Tiny, cottage-run units are still absolutely available! We run two guest units out of our home. We don't outsource cleaning so we keep the fees low. You will s

Tiny, cottage-run units are still absolutely available! We run two guest units out of our home. We don't outsource cleaning so we keep the fees low. You will still find price-conscious, economical units all over Airbnb if you care to look. But I suspect the author doesn't notice them because these are not the types of units the author themselves is looking for. If you are looking for luxury stays in tourist areas, yeah you are going to get a vacation-rental company. Probably the same ones that ran vacation homes in the times before Airbnb was a thing for a comparable price. I also like to remind people of the perspective. Hotels command a massive monopoly on new construction projects. A 150-unit building full of studio apartments built in an urban area would take a decade of zoning and community approval. But if you call it a hotel and charge exorbitant prices it can be approved and built in less than 180 days. So in a way Airbnb is an act of arbitrage between long and short-term occupancy markets.