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Airbnb hosts defy lockdown laws with 'Covid-19 retreats'
- jfk13 7y agoAs usual, greed takes precedence over common sense and civic responsibility.
- fxtentacle 7y agoIsn't violating zoning laws for profit kind of the fundament upon which AirBnb was built? Last time I checked, there were still many clearly touristic offerings in what should have been purely residential areas.
- giancarlostoro 7y agoI had a friend living out of AirBnB's for half a year due to laying low from an insane ex-girlfriend who stalked him virtually and physically and caused chaos around him. I could see how some people might be actually living via Airbnb and therefore entirely reliant on it given the circumstances.
- fxtentacle 7y agoHe's reliant on cheap flexible accommodation. I'd say pricey AirBnb apartments without any tenant protections are kind of the opposite. And one could reason that he only needed to book through AirBnb because all of the apartments were taken off the market by AirBnb hosts. That said, I have also rented from AirBnb for 1+ months on a few occasions. But I chose to do so mostly because I couldn't find regular apartments in that city. Still, I have met a few hosts who truly acted like I'm staying with them, not renting a service from them. But that was a long time ago when AirBnb was still new and a niche thing that early adopters were playing with for fun, rather than money.
- catalogia 7y agoIf somebody wants to keep a low profile, they don't need Airbnb to do it. It's not too hard to find sublets/roommates/spare-rooms/etc that will accept cash off the record.
- seemslegit 7y agoWhat's unsensible or civically irresponsible about moving yourself and your family to a more sparsely populated location or increasing interpersonal distance within your own household ?
- barbegal 7y agoI think the main reason is because rural areas have surplus housing stock but don't have similar surpluses in other resources such as supermarkets, internet connectivity, hospitals, pharmacies etc. One family has no impact but millions of people all moving from cities into the countryside will cause harm.
- JoeAltmaier 7y agoWell, unless you're going to live in a tent, there's not a lot of surplus housing out here in the country. Certainly not 1% what it would take to take in refugees from populous cities.
- lidHanteyk 7y agoIt's not sheltering in place, it's sheltering somewhere else. That's the entire difference. And since this is a group responsibility, that we as a society all must bear, it is civically irresponsible to not shelter in place.
- seemslegit 7y agoIf you treat this as an obidience exercise then maybe, but the goal is to reduce covid19 transmission - so by all means anyone who can move themselves to the country side and spend their days roaming alone or with people they live with anyway should be free to do so.
- cameronfraser 7y agoTraveling is literally one of the worst things you can do in trying to reduce transmission, especially with what we know about people being asymptomatic. These small towns would be otherwise shielded from the virus if it wasn't for people from large cities trying to escape there. They also don't have the infrastructure to support the influx of people.
- SkyBelow 7y agoPerchance this is related to a system where having wealth is rewarded far more than a reputation for common sense or civic responsibility? It seems like our society is wishful for behavior it refuses to incentivize.
- Deadsunrise 7y agoBut one Airbnb host told BBC News they had received no clear instructions from the platform to say they were not allowed to take reservations. Maybe the platform hasn't been in touch, but the government advice has been pretty clear and consistent about no non-essential journeys. Why on earth would they think a holiday retreat would be exempt from that?