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The impact on housing prices is trivial compared to the ridiculous under-supply of hotels in most major cities. To the point where it has priced-out the abilit

The impact on housing prices is trivial compared to the ridiculous under-supply of hotels in most major cities. To the point where it has priced-out the ability of anyone under the upper-middle class from visiting most major cities as tourists. How is a middle class family supposed to pay $400/night to rent a room in NY? Being able to travel shouldn't be artificially priced at a point where hotels are a crushing expense; visiting NYC isn't just for the 1%. You're just playing along with the hotel cartel here.

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rexaliquid 10y ago
AirBnB is great when you can co-locate a household and a rental room. A permanent resident that rents their spare spacetime is an increase in efficiency. The problem is when landlords terminate leases to convert to full-time AirBnB properties. That isn't efficient, it's adding another hotel to the 'cartel'.
- davidw 10y ago
  The answer to that is to dump enough supply on to the market that it no longer becomes as profitable to do that.
JonFish85 10y ago
"hotel cartel here." I really don't think hotels are the ones truly at fault here. The way Airbnb competes on price is mostly due to not having to pay for things that hotels have to. The cities & states themselves are the ones who decide what sort of insurance hotels have to have, what sort of zoning rules apply, taxes to levy, rules that they have to follow. Taxes are very high on hotel stays, generally. And this is usually because it's easier for someone to raise "other people's" taxes rather than their own (e.g. tax the out-of-towners). People seem to claim things like how "hotels legislate a moat" all the time, but ultimately I really don't think it's the hotels, it's the town/city/state and the citizens thereof that have decided what they want to legislate. And that's inconvenient for a startup looking to "disrupt" things, but I find it quite scummy.
- yellow_postit 10y ago
  Maybe at some % of occupancy an AirBnB stops being spare space and becomes more hotel-like and needs to start collecting the same types of taxes, providing insurance, etc.
  - JonFish85 10y ago
    I'd be curious to see what % of Airbnb rentals are 100% occupied by the guests. I suspect that it's a majority of them, but I don't have any data to back that up with.
  - DMac87 10y ago
    Isn't this effectively what, e.g., San Francisco is doing - once you rent out for X days, you face more burdensome requirements?
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jessaustin 10y ago
There are lots of $400/night hotel rooms in NYC, but there are a fair number of $150/night rooms as well. Maybe that's not their published rate, but you can find them on Kayak or similar. Admittedly, $150/night isn't cheap, but it is NYC and you're going to have a better time than you will in certain remote locales where the only hotel suitable for occupancy is $100/night. (In such locations, find a campground, especially for a family trip.)
drumdance 10y ago
I visited Boston in April for a conference in Copley Square. I looked into AirBnB and was surprised to see that the prices were virtually the same as the hotel. I decided to stay in the hotel since it would be more convenient for the conference, plus it had a gym and a beautiful view.
Marazan 10y ago
It does not cost $400 dollars a night to rent a hotel room in New York. I just checked a perfectly decent hotel on Boradway I stayed at a few years ago, a week in August for $158.88 a night.
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dragonwriter 10y ago
> How is a middle class family supposed to pay $400/night to rent a room in NY? If you can afford to take your family to any of the major attractions people want to go to NY for, the additional cost of a NY hotel may be noticeable, but its not going to radically change the affordability of the trip.

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rexaliquid 10y ago

AirBnB is great when you can co-locate a household and a rental room. A permanent resident that rents their spare spacetime is an increase in efficiency. The problem is when landlords terminate leases to convert to full-time AirBnB properties. That isn't efficient, it's adding another hotel to the 'cartel'.

davidw 10y ago
The answer to that is to dump enough supply on to the market that it no longer becomes as profitable to do that.

JonFish85 10y ago

"hotel cartel here." I really don't think hotels are the ones truly at fault here. The way Airbnb competes on price is mostly due to not having to pay for things that hotels have to. The cities & states themselves are the ones who decide what sort of insurance hotels have to have, what sort of zoning rules apply, taxes to levy, rules that they have to follow. Taxes are very high on hotel stays, generally. And this is usually because it's easier for someone to raise "other people's" taxes rather than their own (e.g. tax the out-of-towners). People seem to claim things like how "hotels legislate a moat" all the time, but ultimately I really don't think it's the hotels, it's the town/city/state and the citizens thereof that have decided what they want to legislate. And that's inconvenient for a startup looking to "disrupt" things, but I find it quite scummy.

yellow_postit 10y ago
Maybe at some % of occupancy an AirBnB stops being spare space and becomes more hotel-like and needs to start collecting the same types of taxes, providing insurance, etc.
- JonFish85 10y ago
  I'd be curious to see what % of Airbnb rentals are 100% occupied by the guests. I suspect that it's a majority of them, but I don't have any data to back that up with.
- DMac87 10y ago
  Isn't this effectively what, e.g., San Francisco is doing - once you rent out for X days, you face more burdensome requirements?

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jessaustin 10y ago

There are lots of $400/night hotel rooms in NYC, but there are a fair number of $150/night rooms as well. Maybe that's not their published rate, but you can find them on Kayak or similar. Admittedly, $150/night isn't cheap, but it is NYC and you're going to have a better time than you will in certain remote locales where the only hotel suitable for occupancy is $100/night. (In such locations, find a campground, especially for a family trip.)

drumdance 10y ago

I visited Boston in April for a conference in Copley Square. I looked into AirBnB and was surprised to see that the prices were virtually the same as the hotel. I decided to stay in the hotel since it would be more convenient for the conference, plus it had a gym and a beautiful view.

Marazan 10y ago

It does not cost $400 dollars a night to rent a hotel room in New York. I just checked a perfectly decent hotel on Boradway I stayed at a few years ago, a week in August for $158.88 a night.

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dragonwriter 10y ago

> How is a middle class family supposed to pay $400/night to rent a room in NY? If you can afford to take your family to any of the major attractions people want to go to NY for, the additional cost of a NY hotel may be noticeable, but its not going to radically change the affordability of the trip.