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To come at this from the opposite perspective: AirBnB's best-case "ideal" setup has always struck me as just "CouchSurfing[0] but monetised". While AirBnB has

To come at this from the opposite perspective: AirBnB's best-case "ideal" setup has always struck me as just "CouchSurfing[0] but monetised". While AirBnB has received a lot negative press for facilitating the letting of would-be residential property by large-scale professional landlords, the marketing from AirBnB's side has always favoured the "local guide, personal human experience" angle, an angle CouchSurfing has always tried to cover non-commercially. So in my mind it's a comprehensively bankrupt proposition from either side of the spectrum. It's worse than a hotel (no service), worse than traditional self-catering tourist apartments (more expensive), worse than a long-term let (a LOT more expensive) and infinitely worse than the social, warm-fuzzy personal experience of CouchSurfing (free). [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CouchSurfing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CouchSurfing

bendauphinee 6y ago
Having used it extensively for travelling to places for concerts and festivals, it’s a massive advantage to be able to shop for places that can accommodate 3-8 people for several days at a time. I don’t want a couch, I want a whole home that our group can share, and for less than the surge price that a hotel will slap on for a single room, we can fit our needs well.
- lucideer 6y ago
  From my original comment: > worse than traditional self-catering tourist apartments (more expensive) ...is I think what I would consider your use-case to fall under. No? This isn't something that didn't exist before AirBnB...
737maxtw 6y ago
> While AirBnB has received a lot negative press for facilitating the letting of would-be residential property by large-scale professional landlords, the marketing from AirBnB's side has always favoured the "local guide, personal human experience" angle, an angle CouchSurfing has always tried to cover non-commercially. Call me cynical, but "Advertise your product for a use that your core moneymaking market doesn't do" would be a good dark pattern to avoid scrutiny/regulation.
mnky9800n 6y ago
Couch surfing.com is basically dead these days because they've had to collect money to stay afloat. But tbh, I felt like there were a lot of pervy guys on there based on how every girl I met had some story of a guy thinking a free couch meant that she should fuck him in exchange. And couch surfing.com basically had no way to filter that.

bendauphinee 6y ago

Having used it extensively for travelling to places for concerts and festivals, it’s a massive advantage to be able to shop for places that can accommodate 3-8 people for several days at a time. I don’t want a couch, I want a whole home that our group can share, and for less than the surge price that a hotel will slap on for a single room, we can fit our needs well.

lucideer 6y ago
From my original comment: > worse than traditional self-catering tourist apartments (more expensive) ...is I think what I would consider your use-case to fall under. No? This isn't something that didn't exist before AirBnB...

737maxtw 6y ago

> While AirBnB has received a lot negative press for facilitating the letting of would-be residential property by large-scale professional landlords, the marketing from AirBnB's side has always favoured the "local guide, personal human experience" angle, an angle CouchSurfing has always tried to cover non-commercially. Call me cynical, but "Advertise your product for a use that your core moneymaking market doesn't do" would be a good dark pattern to avoid scrutiny/regulation.

mnky9800n 6y ago

Couch surfing.com is basically dead these days because they've had to collect money to stay afloat. But tbh, I felt like there were a lot of pervy guys on there based on how every girl I met had some story of a guy thinking a free couch meant that she should fuck him in exchange. And couch surfing.com basically had no way to filter that.