4 ms·

I find it sad how Airbnb has taken a market that worked (in many places) and re introduced all the problems that have been resolved through decades of regulatio

I find it sad how Airbnb has taken a market that worked (in many places) and re introduced all the problems that have been resolved through decades of regulations being put in place for hotels etc. Chances of finding a camera in a hotel room are near zero while at Airbnb you have no idea what kind of pervert the renter is. At this point prices for Airbnb have rissen so high why not get a hotel? It's like we don't learn at all from history or just like to forget so we can make an extra buck.

ilrwbwrkhv 3y ago
Most people these days get a hotel anyways. Also I only took a airbnb once in my life. Anybody who takes airbnbs regularly has for sure slept on somebody else's dried body fluids.
- matsemann 3y ago
  I'd wager the chance is higher in a hotel. Source: worked at a hotel.
- pas 3y ago
  Well, maybe. Hotels are big (so they definitely capture a big chunk of the tourists), but in big dense cities building hotels is a lot harder than spinning up apartments for booking/airbnb. And. I guess I'm not alone in preferring apartments. (And nowadays with lockboxes and WhatsApp-savvy rentors/lessors the lack of a reception desk is not a problem.)
mlrtime 3y ago
Sounds like an ad from the Hotel lobby. People should still be able to rent out their homes if they want.
al_borland 3y ago
This sounds like a lot of tech companies that look to shake up an old industry. They say they’re starting from first principles and try to reinvent every wheel. It usually ends up meaning pain for the customers as they rediscover why the old players in the industry do things the way they do them, and then act like they discovered something new.
npteljes 3y ago
I feel like this is a trend, and it comes in cycles. People do business directly, end up fucking each other over, regulation is desired. Such regulation is moat, it benefits larger players, so business concentrates. While this enables things like standards, it also becomes soulless and expensive, and people began to feel that business needs to be more direct. So, with technology, a new alternative is unlocked, people deal with each other again, discover the same outcomes. A case of history repeating itself, well, at least if you look from far enough. Same happened with crypto, I feel, vs banks and stocks. The latter is regulated and saturated, and crypto is a wild west. So every scam is new again.
mancerayder 3y ago
>find it sad how Airbnb has taken a market that worked Houses and apartments come with kitchens and back yards and balconies. Even in 2024, hotel rooms are miniscule and that stupid fridge is, at worst filled with 20 dollar boxes of cookies and liquor samples, and at best too small to fit a large bottle of water in. I've grown to dislike Airbnb as a customer, but what you said is one-sided, and dismisses the disruption of the hotel model in a digital nomad age.
- ghaff 3y ago
  Houses and apartments come with a very mixed bag of amenities. You can research to a certain degree but... I've actually be thinking about Airbnb for a fairly extended stay at one point. On the one hand, it seems like the right solution. On the other hand, it's a big commitment for essentially an unknown quantity.
  - mancerayder 3y ago
    It doesn't help that the reviews are edited and removed when negative.
- chgs 3y ago
  I was amazed at the type of motel I stayed in back in 2008 when I went to Canada. Kitchens and balconies or decks. Pretty much unknown in the U.K. Of course I’d had plenty of experience of self catered accommodation on holiday - sometimes purpose built but mostly normal cottages that were simply rented out. Airbnb and similar systems just reduced the friction of finding and transacting self catered accommodation, and the increasing trend for city breaks delivered a growing market.

ilrwbwrkhv 3y ago

Most people these days get a hotel anyways. Also I only took a airbnb once in my life. Anybody who takes airbnbs regularly has for sure slept on somebody else's dried body fluids.

matsemann 3y ago
I'd wager the chance is higher in a hotel. Source: worked at a hotel.
pas 3y ago
Well, maybe. Hotels are big (so they definitely capture a big chunk of the tourists), but in big dense cities building hotels is a lot harder than spinning up apartments for booking/airbnb. And. I guess I'm not alone in preferring apartments. (And nowadays with lockboxes and WhatsApp-savvy rentors/lessors the lack of a reception desk is not a problem.)

mlrtime 3y ago

Sounds like an ad from the Hotel lobby. People should still be able to rent out their homes if they want.

al_borland 3y ago

This sounds like a lot of tech companies that look to shake up an old industry. They say they’re starting from first principles and try to reinvent every wheel. It usually ends up meaning pain for the customers as they rediscover why the old players in the industry do things the way they do them, and then act like they discovered something new.

npteljes 3y ago

I feel like this is a trend, and it comes in cycles. People do business directly, end up fucking each other over, regulation is desired. Such regulation is moat, it benefits larger players, so business concentrates. While this enables things like standards, it also becomes soulless and expensive, and people began to feel that business needs to be more direct. So, with technology, a new alternative is unlocked, people deal with each other again, discover the same outcomes. A case of history repeating itself, well, at least if you look from far enough. Same happened with crypto, I feel, vs banks and stocks. The latter is regulated and saturated, and crypto is a wild west. So every scam is new again.

mancerayder 3y ago

>find it sad how Airbnb has taken a market that worked Houses and apartments come with kitchens and back yards and balconies. Even in 2024, hotel rooms are miniscule and that stupid fridge is, at worst filled with 20 dollar boxes of cookies and liquor samples, and at best too small to fit a large bottle of water in. I've grown to dislike Airbnb as a customer, but what you said is one-sided, and dismisses the disruption of the hotel model in a digital nomad age.

ghaff 3y ago
Houses and apartments come with a very mixed bag of amenities. You can research to a certain degree but... I've actually be thinking about Airbnb for a fairly extended stay at one point. On the one hand, it seems like the right solution. On the other hand, it's a big commitment for essentially an unknown quantity.
- mancerayder 3y ago
  It doesn't help that the reviews are edited and removed when negative.
chgs 3y ago
I was amazed at the type of motel I stayed in back in 2008 when I went to Canada. Kitchens and balconies or decks. Pretty much unknown in the U.K. Of course I’d had plenty of experience of self catered accommodation on holiday - sometimes purpose built but mostly normal cottages that were simply rented out. Airbnb and similar systems just reduced the friction of finding and transacting self catered accommodation, and the increasing trend for city breaks delivered a growing market.