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Given that there don't seem to be any major harms caused by the lack of safety regulation and amenities on AirBnB, it seems like we can conclude that the hotel
by yummyfajitas 10y ago
Given that there don't seem to be any major harms caused by the lack of safety regulation and amenities on AirBnB, it seems like we can conclude that the hotel regulations are unnecessary.
Surely, as people who favor good governance rather than just arbitrary governance, we can all favor eliminating those costly and pointless regulations now? Or do we just favor arbitrary regulations just because we like regulations?
- paulpauper 10y agoagree. Also the media tends to sensationalize anything bad that involves AirBNB and also Uber, but ignores problems that occur with hotels and taxis.
- brainfire 10y agoWhy are you so confident there hasn't been any harm?
- yummyfajitas 10y agoMainly because the critics seem unable to cite anything beyond "I saw strangers coming out of my neighbor's bedroom" and occasionally "some strangers were making noise in my neighbor's bedroom".
- Spooky23 10y agoThat's right... nobody gets raped in airbnb rooms (http://www.airbnbhell.com/i-was-gang-raped-in-budapest-and-airbnb-ignored-me-then-insulted-me/ http://www.airbnbhell.com/i-was-gang-raped-in-budapest-and-a...), or watched by creepy host (http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/this-is-terrifying-your-airbnb-host-can-legally-film-you-216361 http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/this-is-terrifying-your-airb...), or bait and switched (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8063313 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8063313), of firetraps (http://www.dailydot.com/via/things-i-learned-airbnb-caught-fire/ http://www.dailydot.com/via/things-i-learned-airbnb-caught-f...). The regulatory model around hotels is good governance.
- someguydave 10y agoIt is probably true that hotels are somewhat safer than rando's apartments. Is the increased safety of hotels worth their cost in terms of barriers to entry in the short-term leasing market?
- Sacho 10y agoEhh...you'd need to prove that the regulations on hotels reduce the amount of these incidents, and then also make an argument that reducing these incidents is worth the amount of regulation. Anecdotes don't cover 1) (unless you want me to show counter-anecdotes of people being raped in hotels, etc..), but let's assume you've provided statistical information that hotel regulations provide a 50% decrease in such incidents. You still haven't articulated why you think the regulations are worth the extra safety. As a counter-argument, here's a reductio ad absurdum - it would make hotels even safer if they installed cameras in each room and hired enough security to monitor all video feeds.
- Spooky23 10y agoYour ignorance doesn't put a burden on me. Spend 15 minutes to do some googling. Fire safety is the most obvious example. A modern hotel is engineered to slow down the spread of fire and preserve life. Sprinklers, fire resistant doors and walls, etc. Airbnb is an awesome thing when it does what it initially did -- handle house rentals. When that business model failed to provide growth, they pivoted to the current model where they've become the eBay of real estate by turning a blind eye to obvious fraud and abuse.
- yummyfajitas 10y agoI'm confused, why do short term rentals require a higher level of fire safety than long term ones? Is a long term renter burning to death acceptable for some reason?
- Spooky23 10y agoYour home is your castle and you cannot force someone to fix their house, absent a modification. If you legally convert your property to a hotel, that use change triggers a need to become code compliant. Also, accidents are more likely to happen with short term rentals. People tend to take care of their stuff better than someone else's.