House or airbnb during covid?

October 5, 2020 11:33 PM

My house is off a major street that has been the site of very loud protests for the last week. I have to wake up at 4:30am for sporadic work and the protests have been going until after 2 am. Would you rent a whole Airbnb for a month when you won't need it 3/4 of the time, or got to a hotel to get some sleep? (more inside)

First off, I truly support the protests, but this is a car protest so it’s wall to wall honking until about 2 hours before I have to get up and I cannot do my job on 2 hours of sleep.

I’m basically on call, so I usually only know my work schedule a day or two beforehand. There’s not a ton of whole place airbnbs here so I’d basically need to pick one for the month, suck it up, and pay for it. (I’m betting on the protests lasting about a month) BUT, I don’t have to work very much, I’d say on average 2-3 days/ week, and I have a cat and I wife that cannot come to the airbnb and I don't want to leave them for an entire month. I could also rent a hotel on the nights I really need it, but am worried about covid exposure. What would you do? Assume I can afford either option but don’t want to feel wasteful.

Also: earplugs have not worked. I have a white noise machine. There is no friend/ family to offer me covid free housing for the month. Please don't suggest those things, thank you.

posted by sock,sock, sock, sock, sock... sock sock to Home & Garden (12 answers total)

I’d get a hotel. You don’t know this will be a month. Try a hotel for a few nights and see how it goes. Decide from there.
posted by bluedaisy at 11:44 PM on October 5, 2020 [3 favorites]

Best answer: How will you know the Airbnb won't also have noise problems (protests or otherwise)? At least with a hotel, if it doesn't work out, you're only out one night.

Also, as someone who has used both things, I sometimes prefer a hotel for the anonymity and all-business aspect of it, even if it costs more. There's no chit chat with the host, no having to worry about the whole review system and making sure you are a "good guest," you can check in whatever you want, no need to worry about stuff breaking and getting into an extended back and forth about whether it was your fault or not...you're just trying to get some damn sleep, so you don't need all that extra nonsense.
posted by unannihilated at 4:31 AM on October 6, 2020 [23 favorites]

I stayed in a hotel recently and felt very safe in terms of Covid precautions taken.
posted by sandmanwv at 4:36 AM on October 6, 2020 [2 favorites]

Hotel. Hands down, I would put more faith in the cleanliness of a hotel over some rando's airbnb.
posted by EllaEm at 5:03 AM on October 6, 2020 [5 favorites]

Another vote for a hotel, for all the reasons mentioned above. You might find that you can either relax better there or get some productive thinking done
posted by AuroraSky at 5:41 AM on October 6, 2020

AirBnB if it's a freestanding house as you will have better control over distancing and who you're sharing air with. Hotel otherwise.
posted by notquitemaryann at 6:00 AM on October 6, 2020 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Hotels these days are mostly doing contactless check-in and since occupancy is ridiculously low, they're leaving rooms empty for a couple of days between guests. I stayed in a hotel a few weeks ago, and it was totally fine -- it felt lower risk than going in and out of my actual apartment building which is filled with people who are sketchy on elevator etiquette and mask usage.

I wouldn't necessarily feel that a whole suite AirBnB was high risk, because there's not a lot of evidence of surface transmission anyway, but I know hotels are thinking about this on an industry-wide and chain-wide level, and I have no idea what an individual AirBnB host is or isn't doing.
posted by jacquilynne at 6:22 AM on October 6, 2020 [2 favorites]

Hotel. I’d look for a hotel/motel where you can enter your room from outside (no shared hallways or elevators) and where they are upfront and happy to talk to you about how their ventilation system works. If you have to choose between those (say, modern hotel with excellent ventilation and older motel with outdoor access), I’d pick the better ventilation, because you can wear a mask in the hallway and elevator.
posted by insectosaurus at 6:41 AM on October 6, 2020 [4 favorites]

I had to travel for work a couple of months ago and stayed in a hotel. I brought Lysol wipes and cleaned all the surfaces in the room when I arrived. They did not provide service in to the room during my stay. Since generally each room has its own HVAC unit i was not worried about air transfer from other rooms. The hotel was pretty empty too.
posted by tman99 at 6:56 AM on October 6, 2020 [1 favorite]

That's rough. Personally, if there was a freestanding Airbnb available (house or separate guest house), in an area that isn't having and is unlikely to have protests, I would pick that over a hotel. But I have trouble sleeping in hotels with doors slamming, elevators, people walking around, etc. You may not be as sensitive to noise. In a separate house, it's also easier to socially distance (no walking around shared hallways, etc). The biggest risk is your in-person exposure to other people, more than touching surfaces. I would also wait a few hours before going in either place after the last person checked out and cleaning was complete.
posted by pinochiette at 11:01 AM on October 6, 2020

Best answer: Also, could your wife stay with you some nights? I imagine she could use the quiet, too. Perhaps the cat could be alone for a night or two? Could you make a night at a hotel or AirBnb more of an in-town get-away?
posted by bluedaisy at 11:28 AM on October 6, 2020

Response by poster: Hotel it probably is. Thanks all.
posted by sock,sock, sock, sock, sock... sock sock at 6:45 PM on October 6, 2020