Travelers have a choice these days -- stay in a hotel or an apartment. Crashing on your cousin's couch may be an option for some, but we'll leave that for another thread. 
AirBNB's have some advantages: lower pricing as a rule .. extra space normally .. and full kitchens most of the time.
I'm staying in an AirBNB on a monthly rental right now .. and thus qualify for a 25 percent additional discount. It cost me twice as much (per day) to stay at a hotel in the same neighborhood on a previous trip.
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However, hotels offer advantages too...
1. If you cancel a trip with at least a few days notice, there is typically no cancellation charge by most hotel-related sites such as booking.com ....
AirBNB will slap you with a stiff cancellation fine -- euphemistically called a non-refundable "service fee." The size of the fine may vary, but $150 US is not unusual.
2. A hotel can often crack down immediately if there is a noisy guest in a nearby room or his/her dog is getting out of hand. It's a trickier situation at an apartment building.
3. Hotels may offer amenities, such as an on-site restaurant with room service .. a swimming pool .. or pick-up-at-your-room laundry service.
4. A hotel may be available right next to a casino or landmark you want to visit frequently during your stay. It is often more difficult (though not impossible if you message the prospective host) to figure out the distance between an AirBNB apartment and such landmark prior to the trip.
5. If you require daily cleaning of the room, a hotel will normally include it at no additional charge.
....
This thread welcomes your opinions of AirBNB versus hotel. AirBNB is a stand-in on this post for other apartment opportunities that may be less well-known. I leave it to Brother Archer's discretion whether to post Spanish-language website(s) that offer low-cost apartment stays.
FYI, a poster on another expat.com forum strongly objected to my saying I was staying at an AirBNB, calling it an "ad". However, since I do not profit from -- nor am associated financially with -- AirBNB or any of its offerings, this forum affords me the freedom of speech to discuss AirBNB. 
cccmedia at an AirBNB
AirBNB versus Hotel
I have seen as much as 50% discounts for a monthly rental on Airbnb. I tend to prefer them over a hotel as you can have a kitchen to cook in your apartment. It can save over eating out every meal.
I stay in both. I consider multiple factors in addition to price. On our last trips to Cuenca and Montañita, we stayed in cute hotels. In Puerto Lopez and Guayaquil, Airbnb. Length of stay is a major factor, and an Airbnb is likely to win out if it is going to be a long stay.
In Cuenca I wanted a city center location above all. In Puerto Lopez and Montañita, I didn't need that. In Guayaquil I needed to stay in a location that my novia approved of-- just far enough away from her family so she felt like she was on vacation, but she still had to be close enough to work
Just from the standpoint of "cultural immersion", I think you have a better opportunity to do that at an Airbnb where you may be staying with an ordinary family, or a couple, or just an individual not in the hotel industry per se - and also where longer term stays can be quite negotiable as to price (although it never hurts to ask, and try to bargain, at a hotel either).
Also the Airbnb host may be likely to know the immediate area better than a hotel employee and be more able and willing to discuss sightseeing, dining and entertainment options, dicey areas, and almost anything else, too.
For the more adventurous, you could also rent a room responding to the free ads in the Craigslist-like web listings of Locanto, for "Habitaciones en arriendo", here a link for Medellín:
https://medellin.locanto.com.co/Habitac … iendo/302/
You can find Locanto for other Colombian cities (and some suburbs of larger cities) just by doing a search for, for instance,
locanto cali for Cali, or
locanto bogota for Bogotá, or
locanto envigado for Envigado (Medellín) and then looking under the section
Inmobiliaria, clicking on
Habitaciones en arriendo
Often renting a room also offers sharing of laundry, kitchen, refrigerator, etc. etc. and other services. I think most of those offering a room for rent, however, are looking for somewhat longer-term tenants and not short-term ones such as an Airbnb listing would welcome.
lebowski888 wrote:I stay in both. I consider multiple factors in addition to price. On our last trips to Cuenca and Montañita, we stayed in cute hotels. In Puerto Lopez and Guayaquil, Airbnb. Length of stay is a major factor, and an Airbnb is likely to win out if it is going to be a long stay.
In Cuenca I wanted a city center location above all. In Puerto Lopez and Montañita, I didn't need that. In Guayaquil I needed to stay in a location that my novia approved of-- just far enough away from her family so she felt like she was on vacation, but she still had to be close enough to work
I go about it similarly. Space is also a major factor, so if with family and more than a week it's AirBnB.
Although, the kids love nice hotels with all the amenities. For them, it's like an attraction and an important part of a vacation. So, I always try to accommodate them by finding hotel deals and give them their own room. I don't blame them as it's fun chilling in a nice hotel room with great view in a luxurious robe. Ajajajaja.
So I agree there are numerous factors.
I think hostels should also be included, as they are convenient for one person or a couple regardless of duration of stay,,especially if they are situated right in the middle of it all. Although, admittedly they were more suitable when I was younger.
As for staying in a hotel together with your girlfriend in her city, I think that's quite romantic.
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