Something New: Lodging via Air BnB

Where has September gone?   

The Labor Day holiday, nine days of work and then a four day trip to Wisconsin and suddenly, I'm here, on the 19th day of September.    Today is also my thirteen year anniversary with my company.    I've been at five different locations in three different states with about ten promotions and different job titles.   We went out for "anniversary coffee" at Starbucks this morning.   I stayed firm in my resolution to not have pumpkin spice anything until the first day of fall (Saturday for those playing along at home).   

Snowmass has views like this...from the grocery store

Anyway....back to the end of August where I did something new again.    Back in February my sister and I bought tickets to the Jazz Aspen Snowmass festival over Labor Day.    Grace Potter, Jason Mraz, Little Big Town, Keith Urban and Journey over three days?  In the mountains?  Yes please.    Every few weeks we would say to each other, "we need to figure out where to stay."   Ideally in Snowmass Village so that we could walk or take a local shuttle bus to the concert.  

Keith Urban rocked in the pouring rain

I kept tabs on a variety of different hotel and lodging websites but didn't want to spend $500 for a holiday weekend (this goes against the grain since I often stay for free or discounted rates with my employee benefits).    I had read about Air BnB in different travel articles, but I'd never looked at their site.    

Air BnB allows people to rent out a room or their entire house/condo so that travelers can have a more local experience.   It's also a way to support individuals and the local economy and you'll probably be staying in an actual neighborhood where people live rather than a tourist or hotel district.    There are a lot of FAQs on their site if you're wondering how it all works.   

Lo, and behold, there was an apartment available for a very affordable rate right in the village.    Nothing fancy, but all we needed was a place to park, sleep and to drink coffee.  The host and I communicated through email and text message.    Because of our schedule we didn't end up meeting in person, but she had all the details nailed down and even contacted me at the last minute when roads were closed unexpectedly and provided new directions.  The apartment ended up being a five minute walk to the concert venue.   PERFECT!   

This also happened  

Have you had success renting rooms / homes online when you travel?    
What was your best experience?