We have had many wonderful experiences staying at Airbnb’s across the world. Each experience has been a bit different depending on the location.

We have several booked for our time in Portugal, but the one booked outside Lamego, is about the most unique stay we have had at a property.

This area doesn’t offer a lot of hotel possibilities so when we saw the listing for Quinta de Reciao that stated “old mill house”, we were intrigued. We were about 2.5 miles from town and were told we would have access to the whole farm.

Once we rounded the corner, we knew we were going to love the location. The views were amazing and the mill house was perfect. It has all of the comforts of home and all of the fresh fruit we could pick.

We also walked around the many acres of grapes on the farm. Lots of work happening at this time of the year to get the citrus, grapes, pears, apples ready for a Spring bloom.

So how do I pick a place?

When picking an Airbnb location, we always select an independent unit. At this stage in life, we don’t want to share a room in someone’s house (or a bathroom). We want a place all to ourselves (and generally one with a washer and dryer for our longer stays). We have stayed from one to 30 nights.

Read the reviews and then read them again. We never go with a location with just a few reviews. We prefer a superhost with lots and lots of reviews. If we have questions, we drop the host a note before we book.

Another thing we look for is independent housing hosts. We are experienced travelers and we prefer someone who sends us a code to unlock the door. We don’t need our hands held and I don’t want to spend my travel time feeling like I have to be entertained.

When I have traveled single, I always look for location reviews from other single women. Safety is key and doing your homework helps resolve possible issues ahead of time.

So, if you haven’t booked an Airbnb before, give it a try. We are certainly glad that this is an option in our travels and it certainly can give you experiences other than a hotel room.