I’ve been using Airbnb since August 2011 and there’s no way I’m going to rent a hotel room ever again in the future.

Yep… I just said that!

So far I’ve been using it in Barcelona, San Francisco, New York City, Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam and each experience has been absolutely mind blowing.

The awesomeness of this service derives mostly by the fact that it was conceived by designers and not by hotel-related businessmen. This is a key point: only people with different mindsets can come up with fresh ideas that revolutionize a market. Airbnb brings together the coolness and the social aspects of the couchsurfing experience and the quality standards of an apartment/room rental service.

When you step into an Airbnb apartment/room you feel like you’re entering a new world. A world of intimacy and sharing at the same time. You get to see the house of a person and start wondering about her personality. It helps you discover common tastes and start conversations about anything.

In order to be an Airbnb user you need to have a particular predisposition to handle unexpected things and a lot of curiosity. Airbnb is not for everyone. If you travel alone or with friends it is perfect. If you travel with your partner (and your partner is adventurous) it is fantastic. If you travel with your partner and your little kids it might be a bit challenging because adults adapt more easily to unexpected situations.

Last but not least, Airbnb is very inspiring when it comes to style and furnitures. I’ve found myself browsing all the coolest listings just to look at how people decorate and style up their homes. There are so many design apartments on Airbnb (incredibly cheap ones) that’s almost impossible not to bump into one and scream: “OMG I want this too!”.

Give it a try and you won’t regret it.

P.S. only on Airbnb you can rent something like this.