A city apartment with a rooftop pool, a hill house at altitude, and a villa with steps into the water.
Best by Lauren may earn a commission when you shop through certain links. Every product here was bought with my own money or tested for at least six weeks. No brand has paid to be included, and nothing is ranked higher because it pays more.
I have stayed in a lot of these, for nights and for months, and the ones that were good were good for reasons the listings never lead with.
Here are the best of them and what I now filter for before anything else.
The city apartment with the building pool
A month here cost less than a week in the hotel across the road.
A proper apartment in a residential building with a pool on the roof and a gym downstairs. For anything longer than a week this is the format that wins, every time.
The hill house at altitude
Cold mornings, linen sheets, and the best sleep of the trip. Ask for the corner room.
High enough to need a blanket at night, which after months in the heat was the actual luxury. Glass on two sides and green in every direction.
The villa with steps into the water
A pool you walk into rather than climb into, which changes how much you use it.
Sunset on the water, shallow steps, and enough space that a group is not on top of each other. The kind of house that makes everyone cancel their plans.
The five-minute radius around the front door. A coffee, a shop and somewhere to eat within five minutes decides whether a stay is good far more than the apartment does.
Air conditioning in the bedroom specifically, not "air conditioning". In hot countries plenty of listings have one unit in the living room.
Real reviews from long stays. A dozen two-night reviews tell you the place photographs well; one three-week review tells you whether it works.
Two nights or fewer, almost always. Cleaning fees make short Airbnb stays poor value and a hotel gives you a front desk when something goes wrong.
Anywhere you need to arrive late. Self check-in is fine until it is not, and it is never fine at one in the morning.
The five-minute radius around the front door, air conditioning in the bedroom specifically, and at least one review from a long stay.
For a week or more, usually by a lot. For two nights or fewer, usually not once cleaning fees are counted.
Short stays, and any time you arrive late. Self check-in is fine until something goes wrong at one in the morning.
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