Regulatory arbitrage of some sort seems to be involved in many recent digital business models. Whether it concerns or involves (lack of) data privacy regulation, "reinventing" labour contracts or undercutting taxation frameworks, it is a most cruel reminder of how poor the management of the commons. While many of the efficiencies and attractions of re-inventing various businesses for the "digital age" seem genuine, t…
It was there from the start, piracy was rampant in most companies that appear "serious" today, youtube is the most memorable.
Airbnb was amazing to start with, I stayed with some many interesting people and in interesting places. It's a shame that it's now so commoditised.
Yeah, but from the perspective of people actually trying to live in these places it's a cancer on the city. I personally know several people previously living in Amsterdam that left the city or parts of it simply because their day-to-day lives were getting disrupted by tourists taking over residential neighborhoods. They create a lot of noise, get drunk and high, vomit in the porches, leave trash everywhere etc. A ci…
For a while, I lived in an apartment complex that also rented out rooms on AirBnB. There was nothing in the lease allowing short-term subletting, and so I foolishly assumed that the complex avoided catering to short-term leases entirely. When you hear heavy stomping and noise directly above you, there's a huge difference in knowing who it is, and that they're likely to be receptive to stopping by the next day to ask for quiet. When it's a series of hotel guests, there's no reason for them to listen to you, nor would it have any impact on the next people to live there.
Buy to let has no effect on housing prices as long as rental yields are low. If the problem is tourism: ban tourists from the city. It doesn't make sense to ban short-term rentals but continue to build hotels and run advertising campaigns promoting tourism to Amsterdam
> It doesn't make sense to ban short-term rentals but continue to build hotels and run advertising campaigns promoting tourism to Amsterdam Why doesn't it? Why should tourists get to say in the same type of places as locals, often at the expense of locals? To me, it makes perfect sense to ban short-term rentals but still let tourists stay in hotels and places meant for them, without taking up real estate that can be…
Hotels are also real estate that could be used for residences.
Providing a service without following the laws. In this case, a hotel booking site without hotels. It's like uber, a taxi service without drivers/cars.
> In this case, a hotel booking site without hotels. It did not start out as a hotel booking service though.
How it started out is irrelevant, how it is today is what matters.
I needed a serviced apartment, and decided to use Airbnb because between Agoda and Airbnb, it was ever-so-slightly cheaper. When I searched it said the 100% refundable cancellation policy. So I made the booking, I adjusted the dates to 30 days, it didn't tell me that changing the date range to > 28 days changes the cancellation policy to an entirelly different policy that is dictated by the host. So when the Taiwan b…
So you agreed to a contract, didn't bother to read the fine print, this fired back and so your emotional response is schadenfreude... I believe you can do better than that
Hmmm.
During the search, it states that it’s 100% refundable upon cancellation.
Because I booked for 30 days it exceeds some apparent 28 day duration threshold where the cancellation policy is dictated by the host.
It only stated that it’s $0 refund on the cancellation screen.
So unsure how I read fine print where it’s stated1 way during booking but in reality there’s some hidden rule you find out when you cancel.
Amsterdam is a city being overrun by tourists and that is something local councils should be able to control. Locals have difficulty to find homes as prices are raising to high levels. https://nltimes.nl/2016/10/13/amsterdam-center-overrun-touri... https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/amsterdam-is... https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2020/01/amsterdam-house-prices...
I don't understand why houses should be excluded from the capitalistic process; If councils were doing their job and permitting sufficient housing construction, then high prices = more housing = everyone is happy. I'm no expert on Amsterdam, but checking your last article mentions rent control; why would property developers bother building new housing when the returns are artificially deflated by government action? T…
It was really weird walking in Amsterdam during summer this time around. Generally for past few year, I had seen explosions of tourists doing a weekend tours. There used to be barely any foot space to walk near dam square and shopping streets. This time I just was able to be make an appoint for Anne Frank museum a day before and simply walk in without a queue. This is the conundrum of tourism. If you too much tourist in the city then if feels like a Disney land, if there too little then there is no business. I wouldn't just blame Airbnb for the tourist explosion but in general there are lot of cheaper hotels, hostels which attract not so nice tourists. This summer was great for me but not that good for the local businesses. Balancing this ecosystem is I think pretty hard. One of the things i was thinking how you could solve would be purpose make navigating throughout the city difficult. That forces people to stay longer, therefore limits people who come for short haul.
If I were a western city, I would simply build enough housing for residents and visitors.
How about we have non-expensive hotels for visitors? Having the apartment next to you suddenly turn into a hotel with a rolving door of people who may or may not act like they're on holiday partying would drive most people nuts.
It's not just about the housing shortage but also the fact most people don't want to live in a hotel.