4 ms·

I went back to booking actual hotels or classic bnb's and will never look back, airbnb was cute while it lasted I guess but good riddance!

rdtsc 4y ago
I had never actually tried Airbnb after reading about all the issues people have been having. When I take time off work and go on vacation, the last thing I'd want to do is leave it up to some random person in a strange city to screw us over, get stranded with all the luggage, and then having to fight with Airbnb customer support. I'll pay more for a basic hotel room to get predictability.
- browningstreet 4y ago
  One of the big things hotels could do tomorrow to disrupt Airbnbs is to put laundry equipment in rooms. The last time I went to NYC and LA for a week, doing laundry was a non trivial aspect of my trips. I spent 3 weeks in Europe this summer, in Airbnbs, and being able to pack less because we could do our own laundry without using external services was a vacation game changer. Non of the residential style hotels I use in the Bay Area make laundry easier in any way at all. It seems like a huge miss.
  - esalman 4y ago
    Many hotels do not even offer a microwave (ex. in NOLA). Laundry machines are too much to ask. I never used laundry in a hotel, until the last time. It was almost trivial, in the 3-star hotel in Dallas, the laundry room was easy to find, the front office had detergent ready for $2 or something, and actual washing+drying cost another $2. I know some people take issues with using public laundry machines, but then Airbnbs' are technically public machines too. So I don't really see them as a game-changer.
    - rdtsc 4y ago
      Some hotels do have them but they don't advertise it. It might be just one small room on a particular floor.
    - mud_dauber 4y ago
      I’ve always used hotel laundry machines & as a general rule, have always been able to find them. Dead simple for me.
  - Gigachad 4y ago
    I think this is becoming more of a thing. It seems like the modern developments are built as both hotels and apartments where every unit could realistically be used for either purpose. And it seems like the idea is that if the hotel doesn’t need so many units, they can sell them off.
chrismeller 4y ago
I would never use Airbnb for a vacation, but if you’re staying anywhere for more than a week it gets cost prohibitive and really boring to stay at a hotel. I get so sick of eating out every damn meal…
- stemlord 4y ago
  Nice to have a kitchen but the costs of letting Airbnb's business model thrive far outweigh such benefits to me. The "authenticity" of a good airbnb is still quote unquote authentic, it's a branded commodity once a real home but not while I enable the fragmentation of the neighborhood I'm larping as a resident of
nickjj 4y ago
About 6 years ago I took a trip to Boston and decided to stay just outside of the main city in Everett. I picked a single room place with a private bathroom. It was $37 per night with an all-in cost of $188 for 4 nights which included $20 "cleaning fees"[0] and $20 "Airbnb service fee". It was an overall success, the room was very comfortable and the hosts were nice. Hotels were over triple the price at the time and 7x the price to get one in the main city area of Boston. I just checked the rates today and it's about $105 per night for an Airbnb in Everett and I'm guessing fees will be higher. For the same trip it would likely be $500. Hotels in the main city area of Boston are about $200 a night, that would have saved a ~30min bus ride each way making it much more desirable because a ~30 bus ride really means at least 45 minutes each way to make sure you're on time. I only picked Everett because even in 2016 hotel prices were ~$200 a night in Boston itself. Prices changed a lot but I'm 99% sure I'd pick a hotel too at these price points. [0]: This was an imposed fee by Airbnb. The hosts said I left the place in very neat order, basically all I did was sleep there.

rdtsc 4y ago

I had never actually tried Airbnb after reading about all the issues people have been having. When I take time off work and go on vacation, the last thing I'd want to do is leave it up to some random person in a strange city to screw us over, get stranded with all the luggage, and then having to fight with Airbnb customer support. I'll pay more for a basic hotel room to get predictability.

browningstreet 4y ago
One of the big things hotels could do tomorrow to disrupt Airbnbs is to put laundry equipment in rooms. The last time I went to NYC and LA for a week, doing laundry was a non trivial aspect of my trips. I spent 3 weeks in Europe this summer, in Airbnbs, and being able to pack less because we could do our own laundry without using external services was a vacation game changer. Non of the residential style hotels I use in the Bay Area make laundry easier in any way at all. It seems like a huge miss.
- esalman 4y ago
  Many hotels do not even offer a microwave (ex. in NOLA). Laundry machines are too much to ask. I never used laundry in a hotel, until the last time. It was almost trivial, in the 3-star hotel in Dallas, the laundry room was easy to find, the front office had detergent ready for $2 or something, and actual washing+drying cost another $2. I know some people take issues with using public laundry machines, but then Airbnbs' are technically public machines too. So I don't really see them as a game-changer.
  - rdtsc 4y ago
    Some hotels do have them but they don't advertise it. It might be just one small room on a particular floor.
  - mud_dauber 4y ago
    I’ve always used hotel laundry machines & as a general rule, have always been able to find them. Dead simple for me.
- Gigachad 4y ago
  I think this is becoming more of a thing. It seems like the modern developments are built as both hotels and apartments where every unit could realistically be used for either purpose. And it seems like the idea is that if the hotel doesn’t need so many units, they can sell them off.

chrismeller 4y ago

I would never use Airbnb for a vacation, but if you’re staying anywhere for more than a week it gets cost prohibitive and really boring to stay at a hotel. I get so sick of eating out every damn meal…

stemlord 4y ago
Nice to have a kitchen but the costs of letting Airbnb's business model thrive far outweigh such benefits to me. The "authenticity" of a good airbnb is still quote unquote authentic, it's a branded commodity once a real home but not while I enable the fragmentation of the neighborhood I'm larping as a resident of

nickjj 4y ago

About 6 years ago I took a trip to Boston and decided to stay just outside of the main city in Everett. I picked a single room place with a private bathroom. It was $37 per night with an all-in cost of $188 for 4 nights which included $20 "cleaning fees"[0] and $20 "Airbnb service fee". It was an overall success, the room was very comfortable and the hosts were nice. Hotels were over triple the price at the time and 7x the price to get one in the main city area of Boston. I just checked the rates today and it's about $105 per night for an Airbnb in Everett and I'm guessing fees will be higher. For the same trip it would likely be $500. Hotels in the main city area of Boston are about $200 a night, that would have saved a ~30min bus ride each way making it much more desirable because a ~30 bus ride really means at least 45 minutes each way to make sure you're on time. I only picked Everett because even in 2016 hotel prices were ~$200 a night in Boston itself. Prices changed a lot but I'm 99% sure I'd pick a hotel too at these price points. [0]: This was an imposed fee by Airbnb. The hosts said I left the place in very neat order, basically all I did was sleep there.