Our experience with Airbnb

So as you may remember from this post, while the Professor and I were in Miami this summer, we rented our apartment out on Airbnb to a lovely French couple who was visiting Barcelona with their toddler son. It was the first time we had ever used Airbnb either as a host or as a guest, so we were pretty nervous about how it would go. Total strangers staying in our place. Sleeping in our beds. Cooking with our pots and pans. There were so many opportunities to freak out about it especially for a control freak like me.
But fortunately, our experience was terrific. We returned to a clean apartment where nothing was stolen, broken or out of place. In fact we even gained some things. The French couple left behind a few small toys they had bought for their son (which Roman was very excited about) as well as a potty (which Roman was less enthused about). Furthermore, they kindly replaced anything they had used up or eaten and washed the towels and sheets before they left which was amazingly considerate.

I think part of the reason we had such a great experience renting out our place was because we lucked out finding this wonderful family. But I also think everything went well because we took certain steps (and followed the advice of you great readers!) to make sure that both parties would be happy. In case any of you are thinking of hosting your place on Airbnb, I've put together what I hope will be some helpful tips based on what worked for us. Here they are:

1. Before you invite someone to stay, screen the possible guests. This may sound a little prejudiced or unfair but remember that it is your home and you want someone who seems trustworthy and decent staying there. When the Professor and I listed our place, we immediately received around 7 inquiries. But I was most attracted to families with young children or babies as I figured they'd get the most use out of our place. When I read the French couples's email, I answered back saying that I'd like to Skype with them before confirming. We set a Skype date and all went well. I assumed that they would be great guests and in fact they were.

2.  Create a house rule book or guide. This was a suggestion from you readers actually. Before the couple arrived, the Professor and I wrote out a detailed guide to our neighborhood saying which restaurants we liked, which parks are nearby, how to get to the beach, where to take the recycling, etc. We created some house rules like no smoking, don't invite over strangers, etc. and we also provided detailed instructions for how to use the stove, the laundry machine and the TV and Playstation.

3.  Keep the lines of communication open before and during your guest's stay. Before the couple arrived, we exchanged a few emails mostly so that the couple would know what to bring with them (for instance, they wanted to know if they should bring toiletries or linens or if they could use ours). Also when we were in Miami, I made sure to email them when they arrived to welcome them and to tell them to email me or call me if there were any problems or questions. During their stay, they had an issue with the fact that the sunlight was too bright in the second bedroom where their son was sleeping and wanted to know whether we had a solution for this. I wrote back immediately saying that we didn't have a curtain or anything but they could drape a sheet over the window which is what they ended up doing. It made me feel reassured to know that we were always in touch. Sometimes, the mother would even write me just to tell me what they were up to and how much they were enjoying their vacation.

So that's that. I hope these tips are useful for you Airbnb newbies. Are there any points you would add? I'm looking forward to using the site again but this time as a guest. Now all I have to do is pick a destination!

Our place on Airbnb

Have you guys ever heard of Airbnb? I hadn't until Joanna mentioned it on her blog Cup of Jo. Airbnb is a website that makes it easy for anybody to rent a room or even an entire house while away on vacation. Wouldn't it be so much better to stay in a house than in a hotel? You'd have more space than you would in a hotel, you could stay in a non-touristy neighborhood and feel like a local, and it would probably be cheaper than staying in a hotel too. So after Joanna mentioned it, I checked it out for myself. I thought it would be a great idea for the Professor and I to rent out our apartment for the month of August since we intend on being in Miami for most of the summer. So we created an account, posted some pictures of our place (taken by a professional photographer that Airbnb sent by--for free!) and a few days after our listing went up, a lovely French couple and their toddler son found our apartment, got in touch with us and ultimately decided to stay here during their summer trip to Barcelona. Yay!

It's really a win-win for both of us. The French couple get a comfy, childproofed place and don't need to lug around a portable crib, high chair or baby bath tub. They get to see Barcelona from a non-touristy neighborhood that's great for families. And since we listed our place for only 60 USD a night, they get to save a bunch of cash over what they would have payed for a hotel. And the Professor and I get to earn some money by renting out our place instead of leaving it empty all summer.

Of course, there are risks to letting strangers stay in your home. How can you be sure that people won't steal your stuff or trash your place? What if the people you rent your place to are criminals or just crazy? We were a bit worried about these things so we decided to Skype the couple and we sent a few emails back and forth before we confirmed them and they seem like a totally normal and charming family. So we're excited to see how this goes.

We still have some questions though. If we're going to be out of town when they get here, how do we give them the key? Do our guests help themselves to our towels and linens or do we ask them to bring their own? I'm actually pretty curious about how far the respect for personal property goes. I'm totally okay with them using our pots and pans and colanders and immersion blender and everything but what if they eat everything in our pantry? Will they refill the olive oil cruet and the pepper mill before we get back? And what if they break something?

Am I overthinking things a bit? Or are there questions I haven't thought of? Have any of you ever used Airbnb either as a guest or as a host? Do you have any advice for us?

Banishing the bareness (little by little)

Even though the Professor and I have been living in this apartment since January, we've only JUST put up some art on the walls.  And it's about time! I've been staring at this narrow, bare wall between our two living room windows for months wondering if we should put one large art piece here, or a few small prints, or if we should scrap art all together and put up a large mirror or some decorative shelves.  I finally reached a decision when I saw these two prints on display at a Chilean restaurant that we frequent here in Barcelona, Cafe-Bar Merquen in the neighborhood of Sant Antoni.  The artist's name is Anna Repullo and her work is both whimsical and graphic. The topmost print features two birds carrying a clock and a banner that says, "tempus fugit" ("time flies" in Latin).  To check out more of her work visit origen.ws

One wall down, and oh....about 15 more to go.  I can't wait until I've accumulated so much art that my house looks like one of these lovelies featured on From the Right Bank.

Making a house a home

 

I meant to post these pictures last week but painting the house took longer than we thought because the weather in Barcelona last week was not cooperating (hello April thunderstorms!).  I'm not sure if you can tell by these photos, but the apartment has finally been painted.  This is what it looked like before.  Most people are surprised that we spent the time and money painting the entire apartment (it's 700 square feet!) but I happen to believe that paint is a really easy way to make a significant difference in your home and impart a little of your personality into your space.  Plus, the owner said we could do whatever we want as long as we don't screw anything up.  I personally think we did the guy a huge favor because in addition to painting, we also had to patch up some holes and cracks in the walls.

The pictures above show the living room and dining room.  For the dining room, we bought this beautiful wooden table. It's actually an antique that we bought from some guy who was redecorating his entire apartment.  I think the table used to be a desk because it has two drawers in the front which we use for storing tablecloths, place mats, and some office supplies.  Because the table is old and kind of rustic looking, I wanted to balance it out by pairing it with some modern white chairs which we bought (on sale!) at Habitat.  The Professor also spent last week building us this white, wooden storage bench, which not only provides seating for three people on one side but also stores everything from tools to Christmas ornaments.  I'm planning on buying some cushions to put on the bench to create a bit of a cozier feel and add a few punches of color and pattern.  We were also thinking of hanging a large mirror horizontally on the wall behind the table but I haven't found the right one yet.

Apart from the dark grey accent wall and the addition of the beige linen sofa (the Karlstad from IKEA), the living room hasn't really undergone any major changes. We're planning on buying a beige shag rug to put in front of the couch and are hoping to find a few accent pieces such as occasional chairs, accent tables and a few lamps to finish the look.  In case you couldn't tell, it takes me a lot of time to commit to a design scheme and even more time to track down the pieces I like.   This is both because I love unique pieces and also because I hate paying full price for anything.  Which means I spend most of my time popping into thrift stores, scouring antique fairs, and hunting down sales and clearance sections before I buy something.  And that means that this space will constantly evolve as I find new treasures.

So this is what we've been up to.  What do you guys think?

Nooks and crannies

I've been puzzling over what to do with the dining room area for about a week now. I know, I know. You thought that after I wrote this post last week, I had it all together. It seemed like I knew exactly what I wanted to do. But now I'm having second thoughts after some reader suggestions.  Remember how I originally planned to put a round table with a pedestal base in this space? Well, some people wrote to me and told me that if I'm planning on doing the banquette idea, I should probably do a rectangular table so that people sitting on both ends of the banquette would have adequate table space.  This makes complete sense and I'm surprised it didn't occur to me before. However that's what reader feedback is for! Except now I find myself staring at the space constantly, trying to imagine what it would look like if it had a round table vs. a rectangular table.   The only problem is that I have a pretty terrible imagination and I can't quite picture it.  Fortunately for me, I've managed to amass some dining nook inspiration photos from Pinterest to help me get a better idea of what the finished room could/should look like.  Here are a few of my favorites:

The recurring theme seems to be that no matter what size table you get (round, square or rectangular), the nook idea seems to work best if you have a table with a pedestal base.  The reason for this (I'm guessing) is so that people can scoot in and out without banging their legs into the table legs and so that people have adequate leg room.  With this new observation in mind, I'm going to keep my eyes open for a table that meets these requirements.  It may take awhile to find what we're looking for but I'll be sure to keep you guys posted. After all, that's what a blog is for--to keep my family, friends, and total strangers apprised of my most  trivial and insignificant thoughts :)

(Photos: Today You Inspired Me, Desire to Inspire, My Home Ideas, IKEA Family Live)

Progress: Living/Dining rooms

Now that we've been living in our new apartment for almost three weeks, we're starting to feel a bit more settled in and I think our home reflects that.  We've unpacked and cleared away most of the boxes and have actually bought a few pieces of furniture (actually just two pieces--those bookcases you see in the living room) and one (just one!) accessory--that gold mirror on top of the bookcase.  I bought that from an antique shop across the street from our place for 25 Euro.  The guy even threw in a free book! Needless to say, I'll be going back there :)

The one thing that's a bit tricky about this space is that this rather small room serves three purposes:  it's a living room, a dining room and kitchen all in one (as our real estate agent described it, "al estilo 'loft' americano").  In the first picture above where you see that giant, plastic jug of water on the floor on the right hand side, is also more or less where the kitchen begins. The kitchen stretches across the entire right hand side of the room, as you can see in the second picture above.  In the third picture, is the dining room.  Notice that there's not a lot of space separating the dining room from the living room. Tricky indeed. 

So, how do we plan to make this space work?  Well, we've got some ideas.  Because I'm obsessively detail-oriented, I mapped out in newspaper what I planned to do with the space before there was a single box or piece of furniture in here.  

This is what I envisioned the living room to look like:

*Where you see the thin row of newspapers pushed against the wall is where I envisioned the bookcases/TV to go as they are currently set up.  The patterned brown and white tapestry on the floor is where I envisioned our future carpet to go.  And the chubby block of newspapers in front of it, is where I planned for the sofa to go.  

For the dining room, I think that an L-shaped banquette is the way to go:

I thought that by shoving benches up against the wall, we could both save on space and have extra seating whenever we have guests.  Hopefully we can find benches with storage underneath so we can keep the space as uncluttered as possible.  The big, round piece of newspaper is where the table would go.  We're looking for a round table with a pedestal base and also one that expands to accommodate six people. 

As I said, I think this is the best layout for the space but I'm no professional (seriously. I'm a political science and language major!)  I would love to hear (actually read) your thoughts!  So, tell me: what do you guys think?

Apartment Hunters International Part II

 

I know I've left you guys hanging.  I didn't mean to keep you in suspense over our apartment hunt this long--trust me!  But the last few days have been a whirlwind with Christmas celebrations and the holidays that followed Christmas.  In case you didn't know, Spanish people take their holidays very seriously.  As I mentioned in last week's post,  last Friday (the day before Christmas Eve), everything was closed in anticipation of the upcoming holidays and Monday (the day after Christmas) was also a holiday.  By Tuesday, many people still had not returned to work.  Thus, this week really began on Wednesday.  On Wednesday, the Professor and I saw 2 more apartments which brings us to a grand total of 6 contenders. Except that as soon as we walked into three of them, we had already ruled them out. Of the ones we ruled out, one was in bad shape and smelled like chicken,  the other had a living room so small they should have just called it a hallway, the other had a kitchen with only two burners, no counter space for food preparation, and no oven.  The other three were decent enough to merit serious consideration. 

Before I tell you about the apartments we were considering, I feel I have to mention a few things about what it's like to apartment hunt in Barcelona.  If you live in New York, you probably wouldn't be fazed by how expensive apartments are here nor how small apartments tend to be.  The biggest apartment we've seen was 70 square meters (or ~754 square feet).  A decent, two bedroom apartment, at 60 square meters can run you anywhere from 600-900 Euro a month depending on where it is.  This is around 836-1,254 U.S dollars.  Size and price aside, there are many other weird and charming things about Barcelona apartments which would not be weird OR charming at all if you've lived in Europe before.  If you're European, you are more than likely accustomed to not having a bathtub in the bathroom.  Showers are much more space efficient! You've also probably had a washing machine but no dryer in your apartment.  Furthermore, the washing machine would be in the kitchen, in the bathroom, or outside on the balcony.  As a European, you are also probably not surprised that many apartments don't have elevators--even though they're 8 stories high!  Fortunately, the Professor and I are from a big city where rent prices are insanely high and we've both lived outside the U.S. for long periods of time, so we weren't too shocked by what we found here.

Now, back to the apartments we considered. The first one  (pictured above) had amazing views of the city, hard-wood floors throughout, an elevator, and a renovated kitchen and bathroom.  The downside: the bedrooms were TINY, the building was noisy,  and there was barely any natural light.  So we ruled it out.  

The second one we considered, I don't have pictures of.  My camera had run out of batteries by the time we saw it!  It was beautiful.  It had original, Spanish tile throughout, a renovated kitchen, and balconies overlooking the city. The downside:  it was not really close to the Professor's job, it was pricey (750 Euros!), and it was on the fifth floor with no elevator.  We ruled it out.

The last apartment we considered had stayed in our minds since the first time we saw it.  It's small  (only 60 square meters), but it's in a great area and really close to the Professor's job.  It has two bedrooms and one bathroom and the whole apartment has been totally renovated.  It has walnut colored, hardwood floors throughout, a brand new kitchen with stainless steel appliances, and a brand new bathroom. The only downside is that it's on the third floor with no elevator.  Still, we knew it was for us as soon as we saw it.  Something about it just felt right.  So yesterday we met with the agent and signed the lease!   Here are some pictures:

Our kitchen:

Our living room:

The second bedroom, called appropriately in Spanish, "el cuarto individual":

Views of our street from the living/dining room:

Hallelujah! We are homeless no longer!

Apartment Hunters International Part I

Before we moved to Barcelona, the Professor and I did quite a bit of research on how much we should expect to spend on an apartment, which neighborhoods were nice and which were dodgy, and which websites were best to begin our apartment hunt.  It actually took us a few months to compile this information because we have no family or friends here to ask.  So the Professor asked his future colleagues at the University and I polled the online community by posing our questions to the kind readers of Apartment Therapy (you can read that thread here).

We got some conflicting feedback.  The Professor's colleagues at the University told us to look in the areas of Les Corts and Sants, being that they are close to campus.  They also said that a budget of 700 Euros should be sufficient.  Other people recommended that we live in the Born district (where our apart-hotel is located), el Gotic, or Gracia.  These places are all great but super pricey.  And many people told us we should expect to spend around 1000 Euro for the space we wanted.  The only thing everyone seemed to agree on unequivocally was to stay out of El Raval.  This is where the tourists go and for that reason, petty crime and delinquency run amok here.  Also it's loud and kind of dirty.

Since we've been apartment hunting for the last three days, the Professor and I feel pretty confident to give our own opinions on these questions now.  From what we've observed, the neighborhoods of Sants and Eixample, by virtue of being so big, seem to be the best bang for your buck.  In these areas you can find a 2 bedroom apartment at around 60 square meters for 700 Euros or less.  In areas like Les Corts or Sarria, the only way you can find an apartment that cheap is if you want a studio or if you want a run-down, two-bedroom apartment with a kitchen and bathroom that haven't been renovated since the 1970s.  And trust me, the 1970s were a really BAD time for kitchens and bathrooms.  Wood paneling and brown ceramic toilets and tubs weren't a good idea then and they're certainly not a good idea now.

The best web sites to begin your search online are, idealista.com, pisos.com, enalquiler.com, habitaclia.com.  My favorite one is idealista because you can narrow your search by many factors and you can also put the results in order from date of listing, price, square meters, etc.  My least favorite site is habitaclia, because you can't bookmark your favorite apartments without signing up to become a member.  Many people advised us to look for an apartment on Loquo which is the Spanish version of Craigslist.  But Loquo limits you to 4 pictures of the apartment and I don't feel like you can tell much by so few pictures.  As a rule, I only check out places that have more than five or six pictures or a virtual tour.

You may be wondering, what has all this research and all this advice yielded thus far?  Well, actually... nothing.  We don't have an apartment yet.  We've seen around four places these past few days and 2 of them were pretty awful.  One of them had a living room so small that if I laid down on the floor, my head would reach one wall and my feet the other.  The other awful place was also small, and in a dodgy area, AND smelled like chicken.  Le sigh.

We're checking out three more places tomorrow. Wish us luck!