Last year, Airbnb took its in-person Experiences—a mix of classes, cooking demonstrations, tours, and more—and brought them online via Zoom. When the Airbnb team pulled the new platform together in just two weeks, it wasn’t meant to be a long-term offering—but it’s turned out to be one of the best-reviewed products Airbnb has launched, according to the company. Yes, that means reviewers like it even better than its homes. “We’re no longer thinking that this is just a temporary product for the COVID era,” says Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. “We think this is a new form of education and entertainment, where you can not only travel without leaving your living room, but you can now do it in a really interactive way.”
Among the now-permanent options: You can have a virtual date night making pasta alongside home chefs in Florence, learn how to make movie-quality sound effects from a Foley artist in L.A., and get a high-intensity interval training workout in alongside an Olympic athlete. And now, on Airbnb’s site, you can filter Experiences by accessibility (including sign language hip-hop interpreting for Deaf and hard of hearing guests), family- or group-friendly options, and more.
That said, it isn’t easy to simply search on the site, so we’ve rounded up some of the Airbnb Experiences that we’d like to try ourselves to help you whittle down what to book. Divvied up by interest and ranging from $9 to $40, there’s something for everyone.
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Food and drinks
Enjoy a drag show with a side of sangria
Associate editor Megan Spurrell booked her family spots at Drag Taste’s virtual show to celebrate her twin sisters’ birthday late last year and loved every minute of it. She’s not the only one: Nearly 6,000 people have reviewed the sangria-making and lip syncing show that the expert Lisbon-based drag entertainers offer four times a day. “The hour-and-a-half [was] so interactive that [we] nearly forgot the screen between all of us,” Spurrell wrote of the experience. As a result of the drag brunch’s success, Pedro Pico and the Drag Taste crew have launched an online interactive drag musical, called Clockdown, which you can book a ticket to through Airbnb Experiences as well.ADVERTISEMENT
Book now: $42 per person, airbnb.com
Fall deeper in love with chocolate
Experience host Nick is the brains behind One One Cacao, a chocolate company based in Kingston, Jamaica, and will teach you pretty much everything you need to know about chocolate—including how to jazz up bars at home. From walking you through how he extracts pods from cacao plants for future chocolate bars to giving advice while you temper chocolate in your own kitchen, the former BBC correspondent will help you become even more of a chocolate snob. And you won’t need any fancy gadgets either—Nick says you can even use a Tupperware lid for a mold.
Book now: $15 per person, airbnb.com
Make your own pasta
Just watching the trailer for Luca and Lorenzo’s pasta-making class, hosted from their kitchen and garden on the outskirts of Florence, makes us hungry. The experience walks you through how to make, store, and cook three different types of pasta, as well as ravioli with butter and sage, which you’ll enjoy with the class. Along the way, you’ll keep the hosts apprised of how your own pasta is coming along, showing the class through Zoom. One previous guest actually took Luca and Lorenzo’s course in person—and said that the two-hour online version was just as fun. You will have to make a trip to the grocery store to stock up for this one, but it’ll be well worth it.
Book now: $36 per person, airbnb.com
Pour the perfect cup of coffee
More than 2,000 people have already taken Ricardo’s online experience, which provides you with the tools to make a perfect cup of coffee—and learn about the neuroscience behind our concepts of flavor, too. Based in Ricardo’s home in Mexico City, rather than its usual location in his Borola Café, the class prioritizes connection among guests while teaching those who join about the history of coffee and more. Ricardo is a judge for Mexico’s national coffee competitions, so he knows his stuff.
Book now: $9 per person, airbnb.com
Whip up three Indian dishes
Each week, Neha from Saffron Palate cooking school in New Delhi is teaching three different Indian dishes in her two-hour session. You can check her listing to see which menu items you’re most interested in learning or perfecting, but upcoming classes have butter chicken, matar paneer, and stuffed parathas on the lineup. Once you pick your dates, Neha will send you a full list of ingredients (enough to make a meal for two). She can adjust the menus to be vegetarian or vegan, and the breads can be made gluten-free.https://1e6cadc56c556cbfad9b07d8213e1ea9.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.htmlTrending Stories
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Book now: $37 per person, airbnb.com
Workouts
Perfect your dance moves
Since, for the most part, our exercise these days consists of taking a lap around the block, this bounce and twerk class in New Orleans could do us some good. Mixing Zydeco, second line, and New Orleans bounce dance moves, the class will have you sweating in no time. More than just learning the moves though (and there will be a performed routine at the end), you’ll learn about the distinct history of these Louisiana dance steps from Marissa Joseph, also known as Moe Joe. (Beyond workouts, her dance studio is popular for bachelorette parties and more.)
Book now: $20 per person, airbnb.com
My Favorite Airbnb Experience: A Sangria-Making Class with Lisbon’s Most Fabulous Drag Queens
Train with an Olympian
It may sound intimidating—especially after months without a gym—but seeing Olympic sprinter Mechelle Lewis Freeman cheering you on from her own home really puts it in perspective. Olympians—they’re just like us (at least for now). Streamed from Frisco, Texas, the session is part high-intensity interval training to get you moving in your living room, and part motivational goal setting to keep you moving toward your dreams—fitness or otherwise. Plus, all of the proceeds go to Mechelle’s non-profit TrackGirlz, which empowers women and girls through participation in track and field.
Book now: $25 per person, airbnb.com
Tango the night away
While you can’t necessarily go dancing these days, it doesn’t mean you can’t dance in your own home. Perfect for a date night, this course is hosted by Jorge and Ana, two Argentine tango dancers in Barcelona, and teaches the basic steps and fundamentals of tango dancing. You’ll need to make sure you have enough room to show your body head to toe in the video conference, so the professionals can adjust your form. Since the classes are small (capped at 10 people), you’ll get plenty of personalized attention.
Book now: $12, airbnb.com
Embrace your inner pop star
Whether you’ve been blasting BTS and Black Pink at home or delving deeper into Korean pop culture with Netflix’s Crash Landing on You, this hour-long class preps you to star in your own K-pop music video. The beginners dance class, taught by instructors based in Seoul, covers the basic dance moves that stars in the aforementioned mega-groups use on stage and in their music videos. Be sure to check the schedule in the Experience’s description to book a class tied to your favorite song, too.
Book now: $23 per person, airbnb.com
Soundscapes
Meditate with a Buddhist monk
Osaka–based monk Kuniatsu has hosted more than 4,000 Airbnb guests for his in-person guided meditations over the years and now—when we need the soothing effects of the practice most—he’s offering group sessions online. You’ll start with 20 minutes of chanting, followed by 10 minutes of breathing, and your session will close out with story time and answered questions about Buddhism, meditation, and more from Kuniatsu.
Book now: $14 per person, airbnb.com
Plan a jazzy date night
Under normal circumstances, the Hidden Jazz Club is a pop-up that’s found homes in cities like London, Tokyo, Barcelona, New York, and San Francisco. Now, it’s offering virtual jazz concerts with either London-based Theo Jackson and Cherise and New York-based Tahira Clayton and Addison Frei, covering icons like Nat King Cole, Chet Baker, Ella Fitzgerald, and Nina Simone. Many reviewers note that they’re repeat visitors, booking the Experience two or three times, making it a perfect option for a date night (or three).
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Join a tango concert
The tango is back, but this time you get to sit back and enjoy it. Hosts María and Kevin know how to put on a show; the Grammy-nominated tango singer and Californian harmonica player, respectively, walk you through the history of tango music in this experience, complete with a few live performances. Broadcast from their home in Buenos Aires’s most colorful neighborhood, La Boca, the duo calls their experience “part cocktail party, part history lesson, part live concert.” After watching the duo’s Tiny Desk concert from NPR, we’re sold.
Book now: $10, airbnb.com
Learn the art of Foley
There could not be a more different Airbnb experience to a guided meditation than a masterclass in Foley, those recorded sound effects you likely don’t even notice when you’re watching a movie. Host Adam will take you on a tour of his L.A. home recording studio, where he’s recorded sound effects that were included in Jumanji: The Next Level, The Good Doctor, Lost, Orange Is the New Black, and more. Then, you’ll get to try it out for yourself, crunching celery to mimic broken bones and creating sounds from a bag of chips. It’ll be loud, that’s for sure.
Book now: $36 per person, airbnb.com
The wild cards
Become a better plant parent
If you’re anything like the Condé Nast Traveler staff, you’ve acquired a few more green roommates during your time at home. Luckily, Instagram phenom, plant stylist, and author Hilton Carter has taken his talents to Airbnb Experiences, with a plant propagation class to keep your green thumb progressing. From his home in Baltimore, he’ll cover all sorts of house plants in the class—like fiddle leaf figs, monsteras, and cacti—and how to propagate them (basically taking a cutting from an existing plant, letting new roots grow in a cup of water, and then repotting your new plant). As previous guests have said, you’ll want to bring a notepad so you can create a full jungle at home after the class, to tide you over until you can visit a natural one.
Book now: $40 per person, airbnb.com
Follow a plague doctor in Prague
This Airbnb Experience is exactly what it says on the tin: guests watch a costumed plague doctor tour the streets of Prague’s old town by night, learning from tour guides who narrate and answer questions along the way about the realities of the pneumonic and bubonic plagues. More than 2,500 people have joined in, traveling virtually to Prague’s cobblestoned streets and iconic sites over the course of the 60-minute Experience.
Book now: $19 per person, airbnb.com
Source: cntraveler.com
