or with small kids- here are a few things you should consider before confirming your stay.
a. Location of the property- in terms of a local police station, hospital, your local embassy or known friends. When I travel to places I have never been so far- I try and ask friends on Facebook or their relatives about safety of that place. I also ask the Host to provide me a full address of his/her property so that I can put it on GPS and look for nearby areas, neighbourhood, police station etc. One more thing I just started doing is googling the apartment complex- most reputed builders in India like Prestige, Purvankara, Aparna, Godrej, Tata and others have good amount of security personnel available with round the clock security.
Caution: Never ever handover your travel document, passport or other such important documents to anyone. Best to carry them with you while you are out for sight seeing etc.
Tip no. 3- After checking in
We recently read about the hoax spread by some stupid AIRBNB host claiming that he is filming guests in his apartment- it has not been proved. Bad publicity stunt! However, just toby on the safer side- take some time to go through the place- look at the drawers, wardrobes, and familiarise yourselves with refreshments, amenities, stationary and other items provided by the host. If all looks good- you can relax!
Well, I may sound like a total hypochondriac or Paranoid but I would always advice a solo women traveller to buy her own booze, water and eatables and not depend on what is provided by the host or cooked for her. I advice to buy pepper-spray, a local SIM card and travel with a Personal Safety kit. You can always buy these on Amazon as well. Always carry a local SIM, a smartphone with apps like OLA, UBER, MERU already installed in them. All of these taxi providers are pretty much available in all popular cities of India and provide GPS tracking and other safety features provided you book using the app. Women safety is a big topic in India so if you google your city (where you are about to stay) plus women safety as a keyword in google- you will come across patrolling vehicles numbers, mobile apps, distress numbers etc. Make sure to take a snapshot and keep them handy. For all states in India 100 from your phone lands up at the emergency desk of the police station control centre so mug this one up!
Tip no. 5- Phone Search
All over the world, phone numbers can now be searched to look for a person's real identity. In India there is this service as well, it is called (as you may already know) Truecaller. Truecaller has more than 2 billion phone numbers and you can search a person's real name in case he is using an Alias on AIRBNB as a host. You need just an email (Gmail/Microsoft) to register. You may also copy paste the number on Google to see relevant mentions in some OLX ads, University records or electoral rolls. Trust me- it is worth a try!
Tip no. 6- Pay attention to Reviews
As reviews are guests' curated content, take some time to go through the reviews. Most people just look at 4 or 5 stars- and don't care to read detailed reviews at all. I shall highly recommend reading reviews in detail if you have time at hand. Not to name any names but I noticed this.A property that was hosting mostly bachelors got 5 stars reviews over 9 stays but when my sister's family stayed there, they realised that it was very close to shady bars and slums so venturing on the road after 9pm was a bit of a bad experience. When i came home and started submitting the review I realised that 2 ladies have already mentioned this in their reviews and obviously felt stupid that I never paid attention to those.
Tip no. 7- Local Knowledge
To get the best out of your homestay experience make sure you take full advantage of your hosts’ local knowledge. They will be able to advise you on things to do and see in the local area and help you arrange any activities, ensuring you are charged a fair price. Eating at your homestay offers the opportunity to try some delicious home cooked food and many of the hosts’ are well known for their cooking. Don’t forget to ask for the recipes of your favourite dishes, a souvenir you can share with your friends back home as you recreate the taste of India in your own kitchen.
Tip no. 8- Safety again!
Before booking or even after you have checked in- make time to go through the House Rules, Home Safety Card, and House Manual. Go outside, in the corridor and figure out fire extinguishers' location, emergency exists, elevators available and society office of the apartment complex. If possible also get the maintenance office, security office and doorman number. Airbnb's Host Protection Insurance program provides primary liability coverage for up to $1,000,000 per occurrence in the event of a third-party claim of bodily injury or property damage related to an Airbnb stay.
Here are some examples of what the Host Protection Insurance program should cover:
- A guest breaks their wrist after slipping on the rug and brings a claim for the injury against the host.
- A guest is working out on the treadmill in the gym of the apartment building. The treadmill breaks and the guest is injured when they fall off. They bring a claim for the injury against the host and the landlord.
- A guest accidentally drops their suitcase on a third party's foot in the building lobby. The third party brings a claim for the injury against the host and the landlord of the host’s building.
You will see my property listed on the right hand side that says "CITY CENTRE DESIGNER 1BHK Apartment" When you follow this link and land up on my listing- you will see a small briefcase icon next to it which means that it is business travel friendly as well. We have mhostedmany women travellers and solo business travellers as well. Would be happy to host you too. I hope you will find this post helpful.
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