We’ve just returned from traveling to the Pacific Northwest, where we stayed a few days in an Airbnb in Portland. It started me thinking about the amenities I’ve come to expect in someplace I rent—not a list of criteria I came up with on my own, but a list drawn from what we’ve encountered at places run by good hosts. Given that, here’s my list of what a makes a good Airbnb (over and above the comfortable bed, clean and convenient bathroom, etc.):
- A Roku hooked up to the TV—even better if there’s a Netflix subscription already connected to the Roku’s channel. This amenity is critical if you’re someplace that doesn’t have good TV reception, like the farm in Marin we stayed at one weekend—not that we wanted to spend time watching TV anyway, but sometimes you do find yourself in for the evening before you’re ready for bed.
- WiFi, of course. That goes without saying.
- Some kind of upscale coffee-making system. The place in Portland had an electric kettle and a French press (with ground coffee in the cupboard), the Novato farm had a Nespresso, and the Santa Cruz cottage had a Keurig machine. Even Mr. Coffee doesn’t have enough panache for the Airbnb crowd, and instant coffee is right out. Bonus points if there’s also a decent selection of tea; our place in Sydney set the bar for that one, unsurprisingly.
- A way for guests to play their own music. The Portland place had a headphone cable plugged into the A/V receiver, and the New York place had a UE Boom Bluetooth speaker. This option isn’t that common yet, but it’s welcome when it’s there.
How about you? What do you like to see when you’re paying to stay in someone else’s house?