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Airbnb Is Spending Millions of Dollars to Make Nightmares Go Away

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Re: Airbnb Is Spending Millions of Dollars to Make Nightmares Go Away

#91

Post by yojo »

Mizza wrote: post #52

Is anybody else kind of over AirBnb? I loved it for a while, but now prices have gone way up, the "cleaning fees" are exorbitant and make navigating/browsing a minefield, and I've had a few sketchy incidents (which were, admittedly, a side effect of choosing the cheapest place I could find), including one where the apartment manager came in, went through our clothes and _stole the bed_. I've found myself just using h…

One option for saving a few bucks on fees is to try to disintermediate on booking. Especially where I tend to look (Oregon coast), most properties are run by a management company that will include their name in the listing. Once I find something I like on AirBnB, I search the property name on Google and typically save 10+%.

Re: Airbnb Is Spending Millions of Dollars to Make Nightmares Go Away

#92

Post by antihero »

WhompingWindows wrote: post #66
Mizza wrote: post #52

Is anybody else kind of over AirBnb? I loved it for a while, but now prices have gone way up, the "cleaning fees" are exorbitant and make navigating/browsing a minefield, and I've had a few sketchy incidents (which were, admittedly, a side effect of choosing the cheapest place I could find), including one where the apartment manager came in, went through our clothes and _stole the bed_. I've found myself just using h…

Hotels are more reliable and organized, but I prefer AirBnB in general. I like feeling a part of the neighborhood or city, I like the home-y vibe of most AirBnBs. Hotels in contrast are a bit sterile and cookie-cutter, for obvious reasons, and some may prefer this vibe. Different strokes for different folks.

> I like feeling a part of the neighborhood or city,

As long as you know that you're getting those cute feelings at the expense of contributing to screwing everyone that actually lives there (who isn't a landlord) by contributing to a market that creates a situation ever more hostile and unaffordable to renters.

Re: Airbnb Is Spending Millions of Dollars to Make Nightmares Go Away

#93

Post by mediaman »

halfmatthalfcat wrote: post #69
ok_coo wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know if there's a special tax in place in Chicago, but AirBnbs have been almost double the price of hotels recently. Uber/Lyft have been super expensive as well. I wonder if we're seeing that these company's original pricing model was unsustainable, or if something else is going on.

As a Chi resident, Uber/Lyft is super expensive because lack of drivers due to COVID and carjackings. A couple months ago people would call Uber/Lyft just to jack the car and it scared a lot of drivers away.

Wouldn't that leave a fairly obvious trail? You have to enter your credit card details to call an Uber...

Re: Airbnb Is Spending Millions of Dollars to Make Nightmares Go Away

#94

Post by acheron »

francisofascii wrote: post #23
miked85 wrote: post #3

I guess I am in the minority, but I have never understood this business. You would have to pay me to stay in someone else's house vs a hotel.

So you would never stay in a beach house, lake house, or mountain lodge? Also in urban environments, the locations of private houses are sometimes much better: near parks, neighborhoods, restaurants, etc.

I remember doing house rental vacations with my family in something like 1987. Why do so many people seem to think Airbnb invented this? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills.

Re: Airbnb Is Spending Millions of Dollars to Make Nightmares Go Away

#95

Post by dorchadas »

WhompingWindows wrote: post #66
Mizza wrote: post #52

Is anybody else kind of over AirBnb? I loved it for a while, but now prices have gone way up, the "cleaning fees" are exorbitant and make navigating/browsing a minefield, and I've had a few sketchy incidents (which were, admittedly, a side effect of choosing the cheapest place I could find), including one where the apartment manager came in, went through our clothes and _stole the bed_. I've found myself just using h…

Hotels are more reliable and organized, but I prefer AirBnB in general. I like feeling a part of the neighborhood or city, I like the home-y vibe of most AirBnBs. Hotels in contrast are a bit sterile and cookie-cutter, for obvious reasons, and some may prefer this vibe. Different strokes for different folks.

Have you thought about how the things you like out of AirBnB come at the expense of those things for actual residents of the city? Each home that's in AirBnB is one that's not on the long term market for locals, pushing them further and further out for tourists' convenience.

Re: Airbnb Is Spending Millions of Dollars to Make Nightmares Go Away

#96

Post by bellyfullofbac »

himinlomax wrote: post #41
dannyw wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's bigger issues IMO, based on the article: * Accepting hosts with prior criminal charges for battery, who then proceeded to sexually assault a guest. * Under-resourcing trust and safety teams until it became such as big problem, the CEO had to step in. * Choosing to lay-off the entire Portland trust and safety team during COVID, telling them to relocate to another country (Canada) during a pandemic (!!) at lowe…

> * Accepting hosts with prior criminal charges for battery, who then proceeded to sexually assault a guest. The article says the offender had been charged but not convicted; what are they supposed to do? Know better than the justice system? And then they'd have complaints that people who have been wrongly accused at some point and found innocent, many of whom are likely to be minorities, are denied business by AirBN…

AirBnB should just implement its own social scoring system. Apply it to everyone so they already have data for future hosts and guests.

/s but I kinda want to see such a tech and head-explosions of the announcement.

Re: Airbnb Is Spending Millions of Dollars to Make Nightmares Go Away

#97

Post by lupire »

aaomidi wrote: post #88
staticautomatic wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably bigger than you’d think. My family occasionally traveled with a babysitter when I was a kid and at the time we were thoroughly middle class.

Surprise! You were not middle class.

Eh, an au pair from overseas provides childcare in exchange for rent and food, and comes on vacations.

If you aren't a stay at home parent, you can use some of the money you earn at your job to pay for child care.

Re: Airbnb Is Spending Millions of Dollars to Make Nightmares Go Away

#98

Post by staticautomatic »

aaomidi wrote: post #88
staticautomatic wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably bigger than you’d think. My family occasionally traveled with a babysitter when I was a kid and at the time we were thoroughly middle class.

Surprise! You were not middle class.

What’s really surprising is that a stranger on the internet is an authority on my childhood and family. What else can you tell me?

Re: Airbnb Is Spending Millions of Dollars to Make Nightmares Go Away

#99

Post by [deleted] »

halfmatthalfcat wrote: post #69
ok_coo wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know if there's a special tax in place in Chicago, but AirBnbs have been almost double the price of hotels recently. Uber/Lyft have been super expensive as well. I wonder if we're seeing that these company's original pricing model was unsustainable, or if something else is going on.

As a Chi resident, Uber/Lyft is super expensive because lack of drivers due to COVID and carjackings. A couple months ago people would call Uber/Lyft just to jack the car and it scared a lot of drivers away.

[deleted]

Re: Airbnb Is Spending Millions of Dollars to Make Nightmares Go Away

#100

Post by lupire »

himinlomax wrote: post #41
dannyw wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's bigger issues IMO, based on the article: * Accepting hosts with prior criminal charges for battery, who then proceeded to sexually assault a guest. * Under-resourcing trust and safety teams until it became such as big problem, the CEO had to step in. * Choosing to lay-off the entire Portland trust and safety team during COVID, telling them to relocate to another country (Canada) during a pandemic (!!) at lowe…

> * Accepting hosts with prior criminal charges for battery, who then proceeded to sexually assault a guest. The article says the offender had been charged but not convicted; what are they supposed to do? Know better than the justice system? And then they'd have complaints that people who have been wrongly accused at some point and found innocent, many of whom are likely to be minorities, are denied business by AirBN…

They could disclose the charges and let guests decide.
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