Lydia Swinscoe has booked 76 Airbnbs on her own since 2008, from a homestay in Bangkok with a legendary breakfast to a compact flat in a crumbling Tbilisi mansion. Some of those hosts became friends; others left her checking out early over cleanliness or safety worries. Her hard-won advice, published via The Independent Travel, is aimed squarely at solo travellers — especially women — who want a home base that feels secure without blowing the budget.
Safety is the thread running through most of her tips. She skips ground-floor apartments in cities, preferring flats above street level with fewer entry points — a lesson reinforced by a Dominican Republic home whose windows wouldn't lock. She also advises messaging hosts before booking to confirm there's an inner bolt alongside the common digital keypad entry, and she treats shared homes with caution: after one unsettling experience with a male host, she now vets carefully, favouring long-standing hosts with thorough reviews, including reviews left by other Airbnb hosts who've stayed there as guests.
Money matters are addressed too. Because solo travellers carry the whole accommodation cost, she travels off-season and midweek — think Madrid in August, when holidaymakers head to the coast and rates drop. Long stays are another lever: she asks hosts directly for discounts when booking a month and has scored up to 30% off plus waived cleaning fees, particularly in less-visited cities like Timisoara in Romania or Lodz in Poland rather than Paris or Rome.
There are a few softer signals worth scanning for in listings. A host who curates an on-site guidebook clearly cares about the area and usually stocks the flat well. Photos showing books, surf gear, art or other personal touches can hint that the host shares your interests — and that you'll get genuinely useful local recommendations. A kitchen or kitchenette earns top marks in her book, a practical hedge for places like Quito's old town, which empties after dark and leaves you wanting to cook at home rather than venture out.
Her shortlist of favourite solo-friendly Airbnbs spans the globe: Old Tbilisian Solo in Georgia's Sololaki district (from £77 a night), the Piotrkowska Apartment in Lodz (from £51), a mid-century home in Bangkok Yai (from £52), The Hollow in Colombo (from £56) and the tiny but charming Lordi 6 in Naples' Vomero quarter (from £123).
Why does this matter? Solo travellers don't get to split the bill, and an unsafe or disappointing rental hits harder when there's no one else around. These are filters you can apply in ten minutes of scrolling: check floor level, look for a bolt, read reviews for mentions of solo safety, favour superhosts over unreviewed new listings, and time your trip for the shoulder season. Airbnb's own standing has shifted since 2008 — the author herself notes the housing-pressure debate and uses the platform less — but a well-chosen rental can still put you in a local neighbourhood with a host's insider tips, which hotels rarely match.
