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Fantastic product, super concerned about AirBnB acquisition - not because of what they'll do to the product, but I guarantee their partnerships with hotels and

Fantastic product, super concerned about AirBnB acquisition - not because of what they'll do to the product, but I guarantee their partnerships with hotels and hotel groups will evaporate when contracts expire. A hotel working with Airbnb is like BlockBuster working with Netflix to share customer data. The hotels groups aren't as fucking stupid as Blockbuster was, though.

crushcrashcrush 8y ago
Another thought (should I have edited my original post?) - this may have been a pure Customer List & Historical Data acquisition play. They may have purchased HT fully knowing that they'll lose hotel partners at contract expiration... could be next year or in 2025.
- jjeaff 8y ago
  I mean, what kind of data could they really want? Lists of people who stay in hotels when they travel? Probably cheaper ways to get marketing lists like that. Their market is essentially anyone and everyone that travels. They probably want to put Airbnb listings as options on the hotels tonight app.
  - Scoundreller 8y ago
    Targeting. If you know someone goes to London every November, your targeting return just went up 100x.
    - kdot 8y ago
      The nature of HT is last minute spur of the moment bookings.
      - Scoundreller 8y ago
        I guess there are at least two categories: 1. Those that are in another city, knew they were going to be there, and didn’t book ahead (or just need an extra room?) 2. Those that live in a city and decide to get a hotel room tonight. I’m actually having a hard time figuring out who’s booking last minute (and why a site specializes in it) other than for parties (large groups or.... by the hour).
        hawaiianbrah 8y ago
        I’m like 50/50 with booking things in advance and not. Prices don’t seem to go up too much so sometimes I value the flexibility of not booking until needed.
princeofwands 8y ago
Also scary considering that if Airbnb does not like you, for whatever valid or invalid reason, you are not welcome in either local hosting or hotels worldwide. Given that Airbnb already declined hosting people they considered attending a lawful political rally (the "hateful nazi's of Charlottesville"), their increased reach concerns me.
- wbronitsky 8y ago
  I think you will find that most of the public will not be concerned with not serving Nazis, legal gathering or otherwise. This isn't a slippery slope; Nazis are evil and our society has, or at least had, drawn a line. EDIT: obviously I have offended the Nazis here. I'm not sorry, and you should not feel welcome. Anywhere. Ever.
  - gmanley 8y ago
    Either people agree with you or they're Nazis? Maybe you should rethink why you are getting downvotes. It may be more due to people thinking that companies acting as gate keepers or moral compasses can very much be a slippery slope and you simply saying it's not does not change that people think that.
    - wbronitsky 8y ago
      Downvotes simply silence a post. If someone doesn't agree, they can rebut, but that is not what a downvote is.
      - dc_gregory 8y ago
        In this case, its a slap on the wrist for a comment that doesn't positively contribute.
        wbronitsky 8y ago
        I fail to see how calling out that Nazis are unequivocally evil is not positively contributing when someone is trying to gain sympathy for being discriminated against for being a Nazi. I bet you would also say that it’s “not the time” to have these sorts of discussions. Too bad, I’m not going to be quiet about this. It’s deeply sad to me that this community is willing to quickly rally around Nazis and shame people who speak against them.
jimmy1 8y ago
> A hotel working with Airbnb is like BlockBuster working with Netflix to share customer data. The hotels groups aren't as fucking stupid as Blockbuster was, though. I don't feel like this analogy applies, however. You can make the argument that hotels are better than AirBnB. It depends on what you value. If you are business traveler (or heck maybe even not), you probably prefer a hotel because you know you are getting a consistent product and experience each time and there is more avenues for you to have your grievances resolved, and quickly -- i.e. "my room stinks I need a new one now" or if you even mention bed bugs the county health department will be there faster than you can post that AirBnB complaint. If you are a vacationer trying to stay in some obscure location and need somewhere to stay, you probably value AirBnB more.
- chadash 8y ago
  I think this misses the point of the analogy. Airbnb and netflix are both new competitors to hotels and blockbuster respectively, which are (or were) the entrenched players. Whether hotels are better or worse than apartment rentals doesn't matter. The point is that generally, companies don't want to share data with or help out their competition.
  - jimmy1 8y ago
    > Whether hotels are better or worse than apartment rentals doesn't matter It absolutely matters. Blockbuster in it's later years was not only entrenched, but also a bad experience. People were tired of being price gouged with late fees. Netflix was a better experience, even if you got your DVD a couple days later. > companies don't want to share data with or help out their competition. We share data with our competition all the time. It may help them, but it also helps us as well. You must decide if the business value it brings you is greater than the perceived data it brings them. Obviously you don't want to share market secrets, but sharing some logistical data doesn't seem too harmful. You aren't sharing the "secret sauce" Sometimes competitors make the best friends.
- repsilat 8y ago
  Really it's more like movie studios/rights-holders letting Netflix license their content. To me it's a bad move if - Airbnb are going to "create their own content" and try to kill the hotels eventually (very unlikely), or - Airbnb take too large a cut (possible).
throwaway-1283 8y ago
Completely disagree with this analogy. Hotels have their place, and in so many ways they can be superior to a home rental. I am the furthest thing from a luddite, but I personally prefer (as I know many others) hotels to Airbnb. There's a consistency to the hotel product that you can't get with Airbnb that I place a premium on, especially for short or last minute stays. I'm also not really sure why Airbnb is considered a "tech" co in the same way FB or Netflix is. There's is no real time component to the app, and it isn't dealing with billions of people using the app at the same time like a FB or Google is. In the few times I've used Airbnb over the years I'm honestly surprised by how little "tech" really permeates my experience (i.e. its just a basic web app that facilitates the listing + payment transfer + messaging...once I've made the reservation and paid Airbnb's job is essentially done).
- strychn9ne9 8y ago
  I think Airbnb shines with large groups. Me and 10 friends can split a house in the mountains or in some European city for a fraction of getting multiple rooms in a Hotel - with much less hassle. However, if I'm traveling by myself or with my partner, hotels still seem the way to go. Valet parking in a city centre with room service can make a stay much comfortable.
  - hrktb 8y ago
    At that size you can rent family hotels (or apart hotels, or vacance homes, whatever they call it). They can be a bit further from big city, meaning you’ll need cars, but for that tradeoff you’ll get decent service for cheaper than standard hotels. That’s what we do with relatives, as it’s much more kid friendly than any other solution.
  - rhlsthrm 8y ago
    Room service + daily cleanings + guaranteed TV in front of the bed is the best for vacations with my SO. Big group of friends = rent a huge house and have an awesome time. Your comment is spot on.
    - 8y ago
snark42 8y ago
> not because of what they'll do to the product, but I guarantee their partnerships with hotels and hotel groups will evaporate when contracts expire. I'm not sure. It may be harder to book future dates with HT after the contracts expire, but in my experience HT is most useful when AirBnB isn't (same day booking.) I'd imagine hotels probably like the last minute bookings. Also you can book at 1 or 2am when hotwire cuts you off at midnight and many other ways of booking stop working after about 10pm.
- kdot 8y ago
  No, this was my biggest gripe. You can't book a room at 2AM and expect to get it that same night.
  - Symbiote 8y ago
    If it's this late, is there much point in booking? I would just turn up. If it's possible it's going to be very busy, I might phone ahead first.
Gpetrium 8y ago
I don't think Airbnb (Netflix) marketplace necessarily covers for some of the benefits a set of clients look for in Hotels (BlockBuster). However, going along with your analogy, I think this move is 2 fold: data driven & marketplace synergy. I believe Airbnb is interested in the data it can get from a model business such as HotelTonight and to be able to cross-connect it to their own. I think their end-goal is to have Airbnb become a one stop shop for not only current users of AirBnB, but also hotel users. I believe a good portion of large hotels are aware that at some point they will need to tap into the Airbnb market and if that marketplace (Airbnb) manages to create an environment where both sides can live or directly compete with each other, everyone (winners mostly) will be happy with the outcome. The real tricky part is that synergy can be difficult to have and different players (hotel customers, airbnb customer, hotels, airbnb renters) may have different degrees of resistances to Airbnb plan. I think their main focus will be to create a B2B environment that will make big ticket customers (e.g. IBM) want to use their system to get either a rented place or a hotel room for their consultants and business travelers. Lots of money to be made in this area.
TheAdamist 8y ago
I'm worried about the 3rd party vendor thing, either way you look at it, if I want a hotel tonight bi do not want a Airbnb, or vice versa. I wish Amazon had an Amazon only setting, etc.

crushcrashcrush 8y ago

Another thought (should I have edited my original post?) - this may have been a pure Customer List & Historical Data acquisition play. They may have purchased HT fully knowing that they'll lose hotel partners at contract expiration... could be next year or in 2025.

jjeaff 8y ago
I mean, what kind of data could they really want? Lists of people who stay in hotels when they travel? Probably cheaper ways to get marketing lists like that. Their market is essentially anyone and everyone that travels. They probably want to put Airbnb listings as options on the hotels tonight app.
- Scoundreller 8y ago
  Targeting. If you know someone goes to London every November, your targeting return just went up 100x.
  - kdot 8y ago
    The nature of HT is last minute spur of the moment bookings.
    - Scoundreller 8y ago
      I guess there are at least two categories: 1. Those that are in another city, knew they were going to be there, and didn’t book ahead (or just need an extra room?) 2. Those that live in a city and decide to get a hotel room tonight. I’m actually having a hard time figuring out who’s booking last minute (and why a site specializes in it) other than for parties (large groups or.... by the hour).
      - hawaiianbrah 8y ago
        I’m like 50/50 with booking things in advance and not. Prices don’t seem to go up too much so sometimes I value the flexibility of not booking until needed.

princeofwands 8y ago

Also scary considering that if Airbnb does not like you, for whatever valid or invalid reason, you are not welcome in either local hosting or hotels worldwide. Given that Airbnb already declined hosting people they considered attending a lawful political rally (the "hateful nazi's of Charlottesville"), their increased reach concerns me.

wbronitsky 8y ago
I think you will find that most of the public will not be concerned with not serving Nazis, legal gathering or otherwise. This isn't a slippery slope; Nazis are evil and our society has, or at least had, drawn a line. EDIT: obviously I have offended the Nazis here. I'm not sorry, and you should not feel welcome. Anywhere. Ever.
- gmanley 8y ago
  Either people agree with you or they're Nazis? Maybe you should rethink why you are getting downvotes. It may be more due to people thinking that companies acting as gate keepers or moral compasses can very much be a slippery slope and you simply saying it's not does not change that people think that.
  - wbronitsky 8y ago
    Downvotes simply silence a post. If someone doesn't agree, they can rebut, but that is not what a downvote is.
    - dc_gregory 8y ago
      In this case, its a slap on the wrist for a comment that doesn't positively contribute.
      - wbronitsky 8y ago
        I fail to see how calling out that Nazis are unequivocally evil is not positively contributing when someone is trying to gain sympathy for being discriminated against for being a Nazi. I bet you would also say that it’s “not the time” to have these sorts of discussions. Too bad, I’m not going to be quiet about this. It’s deeply sad to me that this community is willing to quickly rally around Nazis and shame people who speak against them.

jimmy1 8y ago

> A hotel working with Airbnb is like BlockBuster working with Netflix to share customer data. The hotels groups aren't as fucking stupid as Blockbuster was, though. I don't feel like this analogy applies, however. You can make the argument that hotels are better than AirBnB. It depends on what you value. If you are business traveler (or heck maybe even not), you probably prefer a hotel because you know you are getting a consistent product and experience each time and there is more avenues for you to have your grievances resolved, and quickly -- i.e. "my room stinks I need a new one now" or if you even mention bed bugs the county health department will be there faster than you can post that AirBnB complaint. If you are a vacationer trying to stay in some obscure location and need somewhere to stay, you probably value AirBnB more.

chadash 8y ago
I think this misses the point of the analogy. Airbnb and netflix are both new competitors to hotels and blockbuster respectively, which are (or were) the entrenched players. Whether hotels are better or worse than apartment rentals doesn't matter. The point is that generally, companies don't want to share data with or help out their competition.
- jimmy1 8y ago
  > Whether hotels are better or worse than apartment rentals doesn't matter It absolutely matters. Blockbuster in it's later years was not only entrenched, but also a bad experience. People were tired of being price gouged with late fees. Netflix was a better experience, even if you got your DVD a couple days later. > companies don't want to share data with or help out their competition. We share data with our competition all the time. It may help them, but it also helps us as well. You must decide if the business value it brings you is greater than the perceived data it brings them. Obviously you don't want to share market secrets, but sharing some logistical data doesn't seem too harmful. You aren't sharing the "secret sauce" Sometimes competitors make the best friends.
repsilat 8y ago
Really it's more like movie studios/rights-holders letting Netflix license their content. To me it's a bad move if - Airbnb are going to "create their own content" and try to kill the hotels eventually (very unlikely), or - Airbnb take too large a cut (possible).

throwaway-1283 8y ago

Completely disagree with this analogy. Hotels have their place, and in so many ways they can be superior to a home rental. I am the furthest thing from a luddite, but I personally prefer (as I know many others) hotels to Airbnb. There's a consistency to the hotel product that you can't get with Airbnb that I place a premium on, especially for short or last minute stays. I'm also not really sure why Airbnb is considered a "tech" co in the same way FB or Netflix is. There's is no real time component to the app, and it isn't dealing with billions of people using the app at the same time like a FB or Google is. In the few times I've used Airbnb over the years I'm honestly surprised by how little "tech" really permeates my experience (i.e. its just a basic web app that facilitates the listing + payment transfer + messaging...once I've made the reservation and paid Airbnb's job is essentially done).

strychn9ne9 8y ago
I think Airbnb shines with large groups. Me and 10 friends can split a house in the mountains or in some European city for a fraction of getting multiple rooms in a Hotel - with much less hassle. However, if I'm traveling by myself or with my partner, hotels still seem the way to go. Valet parking in a city centre with room service can make a stay much comfortable.
- hrktb 8y ago
  At that size you can rent family hotels (or apart hotels, or vacance homes, whatever they call it). They can be a bit further from big city, meaning you’ll need cars, but for that tradeoff you’ll get decent service for cheaper than standard hotels. That’s what we do with relatives, as it’s much more kid friendly than any other solution.
- rhlsthrm 8y ago
  Room service + daily cleanings + guaranteed TV in front of the bed is the best for vacations with my SO. Big group of friends = rent a huge house and have an awesome time. Your comment is spot on.
  - 8y ago

snark42 8y ago

> not because of what they'll do to the product, but I guarantee their partnerships with hotels and hotel groups will evaporate when contracts expire. I'm not sure. It may be harder to book future dates with HT after the contracts expire, but in my experience HT is most useful when AirBnB isn't (same day booking.) I'd imagine hotels probably like the last minute bookings. Also you can book at 1 or 2am when hotwire cuts you off at midnight and many other ways of booking stop working after about 10pm.

kdot 8y ago
No, this was my biggest gripe. You can't book a room at 2AM and expect to get it that same night.
- Symbiote 8y ago
  If it's this late, is there much point in booking? I would just turn up. If it's possible it's going to be very busy, I might phone ahead first.

Gpetrium 8y ago

I don't think Airbnb (Netflix) marketplace necessarily covers for some of the benefits a set of clients look for in Hotels (BlockBuster). However, going along with your analogy, I think this move is 2 fold: data driven & marketplace synergy. I believe Airbnb is interested in the data it can get from a model business such as HotelTonight and to be able to cross-connect it to their own. I think their end-goal is to have Airbnb become a one stop shop for not only current users of AirBnB, but also hotel users. I believe a good portion of large hotels are aware that at some point they will need to tap into the Airbnb market and if that marketplace (Airbnb) manages to create an environment where both sides can live or directly compete with each other, everyone (winners mostly) will be happy with the outcome. The real tricky part is that synergy can be difficult to have and different players (hotel customers, airbnb customer, hotels, airbnb renters) may have different degrees of resistances to Airbnb plan. I think their main focus will be to create a B2B environment that will make big ticket customers (e.g. IBM) want to use their system to get either a rented place or a hotel room for their consultants and business travelers. Lots of money to be made in this area.

TheAdamist 8y ago

I'm worried about the 3rd party vendor thing, either way you look at it, if I want a hotel tonight bi do not want a Airbnb, or vice versa. I wish Amazon had an Amazon only setting, etc.