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Polling data from Branded Research found that about 50 percent of U.S. consumers have been on a romantic getaway, while 34 percent have not, but would like to go. Five out of ten people prefer to go to the beach for a romantic time with that special someone. From there, 18 percent would prefer a trip to the countryside, 12 percent would find a trip to a special city romantic, while 11 percent think that a snowy mountain trip would be the best. What makes a trip romantic? It depends on who you are asking. If you are looking to plan for a romantic anniversary, engagement, or holiday trip, where should you start?We asked travel experts and romantics alike for some advice to turn your trip into a special, romantic getaway. Location: Where should you go or stay? “Nothing screams romantic more than having a gorgeous backdrop. We are suckers for beach getaways so having a place where we can soak up the sunset in complete bliss wins for us both every day.” — Jessica Armstrong, Glamping Hub“That you actually "get away" ! While staycations can be great every now and then, true romantic getaways are best when you're able to disconnect from everything and everyone in your life and just spend time with each other.” — Kylie, Leaving Kyliefornia“Location is key for a perfect romantic getaway, as is the resort you choose to stay in. In fact, your surroundings are everything when it comes to being romantic, whether it's a stay in Paris to watch the Eiffel Tower light up together, or a trip to Venice to admire the scenic views on a gondola.   Booking a surprise getaway is the most romantic element of all; receiving a holiday that you didn’t need to plan or book means you can enjoy a break away with complete ease and shows thoughtfulness and sentiment. To plan an anniversary or Valentine's trip, make a list of places your partner has previously mentioned they want to visit in the past, and note down the features of a holiday that you would both enjoy. Connecting on a holiday away can be done in so many ways, from booking secluded resorts for you to both simply enjoy each other’s company, to booking specialized programs that benefit you as a couple. Alternatively, enjoy excursions which spark memories from your time together, or create new ones.” — Frances Geoghegan, Managing Director at Healing Holidays“Key ingredients for the perfect romantic getaway should include a destination that has a combination of being both quiet and remote, while also having a special experience to share.  One of our favorite romantic getaways is going to California's central coast. We stay in Cambria, a charming small town on the coast with just enough restaurants and shops to fulfill a couple easy hours. Our main activity is visiting the Hearst Castle, which is fascinating and romantic in itself. We might do a little wine tasting and squeeze in a walk by the beach, but there's still plenty of time to relax in the room together with just the two of us. Beyond the castle, the agenda is light and easy, making the overall weekend relaxing, and the drive there is beautiful too.    When I think big city, there's so many sites to see, places to go, and things to do. While this might be a fun trip, if you want a romantic trip, you should remove a lot of the distractions so that you can focus on your partner.” — Zack Taylor, Life Insurance 420“Go somewhere that’s cold so you can cuddle up to your loved one. Sure a tropical getaway sounds exciting, but nothing is as romantic as being able to keep warm together whether it’s in front of the fire or lounging in a jacuzzi. Bring on the snow to really see sparks fly.” — Susanna Williams, The Inn At Patrick Square“The key ingredient is to leave all the worries and work behind. The positive mindset is the key to the perfect romantic getaway. The other important factor is choosing the right place to stay. Boutique hotels, small resorts are so much better than big hotel chains. It's always good to travel off the beaten path, to be able to discover unknown places with your partner.Even if you choose to take a romantic city break to the big city, there is always something interesting to see there that is not so popular. Avoid tourist places, go to the outskirts of the city, visit local restaurants.” — Karolina Klesta, Lazy Travel Food and drink: Where should you eat? Everyone enjoys trying a new restaurant. One of my personal favorites in town is a replica of one of the most romantic structures in the world — the Eiffel Tower. Not only is the restaurant top-rated, but it's high above the strip, and it's located across the street from the Bellagio fountains. I highly suggest going during the evening so couples can take in the water show at the same time. — Jenna Phillips, Independent VIP Host, Vegas Primer“At the Marble Bar tasting rooms in Aspen and Carbondale, guests can imbibe on chocolate and spirit pairings with flavor profiles complementing a vodka-chocolate flight and a whiskey-chocolate flight.” — Lea Tucker, Aspen Skiing Company Activities: What should you plan to do on a romantic trip? “Include opportunities to connect on a personal level...perhaps some fun board or card games, shared activities like a two person jetted tub in a spa-like environment, couple's massage, cuddling up by a fire, and enjoying a favorite movie.” — Stephen Fofanoff, Innkeeper at Domaine Madeleine“My favorite romantic trip is when we’re exploring an entirely new country together and going on an adventure. Trying new foods for the first time and listening to new music can bring us closer than I ever thought. When you’re getting lost in city streets, you’ll find new and exciting areas you’ve never experienced before. This has brought me closer to my significant other than any other vacation.” — Susanna Williams, The Inn At Patrick Square“Private activities for two, especially something you both have never experienced before. This can be anywhere from horseback riding on the beach at sunset to ziplining through the jungle. We love having new experiences for the first time. Glamping is a big one couples tend to choose in order to have an adventure with added comforts and luxury from a unique place.” — Jessica Armstrong, Glamping Hub“Midweek retreats are a great way for couples to reconnect, and it's also nice because it's always a little quieter since most kids are in school. RiverWalk Resort at Loon Mountain in Lincoln, New Hampshire is the perfect winter getaway with many romantic experiences for couples to take advantage of, like ice skating, wine tasting, couple’s massage or spa treatments, an outdoor heated pool, snowshoeing and snowmobiling.” — Sharyn Frankel, RiverWalk Resort “Go on an Adrenaline Adventure: Scientific studies suggest that whenever you're in anxiety or adrenaline-producing situations with your significant other, sexual attraction increases. For my couples, I recommend racing exotic cars on a speedway, a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon, or an off-roading experience.” — Jenna Phillips, Independent VIP Host, Vegas Primer“Here, locals believe that the key ingredient to a perfect romantic getaway is authenticity, which helps couples bond.  Include some exhilarating outdoor activities like zip lining or paddle boarding. Take a romantic stroll around a historic downtown and top everything off with a fresh, home-cooked meal.” — Susan Smith, Visit Bastrop Relax: How can you de-stress and enjoy your vacation? “Don't bring work with you. Find ways to unplug and de-stress together. Enjoy the surroundings and be pampered. Spend the day in robes and slippers, or go out for a bike ride together in the nearby countryside.” — Stephen Fofanoff, Innkeeper at Domaine Madeleine “To be in a romantic mood, it helps to be relaxed. And, in my opinion, there's nothing better to elicit feelings of relaxation than spending time outdoors. To get away from the casinos, I suggest a trip to Red Rock Canyon. It's a fantastic day trip because you can drive the 13-mile scenic loop with points of interest stops along the way. Or you can park and go hiking along one of the many trails. The scenery is phenomenal.” — Jenna Phillips, Independent VIP Host, Vegas Primer“The key ingredient for a perfect romantic getaway is solitude and an escape from electronic devices. Nothing is romantic when you’re screaming over a crowd. And when you’re glued to your cell phone or computer, you might as well be back at the house. Instead, book a cabin in a secluded mountain and disconnect from your devices. Spend time getting to know your loved one again and you’ll feel as if you’re on your first date.” — Susanna Williams, The Inn At Patrick Square“Go somewhere tropical, order a piña colada, and leave your phone in the room. By living in the present a truly spending time with your significant other, you'll remember why you two fell in love in the first place.” — Kylie, Leaving Kyliefornia Be flexible: What happens if things don’t go to plan? “Be flexible. Your flight may be canceled or you may have noisy neighbours. No matter what will happen, try to be flexible and have fun.My husband and I spent our honeymoon in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. The first week was amazing: we were sunbathing, trying local food and having lots of fun. Then, we both got terrible food poisoning. We both spent the next week either in bed or on a toilet. Surprisingly, it hasn't ruined our honeymoon. We've been talking a lot, especially about the things that we would have done if we weren't sick! This week had really strengthened our relationship, we've been more like best friends than lovers.” — Karolina Klesta, Lazy Travel

Guest Post by Victoria Schmid Internet access is a necessity for modern life. Whether you’re traveling for business or pleasure, you’ll likely need to get online at some point. What do you do when you’re in a new location and need to submit your expense reports or upload an album of vacation pictures? Turns out you have plenty of options, so let’s explore the best ways to stay connected while you travel. Public Wi-Fi Wi-Fi hotspots are everywhere these days. Many restaurants, coffee shops, and hotels offer free public Wi-Fi for guests, and some cities even have full Wi-Fi coverage, with hotspots spread out to accommodate the whole population. ProsFree. Public Wi-Fi is a great option if cost is a concern since there’s rarely a charge. Sometimes you’ll be asked to give an email address, but that’s usually the most a hotspot will require. Widely available. Unless you’re really out in the middle of nowhere, you shouldn’t have any problems finding a hotspot to connect to.ConsSometimes slow. Free public Wi-Fi can be pretty sluggish. This slowdown is partly because of the number of people connected and partly because of the costs involved in providing free high-speed access. Not secure. The biggest problem with public networks is that they’re open to anyone, including those with ill intent. Hackers and cyber crooks can get access to your computer more easily on an unsecured network, so make sure you take steps to secure yourself — like using a virtual private network (VPN) or not accessing private information on public Wi-Fi. Satellite internet If you travel frequently and need to access private information, satellite internet gives you a more secure network than public Wi-Fi hotspots. With coverage across most of the United States, satellite internet means you don’t have to worry about being in too remote of a location to get work done or communicate with family and friends.ProsAvailable through different providers. There are a few different choices for satellite internet providers in the United States, each with its own pros and cons. The two major players are HughesNet and Viasat. Found nationwide. Satellite signals aren’t restricted by landlines or other infrastructure. As a result, they can be picked up almost anywhere in the United States. Private and secure. These aren’t public networks. Satellite internet works just like your cable Wi-Fi at home. That means you can password-protect your network and keep it as secure as you need.ConsHas expensive plans. Satellite internet plans tend to be more expensive than other types of internet service, especially considering the speeds typically provided. Prices range from $50 to $120 a month depending on the plan. Requires a receiver dish. This one may be a deal breaker for some. You’ll have to keep a satellite dish handy to receive the signal from orbit. Typically, this will be mounted to a roof, but if that’s not feasible, you can use a portable dish. Has restrictive data caps. Depending on the plan and provider, you may find yourself with tight data limits. These may not be worrisome for many people, but it’s something to keep in mind. Personal hotspots Frequent travelers may also love using personal hotspots when on the road. These devices work similarly to the personal hotspot mode on phones — that is, they turn a cellular connection (usually LTE these days, though possibly 5G when it rolls out) into a secure Wi-Fi network. They also have the benefit of not burning down your phone’s battery and data plan.ProsMore secure than public Wi-Fi. Since personal hotspots are password-protected networks, they offer better security and privacy than a public hotspot. Often affordable. If you don’t use much data, you may be able to get away with a plan as low as $13 per month. Widely available. Since these hotspots use cellular data to connect, you can use them anywhere with a decent signal. The exact coverage varies with the cellular carrier you choose, though, so check that your provider has coverage in your most frequently traveled places.ConsCan be expensive. While low-use hotspots can be very affordable, you can end up paying a pretty penny for heavy use, possibly exceeding $100 per month. Has data limits. Most personal hotspot plans come with data caps. Typically, you’ll either be charged an additional fee per gigabyte of data used, or you’ll have your connection throttled, meaning it may slow down a lot when network traffic is high. Requires a hotspot. The big catch with hotspots is that you’ll need to pay for the hotspot hardware itself in addition to the monthly service fee.Whether you stick with public Wi-Fi or go for the full satellite internet setup, there are plenty of options for staying connected while traveling, even in remote areas. Find the option that fits your needs — then focus on planning the best trip you can! Victoria Schmid enjoys writing about technology for the everyday person. She is a specialist in online business marketing and consumer technology. She has a background in broadcast journalism.

4:30pm - Before leaving the office, I double-check to make sure all my reservations (all booked on Expedia.com) are good to go. Alaska Airlines flight at 7:15 the next morning? Already checked in online and scored a sweet aisle seat by the emergency exits. Enterprise car rental? Check, although I'm hearing foreboding things about San Francisco traffic. Hotel room at Comfort Inn By The Bay? Check. Directions to said hotel? Check. Return flight with Delta? Check. If anything goes wrong, I've purchased a Travel Protection Plan ($50), which sounds reassuring. 5:30pm - I get home from work and start packing for my trip to San Francisco, a video marketing conference I know nothing about. Our six month-old is cranky, with a runny nose. 6:30pm - Everything is packed. The baby is now crying. My wife is trying to console him. 7:30pm - My wife is rubbing her temples. There is talk of a possible migraine. Baby is running a fever. Ibuprofen is administered. Baby goes down. I'm starting to have some doubts about the trip, but as long as my wife's status isn't escalated to 'migraine' I should be good to go. 8:30pm - My wife goes down with a category five migraine. 11:30pm - The baby wakes up, more irate than before. He's running a 102-degree fever. My wife is still down for the count. I'm now the full-time baby care provider, and I start to wonder about flight cancellation and that protection plan. If this situation doesn't change in the next few hours, I'm going to have to find out how that all works. 2:00am - With my wife still out of commission, the baby still running a higher fever, and our other kids about to wake up in just a few hours, I come to the sobering conclusion that I can't leave my household like this. You know, work-life balance and all that. I'll need to cancel the trip. Funny thing is, I'm not exactly sure how to do that. The truth is, Expedia made it incredibly (and frighteningly) easy to plan my trip-so easy, in fact, that I'm not sure how to undo it. Do I do it from their website? Do I call someone? And who should I call: Expedia or the airlines? These questions would be hard enough to answer in broad daylight with a good night's rest, but after very little rest and several hours now of caring for an unhappy infant, these questions seem almost insurmountable. Well, no time like the present to start learning how to cancel a trip on Expedia... Lesson Learned #1: Credits are sorta the nice version of a "no-refund" policy I start with that Alaska Airlines flight because it is obviously at the top of the urgency totem pole. After some waffling, I decide to call Alaska Airlines, instead of Expedia, since the flight is coming up so quickly and I want to make sure I go right to the source. Unfortunately, a quick visit to the Alaska Airlines website tells me their call center doesn't open until 5:00am. I won't be canceling my flight at that exact moment, but I have a few hours to grab some rest, and our sick baby is nice enough to let me doze off. 5:00am - Right around the time I should be arriving at the airport, I wake up and dial their help number. I'm honestly not sure what I'm going to get, based on this cryptic blurb on my Expedia itinerary: "We understand that sometimes plans change. We do not charge a cancel or change fee. When the airline charges such fees in accordance with its own policies, the cost will be passed on to you." ... combined with this message on the Alaska Airlines cancellations web page: "Depending on your fare, there may be a fee to change or cancel your reservation. If a fee does apply, it is $125 (USD) per person, per change, in addition to any difference in fare." It takes only seconds to get a call center rep on the phone, and she is surprisingly cool about the whole cancellation thing, especially since it's literally just a couple hour before my flight is supposed to leave the gate. Even though I was already checked in, my ticket is cancelled and no fee is charged. I breathe a sigh of relief. But she does have a smidgen of bad news. Understandably, it's too late to get a refund. No big surprise there. But I have an ace up my sleeve. Slyly, I tell her that I purchased an Expedia protection plan, not quite sure what I expect her to do with that, like maybe it will grant her the powers to erase the whole situation, like it never happened. To my dismay, the rep doesn't seem to know what to do with this information. "You'll have to talk to Expedia about that," she says. But she does give me a credit with Alaska Airlines to be used within the next 12 months. I start struggling to think up destinations for which I might want to use an $186 credit within the next year. This isn't a bad concession if you're a frequent Alaska Airlines flyer, but I'm not. I can't help but feel that I've been offered the nice version of a "no-refund." But at this time of morning and after the night I've had, I'll take the nice version of bad news over the alternative. Lesson Learned #2: Every airline has its own policies 5:30am - After the sorta embarrassing exchange with the Alaska Airlines rep, I get smart and decide to seek help from the people I booked with: Expedia. It only takes a minute to find their support number, and, after a few seconds of elevator music, I get a rep on the phone named Dan. Struggling to keep all the plotlines straight through a sleep-deprived haze, I explain to Dan my predicament, that I've already cancelled my Alaska Airline flight, that my protection plan bounced right off them like a rubber ball, etc. After asking lots of questions to make sense of my babbling, Dan starts working on canceling my return flight on Delta and puts me on hold while he calls the airline. Elevator music. Then Dan's back, and with good news. He's successfully cancelled with no penalty fee and I get a full refund, but it will take eight weeks for the $505 to show up on the credit card. It's an actual refund this time. I'll take it. Side note: as we go through this process, I start realizing that Dan is pretty much looking at the same information I am looking at in my Expedia itinerary page. So Dan doesn't bring any new information to the table, but he is willing to make the awkward phone calls for me. So I'm willing to let him take the lead. During this process, Dan also points out the differences between Alaska Airlines' and Delta's policies in how they deal with cancellations and probably everything else. These policies show up during the booking process, I think, only to disappear into some some obscure corner of their website in the finest print possible. Keeping all of these straight has got to be a major challenge for frequent travelers. Right up there with trying to prosecute a crime that occurred aboard an airplane as it crossed, like, 18 international boundaries. Lesson Learned #3: You can reserve and cancel car rentals with reckless abandon 5:45am - My cancellation adventure with Dan continues. It's time to try to cancel my rental car reservation with Enterprise. Honestly, at only $38, this reservation has the lowest stakes out of all of the reservations, but every little bit helps. My faithful call-maker Dan has more good news for me. We don't even need to call Enterprise. He proceeds to cancel the reservation from his computer. Done. That's $38 I don't need to worry about. That's when it dawns on me. Compared to all the grief you go through with airline and hotel reservations, you can reserve rental cars with reckless abandon. Until you actually show up at their desk and give them your credit card, they can't charge you for a thing. So far it's my one anchor in this whole cancellation experience-when all else fails, I can cancel a car rental and not worry about losing my shirt. Lesson Learned #4: What did that protection plan cover again? I also have another epiphany in this moment: I have no idea how that "travel protection plan" I paid $50 for affects any of this. It doesn't affect my ability to get refunds, which is clearly determined by company policy. Does it pay for all this great service from Dan? Maybe, although I like to think that Dan would help me regardless. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the travel protection plan is helping me in some way and my sleep-deprived brain just isn't picking it up. Or maybe I'm right and the travel protection plan was just an easy $50 for Expedia. Either way, at no point are the actual benefits of this insurance defined for me. Lesson Learned #5: You can't cancel hotel reservations with reckless abandon 5:55am - Just one more hurdle to go: canceling that reservation with the Comfort Inn By the Bay. I do this with a twinge of sadness. It looked like a great hotel, ideally situated close to all the coolest parts of San Francisco and with an outstanding free breakfast spread of sausages, eggs, etc. After a moment's hesitation, I tell Dan to make the call. Dan calls the Comfort Inn and, for the first time, reports that he's hit a wall. The person working the front desk has informed Dan that only the manager can cancel a reservation and that person won't be in until 10am Pacific. Apparently, there are limits to Expedia's reach across the travel world. Dan advises two courses of action: I can call Expedia at 10am Pacific and have them call the Comfort Inn or I can just call them directly at that time. Thanks to Dan's steady hand, I'm feeling strong enough to just make the call myself, so I accept the task. Just as we bid farewell I almost second-guess my choice and ask Dan if I can have his direct number, but he hangs up before I can say anything. I'm left alone with my choice. 11:00am - After counting down the five hours, the time has finally come. While rocking the still-sick infant, I call Comfort Inn By the Bay to deliver the bad news. The person who picks up the phone sounds out of breath, like I interrupted her refilling of the Belgian waffle maker. I verify that she is the manager and proceed to explain my predicament. Sick baby. Sick wife. Trip nixed. With a marked lack of empathy, she replies, "Oh, no, you can't cancel." "I can't cancel?" I ask. Perhaps I just heard her wrong. "No, we don't take any cancellations within 24 hours of check-in," she responds. My hearing was all too accurate. But there's still a chance... "Well, can I get a refund?" "No." "No refund at all?" I add a heavy dose of incredulity, lest she's turned her attention back to the Belgian waffle maker. "No, not within 24 hours before check-in." She's got that policy down. Shocked pause. "So you'll just take that out of my credit card?" "Yes. You should see it on your account tomorrow morning, because our system updates every night." Stunned, I thank her for the bad news and hang up. I am surprised that, of all the companies I dealt with during this debacle, the hotel is the one least willing to offer some kind of concession, the most strict in terms of penalizing me for canceling. One thing is for certain: canceling hotel reservations and canceling car rentals are two vastly different things. What Expedia Did Right... and Wrong 11:15am - Right around the time when I should've been arriving at the conference, my trip is completely, 100% cancelled. I can't help but reflect on the wins and losses of my experience with Expedia. The travel protection plan still has me perplexed, but Dan's customer service was impeccable. The refunds/credits with both airlines were a welcome surprise, but Comfort Inn was totally inflexible. At the very least, I'll always have that easy car rental cancellation. To see other customer reviews on Expedia and other similar companies, check out our top-rated travel sites today!

When it comes to new technology companies, it's easy to get swept up in the novelty. One favorite object of gushing from the media and online hipsters alike has been booking site Airbnb, which (for the uninitiated out there) allows normal folks ("hosts" per the company's own jargon) to rent out their homes, private rooms, boats, castles, treehouses, and more for short-term use by travelers ("guests"). Hosts can put their digs up on the site and which dates the property is available, and then guests can search the site and get matched with a slew of properties that match their criteria. Photos, descriptions, and reviews from past guests help them pick the right one for their travel plans. Since its inception in 2008, Airbnb has been hailed as a disruptor to the sometimes deceptive and ineffective online hotel booking marketing. It's been listed as one of the next generation of multibillion-dollar startups buy the New York Times. And it has been credited with single-handedly bringing $56 million in tourism dollars to the San Francisco area. They even helped provide free housing to people left homeless by Hurricane Sandy. So with all this praise being bestowed upon Airbnb, what's not to like? With so much going right, there are some things that still go wrong for their customers, hosts and guests alike. Read online review sites about Airbnb and you quickly come across some recurring themes, bad customer experiences that seem to happen again and again. In our research of Airbnb reviews across the Web, these are the seven Airbnb horror stories we noticed were most frightening and most common: 1. Last-Minute "Verification" For the protection of hosts and their property, Airbnb verifies the identities of guest prior to their stays in others' lodgings. Unfortunately, the timing of these verification procedures is often cut uncomfortably close-and sometimes it completely ruins someone's travel plans. One Airbnb review on SiteJabber recalls a situation where this verification came as a complete surprise, and to a guest who had already paid for his stay well in advance: "At the last minute, practically on the eve of my departure, they suspended my account and canceled my paid reservation without explanation. I only found out through a private message from my chosen host as I was packing to leave. When I tried to correct Airbnb over the matter, they demanded a copy of my passport, access to my Facebook and Google accounts, and reconfirmation of my cell number. I didn't want a last-minute derailment of my plans so I unwisely complied. After all that, they wrote that my already 30 days ahead paid reservation was illegitimate and that my account was suspended." To make matters worse, Airbnb's customer service team was less than responsive, and the guest was unable to get a refund from the company for his or her trouble. Sadly, this situation is all too common in Airbnb reviews. Other stories tell of guests, uncomfortable giving up so much of their personal information during the verification process, finally just giving up and booking a hotel to save themselves the trouble and inconvenience. In the end, guests and hosts find the Airbnb verification process to be too much of a burden. 2. Bad Houseguests Airbnb problems don't happen only to guests. Hosts have complained about the lack of protection for their properties from rowdy guests. This review on TrustPilot tells an all-too-common tale: "I rented my cabin through Airbnb last month. My cleaning lady went there to clean it. She texted me right away to alert that the guests smoked weed/marijuana inside the property and the whole house is in a bad condition. We could not rent the place for a few weeks as a result of weed smoking of Airbnb guests who were absolutely disrespectful. I contacted Airbnb to compensate for the damages. Airbnb do not require deposit and guests literally can do what they want." While this does not seem to be the norm with Airbnb, the story was common enough to catch our attention. Other similar stories involve guests who claim to be quiet suburban families but then turn out to be dozens of party-goers who leave meth pipes, trashed houses, and missing items in their wake as evidence of their debauchery. It's worth noting here that Airbnb does offer insurance coverage for this type of craziness, according to their "Host Protection Insurance" page: "If a guest suffers bodily injury or damages property at your building during a stay, Airbnb's Host Protection Insurance program is designed to protect you for covered claims up to $1 million per occurrence." Although this insurance is there to clean up the aftermath, it is clear that many hosts have been miffed by the inability of Airbnb to prevent bad guest behavior in the first place. And it's unclear how easy or difficult it is to qualify for this coverage. 3. Meaningless Reviews When it comes to picking a place to stay in a strange, new place, pretty photos and polished descriptions from a host only mean so much. With guest reviews, on the other hand, the rubber really meets the road. Unfortunately, since guests and hosts can review each other on Airbnb, these reviews tend to be overly positive, to the point of being both unbelievable and frustrating, as explained by Forbes contributor Seth Porges in his article "The Strange Game Theory of Airbnb Reviews": "[I]f one person leaves a negative review on the other, the subject of the review could be annoyed or offended enough to strike back with a negative review of their own. When this system was in place on Airbnb, I would rush to leave a (usually positive, at worst neutral) review as quickly as I could. If I felt that the guest expressed anything other than enthusiastic joy with their experience, I would make doubly sure to leave a review first. The idea being that they would be more likely to deliver a positive review to somebody who had just showered them with praise in a public forum. After all, just as it's tempting to retaliate against somebody who has hurt you, it's human to want to reciprocate niceties." So imagine you're a guest reading reviews to determine the quality of an apartment in New Orleans. Instead of getting the honest reviews you need to make sure you're not signing up for a complete hole, you get a bunch of rosy reviews designed to not incur the wrath of the host. Unless you learn how to read between the lines, you could very well end up in the hole you sought to avoid. Hosts trying to assess the trustworthiness of a guest could similarly find themselves deceived by deceptively favorable reviews. Next thing they know, they're missing a flatscreen television, their drywall has a bunch of holes, and meth pipes are everywhere. 4. No Protection Against Fraud Although Airbnb does offer some protection against bad guests and guest damage, the same can't be said for fraudulent activity against their customers. An alarming number of Airbnb reviews told of email scammers using the company's name to trick customers into giving away critical personal and financial information. According to one such story from the site (I kid you not) AirbnbHell.com, an Airbnb customer received an email with information about an available apartment and inviting him or her to reply if interested. The scammer then walked the customer through a fake process, including convincing him or her to send money to a bank account in Poland. When the customer didn't receive any further information from the fake host, he or she contacted Airbnb customer service and was informed that the email was a fake and that there was little they could do recoup the money lost. It goes without saying here that customers of any online business need to know the warning signs of email fraud. Take note also that Airbnb, like most online businesses, can do little to protect its customers from or prevent this kind of email fraud. The responsibility rests on consumers to be smart about the emails they respond to. 5. Can't Review We've already discussed the Airbnb review system, and how it keeps hosts and guests sort-of honest, but what if a host bails on you at the last minute, leaving you to scramble to find lodging elsewhere? According to Airbnb's system, even though you've just been shafted by a host and your review could be very insightful to future guests, you can't leave a review about the host. Consider this experience from one such unlucky guest, as submitted on AirbnbHell.com: "The host cancelled as we were standing outside trying to check in. My phone pinged with the alert, the host chose to ignore my repeated phone calls and attempts to contact her. Her explanation was a single email stating that she could only accommodate one person and not two but we were renting her whole apartment that is advertised for couples or small families... Airbnb has no legitimate system in place to help travelers when a host doesn't honor their commitment. And they don't allow you to review the host if you didn't actually stay at their place, so their star rating and reviews mean nothing. Never rent from Phoebe Fleming at 63 Melcher St., Boston, MA, and probably don't ever book a trip with Airbnb that you aren't prepared to have go totally awry!" 6. Trouble Getting Refunds You'd think that, with such a high propensity for cancelled stays on the part of hosts and guests, Airbnb would have a pretty streamlined system for issuing refunds. If reviews are to be believed, alas, such is not the case. Review after review complains about difficulty getting refunds after a failed stay. The lucky ones seem to be those who can at least secure a partial refund. One horror story told of a couple who found their host AWOL, the apartment they'd rented occupied inexplicably by two students, and the apartment in poor shape (think no electricity in some rooms and bad odors), all of which was enough to drive the couple out after one night when they'd paid for four: "We tried to get a refund from Alan (the host) but no joy. Airbnb got involved - still no refund though Airbnb gave us a token £27 refund (we paid £217 in total). This was the worst night we have ever had anywhere and our advice is not to touch Airbnb." 7. Shabby Safety Features When it comes to safety, staying in a hotel or resort is one thing. These forms of lodging usually come equipped with smoke detectors, security staff, etc. But what about when you're essentially just crashing at someone's house? To be fair, Airbnb does strongly encourage their hosts to make their abodes as safe as possible for their guests. A message on their "Responsible Hosting" page reads: "We encourage hosts to think carefully about their responsibilities. Hosting offers rich experiences, but it comes with a certain level of commitment." The page goes onto to offer a toll-free hotline for neighbors of hosts and recommend providing emergency numbers, first aid kits, smoke detectors, etc. But these are just that: recommendations. Not requirements. This can result in some dicey situations for guests. One review submitted with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) told of guests awoken in the middle of the night to find a fire consuming the third floor of the apartment building they were staying in: "At no point did a fire alarm or any sort of smoke detector alert us. It was only by the simple grace that one of my family members happened to be awake at 3am and noticed something." Especially when booking through Airbnb in other countries, guests should understand the risks involved. Their lodging might have few to no safety features. Is Airbnb worth it? Lower cost is usually what draws travelers to Airbnb, as opposed to Expedia or Travelocity. With that lower cost, however, seems to come a higher level of risk. It's not that can't have a terrible experience booking through Hotels.com-my own personal experience with a Tempe extended stay and a crack pipe proves as much. But Airbnb, for all its innovation and ingenuity, seems to be behind the game when it comes to customer service and contingencies. To be absolutely fair, Airbnb has an A+ rating with the BBB. They are loved by most of their customers and media folks alike. A relatively small number of online reviews don't necessarily reflect the experiences of all customers. But any customers or potential Airbnb customers need to understand what exactly comes with their Airbnb reservation, the good, the annoying, and the potentially hazardous. See how we, here at bestcompany.com, and our users rated Airbnb here!