Howdy all, how’s the day in this world that seems to get crazier by the day? Today I wanted to write a bit the eternal battle of the traveller – Air BnB (apartment rental) versus hotels. Which is your preference if you have one, and why?

In my latest trip I certainly had a lot more hotel stays than apartments. Some of these were more guesthouses or smaller hotels, but generally they weren’t someone’s apartment that I was staying in, a private residence that an individual or individuals own that they rent out for visitors through a website such as Air BnB or booking.com.

There were some though, and I am far more likely to consider an apartment rental for a longer stay, say five nights or more. There’s always the hassle of getting in and following instructions etc which sometimes is easy and sometimes involves a series of phone calls and messages and codes – get to the hotel, check in with a person (usually!) and get to your room.

Apartments obviously give you the chance to cook for yourself. If you’re in an expensive city then this can work to your advantage. Depending on the city your apartment might not be super central though unless you pay a premium for it.

The point of cost is an interesting one, because apartments used to be great deals, and now I don’t see much if any advantages in price with an apartment stay – depending on where you are in the world. For example I stayed at two Air BnB apartments in Romania and found them both to be excellent value, it just ain’t always so.

Also at a hotel you usually get staff who can give you tips and knowledge of the place you’re at, whereas with apartments you always feel like you’re imposing when you ask a host for information. Even though they offer!

One reason to preference hotels over apartments as a traveller could be the affect of short-term rentals on housing. Barcelona now has new laws about short term apartment rentals which include the owner needing a tourist licence for apartments rented out for less than a full month, and the other owners of apartments in the building can vote against allowing for a short term rental. However this is just the preliminary step – they will not renew or accept new short term rentals from the start of 2029, effectively shutting down Air BnB in Barcelona.

The reason behind these law changes is that housing in Barcelona is very expensive and restricted. Short term rentals can bring in a lot more money as they are charged per night than long term rentals which are paid monthly. A quick look at Air BnB and I see that there are over 1000 rentals available in Barcelona. It just says 1000+ on the website, Google tells me total is 10,000 to 12,000. And that’s with it all being shut down in a few years! This number of rentals can only have a negative affect on the long term rental market, and if it’s been happening in Barcelona, it’s happening elsewhere.

In Melbourne there are over 24,000. I was flabbergasted. We are in the grips of a housing crisis, and there could potentially be 24,000 apartments in this city alone available for rent? When people look at places to rent they are faced often with dozens of other applicants in Australia and Victoria now. And remember, 24,000 plus listings on Air BnB ALONE. There are other sites they may have a number of properties not listed on Air BnB.

The Barcelona response is one that will hurt tourists and tourism with prices for hotel rooms likely to increase significantly. But as Barcelona is actually wanting LESS visitors as they feel their city is over run but tourists, this will help reduce numbers you’d expect. Should Melbourne and other cities consider something along these lines? I don’t think we should ban short term rentals, but perhaps tightening of laws and limitations are needed because there is just not the amount of available housing needed at the moment and many are desperate.

Is this a good reason to choose a hotel over apartment rental on a moral grounds? I don’t know. We live and travel in an age of looking for and expecting to find exactly what we want. And it’s fair enough to want a good place to base yourself, cook for yourself and do your washing as you need to, and people are happy to provide that to you. But Air BnB really pioneered apartment rental on a massive scale and it took governments a long time to realise that there were taxes being bypassed and a lack of regulation involved in the venture too. Not to mention Air BnB had revenue in excess of $11 Billion USD in 2024. Think about that, for providing a service where others rent THEIR places out.

I’m not trying to push people away from apartment rental, to be honest this post has flipped from one point to another randomly as I typed. But tourism has many affects in the places where it’s prominent. (honestly this whole thing about Barcelona and effects of Air BnB on rentals was only going to be a paragraph or two, and then I spiralled.)

As always when travelling we leave our footprint. Even when we do something as innocent as choosing accommodation. I won’t say ‘choose wisely’ as it seems this thought wants me to, because I am no wise sage AT ALL. But it is food for thought. Thanks for reading my ramblings. May the Journey Never End!