Tampa was month #6 after we made the bold decision to sell everything we owned and started living in Airbnb’s full time. Except for the converted airstream we stayed at in Austin in November, none of the places we stayed at before Tampa are nearly close to earn a mention on this section of our blog. However, this beautiful Airbnb in Tampa, lovingly known as ‘The Habana Bungalow’, definitely earned its spot here.
Estimated reading time: 16 minutes
Ready to learn about this cute Airbnb in Tampa? Let’s go!
Table of contents
- Ready to learn about this cute Airbnb in Tampa? Let’s go!
- How did we end up in an Airbnb in Tampa?
- Cost of living in a Tampa Airbnb and general details about the property
- Ready for a tour of the cutest Airbnb in Tampa? Let’s start with the outside!
- The backyard situation
- Tour of the inside of our home for the month in Tampa, Florida
- Guest bedroom and bathroom – Our Tampa Airbnb
- Kitchen and dining room area tour
- Main bedroom, on-suite bathroom and private patio
- Additional info
- Some minor negative aspects to disclosure about our Airbnb in Tampa
How did we end up in an Airbnb in Tampa?
Back in 2020, a few months after COVID-19 happened to the world, we decided to postpone to travel full time until it was safe to do so. We had been living in Chicago for a few years now and after finally coming to peace with the fact that our lives would be forever changed because of a world pandemic (just like everyone else’s), we couldn’t bare the thought of spending another Winter in Chicago. That’s what brought us to start living in Airbnb’s full time and rent an Airbnb in Tampa in March of 2021.
Cost of living in a Tampa Airbnb and general details about the property
We booked this beautiful Airbnb in Tampa for $117/night for 30 nights and it was worth every penny. Although, we did received a monthly discount for booking such a long stay. The Habana Bungalow is located in the historic Seminole Heights neighborhood in central Tampa, FL. The whole area has an up and coming vibe, which includes a lot of old, historic homes, new and remodeled ones, cool independent businesses and a lot of fun breweries and restaurants. We certainly appreciated and enjoyed the type of vibe here. Keep in mind though, that it’s not exactly walkable around here, so you will need a car or use Uber/Lyft to get around and explore most places.
Ready for a tour of the cutest Airbnb in Tampa? Let’s start with the outside!
The front of the house is adorable with plants everywhere and a very convenient table with two chairs for you to enjoy your coffee and say hi to the very friendly neighbors or anyone who drives by. Everyone will say hi! Make sure to say hi to the mailman too! He’s the nicest human ever!
The backyard situation
The backyard is shared with another Airbnb, but it’s super spacious and very well put together with well maintained plants and flowers and it’s surrounded by big, luscious trees that provide a lot of shaded areas. You can sit outside and listen to the birds chirp the whole day. It’s truly peaceful. This property also has a private patio where I sat every day and used as my office (more on that below).
We were very lucky to have shared the backyard with a really nice girl we are still in touch with. She had the cutest dogs ever! Pearl and Chuckie. We got to pet them pretty much every day and it was the best because we really love dogs but can’t have them because of our lifestyle, so this was quite the treat.
Tour of the inside of our home for the month in Tampa, Florida
The inside of our Airbnb in Tampa is carefully designed with vintage pieces, Cuban paintings, cigar boxes, and little details all over the property, which made it feel like a real home. They really did an amazing job at making this place chic and homey at the same time. There’s a small sitting area for reading right by the entrance (with some books included), a spacious living room with plenty of room to sit and hang out and big smart TV with access to Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, Apple TV, etc and access to one of the bedrooms with its bathroom, which you can also enter to from the kitchen.
Guest bedroom and bathroom – Our Tampa Airbnb
We only used the second bedroom for storage basically. G used the second closet as well as the bathroom. I think this bathroom was a lot nicer than the main one. Even though the house is perfectly comfortable for 4 people, it felt even more spacious for just the two of us. It was quite the treat since we both work from home, so the extra room is always appreciated.
Kitchen and dining room area tour
Right next to the living room it’s the dining room with 4 chairs. The kitchen has a spacious counter top and space to sit two extra people. Even though the kitchen is small, it’s very functional and it was one of the best equipped Airbnb kitchens we’ve ever experienced.
Often times they only provide a couple pots and pans and just the very basic things, but at The Habana Bungalow, they went above and beyond providing oven trays, extra pots and pans, plastic containers for left overs, foil, plastic wrap, storage & trash bags, and all those little things that you never realize how useful they are until you don’t have them! It was also nice to have a dishwasher and a big oven. (the door you see in the kitchen gives you access to the laundry room and we’ll share more details about at the end of this post).
Main bedroom, on-suite bathroom and private patio
Next to the dining room, you will find the main bedroom. Just a small bed with two nightstands and a closet, but still very well decorated and quite comfortable honestly. There’s also a bathroom and most importantly, access to a private sitting area that I used as my office for most of our stay. I would open the door that leads to the backyard and let our neighbor’s dogs in so they would keep me company while I worked. It was by far the best office I’ve had to this date.
Additional info
A huge plus about this property is that the windows actually opened! We never thought this could be considered a plus because we’ve always taken it for granted, but as we learned while living on the road, a lot of places don’t have working windows. Go figure.
The hosts are very nice people too and ready to offer really good recommendations of things to do and places to eat in the area. We would definitely go back to this Airbnb in Tampa! We loved it so much and were very sad when it was time to leave.
Leave your name & email below and we’ll let you know when we find another cool place to stay you should know about!
Some minor negative aspects to disclosure about our Airbnb in Tampa
On a final note, with the intention of being fully transparent, there were a couple of ‘less positive’ things about this place. It didn’t affect our stay at all and we still rated it 5 starts, but still, we are sharing in case these things are deal breakers for you:
- The comforters weren’t exactly great quality. Not bad, but I think they could have done better.
- Not all the pillows were firm enough for our taste.
- The property does have a washer/drier, but the hosts also have access to it through a door outside. It’s private, the door inside the bungalow has a lock and we never felt like we lost our privacy, but still feel like it’s worth mentioning. (even though, realistically, if you are only staying a few days and spending most of your time exploring Tampa, you won’t even notice).
- The backyard is shared with another Airbnb. We actually loved this because our neighbor had the cutest dogs ever and they would play with us every day.
- Couch wasn’t exactly super comfortable for lounging (as it is the reality with most Airbnb’s in our experience).
Well, that’s pretty much it! Despite those little things, we obviously still recommend you to stay in this Airbnb in Tampa if you are ever in the area. Here’s the direct link for more info.
Thanks so much for stopping by. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. We are here to help!
XO,
Aimara
