Couch Surfing or Warm Showers?

[jefftala]

Does anyone have experience with CouchSurfing.org or WarmShowers.org?

For the uninitiated, these are sites where you find people who offer their homes for you to stay at during your travels.

CouchSurfing is more of a general traveller site, while WarmShowers is specifically for cyclists.

My initial reaction was no way, this is shady... but the more profiles I look at, the more legit it seems.

Will I end up chopped up in dumpster?

 

[andym]

Or in a skip?

 

[Fab Foodie]

Former IT guy at our place was made redundant in his early 50's I guess and eb]nded-up contracting for IBM all over Europe, he uses Couchsurfing and he said he's stayed in some great places, currently with a family in Montpelier, joined a local choir and is really enjoying the 'family' he is lodging with.

I think it's a great concept.

 

[HelenD123]

Loads of people on Crazyguyonabike seem to use Warmshowers and meet some great people. I guess there's a chance the less good encounters don't get reported but the overall impression is very positive.

I also met a girl who went Couchsurfing all over Europe with a friend as her summer holiday.

 

[xilios]

Member of Warmshowers here for about a year and have hosted 3 couples last summer, from Germany, one night, from NZ, 2 nights and from Canada one night.
I had made dinner and we had a great time talking about our experiances over drinks.
At first I was worried about having strangers in the house but I had arranged to meet them first (I do not post my address). We think 2 max. 3 nights is OK, don't know about having people staying longer.
We thought about Couchsurfing but chose Warmshowers because it's more for cyclists (just feels safer I guess). We haven't stayed anywhere ourselves yet, we might try it out on our upcoming tour.
Bottom line is we had a great experiance and think the whole idea is great.

 

[jay clock]

I stayed with four lots of WS people in NZ. Simply fantastic. The general vibe is "give us all your dirty kit and we'll wash it while you have a shower, here's a massive meal, and here's a comfy place to sleep". I bought wine and small gifts which were appreciated. One of the couples came and stayed with us here for 2 nights when touring the UK, and we trusted them enough to leave them here for the second night as we were off on holiday. Lovely people all round.

 

[jay clock]

The only issue I had was colleagues who thought it was wife swapping for watersports enthusiasts...

 

[jefftala]

Interesting, thanks for the feedback everyone. I've taken a poll amongst random people I know and I haven't heard a negative experience yet.

I would think that negative experiences would be more widely reported?

 

[friedel]

We stayed with many Warmshowers hosts on our trip and a few Couchsurfing / Hospitality Club members too. They were all kind people and we didn't have any negative experiences. On one or two occasions, I recall that we didn't have a lot in common with the person, and that make conversation awkward.

We found Warmshowers better than Couchsurfing in the sense that Warmshowers hosts understand the cyclist a bit more. They know that if there's rain you might be a bit late, that when you arrive you're probably starving... that kind of thing.

 

[Amanda P]

Another vote for warm showers.

The site's owners look for some evidence that you are actually a cyclist before you can join (or they used to).