As this topic becomes more and more mainstream, I look forward to the numerous Twitter posts sure to come from Airbnb employees about the taxing social implications that come with working at Airbnb, how it weighs on their conscious, and and their ultimate decision to follow what’s right and leave. But only after their RSU’s have vested, of course.
More seriously, I’ve been very disappointed with Airbnb recently. I spent the last two weeks in Manhattan. Every night at the radio city apartments/hotel (a nice, if average, hotel right near Times Square, 49th x 7th) was cheaper than all surrounding Airbnb’s, with the exception of one, which for several days listed cheaper at $90/night. As luck would have it, that Airbnb was infested with bedbugs, and I got a full refund from Airbnb after documenting the photos with proof.
Years ago, it used to be both cheaper and often higher quality to book stays via Airbnb. Nowadays, the majority that are priced reasonably (ie within $100 of local hotels) feel like high-priced hostels.
Another issue: each listing will almost always include an exorbitant cleaning fee, to the tune of 20-X% of the actual listing (I saw multiple rooms advertised around $150-200 with cleaning fees of $100).
In my opinion, Airbnb came to disrupt the hotel market, but hotels have caught up, and now they’re just disrupting communities.
I wouldn't mind the cleaning fees if it wasn't for the fact that of the 3 AirBnBs I've stayed in, 2 of them were not terribly clean despite the host charging a $200 cleaning fee for what was essentially a small 2 bedroom apartment with kitchenette.
I have a suspicion this fee is just pocketed by hosts who just wipe down the kitchen/bathroom, give the toilet and shower a quick clean, change the linens, and then give the floors a quick vacuum. I still find tons of dust on shelves, dust bunnies on floors and in light fixtures, finger prints on mirrors, dirty dishes in cabinets etc. I am by no means super anal about this stuff but if you're going to charge me $200 bucks for just the cleaning I'd expect something more thorough.
And aren’t cleaning fees not representing in that daily rate when viewing the the listings? It’s a way to get a lower daily rate but when the total rings it’s now higher than other listings.
Cleaning a 1bdr. apt, is about 80-100 in NYC. Hotels have dedicated staff, that makes it economically cheap/feasible. AirBnb cleaning makes sense if you stay for a whole week, or more, and that fee gets amortized, otherwise, for short term stays, Airbnb is not cost effective.
I think AirBNB itself is at fault for the price inflation. They advise their hosts as to market prices using some sort of calculator (source: friend who runs an AirBNB) and the output seems to be absurd, but when everyone in a market follows it, it becomes the market. AirBNB is relying on the idea that it is big enough that the other guys (VRBO, etc) will follow suit since everyone wins. I have been shocked recently to see how much cheaper good quality hotels are than AirBNBs.
YMMV on that one, especially if you travel with others. I rented a nice apartment just outside the center of raleigh for about $115/night including fees. it had a full kitchen, living room with futon, and two bedrooms. I really doubt we could have booked comparable accommodations for three people at anything like that price in a hotel.
If people are willing to pay, it becomes the price, and people are definitely paying. Anecdotally from my friends who host, increasing prices leads to more 5 star reviews and fewer incidents as you get more affluent guests.
I used to love AirBNB. As it became more popular the quality plummeted.
On Booking.com - I have very rarely been extremely disappointed when I arrive at a hotel and it does not meet expectations. On AirBNB - it's like 50:50. Additionally, there wasn't much supply of entire apartments / houses on places like Booking.com a few years ago. Now there is plenty.
I avoid AirBNB now. It's just not worth the uncertainty for me. When I go on a vacation - the last thing I want is to be disappointed.
I think the reason why AirBnb in its early days was so cheap is that there were more hosts who let for fun and to socialise. Now that the novelty has fizzled out, the market is left with hosts that let for profit, with prices now reflecting the true costs of operating a hostel.
Same thing can be said for ride sharing platforms.
I think a lot about cleaning solutions because of this. You can't have shortstay accommodation without cleaning, you can't currently clean without human involvement, labour costs, etc. $100 works if you're exit-cleaning after a three month rental, but every 1-2 nights, it's insane. And Airbnb properties don't have the efficiencies of hotel cleaning teams (who will have targets/policies like 20 minutes to clean a room, no transport costs, etc).
It's a bigger problem for remote accommodation where staff are hard to find. I recently stayed in glamping tents in a national park where the operator had to drive 40 minutes each way on a rough dirt track to clean and reset the tents. Having to do that a few times a week would really knock down the enthusiasm.
Solve some of the cleaning problem and you have a huge market to disrupt.
As one example, beds and sheets and pillows and the like have barely changed in decades. Is there a workable format that would be quicker to deal with and acceptable to users?
Hotels often use a technique called triple sheeting which uses 3 flat sheets: one goes on the mattress cover to simulate a fitted sheet, one goes between the guest and duvet, and one goes on top of the duvet.
Hotels normally don’t wash the comforter between each guest (gross), and only wash the 3 sheets which are quick to strip and replace for housekeepers.
The downside is that for stays longer than a few days the two sheets covering the duvet tend to come apart. So this is better for short stays which most hotels specialize in.
> Another issue: each listing will almost always include an exorbitant cleaning fee, to the tune of 20-X% of the actual listing (I saw multiple rooms advertised around $150-200 with cleaning fees of $100).
That seems about right to me. The last time I had a professional cleaner clean my (at the time, 950 sq ft) home, around 5 years ago, it cost $100, plus tip. I'm sure costs have gone up since then, and IMO most Airbnb cleanings I've seen are more thorough than I remember that house cleaning being. I also expect cleaning costs have gone up due to COVID requirements.
As an aside, I think the percent-of-listing measure you're using doesn't make sense. It costs the same amount to clean a place if you stay there for one day or five. If the cleaning cost is going up as you add more days to a reservation, then that's weird and it sounds like the person managing the listing is doing something sketchy.
> In my opinion, Airbnb came to disrupt the hotel market, but hotels have caught up
I do think Airbnbs are still better than hotels in some situations. Hotels are just not all that fun if you have a bunch of friends who want to go on vacation together and hang out all the time, but common vacation spots will usually have plenty of rentals that sleep 8 or 10 or 12 or whatever (and will likely cost less than 4 or 5 or 6 hotel rooms).
Hell, even for a family of four, an Airbnb can be a much better experience. Sure, you can get a multi-bedroom suite at a hotel, but they're usually going to cost you more than an equivalent 2-bedroom Airbnb rental. Growing up, I remember my parents cramming all four of us into a small hotel room with two double beds, and it was not a pleasant experience at all.
When I'm traveling and am spending a week or more somewhere, I often enjoy cooking sometimes. Hotels usually don't offer rooms with kitchens, and those that do usually have crappy "efficiency" kitchens. Nearly all Airbnbs have a kitchen, and that usually doesn't add to the price like having a kitchen in a hotel room does. And even if I do go out for dinner, it's nice to always have a fridge to store leftovers, and a microwave or even stove/oven to use to reheat them. A hotel's minibar fridge is often not up to that task, and good luck reheating things.
> More seriously, I’ve been very disappointed with Airbnb recently. I spent the last two weeks in Manhattan. [...]
Definitely agree with you on Manhattan. For whatever reason, hotels tend to just be a better, cleaner, often cheaper choice there (I have a trip planned there that's coming up soon, and I've already booked a hotel). But I've done Airbnb in a couple dozen cities, both in and out of the US, and by and large the experience has been better than a hotel at the same price.
More seriously, I’ve been very disappointed with Airbnb recently. I spent the last two weeks in Manhattan. Every night at the radio city apartments/hotel (a nice, if average, hotel right near Times Square, 49th x 7th) was cheaper than all surrounding Airbnb’s, with the exception of one, which for several days listed cheaper at $90/night. As luck would have it, that Airbnb was infested with bedbugs, and I got a full refund from Airbnb after documenting the photos with proof.
Years ago, it used to be both cheaper and often higher quality to book stays via Airbnb. Nowadays, the majority that are priced reasonably (ie within $100 of local hotels) feel like high-priced hostels.
Another issue: each listing will almost always include an exorbitant cleaning fee, to the tune of 20-X% of the actual listing (I saw multiple rooms advertised around $150-200 with cleaning fees of $100).
In my opinion, Airbnb came to disrupt the hotel market, but hotels have caught up, and now they’re just disrupting communities.