4 ms·
Because the writing is sort of on the wall for airbnb's current business model. Local regulations are finally catching up to them, limiting new listings or appl
by elteto 1y ago
Because the writing is sort of on the wall for airbnb's current business model. Local regulations are finally catching up to them, limiting new listings or applying the same taxes and fees applied to regular hotels. And airbnb's are not cheaper anymore, and many times not any more convenient than a hotel, due crappy hosts and their excessive fees and regulations.
Airbnb is still a great option if the location is under served by normal hotels, or if you are traveling with families so you want to have a kitchen/amenities. But otherwise I almost exclusively book hotels now.
- enos_feedler 1y agoFor travel it’s just an option and always will be. Thats okay because the travel use case only hits most people once or twice a year. The future of Airbnb was and always will be using that option as entry point into your life at home. The app update and launch into these lifestyle categories are the starting point of this. They chose to stick experiences and services as a root choice in the mobile app, not something that is attached to a booking or stay you already have. While I expect the major use case to be using these new services during a stay, the app design shows they are paving a future where you take some of what you loved about your airbnb stay back home with you.
- bigstrat2003 1y ago> The future of Airbnb was and always will be using that option as entry point into your life at home. The future of Airbnb was and always will be a place to book stays in someone's home. These other things they are doing are a bad joke that will at best waste money for no gain, and at worst will cause their actual business to suffer. Trying to be all things to all people is idiocy, stick to what you're good at.
- enos_feedler 1y agoa bad joke is a little harsh. It's worth trying to do a few new things. Having stayed in many airbnbs, I have wondered why they don't start adding a menu of things I can do once I am there. It feels like a space they could deploy some offerings and have the attention of their customer. There are bad jokes that cost a lot more money. Look at Apple Vision Pro. I think this is relatively cheap vs. their cash flow.
- fellowniusmonk 1y agoI will always love AirBnB for driving down prices by breaking the hotel cartels in major cities. Over 10 years ago I rented a folding couch right off of Pearl ST. Boulder, CO. I stayed in the living room of someones 1 bedroom apartment for $300 a night instead of 1k+ a night for the equivalent at what amounted to a travel lodge motel. The prices there were out of control, no inventory, just awful. There are "plausible deniability" cartels everywhere, it's and it's always nice to see their grip on a region drop.
- infecto 1y agoYou paid $300 to stay on a fold out couch in a strangers living room. $1000 sounds like market price for a hotel room then.
- nine_k 1y agoThis is fair. But the market of barebones $300/night sleeping spots was underserved by hotels, and likely even hostels.
- singleshot_ 1y agoCouldn't you stay in a nice $300/night hotel and just close your eyes when you walked by the pool?
- lumost 1y agoWas there an event? I stayed at the historic Boulderado hotel for 350/night 13 years ago when Airbnb was getting started.
- donnachangstein 1y agoYou could have saved yourself $300 and slept on a bench in the central bus station for approximately the same level of accommodation.
- handoflixue 1y ago
- onlyrealcuzzo 1y agoAirBNB forced hotels to MASSIVELY upgrade. There used to be very few hotels with kitchenettes, any space really beside just a bed. There's way more suite and kitchenette options. Lots of people travel for longer than just a night or two, or to travel beyond just business, where you might want to be able to actually enjoy being in your private space. Hotels weren't really designed for this. They wanted you to never be in your room, and instead upselling you at the bar. Now, you can pretty easily find relatively affordable hotels that have many different types of rooms layouts for all different purposes. Now, that defeats a lot of the point in having an AirBNB. As you said, AirBNB is really only good if you're traveling somewhere with lousy hotel options, you're going to be staying somewhere for a long time, or traveling in a huge group, or you want to host a rager party or something...
- nailer 1y agoI just wish hotels did a load of laundry for me. I’d pay 30 bucks but not 250.
- somethoughts 1y agoInterestingly in Asia there are services that drive by hotels and pick up laundry bags and bring them back the next day washed and folded. Perhaps someone here on HN will read this here, make an app out of it, get funding and set up such a thing in the US.
- 9283409232 1y agoMaybe I'm just not in the right cities but people say 2 things: Airbnbs are just as expensive as hotels and hotels have upgraded and I never see these two things as true. Airbnbs are typically cheaper than hotels and hotels, at least where I travel are still just a bed and a bath. Extended stay hotels have kitchenettes but extended stay hotels have always had kitchenettes and they were always the most expensive options because they are typically purchased by businessmen who have high budgets.
- alabastervlog 1y ago
- musicale 1y ago> Local regulations are finally catching up to them Dodging regulation and taxes was Airbnb's biggest competitive advantage. Regulatory entrepreneurship only works long-term if you can continue to dodge, or change, the law (either statutes or case law.) We will see what happens with all of the AI companies who claim fair use.
- firesteelrain 1y agoYou can get the same experience with VRBO. People list in both usually. AirBNB hasn’t cornered the market. Plus, VRBO or sites like VacationRentals pre dated AirBNB
- enos_feedler 1y agoThey actually don't list on both usually. Go lookup the data before you start making statements like that. In fact just go punch this into Google: "how much of airbnb inventory is unique?"
- firesteelrain 1y agoI’m basing it on personal experience looking into renting a vacation rental and I have family who list on both. I am not going to google that because I know what is true
- piva00 1y agoThat's quite a broad assumption based on anecdotal evidence, you know what's true based on your few experiences renting and from a few listings your immediate family has, how can you even believe it's true based on this flimsy data? Quick edit: just searched on both VRBO and Airbnb for rentals in my city for the same date range, VRBO shows me 191 options, Airbnb shows 330 options.
- firesteelrain 1y agoThat's very anecdotal to your city. VRBO could be renting more than Airbnb. I am not going to go to extreme's to overly analyze this. I made my point.
- piva00 1y agoMy point already shows that your whole assumption is flawed, which was entirely my point... You don't need to argue but it'd be in good faith to at least acknowledge that your point has no basis at all, it's just your feeling, not a point. By the way, I live in a capital city in Europe so the discrepancies between listings would probably translate to many other places...
- bcoates 1y agoI don't get airbnbs because they're cheaper, I get them because I want to rent something other than a hotel room. If best western had in-laws or 1br quadplexes I'd be happy to stay there, but most hotels I've stayed at are bad rooms in bad locations that almost always include at least one negative surprise every trip, and as you move up to more expensive ones they somehow get fancier but worse.