Air B&B “Wake-Up Call”

“ Do not bite at the bait of pleasure, till you know there is no hook beneath it.” (Thomas Jefferson)

Take a long look at the title photo of this blog that so vividly illustrates the colorful sign and caption, “Florida Welcomes You”. Next picture in your mind hordes of “snowbird” tourists descending  from the Georgia border by Interstate Highway into the “Sunshine State” from up north. Now take a logical guess what impressions of Florida might this image most likely project to them? If you guessed such a  border billboard  carried the message that their upcoming vacation to Florida would provide a beautiful escape to sun blissed contentment, it seems the advertisers who created this sign apparently did their job well to hook them in. A question remains for such vacationers, however, to confirm whether these preconceptions of Florida as a paradise are truthful as they drive further south and more fully experience their chosen destination.

This thinking process described above compares nicely with our use of the Air B&B lodging app to make rental housing bookings when desired in both short and long term travels. For the best scenario we could hope for then would be that our detailed, pre- occupancy research of several Air B&B units at an affordable price range and convenient time frame for us would yield a truthful and trustworthy booking decision.

But what if a housing unit we booked upon actual inspection failed this time proven test? Perhaps the photos and previous occupant reviews of the apartment interior and surrounding environs did not reveal a truthful picture about what an extended stay in the unit for us as future tenants would really be like. Or maybe upon walking outside the dwelling grounds, either Ruth or I happened  to notice extraneous sights and sounds that overly bothered us. Consider as well that important practical communications between the host owner of the unit and us before and during the course of our visit might have turned out to be  dysfunctionally poor.

So it seems clear that all of these above negative considerations would influence our decision to cut short our four night, Air B&B vacation to the west coast of Florida this week and return to South Florida on the second day of our stay. To the owners credit, we thereafter sought and obtained agreement with them to get a full refund for the three remaining days not spent there.      
 
But in retrospect, as I re-examine  in more detail those seemingly gorgeous photos below presented by the owner for this apartment, I’m reminded to evaluate my use of bookings apps with more mindful diligence in the future. For it seems clear that when an advertisement appear to be too good to be true, then it’s due time for me to over into troubleshooting mode to question it. How about you?  
                                 Happy New Year, Readers