We had our
first accommodation failure this past weekend. We drove into Sydney to
visit friends (and what a great time we had with them!!) However,
finding last minute accommodations in the ever popular destination is not easy. Add three kids and
all of a sudden availability and price are even worse. Aggravating
process but nothing insurmountable. But then one and then another air
bnb accommodation were rejected and all of a sudden it was the night
before our trip and on a whim we booked an alright looking place that
was unreviewed. We rarely book unreviewed accommodations but I figured
even new listings deserve a chance. And then on closer inspections later
we discovered that we had actually booked a room in someone's home. And
all of a sudden I felt a bit uncomfortable as staying in an unreviewed
house is one thing but staying an unreviewed room in a home with three little kids is another
thing. But hey the listing said family friendly.
So with an open mind we arrived in the early evening and were greeted by an older man in fatigues who led us into his dark entrance way and showed us two rooms with beds we could use. He then proceeded to dig out bags from closets and yank out thicker blankets in case we got cold. He was nice but a bit odd and looked uncomfortable with the team of humans who had showed up at his door. The place was what you would imagine a sterotypical bacehlor house to be - decently furnished but poorly cleaned and maintained with a musky smoky smell in the air. He kindly offered for the kids to take a bath and I tried not to grimace as I looked at the yellowish blackish bathtub and made up some excuse about the kids not liking to bathe. He offered to make us steaks and we politely refused instead opting to go picnic by the nearby playground. As the children jumped and ran about with glee Jakob and I chatted with hunched shoulders. We would be fine staying at the house and it likely wouldn't be the worst night we ever spent but neither of us was really looking forward to going back. And home was only three hours away...
So for the first time in our lives together we left an accommodation (with the exception of the camping trip where we forgot the camping gear). And believe me this decision came after much deliberation. Really we have slept in many sketchy places - under bridges, in empty lots, motels with bloody hand stains in the bathrooms, cheap rooms down alleys in Indian cities, homes of people we met on the road, planes, boats, ghost towns. The list goes on and on and this was not the worst of the lot but somehow this time seemed like an uncomfortable night we could do without. But this wasn't a failed experience because we learned things about ourselves. For example we have comfort thresholds that differ now that we have children. We have pretty good gut instincts so we should listen to them. Reviews are really rather important on sites like airbnb. And we already knew this one but we find Sydney overwhelming. We felt pretty smug about our decision as we drove home chatting happily like a couple out on a date with three children sleeping quietly in the back and the stars glittering above.
So with an open mind we arrived in the early evening and were greeted by an older man in fatigues who led us into his dark entrance way and showed us two rooms with beds we could use. He then proceeded to dig out bags from closets and yank out thicker blankets in case we got cold. He was nice but a bit odd and looked uncomfortable with the team of humans who had showed up at his door. The place was what you would imagine a sterotypical bacehlor house to be - decently furnished but poorly cleaned and maintained with a musky smoky smell in the air. He kindly offered for the kids to take a bath and I tried not to grimace as I looked at the yellowish blackish bathtub and made up some excuse about the kids not liking to bathe. He offered to make us steaks and we politely refused instead opting to go picnic by the nearby playground. As the children jumped and ran about with glee Jakob and I chatted with hunched shoulders. We would be fine staying at the house and it likely wouldn't be the worst night we ever spent but neither of us was really looking forward to going back. And home was only three hours away...
So for the first time in our lives together we left an accommodation (with the exception of the camping trip where we forgot the camping gear). And believe me this decision came after much deliberation. Really we have slept in many sketchy places - under bridges, in empty lots, motels with bloody hand stains in the bathrooms, cheap rooms down alleys in Indian cities, homes of people we met on the road, planes, boats, ghost towns. The list goes on and on and this was not the worst of the lot but somehow this time seemed like an uncomfortable night we could do without. But this wasn't a failed experience because we learned things about ourselves. For example we have comfort thresholds that differ now that we have children. We have pretty good gut instincts so we should listen to them. Reviews are really rather important on sites like airbnb. And we already knew this one but we find Sydney overwhelming. We felt pretty smug about our decision as we drove home chatting happily like a couple out on a date with three children sleeping quietly in the back and the stars glittering above.
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| It's nice to sleep at home - especially in your parents bed |
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