Airbnb Review: The Water Tower
Here's the scene, 15 days travelling by car to some incredible sights with the last stretch heading back up Route 1 to San Francisco past and through Big Sur, a dream trip. The drive from LA to San Francisco can be done in about 13 hours (or less without stops) but really, its just that stunning that you need a few days. Every corner on the coastline of Route 1 is something to stop and gawp at, and with this in mind we broke it up into 3 days. Airbnb in this area of California is limited however we stumbled across this listing: "Water Tower Guest Room with Ocean View", clicking the link would lead us to one of the most amazing stays we have had since arriving in America.
The Water Tower sits on 4 acres of land, this land which looks out to the Sand Dunes and Ocean is owned by Laura and Ben, and on it they have created somewhat of "a little slice of heaven". Both Ben and Laura have travelled using Airbnb and loved the idea of hosting, so they set aside a piece of land, rescued a 1930's Water Tower and began building and restoring. Ben handles the building (while rapidly moving on to the next project he has thought up) and Laura the decorating, it's a combination that clearly works wonders. On the ground floor is a nook where a somewhat surprisingly and extremely comfortable bed is tucked and a small area with desk and comfy chair. Above that is another room which currently contains a bunk bed and that's it. Ok, it doesn't sound much right? Well this is where they got creative......
Outside Ben built a bathhouse (with an option of an outdoor shower if you're brave enough), there's a fire pit, an outdoor kitchen, another tower where Ben and Laura invite you to sign the walls, an outdoor cinema area with fold down murphy bed, a pond, an adult swing set and see saw again all built by Ben, oh and after watching Lord of the Rings he dug and built a wine cellar with hobbit style door! It's a unique place indeed and it's all been built using recycled products. Stairs are constructed with old tools, floors are old school chalk boards, there's number plates, outside coffee area, sign posts..... basically anything Ben and Laura has found they have used. It's an eclectic mix of visual wonder, especially for a photographer! If all that isn't enough there's 2 horses (Tickle and Red Eye), 2 dogs (Roscoe and Rio), 6 cats (Fluffy Cat will happily sit on your lap under the stars for hours), fish and an abundance of chickens to entertain you.
Laura and Ben have now been successfully booking out the place via Airbnb, they also hire out a "glamping tent" and land for tents if full up. They were incredibly kind and enthusiastic, two gentle souls proud to show off, show you around and make you feel part of their home. This was such a creative space it was hard to not be inspired by them and it so below are a set of photos to give you an idea of what awaits you should you choose to visit (and you really should): my only advice, stay more than one night, this was our only regret when leaving. We didn't stay long enough.
Using Airbnb: A Review
So many people have asked how my 3 month trip to America and around West Coast has been affordable, we all know that hotels aren't as a rule inexpensive and if you do stay in a hotel then there's the added costs of eating in restaurants/rooms service on top. The trip has worked like this: 1/ saved up alot prior to trip 2/ stuck to a budget and 3/ for the most part used Airbnb.
For those that don't know Airbnb, it is a service, essentially a global hotel without all the costs of a hotel and more fun, In fact it recently became one of the largest hotel chains in the world without actually owning a single hotel! With Airbnb you can rent whole apartments/houses, a room, tree house's, airplanes, Airstreams... the list goes on. Costs range from very very little to very very expensive, it caters for everyone. The other plus is that you can live in nice neighborhoods, put roots down, feed off the local knowledge of the "hosts"-where the best coffee house is, areas to avoid, best transport links and so on.
This trip we have used 7 different locations, from sharing a couples flat for 8 days in Chicago for £28 a night, 2 whole apartments in San Francisco for a month at a time, a fantastic en suite bedroom stop over in a massive Vegas house near the strip for £53 a night, a boat for £24 and our favourite a converted Water Tower for £40 for a night (see next blog post all about this gem). Each has been different, all have been tremendous fun, at a fraction of the cost of a hotel, and with the bonus of being able to cook "at home" this has saved us a lot of money that has been used in better ways. We have done a couple of motels on this trip too-very low cost ones when we weren't able to find Airbnb's, these have been hit and miss. Road side motels in America can be very cheap but they get booked up very fast as have limited rooms and in the case of the last one we did, well, the room was fine but the neighbor and his late night "guest" wasn't!!
I would recommend using Airbnb for travelling without a second thought, I really like that you meet the locals, feel as if you are "at home" and get a sense of what it's really like living in the city you are visiting.
Below are some tips we have found that have helped us in booking:
1/ Research Research Research: You know where you want to go, you have found a listing, so do a quick Google search about the area. You might want quiet and it's not quiet, you may want all out fun and it's far away from that fun, you might need to get places fast and need a nearby transport link. It's all about the famous line "Location Location Location".
2/ Read the reviews, all of them: The advantage of Airbnb is that it is a review based service, bad reviews do not help the host getting bookings so many go out of their way to make sure you have a great stay. Is it clean? Is there noisy neighbors? Are there appliances in the kitchen? What has other guests grumbled about...... or raved about! Weigh up the plus and cons of what you have read before jumping in.
3/ You've found a place and want to book it: Stop! Before you book, send the host an email, specify the times you need, why you are there, it doesn't hurt to say a little about yourself too, after all it is someone letting you into their house! Some hosts are great at replying, some not, some listings could be inactive at the time but still on the site, don't book before you've "connected".
4/ Don't put all your eggs in one basket: Send an email to several people, it is possible that the place you like is booked up OR you don't like the reply from the host. Any host that writes a nice polite email back is certainly going to get booked with me, one that replies with a one line, less than interested response (for me) won't be booked.
5/ Don't be afraid to ask: You might be struggling to find something for your budget, this has certainly been the case with us in San Francisco. So find something near enough to your budget and email the host what you can and cannot afford in your opening "hello". It might be that they will do you a deal. This has been our experience, we have had daily rates knocked down, cleaning/admin charges wiped off and free bottles of wine supplied! Worst case they say no and you politely move on. This is another chance to find out about the area too.
6/ You're happy, the host is happy now book: Great! You are off on your adventure but, before you pay, do one thing....... do a web search for "Airbnb coupon codes". Yes, you can save yourself even more cash. It's a bit hit and miss, but several times i've found 20% off, £20 off vouchers and saved that little extra off the bill (in one case a whole night free). It all helps.
Hope this has been helpful, if you have any questions and thinking of doing a trip but are unsure, please feel free to drop me a line, leave a comment below.