• Airbnb stock tumbled 14% in one day after the company predicted slowing demand.
  • Some former Airbnb diehards say they now prefer the consistency of hotels.
  • Airbnb said it might increase travelers’ ability to book hotel rooms through Airbnb.
  • @[email protected]
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    18910 months ago

    I stopped doing airbnbs a few years ago. Hidden fees, unreasonable rules and requirements. And now more expensive than most hotels. They just are worse now.

  • @[email protected]
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    4710 months ago

    That describes my family. We’ve done Airbnb and VRBO, but now pretty much stick to hotels. You know what you’re getting, price is competitive, to bdint have to wash your own bedding, and a lot of hotel workers are unionized. That’s all in addition to the awareness that every Airbnb house could be a home for someone who needs it. I won’t be sad if the Airbnb model folds and helps the housing market regain a bit of sanity

    • @[email protected]
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      610 months ago

      A decade ago I loved Airbnb. Fly to a major city, get to stay in someone’s condor or home for half the price of a hotel. Left your bowl out on the counter? No problem. Didn’t take out the trash? Why would you, the host does that. Didn’t make your bed and rearrange the pillows on the couch back to how they were before you arrived? That’s cool. Now you are looking at staying in a suburb of Austin for 2x the price of a hotel plus, you need to spend hours when you are trying to leave, cleaning up and you are going to be charged $300 anyway for a “cleaning fee” even though none of the linens smelled fresh when you arrived. The only reason I’ve used Airbnb in the past couple of years is because A) there was literally no other option for where we were vacationing or B) Our dog is traveling with us and we couldn’t find a hotel that will accommodate her.

  • @[email protected]
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    1310 months ago

    I won’t use them again. It’s morally questionable to support that business model during a global housing crisis.

  • @[email protected]
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    4810 months ago

    Airbnb was great when it all began, but now it’s overrun by corporate vultures that buy up housing and turn it into illicit hotels. Not to even mention, it costs about the same as a hotel these days and I’ve never stayed in a hotel that gives you a chore list.

    • @[email protected]
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      10 months ago

      Like every other company lol. I remember when Uber and Lyft were so much cheaper, too. It’s why I don’t want gamepass to take over all gaming, or streaming to take over all physical video media. It always starts out nice, but eventually…

      • Sir Arthur V Quackington
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        410 months ago

        THANK YOU for seeing the writing on the wall. I keep reminding people of this.

        Gamepass is unbeatable value. But if you give it market share you better believe after they jack the price a few more times, games willvstop providing a disc at all and just be “Gamepass exclusive” in the sense youvcan only subscribe to it, not buy it.

  • @[email protected]
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    6110 months ago

    That’s odd. Do people not want to pay hotel prices and a “cleaning fee” and also clean up the place before they leave? Or is it like they want to show up and the room they booked actually exists?

    • @[email protected]
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      1410 months ago

      No, people like to find out that there’s a fucking rooster farm across the road and that you have to park 3 miles away. It’s all part of the adventure.

    • @[email protected]
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      3710 months ago

      Yes exactly. Hosts got greedy, Airbnb let them, and this is the result.

      They could fix it pretty easily but the host would hate it.

      • Make the price that is displayed by default inclusive of all fees and charges, except taxes. So that stupid cleaning fee makes your property go down in the list.

      -Make the listing page clearly indicate whether or not the guest is required to perform chores. Make the filter aware of certain chores and allow a guest to screen out listings that require those. IE, ‘strip bed’, ‘do laundry’, ‘take out garbage’, ‘cleaning tasks’, ‘other’, etc. and have a really easy button at the top ‘filter out listings with chores’.

      If I’m paying half the price of a hotel then I don’t mind having to throw the sheets in the laundry. If I’m paying more than a hotel plus a cleaning fee, I want to be on vacation and act like it.

  • @[email protected]
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    310 months ago

    AirBnB is great for large groups, when all the hidden fees and cleaning duties can be split up between a dozen people. It actually works out to cheaper than a hotel, and it’s much more intimate to be together in one place with big private common areas. Plus, those big 6+ bedroom AirBnBs aren’t exactly hurting homebuyers by being off-market.

    But for just a few people? Hotels all the way.

  • @[email protected]
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    1210 months ago

    An extended stay hotel is predictable and more than good enough. AirBnB has a consistency problem. To include pricing and hidden fees.

  • @[email protected]
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    410 months ago

    Airbnb in North America is awful. More expensive than hotels, often dirtier, greedy hosts try to offload their own expenses to tenants. Hotels all the way!

    Oddly enough though, when my wife and I went to Japan, it was the opposite. All the Airbnbs we stayed at were much more affordable, way cleaner, and the hosts were incredibly kind and respectful. The hotels we stayed at were average. Not sure what’s keeping the service so nice over there, or if we just lucked out at 3 different places

  • bitwolf
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    10 months ago

    Airbnb doesn’t protect the tenant enough.

    I’ve been charged for a locksmith because the instructions state “leave the key on the table” but the dumbass landlord doesn’t have a spare key.

    I only find it helpful for renting homes during group trips. Otherwise I’ll always go to a hotel.

    Similarly, I will always use cabs in NYC, never an Uber.

  • Zerlyna
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    10 months ago

    I had a bad experience on AirBnB. Had tickets to see a band downtown Asheville. Labor Day Weekend. Found an airbnb in walking distance at a reasonable rate. Booked in April. Day before the stay, got a notice the host cancelled. No explanation. By that point it was $400 a night before taxes and parking for a hotel room downtown. Wound up not going. Ruined my weekend. Never again.

    • @[email protected]
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      510 months ago

      I had a similar experience with VRBO. My family booked way in advance to see the eclipse, and the host ended up cancelling it a couple weeks before the stay. No penalties for them. I suspect they realized they could charge way more than what we were paying.

    • @[email protected]
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      7610 months ago

      And zero penalty for the host. They only need to claim property damage. I’ve been burned twice by this, and once drove up anyway and the host rented it out on a diff platform for 3x. I played stupid and the guy told me he rented it through vrbo, the day before. I showed him my reservation that now showed canceled as of the day before.

      • Zerlyna
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        4410 months ago

        I have a feeling that’s what happened with mine too. It never occurred to me to have plans ruined like that. I’m hotel now all the way.

  • @[email protected]
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    2510 months ago

    I was only ever interested in these company’s services as a way to save money. They are no longer cheaper than a hotel, so I would rather stay at a hotel.