Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

wired.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 573 posts

Re: Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

#81

Post by blahyawnblah »

JohnMakin wrote: post #43

I am not a chronic traveler but never understood the appeal of airbnb. Most low-mid to midrange chain hotels offer reasonably clean rooms for equivalent (or sometimes cheaper) price than airbnb after fees and I don’t need to play housekeeper either, or worry about weird owners, which seems to me like the whole nice thing about renting a short term place to sleep.

I'm not a huge fan of Airbnb but having a spot where 8 people can all hang out together without having to walk across a hotel can be nice.

Re: Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

#82

Post by OptionOfT »

satvikpendem wrote: post #67
JohnMakin wrote: post #43

I am not a chronic traveler but never understood the appeal of airbnb. Most low-mid to midrange chain hotels offer reasonably clean rooms for equivalent (or sometimes cheaper) price than airbnb after fees and I don’t need to play housekeeper either, or worry about weird owners, which seems to me like the whole nice thing about renting a short term place to sleep.

It has a kitchen, which comes in very handy when you want to save money and cook.

This is my number 1 reason. Eating out is expensive, and it is very hard to do so healthy.

Re: Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

#83

Post by firesteelrain »

elteto wrote: post #4
spicyusername wrote: post #3

reinvention of Airbnb I cannot for the life of me figure out why these companies don't just stick to their core. AirBnB provides an amazing service, the ability to painlessly book hotels that feel like houses. I guarantee you they are not going to be the next Apple or Microsoft, they're instead just going to dilute the value of their core business chasing things that aren't going to work, instead of focusing on their…

Because the writing is sort of on the wall for airbnb's current business model. Local regulations are finally catching up to them, limiting new listings or applying the same taxes and fees applied to regular hotels. And airbnb's are not cheaper anymore, and many times not any more convenient than a hotel, due crappy hosts and their excessive fees and regulations. Airbnb is still a great option if the location is unde…

You can get the same experience with VRBO. People list in both usually. AirBNB hasn’t cornered the market. Plus, VRBO or sites like VacationRentals pre dated AirBNB

Re: Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

#84

Post by pyaamb »

zouhair wrote: post #40
pyaamb wrote: post #35

As bad as they are I'd still want to have them around to keep hotel prices in check

No, I don't care about hotels or hotel prices. People need places to live. You can deal with Hotel prices a bit high. There are millions of people in rich countries right now having hard time paying rent or finding any.

FWIW I'm fully behind you on more housing and an especially aggressive tax on entities owning multiple properties as investments.

Re: Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

#85

Post by afavour »

theGnuMe wrote: post #58
afavour wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's exactly where Airbnb's business model collapses. They don't own or run the properties. They'll never be able to offer "it all just works" at any meaningful scale.

I think they can. It is pretty easy to start simply and experiment: AirBnB San Francisco. AirBnb Paris. AirBnB London. I'll give you an example. My wife is going to France with friends and we can pay money for a good experience but they are going 5-star and we can only afford 3-4 star which is where an AirBnB is also competitive. This sub-luxe market is wide open. If AirBnB isn't interested this is a YC startup for a…

You've not really addressed the core problem: they don't own the stuff. They are facilitating a transaction between you and the owner of the listing. It's very difficult to ensure any level of experience, especially without adding a ton of cost.

Re: Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

#86

Post by satvikpendem »

firesteelrain wrote: post #75
satvikpendem wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It has a kitchen, which comes in very handy when you want to save money and cook.

VRBO was around before AirBNB and it’s much better

Yeah it's pretty good as well, I found it to be more expensive with less selection though.

Re: Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

#87

Post by lmm »

donnachangstein wrote: post #49
jazzyjackson wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny but couches can be pretty comfortable, and in the days of Airbnb being a monetized couchsurf, you'd at least wake up to fresh coffee Safe place to stash your luggage is another matter, there's a dozen apps that cater to this need now too so if you are sleeping in the bus station at least you can put your baggage behind a locked door

> there's a dozen apps that cater to this need now Before someone declared a need for buggy and unreliable locker apps, for decades prior you could deposit something called a "coin" into a slot which would allow you remove an equally archaic object called a "key" from the lock, which you would deposit in your pocket and be on your merry way.

> Before someone declared a need for buggy and unreliable locker apps, for decades prior you could deposit something called a "coin" into a slot which would allow you remove an equally archaic object called a "key" from the lock, which you would deposit in your pocket and be on your merry way.

Back in the '90s, sure, but then some people flew a plane into a tower block and apparently this meant we need to pay $20 for some minimum wage dude to put our bags on a shelf that's only open 9-5 instead.

Re: Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

#88

Post by satvikpendem »

OptionOfT wrote: post #82
satvikpendem wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It has a kitchen, which comes in very handy when you want to save money and cook.

This is my number 1 reason. Eating out is expensive, and it is very hard to do so healthy.

Airbnbs with kitchens are especially useful in the US due to the cost of eating out, with tax and tip etc. In other countries I use them more for getting luxury places at a lower cost, such as in parts of Asia, where eating out is much cheaper.

Re: Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

#89

Post by s1artibartfast »

SoftTalker wrote: post #76
betaby wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even in very popular cities AirBnBs are less than 0.1% of the residential dwellings. AirBnBs have negligible effect on a rent.

What percentage are they of available residential rentals? That seems like the more relevant statistic.

2/3 of housing is owner occupied, so 0.3%

Re: Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

#90

Post by pyaamb »

lmm wrote: post #78
zouhair wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, I don't care about hotels or hotel prices. People need places to live. You can deal with Hotel prices a bit high. There are millions of people in rich countries right now having hard time paying rent or finding any.

And those countries have tried literally everything except making it legal to build more housing.

I think the issue is locals who are already property owners and long time local tax payers will have a greater say than newcomers on new developments in that area.
Post reply on HN