For the last year I’d been advertising my holiday rental in Kirazli in the Turkey section of TripAdvisor and it had gone well and we’d had bookings and won awards and hosted really nice guests but now I’ve switched my allegience to AirBnB.
Over the last year I had grown increasingly disenchanted with TripAdvisor, the site was really overcrowded, their mapping was totally wrong (Altinkum south of Antalya? I think not!) and any communication I had to have with FlipKey, the rental arm of Trip Advisor, was fraught and to be honest, on their part, kinda snotty.
When I complained that a couple of my Indian guests were having trouble posting a review I got a high handed demand that the guests supply rental contracts and proof of travel before their review could be approved. That seemed a bit excessive and I didn’t want to subject my guests to the hassle so I blamed a glitch in the system and thanked the guests anyway for a review that would never appear. It was the thought that counted.
When Flip Key put their rates up sky high this summer I knocked advertising with them on the head. It all seemed a bit one sided. The guests would book direct with me, I would look after the guests and they would supply a review to TripAdvisor; as Trip Advisor base their whole business model around those reviews it seemed unfair – I was bringing in the reviews that made their site popular and they were charging me a fortune for it!
Such is the power of a name. Tripadvisor was a fantastic idea, I totally relied on it years ago, now it’s trading off it’s reputation and as a writer I see just how many jobs are advertised for freelancers to “write travel reviews on well know website”! Those reviews on there aren’t that real anymore.
Now I’ve switched my advertising to a new company called AirBnB – http://www.airbnb.com/ and their motto is Travel like a Human!
I really like that motto and the business model they use. You do your job and they do theirs. They manage the money and advertising side of things and you manage the guest side of things and as they specialise in one off unique places, more home stay than soulless hotel room, they suit what we offer as the studio is really a home stay kind of place.
Despite being awesomely efficient they are also sensible and safe; they link into your Twitter and Facebook accounts and as you are often bringing people into your home it is nice to see the safeguards they build in and how much information you get about the people who want to come and stay with you. It really does feel more human.
They are also putting in the legwork that makes sure they are visible and accessible in this high tech world. The website is iPhone friendly, which is good for travellers making last minute accommodation decisions, and good for us as we offer rooms at the last minute. They are spending a lot of money advertising in all the right places and so far I’ve had four bookings with them, three for this month alone and I’m really happy.
They even send you little reminders when your guests are due and if you send them a question real people respond in a really friendly way. Perfect mixture of high tech efficiency and personal service. Rare indeed in this world!
If I could just find a way to import my fantastic (and genuine!) Trip Advisor reviews onto my AirBnB profile I would be a very happy girl indeed.
And if you are in the area of Ephesus and Selcuk and would like B&B somewhere with character and charm and you want to pay by credit card and use a reliable provider – here’s the link to my AirBnB rental page http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/97968
Mi Casa es Su Casa, we would be honoured to have you here.
I couldn’t recommend a better place to stay.
We try hard. Holidays are important for people and Turkey can be weird and so we try and make it easier for them.
We had guests due to arrive last night, coming from Rhodes via Marmaris. They didn’t make it last night because as soon as they set foot on Turkish soil they had a grasping taxi driver try and take over their life. Clearly he was expecting a long and lucrative drive to Kirazli and made all other options like car hire and coach impossible for them. By the time they extricated themselves they’d missed the last bus. Sigh. That’s not so much the dark side of Turkey but is’ definately the grubby grey grasping side.
All I want to do now is try and make up for their lousy start in this country. K xxxx
I confess to looking for flights from here to there so that I can start planning a visit. So far, I’ve drawn a blank but your beautiful studio is just so tempting! It’s a daydream at the moment but without the dream, there would be no chance at all! Ax
It’s so difficult to get from there to here, I know, if I want to visit Mum and Dad I have to go via Munich or London. Today I couldn’t even phone Spain let alone fly there, the lines were down for some reason and I was frantically send Skype messages as it is my Mum’s birthday and with no phone call I would be dead! You know, if you ever get a flight, you are ever so welcome. K xxx
Just came across this comic about hotel reviews soon after reading your post… Had to share:
http://xkcd.com/958/
Looks lovely!
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Hello everybody!
I need some help…
These last days I was busy searching on the web houses for rent in the area of Antalya, Mugla, Fethiye… It is indeed a tricky tast as there are son many web sites with tourist prices. And when I finally found some Turkish sites they were all rather dull, obsolete and hard to navigate through.
I’ve just read your interesting article “Mi casa es su casa” and tried on http://www.airbnb.com/ but it seems to be for daily rentals, not long term…
I wonder if somebody can please help me with this, does anybody know any efficient and serious rental agents or some way to get a nice house for a reasonable prize? We are looking for a small or medium sized villa for a 6 months period, from November untl April or March. I understand the area of Antalya and Mugla have mild winter temperatures. Anybody knows some other warm areas in Turkey to spend the winter?
Well, just to say congratulations for this amazing blog!
Hi Julieta, quite often in Turkey summer rental properties are rented out long term over the winter. It would certainly be worth contacting any properties you like on AirBnB to see if they would consider a long off season rent. It is one of the good things about that site, it allows you to have a conversation with the owner direct through the messaging system without having to formally book.
I’m open all year because of where I’m situated, being so close to Ephesus we get bookings all the time, but owners in places like Bodrum, Fethiye, Kalkan, and Antalya will most likely jump at a long term off season rental. Don’t be shy, contact the owners, politely make an offer and take it from there. You will have the same AirBnB protection no matter how long you stay and will be able to pay by credit card and the owner will have the guaranteed payment.
If you have some Turkish then Sahibinden.com is the best website for rentals, just search under Kiralik and you will find a large, although maybe rather uninspiring choice!
Hope this helps
Karen
Thank you so much Karen, indeed it helps!! I’ll be busy browsing Sahibinden.com and AirBnB for the next hours 🙂
Julieta