When I was in Manila last weekend I tried AirBnB for the first time.

I must say, I was impressed.

I have been to Philippines many times over the last 10 years. I worked in Leyte for 18 months in 2006/7. I have also stayed in Manila many times, mostly in the  Ortigas Center in Pasig City. Ortigas Center has many benefits for foreign travellers and business people. It’s safe, close to many restaurants and shopping facilities. Mega Mall is one of the biggest shopping centres in the world. The area was many mid-priced hotels. When I say mid-priced I mean around the $100-150 / night range. The Linden Suites, Richmonde Hotel and the Discovery Suites fall into this category. I have stayed in all three, and are excellent hotels.

But the problem with Ortigas Center is that it was far from the airport…. well that’s not strictly true. It’s not that far – it just feels that far when travelling by car in the horrendous Manila traffic. The 16km can take around one hour.

These mid-range hotels don’t appear to exists in other locations around Manila. For example, Makati seems to have only budget hotels or luxury hotels. Nothing in between.

For this trip last weekend, I didn’t want the traffic hassles going to Ortigas for only 3 days. So I looked into AirBnB. There were lots (and lots) of options. Just a simple search around Manila Airport yielded over 300 results ranging from $13 to $200/night – average $77/night. These also range from a single room to an entire house or apartment. Hotels in this area are usually high end, charging around $300/night.

This seems incredible at first sight. How could there be such a large difference? Of course hotels offer top class service. Daily room cleaning, fresh towels and bed linen, a greater level or security. Of course you have to pay for that. But still its 3 to 4 times the prices of most of these AirBnB accommodations. I was very suspicious. There has to be a catch.

I did some web research. I asked my friends and colleagues about their experiences. Surprisingly I found very little negatives about AirBnB. All the advice said read the reviews and contact the host. Reading through the reviews almost all are positive. Again I was suspicious – maybe they got their friends to write reviews – maybe AirBnB themselves only publish the good reviews.

My thoughts then shifted from Manila to New York – I huge lead I know. Maybe I was just getting a Manila Flavour. For my up coming USA trip I have sorted all the accommodation – except for 5 days in New York. New York hotels are expensive. Lets see what AirBnB can offer in New York.

Again a quick search offers hundreds of options. Naturally more expensive than Manila – but still around half the price of hotels in the same area. There were numerous apartments in Brooklyn for around $100/night. Again all quite good reviews.

I decided to bite the bullet and book the Manila weekender. In a condominium complex across the road from NAIA Terminal 3. $177 for 3 nights.  Staying in AirBnb in Manila

I just got back yesterday – and it was great. Everything was as the web site said.

The place was clean and tidy. The caretaker met me and showed my to the apartment. The pictures in the website were exactly what it was. The location was perfect and the price sensational.

I’ll definitely stay there again when I return to Manila.

I have booked the Brooklyn apartment too! I’ll be in the big apple May 16.