Airbnb Checklist for Digital Nomads

Many digital nomads spend their entire lives living in Airbnbs, so being able to choose somewhere suitable is imperetive to ensuring a happy and fulfilling digital nomad life.

To make sure I book places that allow me maintain all the parts of my lifestyle that are important to me, I have a checklist of things to consider when choosing an Airbnb. Through a room's description, photos, reviews by previous guests, and Google Maps searches you can almost always tell whether or not a unit offers the things that are important to you, although don't be afraid to message the host and ask about anything you're unsure about; a good host will be happy to answer. And while many of the items on my checklist may seem obvious, when scrolling through rooms and saving them into a wishlist it can be quite easy to overlook something, especially if you're staying in an unfamiliar part of the world.

For example, in Europe it's almost unheard of for a room to come without windows, but as I write this I'm in Taiwan and here it's pretty common. Many windowless Airbnb listings have been illuminated and photographed in such a way that unless you specifically check the photos for windows, it appears as if they have natural light. Having a checklist of things to look for before I commit to an Airbnb has saved me some unpleasant stays on more than one occasion.

I'll give my checklist below; you should customise yours based on what is important to you. After that I'll give a bit more detail about why I include each item.

Note that this is not a booking guide - I won't go into detail for things like cancellation policies, discounts, and how to identify misrepresented listings etc. Instead, once I've been drawn to a listing, I like the look of the place, I trust the host, I'm ok with the price and cancellation policy etc., then the last thing I do before booking and committing my money, is I ask myself the following quesitons.

Airbnb checklist

• Does the room receive sufficient natural light, paricularly over the bed?
• Does the unit include a kitchen? Does it have a cooker and sufficient pots and pans?
• Is there an electric kettle?
• Is there a fridge?
• Is there vegan food available nearby?
• Is there a supermarket nearby? Are there convenience stores?
• Is there space to exercise in the room?
• Is there somewhere to run nearby? Somewhere for longer/slower runs, and somewhere to do intervals and sprints?
• Is there a washing machine in the unit? If not, is there one in the building or is there a launderette nearby?
• Is the room on the ground floor, and if so is it sufficiently secure and private?
• Does the room have heating and/or air conditioning?
• Are towels provided?
• How fast is the wifi?
• How noisy is the room?
• Does the bed look comfortable?
• Is there a suitable workstation?

Does the room receive sufficient natural light, paricularly over the bed?

It may seem absurd to some people that this is first on my list, but I've made the mistake of staying in some dingy rooms before, and I absolutely hate it.

I always sleep with my curtains open and wake-up each day with the sunrise, and any time that's taken from me my mood just plummets. It messes up my circadian rhythm, I feel lethargic and grouchy, and I slip into borderline depression. I won't even consider staying in a room that gets little or no daylight, and in some parts of the world you can find a lot of Airbnbs that don't have windows.

Does the unit include a kitchen? Does it have a cooker and sufficient pots and pans?

I strictly don't eat animal produce. Particularly in countries where I don't speak the language and where English levels are low, this can make eating-out challenging, so having my own kitchen to cook in features very highly on my list.

I actually carry a lot of items with me. In my suitcase I have a chopping board, a knife, cutlery, a bowl, a cup, a tea towel and even a blender. This on its own is sufficient for making simple meals, but it's nice if I can cook properly. It's always worth checking the description and the photos to see what kitchen facilities an Airbnb provides.

You can't always expect to have a nice kitchen to cook in, but when you do, like I had in Neos Kosmos, Athens, it makes such a difference to your stay.

Is there an electric kettle?

I drink a lot of tea. A lot. To the point that I've even thought about carrying a kettle in my suitcase. Collapsible silicone kettles do now exist.

Until that time, I need to have a kettle in my room. Heating up water on the stove is a time-consuming alternative, but I'll typically eliminate from consideration any room that doesn't provide a kettle.

Is there a fridge?

For anyone who intends on preparing food for themselves, making sure that the room includes a refrigerator is essential.

As I start and finish everyday with fruit, being able to store it in the room is an absolute minimum requirement for anywhere I stay.

Perhaps the best Airbnb I've ever stayed in was in Bucharest. Not only did it include a fridge, but it came full of beverages I was welcome to.

Is there vegan food available nearby?

The better the cooking facilities, the less important it is to have vegan restaurants near my room. Even so, I love having vegan or vegan-friendly places close by. Particularly on days I'm working and want to be able to get lunch quickly in order to maximise my break, I always look-up the local vegan restaurants before committing to a room. If there are none nearby, I usually won't stay there.

Is there a supermarket nearby? Are there convenience stores?

This will vary in importance depending on where you are in the world, but if you're staying somewhere that tap water isn't drinkable for example, then you're going to buying bottled water every day or two. Like to cook, or eat fruit everyday like me? You're probably going to want be close to a supermarket.

Hosts may list the distance to the nearest stores in their description, but I typically get onto Google Maps to have a good understanding of what's around the room.

Is there space to exercise in the room?

Bodyweight workouts of various types count for most of the workouts I do. Bodyweight strength, yoga and pilates, shadowboxing, core workouts; on a typical day I'll do one or more of these. I carry a fitness mat and a pair of yoga blocks that combined take up about a third of the space in my suitcase - that's how important doing this exercise is to me. As such I always check the photos of an Airbnb to ensure it has an area of floor space big enough to workout in.

It's a bonus if this floor space is in view of the TV, as I can plug-in my Apple TV and play my workouts on there.

When I stayed in Phnom Penh I didn't consider how much space I needed to exercise, leading to some very cramped and frustrating workouts where my ability to do yoga was severly impeded by walls.

Is there somewhere to run nearby? Somewhere for longer/slower runs, and somewhere to do intervals and sprints?

Do you know what I'd be without running? Really fat probably. For both my physical and mental health, I value being able to run. At times it's taken from me, for example through injury, I have a much harder time staying happy.

I do two types of running - longer, steady runs, and intervals/sprints. The longer runs I do without guidance and just go at my own pace, so having a nearby park is perfect, although if running on the street is pleasant, that's an alternative. For intervals/sprints I usually do guided workouts where someone tells me via my AirPods how fast to run and for how long. That requires a wide, flat area with no roads to cross. A running track is perfect, an open grassy space works too, and if a park has wide paths that can also do.

If I find myself staying somewhere hilly, or where the local park is crowded, or where I have to cross roads, then sprints just aren't viable. I'll spend a long time on Google Maps searching around my potential Airbnb to see if it has suitable places nearby before booking.

Is there a washing machine in the unit? If not, is there one in the building or is there a launderette nearby?

Having a washing machine in the room is always a nice luxury. I would never consider it essential. Sitting in the local launderette for an hour can be quite relaxing, and failing that I've at times resorted to hand-washing my clothes in the shower with shampoo, but it is nice to have a machine in the unit to do it for you.

It's also worth considering how you'll dry your clothes. Is there either a tumble dryer, or at least a place to hang your clothes in the room?

Is the room on the ground floor, and if so is it sufficiently secure and private?

Ground floor units are less secure than rooms on higher floors because unwanted guests can climb in through the windows, and they're the first rooms that thieves will find when breaking into a building. They're also less private if people at ground-level can see in, perhaps forcing you to keep the curtains closed all day.

That doesn't mean you should avoid ground floor rooms altogether, but do consider the area - is it a safe area? If not, are the windows sufficiently secure? For example, are there bars on the windows? And is the room at the front or the back of the building? If it's at the front with people walking past all day, what kind of curtains does the room have? If your choice is to have no privacy or to have the black-out curtains in the room closed all day, you're probably not going to have a good time.

Does the room have heating and/or air conditioning?

Depending on where you're going and at what time of year, are you going to be able to stay warm/cool?

Are towels provided?

I used to carry a towel with me, but for about a year it just sat in my suitcase unused because every Airbnb and hotel I stayed in provided one. On rare occasions you will come across rooms that don't provide towels. If you don't carry one in your suitcase it's worth knowing that before you book.

How fast is the wifi?

This question is becoming less and less relevant. Almost everywhere in the world now has wifi sufficient for video calls, and on the rare occasion you stay somewhere that doesn't, tethering to your phone and using your data plan is usually a viable alternative.

Still, it doesn't hurt to know that you'll be able to do your work without issue. Hosts do on occasion include the wifi speed in either the room's description or photos, but for those that don't, a slow connection will be one of the first things mentioned in previous guests' reviews.

How noisy is the room?

Something else that gets mentioned a lot in reviews is outside noise. As someone that used to live on a main road, opposite to a noisy pub, I have a very high tolerance for outside noise. Cars driving by all night don't affect me at all. I can be fairly confident that if other guests aren't mentioning noise in their reviews, then it's not going to be a problem for me.

If you're sensitive to outside noise you might want to put this much higher on your list.

Does the bed look comfortable?

I often wonder about the bed-making community; they seem to come up with some stupid designs. I don't care how hard or soft a mattress is, or how thick the duvet is or anything like that. I have two pet peeves when it comes to beds.

The first is when the bed has a bar or a lip that goes above the height of the mattress, at the foot end of the bed. I'm not that tall; only around six-foot, yet my feet often spill over the end of a bed. That's fine, unless they're blocked because some nobhead bed designer has built a board onto the end of it so actually I can't stretch-out properly.

The other is when double beds have two single mattresses. Whoever thought that was a good idea can fuck off. I think the logic is if two people are sharing the bed then each one can be comfortable on their own side.

If you want to be apart from each other that badly just get separate beds, or a divorce. As I invariably sleep alone then not being able to sleep in the middle of the bed just pisses me off.

This was the bed that I had in an Airbnb in Koukaki, Athens. Due to the genius design of the bed-frame, my feet couldn't stretch over the end because of that lip, and I absolutely hated it.

Is there a suitable workstation?

There's a reason this is at the bottom of my list - I just don't think it's very important. I don't use any equipment for working other than my laptop, so I can be perfectly happy working from my bed for eight hours with my laptop on my thighs. If I have a sofa or an armchair, that'll do too. If there's a desk or a dining table that I can setup at, then that's nice but I definitely don't consider having a workstation as essential.

I can work from almost anywhere; it's one of my superpowers. In bed, on a sofa, even standing. It can still be nice to have the space to setup a workstation though, like I did here in my Airbnb in Ho Chi Minh City.