Shae, Truffles, and I stayed at a total of 65 different Airbnbs on our 7 year, 50 state road trip, spending 598 nights across those homes. Some stays were as short as one night, while a few we stayed at for a month or more.
A reader recently asked us what our favorite Airbnbs were, so I took a look back at all the properties we stayed in and have picked my top five. I was wondering whether Shae and I should do separate posts so she could pick her own favorites, but she took a look at my list and pretty much agreed with all of them, so really this is a joint list.
1) Terlingua, Texas
It’s kinda funny that this ended up being my favorite Airbnb because in many ways it was a fairly basic property.
It was an off-grid cabin in Terlingua which is a small town near Big Bend National Park. The cabin was – for the most part – a one room cabin featuring a bedroom area on one side…
…and a kitchen/living/work area on the other.
There was a second room off to the side, but that was an unfinished bathroom. It didn’t have a bath or shower, but there was a flushing toilet which we greatly appreciated. There was a solar shower available, plus we could use the heated showers at the somewhat nearby Terlingua Ranch for free.
Considering it was off-grid, the cabin had some surprising amenities. The Airbnb hosts owned their own solar power company, so the cabin had its own solar panels outside. That meant the cabin could power a mini-fridge, microwave and even an internet connection (which was slow, but far better than nothing at all). There was an overhead light we could use in the evenings, but they also provided some candles.
So, what made this my favorite Airbnb (and one of Shae’s favorites too)? It was all about the location. For example, this was the beautiful view out of the cabin.
What made the cabin truly spectacular though wasn’t the view in the day – it was the view at night. Terlingua is part of an expansive area of land that’s a designated International Dark Sky Park. That means there’s very little light pollution which ensures the nighttime sky is completely different to what you’ll experience nearly everywhere else in the US.
Our stay in that cabin was the first time that Shae and I had ever gotten to see the Milky Way with the naked eye, so we have special memories of our stay.
You can read even more about our stay here.
2) Kanab, Utah
My second favorite Airbnb stay was the one we stayed at in Kanab, UT. It was a ground level two bedroom, two bathroom apartment beneath the hosts’ main house. We booked this larger place because that was when my parents joined us on the road trip for a month to visit Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico.
It was a very spacious apartment, with a large open plan living room, dining room, and kitchen, with the kitchen being extremely well-equipped. The hosts were a delightful family who had all kinds of animals on site.
If you know Shae, you know that she loves animals, so she was in her element here. They had goats, bunnies, a dog, chickens, and even a hedgehog!
Staying in Kanab put us within driving distance of all kinds of places we wanted to visit, such as Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Antelope Canyon, Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, and more.
We shared more about all the animal activities in Kanab here too.
3) Louisville, Kentucky
Although it won’t make my top three favorite states when we eventually get around to ranking all 50 of them, Kentucky was one of my favorite states overall which I hadn’t expected. There was so much to see and do in the state and it had far more natural beauty than I would’ve given it credit for before our visit.
It’s actually an urban Airbnb in Kentucky that makes it to number three on this list though. We’d found a cool-looking Airbnb in NuLu which is a neighborhood on the east side of the city. The property had an open plan kitchen, living room, and bedroom with exposed brick walls. It felt like a loft apartment despite it being a single level building attached to a business.
The location was excellent too. NuLu is a very cool part of town with all kinds of restaurants and bars right there. While on a walk with Truffles one night, we also walked past Damaris Phillips from the Food Network. The apartment was only a 20-30 minute walk to downtown Louisville too, so we had a wonderful stay there.
4) Gray, Maine
This was another Airbnb that we stayed at with my parents, although that was a different month-long visit when they came to join us in New England in the fall.
This Airbnb was a house that contained three bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms, a large open plan living room/kitchen/dining room, a study, and much more.
When we arrived, waiting for us in the fridge was their own fresh goat cheese, goat milk, and chicken eggs. That’s because the hosts own Ten Apple Farm where they keep goats, sheep, pigs, chickens, and more. During the stay you can go on a goat hike, help collect eggs, milk goats, and more.
I didn’t end up doing the animal activities myself as I had to work, but Shae, my mum, and dad had a fantastic time. You can read more about that stay here.
5) Tok, Alaska
This top five list started with a slightly quirky Airbnb and it’s rounded out by the most quirky Airbnb we stayed at on the road trip.
Before we even set off on the road trip in 2018, Shae learned about the Sourtoe Cocktail, so we decided to do that when driving up to Alaska. When researching how to get there and where to stay along the way, Shae also discovered this wood stove cabin that was bookable on Airbnb. We made a note of it for when we’d eventually head up to Alaska, then booked it as soon as we could once we knew which date we’d be driving through.
Yes, it is indeed a wood stove which is based on the poem The Cremation of Sam McGee. Inside there’s a futon bed, a couple of seats, coffee maker, TV, DVDs, a small heater, and more.
The wood stove cabin is located at Alaskan Stoves Campground, so just a short walk from there were the campground bathrooms. The site also had a large campfire where you can make s’mores, each site at the campground – including ours – had its own grill outside, plus there was an outdoor kitchen area.
For only $45 per night it’s fantastic value, not just for the experience of sleeping in a wood stove cabin, but also because accommodation on the drive to Alaska can be very expensive. For our drive back down from Alaska, the wood stove cabin was booked up. We ended up booking a different Airbnb in Tok which was perfectly nice, but that one cost $135 for the night, hence why $45 was such superb value.
I wrote more about our stay here, so be sure to check that out if you’re interested in staying in Sam McGee’s Wood Stove Cabin yourself.
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