Your Airbnb has Wi‑Fi. Can you work there?

I start with the desk and chair. Then I open the map.

Before I book somewhere, I ask the host for an internet speed test. Then I look at the space I'll be sitting in for work. I need room for my monitors and a proper chair. A kitchen island with a bar stool is a hard sell.

If you can do your work on a laptop alone, Godspeed, I guess. My job has me on that multiple-monitor life, so I have to account for it before I arrive.

The desk has to fit my workday.

I look for a full desk first. A dining table can work, depending on the setup, but I want to see the chair and how much room I have. Those tiny tables in studio apartments can leave me trying to fit my working life onto the corner of a meal.

I can put a pillow on a chair. I still need to be able to sit there.

Then I look outside.

I use the map to see where I'd buy groceries and how far I'd be from the things I want to do. I'll also look through neighborhood discussions on Reddit. The question I keep coming back to is how many Ubers I'll need from that address to have a full life.

Sometimes I want to pay for a better location. Other times, being farther out is fine. I want to make that decision while I'm looking at the listing.

I check how the street connects to the roads around it, and which direction the apartment faces when I can find that out. Reviews can help me decide what to ask about the noise.

What I'd ask the host

I'd send something like this, changing it to fit the equipment I need:

I'll be working from the apartment during my stay. Could you send a current internet speed test taken at the desk, plus a photo that shows the whole desk and chair? Which way does that room face, and what noise do you hear there during the working day?

I've put that message together from the checks I make. I would change it for the particular stay and follow up on anything the answer or photos leave unclear.

I can still get it wrong.

Reviews help. So does studying the street. There are things I won't know until I arrive, though, and sometimes my best guess is wrong.

That's part of why I keep notes. The next rental gives me another chance to use them.