4 ms·
AirBnb sells feelings of authenticity, but it comes across in an uncanny-valley sort of way. I did an AirBnB cooking class experience in the suburbs of Mexico C
by pradn 9y ago
AirBnb sells feelings of authenticity, but it comes across in an uncanny-valley sort of way. I did an AirBnB cooking class experience in the suburbs of Mexico City. It was really fun, I got to meet a few great people, and it was in a lovely house. But how genuine are the host's laughs at my jokes when I'm paying him for the class? It doesn't feel real.
Staying at an AirBnB is a less homogenous than staying at the Hilton. There's a bit more risk involved (not necessarily safety, but cleanliness, noise, etc). Hotels, on the plus side, are run like businesses and feel more impersonal. It's more honest than an AirBnB experience in a way.
More to the point, I'm surprised the company keeps improving their product like this. It's not Dropbox or Yelp, which don't feel too different after 10 years.
- ghaff 9y agoI semi-regularly stay at Bed & Breakfasts when I travel. I've never booked through Airbnb but I observe that a fair number now list there. I expect this also fuels the perception that Airbnb is more expensive than it used to be. B&Bs (in the small inn sense) aren't typically all that inexpensive. It really depends what I'm looking for. With a lot of business travel in particular, I'm looking for a consistent experience with a 24 hour desk in a convenient location. For a weekend getaway I often look for something that's a bit more "local."
- pradn 9y agoAirBnB has also made it pretty easy to use their service for business travel. If you're under cap, you could possibly upgrade to a better plane seat. Personally, I prefer a cheap hotel and a good plane ride. A lot of the old-school business travel services like fax machines and gyms I don't ever use anyway.
- ghaff 9y agoI have pretty good status on my regular airline so I typically book directly. With hotels, I often go for "serviced apartments" and long-term stay oriented suite hotels. I want a staffed desk but other than that I really don't use full-service hotel features all that much. And the alternatives are often at least a bit cheaper and can have larger rooms.
- kaybe 9y agoI haven't been able to opt out of amenities that apparently AirBnB considers essential for business trips. I'm a scientist - I don't wear a suit and I don't need a hairdryer. Sadly this limits my choices of places down too much, so after looking at it once I changed back to the normal view.