Airbnb is adding cleaning fees to a new ‘total price’ of bookings in search results after people complained listings were misleading::Airbnb’s CEO said that he’s heard guests “loud and clear” that pricing on the platform isn’t transparent and “checkout tasks are a pain.”
I’ve been using hotels instead of Airbnb for a while now, and it’s most often cheaper or similar price, and better service.
Same here. I’ve almost completely given up on Airbnb. The convenience of a hotel is also much higher than being either in someone’s home, or an ugly “cheapest stuff at Ikea” Airbnb.
I see this on Reddit all the time and I chalked it up to a marketing campaign by hotels because it’s just so wrong, at least where I am.
Here AirBnB just isn’t really comparable to a hotel.
In a hotel you get a bed, bathroom, a tiny desk, tv chair, and microwave. When you pay more the room is functionally the same, just maybe in a better location or nicer lobby.
With short stay accommodation you get an actual dwelling. Even in a tiny studio apartment you have a full kitchen and an actual table.
Obviously if hotels & short stay were like for like then you would stay in a hotel if that were cheaper - but that’s just not the reality here. Short stay accom is dramatically more comfortable.
With short stay accommodation you get an actual dwelling. Even in a tiny studio apartment you have a full kitchen and an actual table.
That’s not always the case. In many places short stay accommodations have become like hotels. Many also have what’s more like half-kitchens - a small electric stove, a sink, microwave and kettle. That’s better than no kitchen at all, but it’s not like you can cook anything you want there.
Well yeah, but you can look at the listing and see what kitchen facilities are available?
In a hotel? Of course. There’s all those “extended stay” hotels and in some places they have weeklies, which you can rent for a night or a week or a month. But the point is, all the rooms are the same so you know exactly what you’re getting.
all the rooms are the same so you know exactly what you’re getting
You don’t know what you’re getting when you stay in privately owned short stay accommodation ?
I’ve always found listings are far more descriptive than hotels.
True, but if you wanted those things before AirBnB, they existed, they’re called aparthotels e.g.: https://www.booking.com/hotel/es/art-las-palmas.es.html?label=gen173bo-1DCAMYsQIoggJCGmxhcy1wYWxtYXMtZGUtZ3Jhbi1jYW5hcmlhSApYA2i7AYgBAZgBCrgBF8gBD9gBA-gBAfgBAogCAZgCAqgCA7gCp7PVpQbAAgHSAiRkYWQxZjI5NS1hMDBhLTQxMzYtOTI3OS1jNWM1OTczYjAxYWTYAgTgAgE
with a kitchen, washing machine, etc. Very common in touristy areas for decades.
The main difference between an AirBnB and a generalized hotel is that the former is supposed to be inhabited by the owner most of the year. The others are hotels pretending to be something else.
Here in Australia “bed and breakfast” set ups were common before AirBnB. Local councils would even put up street signage for you.
The common assertion in these threads is that “hotels are similarly priced” which is just not the case here if you’re comparing like for like.
In Australia $250 AUD (~$200 USD) in a major city will get you a proper studio apartment in privately owned short stay accommodation, or a smelly bed + toilet arrangement in a sketchy hotel with stains on the walls (literally).
I travel a lot for work and while you can find hotels which are cheaper than airBnB, there’s just no comparisson on the features provided.
I think the only thing keeping me to Air BnBs is the kitchen honestly
That’s why I love the hotel suites with kitchenettes. With the help of an electric roaster we were able to bring Thanksgiving to my step-son, who was away at school.
Aw that’s awesome! Yeah I should look for kitchenettes next time I travel!
I can’t say it’s always available, but you might want to look for suites? I stayed in a hotel in Ocean City that had a full kitchen, and most timeshare resorts (that you can also rent) tend to have that too.
Oh that’s a good idea. I’ll def look for one of those next time. All I really would need is a small stove!
Yeah, that’s no small thing for me.
If I’m away for a week working or on holiday I so much prefer being able to make my own meals. I have unusual dietary preferences, so restaurants just aren’t appealing for days at a time.
We always look for extended stay hotels for this reason, especially when traveling with my parents who would much rather heat up a home cooked meal vs fast food when traveling. Usually we can get 1 room instead of 2 since a lot of time the rooms are suites so my wife and I can take the sofa bed.
Yep, it’s nice to be a customer and not be rated and reviewed based on how well you cleaned up after yourself. Also dislike how Airbnb is a different interaction with the host every time. Some hosts are nosey or overbearing. I prefer the hotel front desk and then to be an anonymous customer after that.
That is wildly different depending on location and number of guests
I have seen this too. From my experience mainly USA. For example 1 night in Destin FL $150, with $100 or $150 cleaning fee. Colorado is the highest I have seen with $200 cleaning fee.
Canada and Mexico $30 cleaning fee lol. It really depends on the location errrr country.
It was only just recently that the flood of “Airbnbust” articles seemed to abate a little. I can never tell if Airbnb is going great, or it’s terrible.
For my own part, I’m happy for this update. Despite the complaints, Airbnb is usually a great option for families with little kids, where the alternative is usually “book multiple hotel rooms, and split the parents between them.” Price transparency is good, and I won’t book a place that has a task list for me.
It’s gotten to the point where I wonder if the hotel industry is astroturfing posts about Airbnb’s.
For families they’re a great option instead of being in a single room and being able to prep meals and save on eating out.
I don’t like what they’ve done to the housing market however and should be taxed heavily.
Definitely a good fit for families, being able to stay in a house has allowed us to do things we couldn’t have otherwise. We just got back from a trip that would have taken at least 3 hotel rooms (me, the wife, 3 kids, and my parents), and we paid less than the price of 2 rooms for a gorgeous 4BR beach house with 5 beds. We priced it out and it would have cost the same for 2 hotel rooms, which would have meant no grandparents, and my wife and I sleeping in separate rooms, and at least one kid on a couch.
So, yeah, new use cases enabled that weren’t possible before. That’s cool!
As for taxes, Airbnbs are taxed same as hotels here (15%), and the property owner also pays $10k/yr in property tax on top of that (per public records), so I’m not sure what else would make sense there. In some markets (esp cities) I get the concern about rent impacts, but this isn’t the kind of place that is ever going to be a long term rental. It seems like a parallel market to me, but I’m open to learning otherwise.
See, I think this is the big issue - totally different travel instances. AirBnB was sold (back in the day) as cheaper than a Hotel room, and I think a lot of these posts are people saying, well, I wanted a cheaper hotel room, but the market doesn’t actually support making cheaper hotel rooms when done professionally as a business because hotel rooms are very competitive so there’s likely to be one at whatever price point you want that’s profitable.
So anyone who was in the “market” for a single hotel room now feels like AirBnB is a ripoff, and I tend to agree.
For larger accommodations when travelling - they’ve always existed, Suites / Long Stay hotels / Timeshare Resorts / and traditional house rentals. But I was ignorant of these “being an option” because I always assumed they’re be prohibitively expensive. AirBnB and I guess other market forces have really made that not the case anymore, and there’s likely to be something in most places, especially if it’s a tourist area. And I think a lot of people are like me - “Oh, that rent a house, those people are rich”. “Oh a Suite? Mr Moneybags over here”. When in reality it’s often not that much money when you compare - especially for larger family groups.
but this isn’t the kind of place that is ever going to be a long term rental.
No, it’s just a house, most likely in a residential district, that could have been someone’s home if it wasn’t bought by a corporation and turned into a short-term rental property. There-by reducing available home inventory and contributing to the ongoing housing crisis.
Not being argumentative, but according to public records this place is privately owned by a person (or family) who bought it in 1997 (not a corp or LLC). It was listed for rent 2 years ago at $3900 before being taken down a month later.
That’s why I see it as a parallel market. I have a hard time seeing how folks being hurt by crazy rent prices are affected by this home being on Airbnb, any more than (say) a shortage of Ferraris would affect the price of minivans.
That’s entirely fair. I was making broad assumptions about ownership.
But it’s all intertwined. That home’s $3900/mo rent price 2 years ago is still indicative of the problem. Pre-covid that home would have been more affordable. The families that could have afforded it are pushed either to smaller homes or into rentals. Due to inflation across the board everyone’s getting pushed down into smaller or otherwise less expensive housing, of which there is limited supply.
It’s almost as if they don’t want people to use their service.
Decent hotels were cheaper than airbnb’s last time I went traveling.
If you want more than one room AirBnBs are a viable option. But then you can book them through booking.com just as well.
However for solo travelling you’re generally right, hotels are better.
Airbnb is a bane on our society and massive contributer to the housing shortage.
This company needs to get sued into oblivion with their shitty practices and non transparent charges.
It’s great playing a cleaning fee when the host expects you to strip the bed and take it to the laundry, empty the bins and leave the place spotless
Since they’re gonna keep the fee anyway, might as well floss yer ass on the sheets I guess!
Can’t scroll past an air bnb post without stopping in to say fuck air bnb for its role in the housing crisis. It should be banned unless it’s owner occupied.
100%
In my city it is banned unless owner-occupied, but it’s not enforced (along with other small crimes like bike theft). Since its not enforced, and everyone knows it, nobody adheres to the rule! Whole condo blocks, townhouses etc, all bought up for vacation rental now.
I guess it’s much like everywhere else, but hey, at least we have a rule!
As many other things on the internet, the original idea was great (renting your couch or a room in your house for tourists to accommodate and feel a local experience, but once it reached the masses, and speculative companies bought properties just to rent them and pay cheap labor to maintain the rooms, it became BS one more time.
No matter what those whose drive is pure economical touch, they always ruin it.
It’s also obvious that most of the savings in the US anyway go away when you’re running it as a business. AirBnB has basically turned into VRBO, but apparently sketchier.
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Money is not evil, it becomes evil when it becomes the primary purpose of doing something. Like if I choose to fix bikes in my home town the money is there to offset the costs but if I choose to make money fixing bikes in my home town then the purpose is entirely different.
Money doesn’t turn people evil. Humans are inherently greedy. Money is the scalpel that exposes our true self.
I really hate when people make this claim that humans are inherently greedy. I usually find that the people who believe in this are greedy people who want to believe that it’s natural. It’s a way for them to feel less guilty about a quality that can be deemed unsavory.
It doesn’t take much to find evidence that goes against this claim. Buddhist monks who take vows of poverty, teachers who teach to help children despite low salaries, family members who spend money to help other family members, true Christians who follow the footsteps of Christ, and the list can continue.
In addition, consider this, almost all of animalia on Earth takes only what they need. Lion prides aren’t hunting prey to the brink of extinction. Bees take only what they need to maintain a healthy hive. Historically, most Native American tribes only took from the land what they needed to live.
No, humans are not inherently greedy… Humans are inherently adaptable. This is something all animalia shares. And currently, our societal systems rewards those who make and hold onto the most money that they can. What this means is most of the “successful” people in our society are likely somewhat greedy. This causes some of us to believe that greed is necessary to survive, but most of us focus on being happy and having enough money to maintain that happiness. Money promises security, and security helps keep people happy; but you don’t need to be a multi-millionaire in order to be secure.
I dont think people are inherently greedy. We are taught from a young age the need for money which in turn makes people greedy. Ie nurture not nature
If people grew up on small farms with only a bartering system, i dont think people would hoard resources nearly as much.
It may be i want to see the best in people but i do believe most people would rather help others than not.
We are taught from a young age the need for money
Bartering isn’t any better than using fiat. Fiat allows economies to function at a level bartering can never approach. To say we ‘need’ money exposes your ignorance.
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But Capitalism
Here’s a hint, capitalism isn’t the problem. Capitalism allows us to do what we want, which means we can be greedy. Freedom is a two edged sword. One that I will gladly take cuts from while it enables our way of life. No one else is responsible for your safety but you.
Capitalism is definitely the problem here. When profit above everything is the goal and how the system operates it’s always going to lead to things like this. Capitalism doesn’t “enable our way of life”, advances in technology allowed that all capitalism does is ensure the majority of those gains are going to the people at the top instead of society as a whole.
Great, now fix where listings outside of your price filter keep appearing. And it’s not just places where there are so few options in one’s price range that it would otherwise be no results.
I have never encountered hotel rooms that are cheaper than the comparable local Airbnb offerings (at least in Canada and US). Where are these cheaper hotel rooms?
I’ve only ever found Airbnb prices to be more expensive while traveling in upstate NY and Vermont from Canada.
I have never seen a cheaper AirBnB offering. Where are these cheap offerings you speak of.
The last time I went to Ottawa, AirBnB was twice as much as the Marriott, plus you had to clean or pay a cleaning fee. Neither of those are things at a hotel.
Really? When I compare hotel rooms to whole houses on AirBnB, the hotel rooms are always cheaper. Are you comparing rooms on AirBnB to hotel rooms?
How does a room on AirBnB work? I guess I got the impression in media it was all whole apartments or houses.
Edit: Obviously you would search for a room. I mean for privacy / security, ingress, etc.
Idk, but it sounds pretty sketchy. There are couch surfing sites too, so I imagine similar to that.
I just would never use AirBnB. For a single guy, hotels have been better in basically all scenarios.
Why “before tax”, doesn’t that still confuse things?
The amount the owner often asks you to do yourself would make you think they should be paying you the fee.
Finally. I’ve seen listings where the cleaning fees double the full cost
Just checked and I was shocked to see how much any place was for a weekend… but I guess it is a weekend and I was looking at August… so there is that. Idk, I just assumed it wouldn’t cost $380 to rent someone’s RV that is across a street (not even abutting) from a lake for 2 nights…
Yeah… Unfortunately it’s the only decent website/app I know that let’s you rent nice secluded cabins to vacation in so I’m stuck using it
I heard vrbo was supposed to be another popular option, I haven’t used it much though yet.
Oh I’ll check it out! Thanks!
I will never understand how this is a fucking thing. Let alone so fucking much? Don’t want to have to pay to clean up after your guests leave? Then I guess you are in the wrong fucking business assholes.
After 10 years of users begging for it.
What a customer focused company, a reliable travel partner.
That’s how you know they’re starting to feel the pinch of people being fed up with them.
Pretty sure it has absolutely nothing to do with user complaints and everything to do with talk of regulation.
AirBnB fucking sucks now. There needs to be a term like “slum lords” for AirBnBs. They outsource so many properties to property managers and the house is disgusting PLUS they charge you the cleaning fee.
Just stick with hotels.
