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Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

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Re: Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

#11
Here is how it should work. When people go on vacation they want an Apple like experience where it all just works. That is what AirBnB needs to sell. The only other person who probably understands this is Richard Branson (and Disney)... call it AirBnB Concierge (or even AirBnB vacations) to blend in the AmEx style angle. It's easy peasy Chesky, make it happen.

Re: Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

#12
post #4

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…

I will always love AirBnB for driving down prices by breaking the hotel cartels in major cities.

Over 10 years ago I rented a folding couch right off of Pearl ST. Boulder, CO.

I stayed in the living room of someones 1 bedroom apartment for $300 a night instead of 1k+ a night for the equivalent at what amounted to a travel lodge motel. The prices there were out of control, no inventory, just awful.

There are "plausible deniability" cartels everywhere, it's and it's always nice to see their grip on a region drop.

Re: Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

#13
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I will always love AirBnB for driving down prices by breaking the hotel cartels in major cities. Over 10 years ago I rented a folding couch right off of Pearl ST. Boulder, CO. I stayed in the living room of someones 1 bedroom apartment for $300 a night instead of 1k+ a night for the equivalent at what amounted to a travel lodge motel. The prices there were out of control, no inventory, just awful. There are "plausibl…

You paid $300 to stay on a fold out couch in a strangers living room. $1000 sounds like market price for a hotel room then.

Re: Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

#14

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…

[flagged]

Re: Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

#15
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I will always love AirBnB for driving down prices by breaking the hotel cartels in major cities. Over 10 years ago I rented a folding couch right off of Pearl ST. Boulder, CO. I stayed in the living room of someones 1 bedroom apartment for $300 a night instead of 1k+ a night for the equivalent at what amounted to a travel lodge motel. The prices there were out of control, no inventory, just awful. There are "plausibl…

Was there an event? I stayed at the historic Boulderado hotel for 350/night 13 years ago when Airbnb was getting started.

Re: Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

#16

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…

     I cannot for the life of me figure out why these companies don't just stick to their core.
Because those CEO are unhappy. They want more in their life, they want everything; so that maybe then, they'll be fulfilled.

The path to success is made by many failures; and when you get to success, you can't take the success, you can't be 'done', you need more success. It's a long form of chasing the next dopamine rush.

He probably hasn't felt more alive than the week he threw everything in the blender. It's a mix of issues that starts with childhood and leads to a life of addiction for more.

On the cover of a magazine, it's an inspiring story, but deep down it's a sad human trait.

All power to him though, it sure makes for interesting stories.

Re: Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

#17
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I will always love AirBnB for driving down prices by breaking the hotel cartels in major cities. Over 10 years ago I rented a folding couch right off of Pearl ST. Boulder, CO. I stayed in the living room of someones 1 bedroom apartment for $300 a night instead of 1k+ a night for the equivalent at what amounted to a travel lodge motel. The prices there were out of control, no inventory, just awful. There are "plausibl…

You could have saved yourself $300 and slept on a bench in the central bus station for approximately the same level of accommodation.

Re: Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

#18

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…

TLDR > It is also revitalizing an unsuccessful experiment the company began in 2016: offering bespoke local activities, or what it calls “experiences.” The next stage, launch date unspecified, involves making your profile on Airbnb so robust that it’s “almost like a passport,” as Chesky puts it > After that comes a deep immersion into AI: Inspired by his relationship with Altman, Chesky hopes to build the ultimate ag…

Luma is on it's way to being the new meetup

Re: Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

#19

Here is how it should work. When people go on vacation they want an Apple like experience where it all just works. That is what AirBnB needs to sell. The only other person who probably understands this is Richard Branson (and Disney)... call it AirBnB Concierge (or even AirBnB vacations) to blend in the AmEx style angle. It's easy peasy Chesky, make it happen.

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.

Re: Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

#20
It amazes me that companies like AirBnB get huge valuations and user bases when the fundamental feature of searching for listings is phenomenally atrocious.

- Paginated results that reset and call an API for new results when the map is moved (even to a subset of the initial call such as in a zoom).

- Inability to change pagination size.

- Inability to hide listings you aren't interested in.

- Map only displaying listings on the current page, which change dramatically per page.

- Page changes (the thing you do more of than comparing options), take way too long.

Maybe it's a real-estate website related issue as the two main property sites in Australia (Domain and RealEstate) as also garbage. I have a feeling it's also designed this way to prevent scraping.

Can someone at AirBnB please sort these basic QoL things out.

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