5 ms·

Wow, there's a market for this? (Such words come before something is canned, or blows up to make millions I guess.) Can a business really save a lot of money b

Wow, there's a market for this? (Such words come before something is canned, or blows up to make millions I guess.) Can a business really save a lot of money by putting up their employees in "business-ready homes," like a twee Lower East Side room for $55/night that looks like a (very) young woman lives in it? One would think that the lost productivity in dealing with a different landlord in addition to the often exciting/terrifying moments that come with an AirBnB stay seem to offset the cost of a business rate hotel. Productive employees, also receiving a salary and benefits while traveling, are worth more to me than saving $100-$200/night on a hotel stay. The only place I've worked where something like this would fly was where "employees" could take some abuse: grad school. Maybe I am now an old soul, but I like boring, dependable hotels when I travel for work.

untog 11y ago
AirBnB can/could also be a benefit though - there are some original, inventive properties on there that few hotels can match. But you're right - the trick will be matching those properties with professional management.
erikpukinskis 11y ago
Yeah, you sacrifice consistency. Although some AirBnb units are MUCH nicer than even the fanciest hotels. You can get a complete kitchen, ground floor access, a yard, in-unit laundry, private parking, lots of stuff that can be super useful that are rare in hotels.
- DaveWalk 11y ago
  An interesting point; but there are "efficency" hotel chains that have a complete kitchen/laundry/etc. Does today's business traveler need a yard and other accoutrements? Private parking is a really good point, though. In a metro area that can shoot up the cost of the stay some if one must rent a car.
manarth 11y ago
It's a modern take on 'serviced apartments'. Some places will get regular repeat clients, other places might prove flaky and not attract the same business clientèle.
dkhenry 11y ago
Which is funny because when I was younger I preferred Hotel's, but now that I have some time traveling I much prefer a non chain, roll of the dice AirBnB room to any hotel. Spending night after night in a soulless hotel room is so draining.
- DaveWalk 11y ago
  Very interesting. Do you spend as much time as before in AirBnB-style rooms now? I agree that after a certain point business travel becomes "soulless," but I figured it was due to being away from home instead of the surroundings. And the allure of accumulating hotel points to use at the high-end places is....alluring.
pbreit 11y ago
Stop. Look at it from the employee's perspective and all your issues go away. There are a lot of employees (and growing) who would prefer AirBnb lodging to hotels.
kapnobatairza 11y ago
There is definitely a market for this, especially in a city like Manhattan where business rate hotels are hard to come by and can be inconveniently located compared to an AirBnB. When we have remote workers come visit us we put them up in an AirBnB that is a 5-minute walk from the office to get better, more spacious accommodations than a hotel for under $200 (which is for an entire apartment, not just a room). And who needs room service when you have Seamless, Postmates, Caviar, etc. The only downside to AirBnB is the lack of daily housekeeping. Maybe there is room for a 3rd party service that caters exclusively to AirBnB hosts to provide regular housekeeping. That all said, I'm not sure what this "Business Travel" service provides that you can't get from a regular booking. Is this just a shared AirBnB account for teams? Are there special business rates or liability insurance policies associated with it? This page does a fairly poor job of explaining the merits of creating a business account with them.
- ghaff 11y ago
  >The only downside to AirBnB is the lack of daily housekeeping. Is this really an issue for most people? I haven't ever stayed in an AirBnB but I've stayed in B&B's or similar (without the second B) that charged a one-time cleaning fee for the stay but not daily room service. (Presumably you could pay for additional cleanings if you wanted.) Interestingly, at one point, Starwood was offering points for forgoing daily maid service but I only ran across that a couple of times and then they must have discontinued the experiment.
  - kapnobatairza 11y ago
    I think that comes down to personal preference at the end of the day. I tend to be very tidy/neat, especially when I travel, which negates the need for daily housekeeping. I know some people who are not that way that need more regular housekeeping, and prefer hotels because they provide that service. (Even though there is little to no guarantee that the housekeeping in a business-rate hotel will be any good.) I would say the bigger problem isn't whether or not it is necessary for most people, but rather about breaking expectations. Many people have become so accustomed to daily housekeeping services in hotels that expect it as the norm.
ngoel36 11y ago
As someone who stayed in a hotel (mostly SPG) for 200+ nights last calendar year - I can definitely say that there were many times I might have considered staying in an AirBnb. I never did, solely because I valued the SPG points, but many times the Airbnb options near your work location are far, far nicer (and cheaper) than available hotels
burger_moon 11y ago
When staying on location for extended periods we would (the group I travelled with) get an apartment to rent out. Typically this was done when travelling outside the US because it was so cheap, but sometimes in the US we did this also. It helps too if your employer gives you the option to collect housing per diem in lieu of booking a hotel for us. We could then pool together and pocket the extra per diem money if the apartment was cheap enough.

untog 11y ago

AirBnB can/could also be a benefit though - there are some original, inventive properties on there that few hotels can match. But you're right - the trick will be matching those properties with professional management.

erikpukinskis 11y ago

Yeah, you sacrifice consistency. Although some AirBnb units are MUCH nicer than even the fanciest hotels. You can get a complete kitchen, ground floor access, a yard, in-unit laundry, private parking, lots of stuff that can be super useful that are rare in hotels.

DaveWalk 11y ago
An interesting point; but there are "efficency" hotel chains that have a complete kitchen/laundry/etc. Does today's business traveler need a yard and other accoutrements? Private parking is a really good point, though. In a metro area that can shoot up the cost of the stay some if one must rent a car.

manarth 11y ago

It's a modern take on 'serviced apartments'. Some places will get regular repeat clients, other places might prove flaky and not attract the same business clientèle.

dkhenry 11y ago

Which is funny because when I was younger I preferred Hotel's, but now that I have some time traveling I much prefer a non chain, roll of the dice AirBnB room to any hotel. Spending night after night in a soulless hotel room is so draining.

DaveWalk 11y ago
Very interesting. Do you spend as much time as before in AirBnB-style rooms now? I agree that after a certain point business travel becomes "soulless," but I figured it was due to being away from home instead of the surroundings. And the allure of accumulating hotel points to use at the high-end places is....alluring.

pbreit 11y ago

Stop. Look at it from the employee's perspective and all your issues go away. There are a lot of employees (and growing) who would prefer AirBnb lodging to hotels.

kapnobatairza 11y ago

There is definitely a market for this, especially in a city like Manhattan where business rate hotels are hard to come by and can be inconveniently located compared to an AirBnB. When we have remote workers come visit us we put them up in an AirBnB that is a 5-minute walk from the office to get better, more spacious accommodations than a hotel for under $200 (which is for an entire apartment, not just a room). And who needs room service when you have Seamless, Postmates, Caviar, etc. The only downside to AirBnB is the lack of daily housekeeping. Maybe there is room for a 3rd party service that caters exclusively to AirBnB hosts to provide regular housekeeping. That all said, I'm not sure what this "Business Travel" service provides that you can't get from a regular booking. Is this just a shared AirBnB account for teams? Are there special business rates or liability insurance policies associated with it? This page does a fairly poor job of explaining the merits of creating a business account with them.

ghaff 11y ago
>The only downside to AirBnB is the lack of daily housekeeping. Is this really an issue for most people? I haven't ever stayed in an AirBnB but I've stayed in B&B's or similar (without the second B) that charged a one-time cleaning fee for the stay but not daily room service. (Presumably you could pay for additional cleanings if you wanted.) Interestingly, at one point, Starwood was offering points for forgoing daily maid service but I only ran across that a couple of times and then they must have discontinued the experiment.
- kapnobatairza 11y ago
  I think that comes down to personal preference at the end of the day. I tend to be very tidy/neat, especially when I travel, which negates the need for daily housekeeping. I know some people who are not that way that need more regular housekeeping, and prefer hotels because they provide that service. (Even though there is little to no guarantee that the housekeeping in a business-rate hotel will be any good.) I would say the bigger problem isn't whether or not it is necessary for most people, but rather about breaking expectations. Many people have become so accustomed to daily housekeeping services in hotels that expect it as the norm.

ngoel36 11y ago

As someone who stayed in a hotel (mostly SPG) for 200+ nights last calendar year - I can definitely say that there were many times I might have considered staying in an AirBnb. I never did, solely because I valued the SPG points, but many times the Airbnb options near your work location are far, far nicer (and cheaper) than available hotels

burger_moon 11y ago

When staying on location for extended periods we would (the group I travelled with) get an apartment to rent out. Typically this was done when travelling outside the US because it was so cheap, but sometimes in the US we did this also. It helps too if your employer gives you the option to collect housing per diem in lieu of booking a hotel for us. We could then pool together and pocket the extra per diem money if the apartment was cheap enough.