Air BnB or hotels in Spain?

Perhaps the main difference is whether you want an 'authentic' experience staying in the home of someone who lives in the country you're visiting, in a neighborhood which might be a real neighborhood, filled with all kinds of people, rather than a tourist area, filled with another very specific kind of people (well healed mostly)...or not. In a hotel you are not going too far to be in that tourist spot, wheras in airbnb most likely you will be traveling to & from that tourist spot. Do you like to get away from other tourists or flock with them? And are you traveling in company which makes it easy to go out at night together in a 'neighborhood' or alone? If you are alone, you might be very alone, renting an apartment with airbnb if your host is out, or away. In a hotel, on a certain level, you are never going to be alone. You need to scope out not what others think, but what you're going to be comfortable with...

I'm not familiar with AirBnB (using them, I mean), but we do always rent an apartment when in a city or town for 4 days or longer. We have had great success with VRBO and with HomeAway (a division of VRBO). I'm currently researching for our month trip to Spain next spring and we will be doing several apartments along the way....Barcelona, San Sebastian, Seville, and possibly Madrid. We love the apartment experience, the extra space, the ability to not eat out for every meal, and usually access to washer/dryer (which helps in packing light!). I look for location, size of unit, booking process, and reviews. So far we have had no problems and been delighted with all our choices in France, Amsterdam, Germany, Italy, Hawaii. Another advantage to apartment rental is you then have a reason to explore and purchase from the local markets, which is very fun!! It also saves some money.....usually apartment rentals are less expensive than hotels. We have found a lovely, well located apartment in Barcelona (with 2 terraces!) that will cost us about $130 a night!! (we are traveling with another couple....that rate is splitting the cost of a 2 BDRM/2 bathroom).
Good luck!!

@Donna - thanks for the tip on HomeAway. I'll look into them for sure. I much prefer the apartment experience and agree, when you are away for a month access to a washer/dryer makes all the difference. The ability to pick up fresh food is high on my list as well. I'm heading to the HomeAway website right now.

I have rented apartments in the three cities you mention and have been very happy with the apartments. I always go with apartments when staying anywhere longer than three nights. I love 'living' in a neighborhood, shopping for groceries and cooking a bit and having room to spread out.
I even rented apartments last fall (in Italy) on a solo trip and was very pleased with the solo experience in an apartment.
I've not used Airbnb, but have used Home Away, VRBO and several other sites. I rented an apartment in Madrid through Spain Select that was really lovely. I've also used Friendly Rentals and been satisfied, though I've seen some not too great reviews from other people. There are many, many apartments to rent in all three cities.

I always want some reviews and to have the email correspondence be prompt, but have never had a bad experience in the last 10 years of renting apartments in Europe.

My two cents ... if your stay is three nights or more, rent an apartment. We've had great experiences with Airbnb. You can fix your own breakfast and do your own laundry while you're watching TV at night ... just like home :)

Haven't used AirBNB in Spain have used Spain Select for Madrid, VRBO for Granada and I can't remember the agency we used for Seville. All were good experiences but Spain Select is extraordinary -- we had a wonderful comfortable apartment through them and would use them in the future. The other two apartments were much less comfortable and one was quite musty -- but they were pretty much as billed in their ads and the managers were good to deal with.

I have stayed in three fantastic AirBnbs in Spain-2 in Madrid and one in Seville. I would book again in a heartbeat at any one of them. PM me if you'd like the links.
Emily

I've used AirBnB in the US and Amsterdam, and also VRBO. The difference, as I can tell, is with ABNB you have to pay everything up front. The properties are more unique, but paying 100% for something months before I arrive, in a different language, in a different country, feels riskier to me. Also with ABNB, you could be staying in someone's home (we've always stayed in places that were exclusively rentals though, but my friends have had different experiences), I rented an apartment from another company in San Sebastian and felt like it was more professional, and I felt a little more comfortable with the experience.

I have also looked at hotels with rooms that had kitchenettes. That way you still have the service of a concierge to help you figure stuff out, and you get the flexibility of a kitchen for snacks.

I love renting apartments, but one thing that turned me off was that every one of them was furnished with the same IKEA furniture! The same stuff I have at home, and my girls have in their homes. So that made me want to seek lodging that felt more unique to Spain.

We have rented several times in Spain and dozens of times elsewhere in Europe. For stays longer than a few days we just prefer being able to cook in and have the space. I haven't used AirBNB in Spain. My experience with it in the US is that we are somewhat more likely to have a less than clean or less than perfect repaired place than with other rental agencies. In spain in Madrid I used Spain Select and was very very happy with both the apartment and the agency. We would use them again if we return to Madrid or visit a place they serve. We got a place in the Albaicin in Granada on VRBO; it had a stunning terrace with Alhambra view and a bed about 45 inches wide for two -- but the photos were absolutely accurate and the landlord exemplary.

We stayed here in Madrid a couple of weeks ago: http://www.jardinesdesabatini.com/en/ It gave us the best of both worlds, we thought. We booked a studio with a view, and our suite was essentially a good-sized hotel room with a bit of a kitchen area in it. We liked it. There are larger options, there, too.

We used AirBnB for Barcelona, following our stay in Madrid. The place we stayed there was okay. The location was great for tourists, and the landlady was a warm and wonderful person, but the bathroom was, er, challenging and not very clean or private.

We rent apartments quite often, but our Barcelona trip was my first experience with AirBnB, specifically. (I know someone else who uses it extensively, though.) I would recommend apartments over hotels most of the time. You get more for your money, have a less "touristy" experience, have more space, and can prepare some meals and even do laundry, in some cases. The downside is that you usually have to pay half or more in advance, so if you don't like it, or your travel plans change, you can be stuck or lose a big deposit. Also, if you need assistance with something--how to get somewhere, for instance--at a hotel, there is usually someone to help you.

Anyway, I have used VRBO quite often, and more recently, I have booked apartments through Expedia and through Trip Advisor.

I have never had a truly bad experience renting an apartment, and usually the accommodations have been interesting and delightful, but you need to be open to different sorts of amenities than you might be used to in North America. For instance, a bathroom might be retrofitted into a 200-year-old building, so the layout might be small and awkward, and the shower might be a cramped one with a handheld showerhead. A washer/dryer might actually only spin dry your clothes. There might be more noise from other residents than you are used to, especially if floors are old and creaky and walls are thin (although this can happen in hotels, too). One issue that has arisen for us a couple of times is that, if your flight is delayed, you need to be able to connect with the owner/landlord to get checked in, even if you end up arriving at an inconvenient time, and this stresses me out, because I don't like to inconvenience people. It's not like a hotel, where there is usually someone at the front desk at all times and you can arrive whenever. And, of course, you usually don't have housekeeping service in an apartment, although I prefer this, in a way.

However, in an apartment, you might hear the happy sounds of the neighbourhood every late afternoon, when shops and businesses are closed for a break, and all the people are in the street or in their doorways, gossiping and laughing and watching the kids come home from school, while peacocks cry from nearby trees, birds in cages hung outside windows twitter and chirp at one another, and cats sit on the windowsill opposite yours. (Our apartment in the castle district in Lisbon, Portugal, 3 weeks ago). The apartment owners are often people who love their area and want you to love it, too, so they spend half an hour with you when you arrive, giving you ideas on where to shop, where to eat, and how to get around, etc. You can really get a sense of what life is like in that locale, which is nice.

Read the reviews of a place you're considering, especially the negative ones, but read them with a grain of salt. Some people complain about what, to me, are non issues. For instance, I once read a review in which the renter complained that the toilet was in a room separate from the mirror and shower. This is not uncommon in Europe, and, to me, it's not something to complain about. It can be a benefit, in fact, as one doesn't have to wait to use the toilet if one's fellow traveller is showering, putting on makeup, or whatever. However, read them to see if they contain anything that would be a dealbreaker for you.

We stayed in an awesome apartment in Seville in April, which we booked through Booking. Apartamentos Turísticos Alianza. Incredible location on a quiet dead-end plaza adjacent to the Real Alcazar, just steps from the Cathedral. We wanted to move in! Kitchen facilities, washing machine, spotlessly clean and great landlord guy. I believe we paid just under 100E per night. Highly recommended due to location and amenities.

Planning a trip to Spain in about 9 months. Would like to settle in somewhere for a month. Will be traveling with my 6 yr old great nephew. Really want to know how to find a reputable company that rents per month. Can't afford 30 days at per night prices. Have not settled on an area yet, frankly open to any area. Suggestions on inexpensive, relatively safe area?

Sorry guys new to this shouldn't have posted this under reply. Having said that, any suggestions.

We've decided to go with AirBnB after carefully comparing the costs relative to hotel stays especially with the Canadian dollar falling in value against the Euro (this probably would have been a good year for a staycation!!). As we are travelling for a month the ability to make some of our own meals and have access to laundry facilities was very important as well. The AirBnB website is well-designed and provides filters and descriptors to help you select based on multiple factors - shared space vs. entire apartment, amenities such as washer/dryer & wifi, an interactive map, photos and some pretty candid reviews. AirBnB seemed better suited for the two of us as were more apartments and smaller spaces compared to VRBO and overall, pricing seemed lower for the AirBnB listings. We have booked stays through AirBnB in Barcelona (6 nights); Madrid (5 nights) Cordoba (2 nights) Granada (2 nights) Ronda ( 2 nights) and Seville (4 nights) with a 5 night stay in the Alpujarras in between Cordoba and Granada. We have 1 night somewhere between Granada and Ronda but I haven't figured out where. I haven't been to the Costa del Sol in 20 years and am not keen to return but it might be worth a single night along the way. Once we get back I'll post about our experience with AirBnB accommodation. Thanks to everyone for your comments and recommendations.

What about renting an whole apartment instead?, that covers the "making your own meal", "having your own space" and "cheaper than a hotel" bits and includes the "privacy" too. Sites like booking.com or venere.com among many others are quite popular for this when travelling to Barcelona.

Also to point out that the AirBnB (and similar) business model is having some legal challenges here in Europe -much like Über, the taxi app- since it's a loophole prone for tax evasion and it does not ensure customer protection in case of trouble, and in some countries is beginning to be regulated. In Catalonia (where Barcelona is capital of) legislation has just been passed last week. Note that in other parts of Spain is however still unregulated. How does this affect you?... without regulation should you run into a problem with the owner of the apartment, it's much harder to claim your rights.

Hi Enric
We chose the 'whole apartment' option for each of the AirBnB rentals rather than shared space. I completely understand about the concerns with respect to AirBnB operators who fly under the radar and don't pay taxes or flout local laws. I will make sure I enquire with our host in Barcelona to ensure they are in compliance and do some investigation to understand how the new legislation effects our reservation.
Shared service providers such as AirBnB and Uber are definitely straining current regulatory and legal models worldwide. It will be interesting to see what transpires over the next couple of years as governments struggle to catch up. It may be a case of the 'genie is out of the bottle' and trying to shut these services down might prove to be difficult. I know our local government is trying to figure out what to do while others, such as New York, have reached agreements with AirBnB to ensure the company provides more oversight of hosts and enhances reporting for tax purposes.