6 ms·

Airbnb Grows to a Million Rooms, and Hotel Rivals Are Quiet, for Now

34 points by kanamekun 11y ago

stevesearer 11y ago
One of the things that drew me to use Airbnb several years ago was the ability to book a stay somewhere that was less expensive yet more interesting. I was recently looking for a place in Chicago as well as Kyoto and had a hard time finding listings that weren't dirty looking, had no charm, or weren't just as expensive as a hotel. I'm sure they exist, but there are just so many listings in some cities, sifting through them can be a real pain.
- msoad 11y ago
  In my recent visit to Seattle I settled down for a hotel. Airbnb were too expensive for two people. Maybe I was booking too late though
  - maratd 11y ago
    Are you guys looking at rooms or apartments? If the answer is apartments, then why wouldn't they be more expensive? You get a kitchen, a living room, internet, laundry, etc. stuff that isn't part of the hotel deal.
- smelendez 11y ago
  Hm, I'm in a Chicago Airbnb right now--it's clean, inexpensive and in a decent location (a block from Cermak & Western, in Pilsen). Chicago's Airbnb stock did seem a lot more commercial, though--this location is run by a married couple that has three or four rooms over two floors in this building, plus some other listings in a second building, and I saw at least one former low-rent SRO that had been turned into a higher-rent, shorter-term SRO, thanks to Airbnb.
- justincormack 11y ago
  I stayed in a lovely little house in Kyoto recently, so they do exist.
- wodenokoto 11y ago
  At least in Japan you are generally much better of at a hostel. They are cheap, clean and staff is very friendly.
TheGRS 11y ago
Something that this article hasn't touched on, but I'm sure will be a big issue in the coming years, is the legality of Airbnb's service. Right now they are cruising along without much risk in that area, but that's only because its a new service. Here in Portland there are already some people who are purchasing properties from out of town just so they can rent on Airbnb, which for our town is putting even more stress on the exploding rent market. I have a feeling the other foot is going to drop on many of these sharing services at some point. source: http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-23993-hotel_california.html http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-23993-hotel_california... Not that I'm personally against the service, I think its a great alternative to traditional motels/hotels, but it should be more for people looking to share an unused room than as a way to get more bang for their buck on their rent.
- stevesearer 11y ago
  I've been noticing a bunch of random people hanging out on my street (a cul-de-sac) in Santa Barbara recently and found that one of my neighbors is renting their rooms on Airbnb. I'm totally fine with it, except that the street already has limited parking. More cars equals less street parking for my family which sucks when we have to carry our 3mo old daughter + groceries a long ways down the street.
  - ianferrel 11y ago
    Do you think Airbnb renters have more cars on average than someone renting the place more long-term?
    - theflyingkiwi42 11y ago
      Yes, if the Airbnb hosts rents out additional rooms. Now those rooms have additional cars where without those renters, only the owner would have one (or two) cars.
      - ianferrel 11y ago
        But why wouldn't whoever was renting those rooms long-term have a car? If you're comparing "single person in a house with multiple bedrooms" to "multiple people in a house with multiple bedrooms", then it's fairly obvious that the latter case would have park more cars on average. But if there are people renting those rooms, I don't see how it matters if they're there for the weekend or for a year.
kwijibob 11y ago
Airbnb gets people travelling who might otherwise stay home. People who get a bad airbnb booking always jump to the nearest hotel. As airbnb gets even more massive, the hotel industry could benefit from the spillage of people who otherwise wouldn't travel.
- bruceb 11y ago
  You have any data to back that up? Seems airbnb at least at first was for the more adventurus who are already traveling.
  - kwijibob 11y ago
    Only anecdotal. I think you are correct, the early adopters were confident travellers. However the brand is so well known that ordinary people are talking about it, in my observations. Combined with cheap air travel it is magnifying tourism in my circles.
- joelrunyon 11y ago
  > Airbnb gets people travelling who might otherwise stay home. I'm not sure that I believe this. There were a lot more straight forward ways to book things before AirBnb.
hammerandtongs 11y ago
I think as airbnb starts to be more about capitalized companies purchasing and then renting residential properties we might come to remember why it was we have zoning laws in the first place. It all seems fine and dandy(not so much if you live next to someone aggressively renting) when you have rich neighborhoods renting to rich transients ("professionals" in the article). Whats the impact in poor and middle class neighborhoods having their transient population massively increased by airbnb slumlords?
- shit_parade2 11y ago
  Oh, better not let the poor or even middle class use the same tools and get the same advantages of us rich elite. Only professionals can act with responsibility, we must task our politicians and police to put down any attempts by the poor to improve their lot in life.
  - hammerandtongs 11y ago
    Reread my comment where I said "seems fine".
panamafrank 11y ago
The issue is the granularity of regulation in that the details and legality of airbnb is decided not on a national or state level but by the municipal authorities, from a regulation standpoint it's totally unmanageable and unenforceable. Your average airbnb host isn't subject to the same hygiene or safety certifications let alone business and tourism taxes. I cannot imagine there to be a million Airbnb rooms that are compliant with all relevant by-laws. I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that the hotel industry has in the past actively fought against normalising the laws that affect them because I bet... They exploit them too.

34 points by kanamekun 11y ago

One of the things that drew me to use Airbnb several years ago was the ability to book a stay somewhere that was less expensive yet more interesting. I was recently looking for a place in Chicago as well as Kyoto and had a hard time finding listings that weren't dirty looking, had no charm, or weren't just as expensive as a hotel. I'm sure they exist, but there are just so many listings in some cities, sifting through them can be a real pain.

msoad 11y ago
In my recent visit to Seattle I settled down for a hotel. Airbnb were too expensive for two people. Maybe I was booking too late though
- maratd 11y ago
  Are you guys looking at rooms or apartments? If the answer is apartments, then why wouldn't they be more expensive? You get a kitchen, a living room, internet, laundry, etc. stuff that isn't part of the hotel deal.
smelendez 11y ago
Hm, I'm in a Chicago Airbnb right now--it's clean, inexpensive and in a decent location (a block from Cermak & Western, in Pilsen). Chicago's Airbnb stock did seem a lot more commercial, though--this location is run by a married couple that has three or four rooms over two floors in this building, plus some other listings in a second building, and I saw at least one former low-rent SRO that had been turned into a higher-rent, shorter-term SRO, thanks to Airbnb.
justincormack 11y ago
I stayed in a lovely little house in Kyoto recently, so they do exist.
wodenokoto 11y ago
At least in Japan you are generally much better of at a hostel. They are cheap, clean and staff is very friendly.

TheGRS 11y ago

Something that this article hasn't touched on, but I'm sure will be a big issue in the coming years, is the legality of Airbnb's service. Right now they are cruising along without much risk in that area, but that's only because its a new service. Here in Portland there are already some people who are purchasing properties from out of town just so they can rent on Airbnb, which for our town is putting even more stress on the exploding rent market. I have a feeling the other foot is going to drop on many of these sharing services at some point. source: http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-23993-hotel_california.html http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-23993-hotel_california... Not that I'm personally against the service, I think its a great alternative to traditional motels/hotels, but it should be more for people looking to share an unused room than as a way to get more bang for their buck on their rent.

stevesearer 11y ago
I've been noticing a bunch of random people hanging out on my street (a cul-de-sac) in Santa Barbara recently and found that one of my neighbors is renting their rooms on Airbnb. I'm totally fine with it, except that the street already has limited parking. More cars equals less street parking for my family which sucks when we have to carry our 3mo old daughter + groceries a long ways down the street.
- ianferrel 11y ago
  Do you think Airbnb renters have more cars on average than someone renting the place more long-term?
  - theflyingkiwi42 11y ago
    Yes, if the Airbnb hosts rents out additional rooms. Now those rooms have additional cars where without those renters, only the owner would have one (or two) cars.
    - ianferrel 11y ago
      But why wouldn't whoever was renting those rooms long-term have a car? If you're comparing "single person in a house with multiple bedrooms" to "multiple people in a house with multiple bedrooms", then it's fairly obvious that the latter case would have park more cars on average. But if there are people renting those rooms, I don't see how it matters if they're there for the weekend or for a year.

kwijibob 11y ago

Airbnb gets people travelling who might otherwise stay home. People who get a bad airbnb booking always jump to the nearest hotel. As airbnb gets even more massive, the hotel industry could benefit from the spillage of people who otherwise wouldn't travel.

bruceb 11y ago
You have any data to back that up? Seems airbnb at least at first was for the more adventurus who are already traveling.
- kwijibob 11y ago
  Only anecdotal. I think you are correct, the early adopters were confident travellers. However the brand is so well known that ordinary people are talking about it, in my observations. Combined with cheap air travel it is magnifying tourism in my circles.
joelrunyon 11y ago
> Airbnb gets people travelling who might otherwise stay home. I'm not sure that I believe this. There were a lot more straight forward ways to book things before AirBnb.

hammerandtongs 11y ago

I think as airbnb starts to be more about capitalized companies purchasing and then renting residential properties we might come to remember why it was we have zoning laws in the first place. It all seems fine and dandy(not so much if you live next to someone aggressively renting) when you have rich neighborhoods renting to rich transients ("professionals" in the article). Whats the impact in poor and middle class neighborhoods having their transient population massively increased by airbnb slumlords?

shit_parade2 11y ago
Oh, better not let the poor or even middle class use the same tools and get the same advantages of us rich elite. Only professionals can act with responsibility, we must task our politicians and police to put down any attempts by the poor to improve their lot in life.
- hammerandtongs 11y ago
  Reread my comment where I said "seems fine".

panamafrank 11y ago

The issue is the granularity of regulation in that the details and legality of airbnb is decided not on a national or state level but by the municipal authorities, from a regulation standpoint it's totally unmanageable and unenforceable. Your average airbnb host isn't subject to the same hygiene or safety certifications let alone business and tourism taxes. I cannot imagine there to be a million Airbnb rooms that are compliant with all relevant by-laws. I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that the hotel industry has in the past actively fought against normalising the laws that affect them because I bet... They exploit them too.