Amazon do it for every order. They promise you won't be billed until the item is dispatched, but it still goes missing from your bottom line the minute you press the buy button.
That I dont mind, because I have ordered and paid for a service. With AirBnB they pre-auth before the owner agrees or not to the booking and for several days afterwards. #barstewards
Yes that's wrong. They should only do it when the owner agrees to the booking. 
There are some great deals on there though. I got a 3 bedroom cottage in Norfolk for £67 for 2 nights last month! 
Fairs dos, but considering I have a healthy budget for a hotel which comes with daily cleaning, gym, sauna, et al I know which one I prefer 
If it goes long term I can always get an apartment.
It's right by the red light district, of course it comes with those ameneties

In all seriousness, that sounds a good place, and you're there to literally 'rest your head' you're not setting up home with a family there, when area/schools/crime becomes much for of an issue. Make a trip to Whitefriars for an Ale and there's a staggeringly beautiful bar that looks like the House of Lords inside, that does every quality drink under the sun, just behind the Cathedral. Also the Phoenix's Guinness tastes like toilet cleaner!
Three pubs across the road from our Uni building. Happy times.
