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Airbnb made the same mistake Google did: They screwed up their core service. I used to be a steady ABB customer but now hotels are almost always cheaper, offer

Airbnb made the same mistake Google did: They screwed up their core service. I used to be a steady ABB customer but now hotels are almost always cheaper, offer better service, and are more predictable. Not to mention that hotel websites are typically easier to navigate and contain a lot less React-sludge that makes every click take forever to respond.

cobertos 1y ago
I had this experience too. Booked on AirBnb with someone who was about the same price as the hotels. Turns out the hosts were just employees of some letting company. They wanted photo ID, a deposit, and sign a second contract in a _separate website_, which I declined. Contacting AirBnb support they said this was fully allowed and I should have read the description harder. I did get a full refund but was told it was only because it was "my first time" and I've never had other issues. I'm glad I turned around and booked with a hotel. It was very personable, good value, and better than what I would've gotten for the same price on AirBnb for that city.
- vishalontheline 1y ago
  What city was this booking for?
  - stavros 1y ago
    Not the OP, but happened to me in London.
  - cobertos 1y ago
    This was in Manchester, UK
  - atlasunshrugged 1y ago
    Not OP but something similar to me has happened in Berlin, but in my understanding this is more due to local regulation which effectively makes "true" Airbnb's illegal and the places that remain on the platform are basically apartment letting businesses
- bsimpson 1y ago
  There are too many shady middlemen in the vacation rentals space. I refuse to rent any place that has a separate lease, but they're no longer unheard of. To some degree, I understand the businessification of rentals - it's uncomfortable for both parties if you're trying to get a grandma to meet you to exchange keys after a late flight. But also, that person-to-person charm is a big part of why people chose Airbnbs in the first place. If it's just an IKEA flip of an old apartment, why bother? I've actually noticed that my taste in interior design has been impacted. The "pastel and sculpted veneer" aesthetic that took over Airbnb, "modern" coffee shops, and supposedly adult furniture brands like West Elm disgusts me now. I suspect it would have appealed to me if it hadn't been badly copied with shitty materials so many times. Now, I associate it with hollow experiences, poor craftsmanship, and attempts to get me to pay more for a "quality" I won't receive.
  - fuomag9 1y ago
    Here in Italy the law say that it’s mandatory to meet in person to give you the keys and to do identification, so the grandma should meet you anyway Of course there are people that still ignore this, but the government has started to crackdown on this a bit, for example some months ago they started removing key boxes on the walls in the street
- octo888 1y ago
  > They wanted photo ID, a deposit, and sign a second contract in a _separate website_ Yup my average airbnb experience in eg Spain is: dealing with an agent, asked to submit all my personal data to some random third party, all other communication done via WhatsApp, and often my number is given to third parties without my consent who spam me with things like offers of experiences/day trips etc
- mykowebhn 1y ago
  Just note that in a lot of countries, like Spain, the rental or hotel establishments are required by law to collect a lot of your information. It feels totally intrusive, but it's the law unfortunately.
  - dspillett 1y ago
    Also, in places where there are such requirements, someone not following them and requesting the information could be a significant red flag. What other ordinances are they ignoring that could affect your safety or just your enjoyment?
  - pas 1y ago
    Sure, but I expect AirBnB to handle this. (At least clearly communicate the requirement, cite the relevant statutes, link them, explain them, and help both parties be compliant while respecting users' privacy and hosts' time.)
  - lifestyleguru 1y ago
    I had some random folks in hostel reception taking full photo with their private smartphone of my id document "for the police", despite I clearly said I do not consent to have a copy of my document taken. Spanish hosts are absolutely shady and sloppy privacy wise. EDIT. Spaniards don't take it personally. There is a war at the EU borders and there are waves of scams and various predatory behaviours, plus usual organised scams from Balkans, China, and India. Visitors will not be happy about their documents being scanned.
    - xav0989 1y ago
      Where it’s the law for the lodging provides to have a copy of ID, you either consent to have them make a copy of your ID or you don’t get a place to stay. You don’t get to not consent and also get a place to stay.
      - lifestyleguru 1y ago
        Look up "spanish hotel/hostel fined for copying guest id". They certainly are not allowed to copy documents of EU citizens.
- wnc3141 1y ago
  any chance this was the "sonder" brand? They have weirdly invasive identity requirements.
  - cobertos 1y ago
    Nope, this was CEFAS
Gigachad 1y ago
Shouldn’t it expected that a hotel would be able to provide a better service considering they are doing it in bulk and specialise in it. Vs a bunch of individual untrained hosts. Seems more like Airbnb ran out of money to burn and hotels lifted their game.
- manwe150 1y ago
  In corporate lingo, I think their “core business” is any vacation rental? Partnering with hotels could perhaps have been a viable path for them to grow that and still fit with their business acumen. But I use other platforms for that service now.
  - lolinder 1y ago
    What kind of partnership with hotels could they have made that would have set them apart from the dozen options I already have for booking hotels?
    - pas 1y ago
      There's no need to be super different. AirBnB has a huge userbase, cashflow, reputation, etc... they ought to provide a good search and booking service to users. (And there's all the potential for adding more and more upsell points and value-added services. From flights, insurance, car rental, local activities, museum and national park tickets to ... whatever they are now fucking around with, like fitness and food.)
- riffraff 1y ago
  I think it's mostly the fact that AirBnB stopped being outside the law. Once municipalities started regulating them, hosts started paying taxes etc.. they lost the price edge.
- BiteCode_dev 1y ago
  No, AirBnB just became much more expensive. And it's disguised as processing fees, cleaning fees, etc. So if I ever take the risk of getting an Airbnb instead of a hotel, then I know the next time I book I'll pay cash directly with the host because it will be that much cheaper. It's like uber: the bait and switch to a service that becomes less good and more expensive is costing them because the competition survived the first wave. Also, the regulations caught up with them. Basically, they wanted to win by scummy means, like a lot of American startup that calls doing illegal or immoral stuff "growth hacks". Still worked well, they are a leader, but not enough to kill the game, and now they have to fight. Good.
fasthands9 1y ago
I disagree. In the long run there was never a way for individual hosts to compete with hotels on price. Hotels have economy of scale so of course they are going to be better bang for the buck in places where both are options. I think airbnb is still the better option in many situations - such as when you are willing to pay a premium to be in nature or you going on vacation with 6+ people. I don't really see how better tech would ever prevent this outcome. Perhaps this disappointing in terms of continual growth, but I think it was inevitable and still provides a good path for the company to be uniquely useful.
- lotsofpulp 1y ago
  > there was never a way for individual hosts to compete with hotels on price. That way was to skirt laws around obtaining hotel permits and zoning and paying all the relevant hotel taxes and business insurance.
  - xdfgh1112 1y ago
    Exactly. Airbnb was much cheaper than hotels when it started because of this.
    - deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]
    - fkyoureadthedoc 1y ago
      And better. It was all around a better experience, analogous to Uber vs taxi. But while Uber is still more convenient than taxi, I haven't even considered using AirBnB in years.
      - hidingfearful 1y ago
        agreeing (strongly) that uber is better than taxi, and yet again on price it is because uber skirts the law-- drivers typically do not have commercial insurance etc and also uber subsidized rides for a long time with VC money.
gsf_emergency 1y ago
>same mistake Google did This made me realize that their original strategy was to extract the promise from the fat long tail of their respective supply ("unique experience" for abnb, "relevant search results" for goog). But then the Septembers are apt to become eternal if you can't keep it at a level manageable by humans, like a dang-or-2 From TFA >I want to be a luchador!” he tells me, then immediately regrets it. (dang is probably quite great at minimizing regrets a la Jeff, the insta ones most of all) >Leave it to the subconscious to highlight what matters.
SwtCyber 1y ago
Between loyalty programs, clearer pricing, and just not having to stress about cleaning rules or weird checkout times, they’ve quietly caught up while Airbnb got distracted

cobertos 1y ago

I had this experience too. Booked on AirBnb with someone who was about the same price as the hotels. Turns out the hosts were just employees of some letting company. They wanted photo ID, a deposit, and sign a second contract in a _separate website_, which I declined. Contacting AirBnb support they said this was fully allowed and I should have read the description harder. I did get a full refund but was told it was only because it was "my first time" and I've never had other issues. I'm glad I turned around and booked with a hotel. It was very personable, good value, and better than what I would've gotten for the same price on AirBnb for that city.

vishalontheline 1y ago
What city was this booking for?
- stavros 1y ago
  Not the OP, but happened to me in London.
- cobertos 1y ago
  This was in Manchester, UK
- atlasunshrugged 1y ago
  Not OP but something similar to me has happened in Berlin, but in my understanding this is more due to local regulation which effectively makes "true" Airbnb's illegal and the places that remain on the platform are basically apartment letting businesses
bsimpson 1y ago
There are too many shady middlemen in the vacation rentals space. I refuse to rent any place that has a separate lease, but they're no longer unheard of. To some degree, I understand the businessification of rentals - it's uncomfortable for both parties if you're trying to get a grandma to meet you to exchange keys after a late flight. But also, that person-to-person charm is a big part of why people chose Airbnbs in the first place. If it's just an IKEA flip of an old apartment, why bother? I've actually noticed that my taste in interior design has been impacted. The "pastel and sculpted veneer" aesthetic that took over Airbnb, "modern" coffee shops, and supposedly adult furniture brands like West Elm disgusts me now. I suspect it would have appealed to me if it hadn't been badly copied with shitty materials so many times. Now, I associate it with hollow experiences, poor craftsmanship, and attempts to get me to pay more for a "quality" I won't receive.
- fuomag9 1y ago
  Here in Italy the law say that it’s mandatory to meet in person to give you the keys and to do identification, so the grandma should meet you anyway Of course there are people that still ignore this, but the government has started to crackdown on this a bit, for example some months ago they started removing key boxes on the walls in the street
octo888 1y ago
> They wanted photo ID, a deposit, and sign a second contract in a _separate website_ Yup my average airbnb experience in eg Spain is: dealing with an agent, asked to submit all my personal data to some random third party, all other communication done via WhatsApp, and often my number is given to third parties without my consent who spam me with things like offers of experiences/day trips etc
mykowebhn 1y ago
Just note that in a lot of countries, like Spain, the rental or hotel establishments are required by law to collect a lot of your information. It feels totally intrusive, but it's the law unfortunately.
- dspillett 1y ago
  Also, in places where there are such requirements, someone not following them and requesting the information could be a significant red flag. What other ordinances are they ignoring that could affect your safety or just your enjoyment?
- pas 1y ago
  Sure, but I expect AirBnB to handle this. (At least clearly communicate the requirement, cite the relevant statutes, link them, explain them, and help both parties be compliant while respecting users' privacy and hosts' time.)
- lifestyleguru 1y ago
  I had some random folks in hostel reception taking full photo with their private smartphone of my id document "for the police", despite I clearly said I do not consent to have a copy of my document taken. Spanish hosts are absolutely shady and sloppy privacy wise. EDIT. Spaniards don't take it personally. There is a war at the EU borders and there are waves of scams and various predatory behaviours, plus usual organised scams from Balkans, China, and India. Visitors will not be happy about their documents being scanned.
  - xav0989 1y ago
    Where it’s the law for the lodging provides to have a copy of ID, you either consent to have them make a copy of your ID or you don’t get a place to stay. You don’t get to not consent and also get a place to stay.
    - lifestyleguru 1y ago
      Look up "spanish hotel/hostel fined for copying guest id". They certainly are not allowed to copy documents of EU citizens.
wnc3141 1y ago
any chance this was the "sonder" brand? They have weirdly invasive identity requirements.
- cobertos 1y ago
  Nope, this was CEFAS

Gigachad 1y ago

Shouldn’t it expected that a hotel would be able to provide a better service considering they are doing it in bulk and specialise in it. Vs a bunch of individual untrained hosts. Seems more like Airbnb ran out of money to burn and hotels lifted their game.

manwe150 1y ago
In corporate lingo, I think their “core business” is any vacation rental? Partnering with hotels could perhaps have been a viable path for them to grow that and still fit with their business acumen. But I use other platforms for that service now.
- lolinder 1y ago
  What kind of partnership with hotels could they have made that would have set them apart from the dozen options I already have for booking hotels?
  - pas 1y ago
    There's no need to be super different. AirBnB has a huge userbase, cashflow, reputation, etc... they ought to provide a good search and booking service to users. (And there's all the potential for adding more and more upsell points and value-added services. From flights, insurance, car rental, local activities, museum and national park tickets to ... whatever they are now fucking around with, like fitness and food.)
riffraff 1y ago
I think it's mostly the fact that AirBnB stopped being outside the law. Once municipalities started regulating them, hosts started paying taxes etc.. they lost the price edge.
BiteCode_dev 1y ago
No, AirBnB just became much more expensive. And it's disguised as processing fees, cleaning fees, etc. So if I ever take the risk of getting an Airbnb instead of a hotel, then I know the next time I book I'll pay cash directly with the host because it will be that much cheaper. It's like uber: the bait and switch to a service that becomes less good and more expensive is costing them because the competition survived the first wave. Also, the regulations caught up with them. Basically, they wanted to win by scummy means, like a lot of American startup that calls doing illegal or immoral stuff "growth hacks". Still worked well, they are a leader, but not enough to kill the game, and now they have to fight. Good.

fasthands9 1y ago

I disagree. In the long run there was never a way for individual hosts to compete with hotels on price. Hotels have economy of scale so of course they are going to be better bang for the buck in places where both are options. I think airbnb is still the better option in many situations - such as when you are willing to pay a premium to be in nature or you going on vacation with 6+ people. I don't really see how better tech would ever prevent this outcome. Perhaps this disappointing in terms of continual growth, but I think it was inevitable and still provides a good path for the company to be uniquely useful.

lotsofpulp 1y ago
> there was never a way for individual hosts to compete with hotels on price. That way was to skirt laws around obtaining hotel permits and zoning and paying all the relevant hotel taxes and business insurance.
- xdfgh1112 1y ago
  Exactly. Airbnb was much cheaper than hotels when it started because of this.
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  - fkyoureadthedoc 1y ago
    And better. It was all around a better experience, analogous to Uber vs taxi. But while Uber is still more convenient than taxi, I haven't even considered using AirBnB in years.
    - hidingfearful 1y ago
      agreeing (strongly) that uber is better than taxi, and yet again on price it is because uber skirts the law-- drivers typically do not have commercial insurance etc and also uber subsidized rides for a long time with VC money.

gsf_emergency 1y ago

>same mistake Google did This made me realize that their original strategy was to extract the promise from the fat long tail of their respective supply ("unique experience" for abnb, "relevant search results" for goog). But then the Septembers are apt to become eternal if you can't keep it at a level manageable by humans, like a dang-or-2 From TFA >I want to be a luchador!” he tells me, then immediately regrets it. (dang is probably quite great at minimizing regrets a la Jeff, the insta ones most of all) >Leave it to the subconscious to highlight what matters.

SwtCyber 1y ago

Between loyalty programs, clearer pricing, and just not having to stress about cleaning rules or weird checkout times, they’ve quietly caught up while Airbnb got distracted