Another Home Exchange Question

I used the platform in 2020 and took a trip to Washington, D.C. in February, staying at someone’s apartment. I paid with points, and the host was abroad at the time. Unfortunately, the experience wasn’t great. While the apartment was in a good location, it was not clean. The host hadn’t washed the bedding before our arrival — it was covered in dog hair and had an unpleasant odor. We landed at 10 p.m. and ended up having to wash and dry the bedding ourselves, as well as clean the bathroom because it was too dirty to use.  The points I used to pay were from sign up bonus.  

To make things worse, we had to cut our trip short because the host needed to return early due to COVID travel restrictions.

One of the main issues I found with the platform is that many listings don’t have enough reviews, making it hard to gauge what kind of experience to expect.  At the end, we left a decent review for the place we stayed at because of location.  Had we have to pay for hotel in a similar location, it would've been at least $200 a night.  

We were also supposed to host two families from France in July 2020, for non-simultaneous point stays that were arranged back in January 2020. Both had to cancel because of COVID, so we never ended up hosting. Most of the inquiries we received were for the summer and primarily from French families.  As far as screening people to exchange.  I had video chat with them.  I also get a fair number of solicit messages asking if I want to stay at their place.  I guess that was a way for people to get more points.  

Since you mentioned having a bad experience with Airbnb, my advice when booking is:

• Always read all the reviews carefully.  Check the photos and listing carefully as well.  
• Choose listings with at least 10 reviews
• Pay attention to the dates of the reviews — consistent, recent feedback shows the host is active
• Ideally, pick places with at least one review per month

This approach should help minimize the chances of a bad stay. The only truly bad experience I had on Airbnb was when my partner booked a place in New York. Unfortunately, he didn’t realize the "room" was actually a walk-in closet, and the shower was in the kitchen — separated only by a curtain, not a proper enclosure. The host also lived in the apartment, so there was no privacy, and to make matters worse, it was infested with cockroaches. When I later looked at the listing, I noticed it only had photos of the living room and various decorative items — no pictures of the bathroom or sleeping area. Since then, he’s never been allowed to book anything again.  Thankfully, I haven’t had any major issues on the platform since.

There was one minor inconvenience where a place didn’t provide soap or shampoo, and we had to go out and buy them. But in fairness, the listing did state that toiletries weren’t included.  

I don't think you can count on people on the platform being nicer to your place.   It really depends on the individual.  See how it goes first if you have a spare bedroom and try hosting non-simulatenous exchange.  

We did this at our apartment in NYC, there was a concierge so we just left the door open with key inside but you could use a lockbox with code or hide the key somewhere or ask a neighbor/friend to hold it and the guests can pick it up from them. They had no plumbing or other issues, I assume if they had we (or they) would have called the plumber and if it was really bad moved to a different location. 

Whether it is a net benefit I think depends most on where you would stay if you didn't use home exchange. Best I can tell people who live in big cities like NYC, Paris, London, Bay Area generally will receive many requests and not have too much trouble finding someone who wants to stay in your home (unless there is something especially unattractive about it). I do think it is better obvious value to just do a straight swap, but the points theoretically allow you to be more flexible in dates and locations. We swapped our very nice 2 bedroom apartment for a small one bedroom in Paris because the dates worked and it was easy. I was happy with this trade even though I don't think it was a equivalent value in terms of what each would have costed to rent.  

The advantage over airbnb is usually the cost savings. Airbnb hosts are generally very nice (to me at least) as are home exchange hosts. We still keep in contact with some people we met through home exchange because they were so great. If time is money for you don't overlook that it can take a decent amount of time to write and respond to messages to find an exchange that works on both ends. There are ways to minimize this like targeting places that are second homes so more availability etc, but still it generally takes longer to arrange an exchange than book an Airbnb. 

I hear you on spending $$ on vacations, I started there but have come around to the idea that it's worth trying to make them happen. You seem a bit uncomfortable around the home exchange idea but if you can talk yourself into a chill mindset around it and work out a good swap it is one of the best ways to travel affordably. 

I’m writing this note while seating in a hotel waiting for my home exchange to start tomorrow. So wish me good luck!

I have been an avid user of Home Exchange and used AirBnB from the beginning when it used to be a plataforma to used people homes all around the World ( not pro individual business hotel as it is right now)

Both  plattaforms imply less control over your stay compare to a hotel. My brother in law loves stay in chain hotels and knowing exactly how his experience is going to be, no surprises. When you stay in someone’s home you are encounter with their style and that is part of the fun, to experience leaving outside your comfort zone and see how others do it. That being said it can be difficult. 

Yes, read all reviews and ask much questions. 
Again, as an expert, I just realized I forgot to ask if they have WiFi OMG!!! Oh well , too late now because I’m here and my option will be to forget the exchange and move to a hotel ( wich does not warranty that there will be wifi in your room)

Travelling just open your mind and senses, it also helps you appreciate more what you have or what you are missing in your life. This year we are also staying for free in a apartment of a friend that we met after a reciprocal home exchange 15 years ago…. It works!

I tried Home Exchange a few years ago and after spending a ridiculous amount of time on the set-up --  questionnaires,  photos, profile for my house, and then pouring over the offerings, I hit two snags: 1) I could never find the right house in the right destination for the right dates, and 2) we ultimately realized we were uncomfortable about having strangers in our house, sitting on our furniture and using our stuff.

Of course hotels are expensive, especially traveling with kids or in a group, especially  with older kids who can no longer be squeezed into the parents' room.

So I have used AirBnB and VRBO and others many times for everything from big groups with kids to just me and my husband. Sometimes it works out great, but sometimes the place turns out to have unexpected problems that can really put a damper on your entire vacation. I think this is true of exchanges too. There was the cute little cabin on the Central Coast in February that turned out to have no heat. And a supposed "family home" in Seattle where clearly no one lived - all-new, all-Ikea everything and no coverings on any windows despite close neighbors all around.  Another one - a quiet, woodsy setting in Sonoma County that turned out to have a neighbor who was very angry about living next door to an AirBnB. So in retribution he ran his table saw for hours, which had been suspiciously set up just on the other side of the fence.  Another time we got off an international red-eye flight, hungry, exhausted, needing to pee, took a cab straight to the rental, only to find the door locked and an answering service picking up the contact number. That was a very miserable one-hour wait to get in. This is why I do not use AirBnb anymore.

Now what I do is, I try to find a local agency in the area where I'm going, that is in the short-term rental business. Typically you need to be staying for at least a week, but they will often be half what a hotel costs, sometimes much less that that. In a big city like London there are many agencies that cater to business travelers and have a fleet of furnished apartments. In popular vacation destinations there will be small-ish agencies that manage vacation rentals for the locals' condos. I have found these agencies by looking at VRBO/AirBnB listings to find the ones posted by agencies, and then I go to that agency's website and book directly. Works with Zillow and similar too. Or just google to get a starter list and then read reviews and narrow it down - many of these agencies post their properties on multiple sites so you can usually get reviews. 

Booking through an agency has all the advantages of using AirBnB or a home exchange:  the place will be cheaper, bigger, and more private, you have a kitchen and usually some outdoor space.  But agencies have one big advantage: You are renting from a small business that has a local reputation to protect so they want to make the client happy. In my experience this means you get a higher quality place to stay, with more predictable amenities such as regular housekeeping and working appliances. What you see on their website is what you get.  Plus, if anything goes wrong, the agency can be easily contacted and is sure to be responsive - that's what they are in business to do, and they are located right there in the same town.

We've been on HomeExchange for three years and we really like it. We've never done a reciprocal exchange but we've never run out of points. There is a bit of point inflation -- you get points for joining, referring friends, renewing your membership, etc. 

This summer, we did four exchanges, but only had one exchange at our house. We found the first year was a little tricky to both find exchanges and get people interested in staying our house. Both my have been because we were new so we didn't have any reviews yet. We were also looking for places in Barcelona and Paris in the summer, both of which are high demand locations. 

We used to rent our house on AirBnB when we lived in SF. I found it to be more problematic because people are paying to stay there so they are more demanding. We had one stressful stay where the renters were fighting with our neighbors about a parking spot. We were getting angry texts from the neighbors about our terrible tenants. All the people who have stayed at our house in Berkeley on HomeExchange were so respectful and drama-free. We have a keypad on one of our doors, so it's easy to get them into the house.

We do still use AirBnB and VRBO if we can't find a homeexchange that works for our trip. I also do what another poster does with AirBnB listings, particularly in Tahoe -- it the listing is through a property management company, go to their website and book directly with them. You can save hundreds for dollars in fees that way. 

Please DM me if you want to chat more about HomeExchange. We think it's worth the hassles!