During our three months of working and traveling in the Balkans (Serbia, Croatia, and Turkey), we stayed in several different Airbnb rentals. I thought it would be helpful to share our advice and experience with others wondering where to stay.
Our Search Criteria
First, I wanted to share the filter criteria we used when searching and narrowing down places to stay:
- Wi-Fi
- This was a no-brainer since we needed to work.
- Air conditioning
- We weren’t sure how hot things would be there and I’m in a “new season” so can get a little warm sometimes. 😊
- Kitchen
- We cooked a lot of our own meals to save money.
- Entire Place
- We needed the privacy since we planned to work.
- Nightly price range – $10-$50
- We found prices to be rather affordable in the Balkans and would extrapolate the nightly rate to 30 days so we could compare that to the rent we used to pay in the US. Ideally, we didn’t want to pay more than we did in rent. This didn’t always work for us but we tried.
- Superhost
- We preferred experienced hosts as they can often help you with things locally, especially for foreigners.
- Washer
- If we were staying more than a few days, we wanted to do some laundry. Side note: we quickly realized requesting a dryer REALLY limited your options and was unnecessary since everyone dries their clothes on the line or on a drying rack.
- Dedicated workspace
- This was very critical as we needed to work.
- Host language – English
- We wanted to minimize any language barriers.
Reviews
With respect to reviews, we focused on apartments with at least twenty or so reviews and a rating of at least 4.5 stars. We would, however, consider apartments with fewer ratings as long as the host was a Superhost. The logic with that was perhaps the host bought a new property, etc.
Within the written reviews, we looked for some specific things like:
- Distances to places like grocery stores, restaurants, cafes, beaches, bus stations, etc. We also looked this information up on Google maps and the Airbnb map too.
- Helpful, responsive, and easily accessible hosts
- Any issues related to Wi-Fi service or things like hot water issues, air conditioning, leaky pipes, terrible smells, noisy locations, etc.
- Recommendations for things near the apartment
Pictures
The pictures were also really helpful. The listings were mostly accurate. If there was something in particular we saw in a picture that we made us choose that place and we would be really upset if it wasn’t there, we would reach out to the hosts to confirm before booking it.
- Getting a vibe of the place
- Understanding how we could both work by checking out the number, comfort, and sizes of the chairs and tables or desks.
- Wanting either queen or king-sized beds with an air conditioner in the room (since central air is usually non-existent)
- Wanting a relatively new water heater in the bathroom. This was helpful to ensure comfortable showers.
- This is not a deal breaker but we preferred to have a balcony or outside patio area. I didn’t see this as a filter option so we just looked at pictures for this.
I think that sums up our general search criteria.
Seasonality
Another thing worth mentioning is seasonality. I believe Belgrade and Istanbul are very affordable year-round, there definitely is pricing seasonality in Croatia. The high tourist season in Croatia is in the months of June, July, and August so higher prices reflect that. Prices drop some during the shoulder season during May and Sept. The remaining months are low season so you can find a lot of good deals when traveling then. However, if you do travel there in the low season, be aware that many seasonal businesses will be closed.
Now onto what ACTUALLY happened… 😊
Here’s Our Actual Experience…
Belgrade, Serbia
Click here to see the apartment listing.
Duration of stay: 7 nights
Location: In the heart of Belgrade – one block from Republic Square
Total cost: $245 ($35/night)
Other notes: Click here to learn more about our week in Belgrade.
Overall review: Recommend
Split, Croatia
Click here to see the apartment listing.
Duration of stay: 3 nights
Location: Inside Diocletian’s Palace; near the North Gate
Our total cost: $310 ($103/night)
Other notes: This studio apartment was directly above a wonderful family-owned restaurant, Pizzeria Portas. We really enjoyed the food and the prices were more affordable especially compared to other restaurants inside the walls of Diocletian’s Palace.
Overall review: Recommend
Pula, Croatia
Click here to see the apartment listing.
Duration of stay: 6 nights
Location: A short walk to the Amphitheater and marina
Our total cost: $432 ($72/night)
Other notes: It was a great place but it didn’t occur to us from the listing that this apartment did not have a typical living room with a sofa, TV, etc. It totally worked for us but there was really only a kitchen with a dining table, a bedroom with a TV, a bathroom, and an outdoor patio.
Overall review: Recommend
Slatine, Croatia
Click here to see the apartment listing.
Duration of stay: 29 nights
Location: Slatine is a tiny beach town on the island of Ciovo which is between Split and Trogir.
Our total cost: $1680 ($58/night)
Other notes: This apartment is located only a few minutes’ walk to a pristine, pebble beach. We went to the beach for 2-3 hours every day while we were here and LOVED it! Also, the hosts were so lovely and brought us fresh fruit, freshly made pastries, and homemade rakija.
Overall review: Highly Recommend
Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia
Click here to see the apartment listing.
Duration of stay: 1 night
Location: Just outside Entrance 2 of the National Park
Our total cost: $43 ($43/night)
Other notes: We were here just one night but appreciated the really nice shower and big water heater in the bathroom. The self check-in was very convenient too.
Overall review: Recommend
Makarska, Croatia
Click here to see the apartment listing.
Duration of stay: 28 nights
Location: Conveniently located a short walk to the Spot shopping mall in one direction and a short walk to the Makarska Riviera in the other direction.
Our total cost: $872 ($31/night)
Other notes: The location of this apartment was great, the apartment was well-equipped and clean, and the host was very nice but we weren’t especially fond of the aggressive and loud dog next door. It is also right off a busy street and we found the motorbikes to be really loud during the night and early in the morning.
Overall review: Neutral
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Click here to see the apartment listing.
Duration of stay: 3 nights
Location: Inside the walls of Old Town; near the North Gate
Our total cost: $96 ($32/night)
Other notes: The location, host, and apartment were great for our short stay but we found the apartment to be very loud during the night and early morning with people walking through the street and other guests inside walking around above use.
Overall review: Neutral
Zagreb, Croatia
Click here to see the apartment listing.
Duration of stay: 4 nights
Location: in the heart of downtown – just a few blocks away from tons of stores, cafes and restaurants.
Our total cost: $204 ($51/night)
Other notes: This was a great stay and was probably the best equipped for two people working remotely. We also thought it had the best shower of all the places we stayed at as well.
Overall review: Recommend
Istanbul, Turkey
Click here to see the apartment listing.
Duration of stay: 7 nights
Location: Beyoglu neighborhood –one block off of Istiklal Street and a few blocks from Galata Tower
Our total cost: $336 ($48/night)
Other notes: This was a really nice and quiet location with many great restaurants and cafes nearby. The apartment was also great for two of us to work as it was equipped with a big dining room table and a separate desk.
Overall review: Recommend
Conclusion
I hope you found this article helpful as you are planning for your next trip to the Balkans.
Please let me know in the comments if you have any questions or there is criteria you would like me to include.
Thanks and take care!!