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Unbundling Airbnb

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Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#111

Post by skeeter2020 »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #100
silicon2401 wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This whole comment is just contributing to the toxic divisiveness that's permeating our country > or honestly the American flag this is especially disheartening. As a child of an immigrant family, one of the first things I'm going to do when I buy a house is proudly fly an American flag. I love our country and there are many reasons to be proud of it and its flag, and they're the reasons so many people want to immigr…

I am also a child of an immigrant family, but my prior probabilities put me on high alert around people who egregiously use the US flag (or flag of any nation at this point). Maybe putting one on your house is OK, but the more fanatic you seem, the more on alert I am. Most normal people I meet just use it on 4th of July or something, but if you are draping yourself, your business, your car in it, then I assume you ha…

It's important we don't confuse Patriotism with Nationalism. The former is about the individual and generally positive & good; the latter is faceless and evil.

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#112

Post by arcbyte »

arcbyte wrote: post #59
eezurr wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hotels have solved this problem. Each brand more or less offers the same quality across the US. You only need to see a few photos to know what options you have. Most of the rooms are the same design, same furniture. And its common for them to have desks and computer chairs. Consistency. Why are you still using airbnb?

Because for the same quality, hotels are easily 3x the price. Consistently.

I traveled extensively in 2021 and routinely I can find weekend stays on Airbnb, for the entire place, between 250 to 350. Two star Hotels (la quinta, HIE, etc) routinely want 400-600+. It's total insanity.

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#113

Post by splonk »

chronofar wrote: post #65
eezurr wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hotels have solved this problem. Each brand more or less offers the same quality across the US. You only need to see a few photos to know what options you have. Most of the rooms are the same design, same furniture. And its common for them to have desks and computer chairs. Consistency. Why are you still using airbnb?

They also very rarely have kitchens or washer or dryers for long term stays, or monthly discounts (advertised at least). If you’re just there for a few days stay over sure hotels are a fine choice, if you’re staying for a while they often won’t be particularly well suited, and finding one that is will take just as long as searching AirBnB. Like the person you responded to I also spend a great deal of time searching f…

Serviced apartments (and to a lesser extent extended stay hotels) try to cover that niche, but they're pretty thin on the ground outside of major cities. I think Sonder was also trying to do that kind of thing but I have no idea if they've expanded outside of SF and one or two other cities, or for that matter if they've shut down in the past couple years.

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#114

Post by yamazakiwi »

Spivak wrote: post #83
lom wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that the reason for the LBTQ+ friendly tag you can add in google maps?

Yeah, it's honestly really nice to see when businesses add it because I don't then have to worry about showing up and having that awkward "oh. uhh, okay. guess i'll leave" moment. The flip side is also sad but ultimately useful, I know to avoid shops that proudly display the Trump, Let's Go Brandon, Blue Lives Matter, Confederate Flag, Don't Tread on Me, the one weird flag that's like fuck Biden but written with guns…

This is a useful model. It's not perfect obviously, but I and a lot of my gay friends do the same thing. I'm not going to put myself in danger just because you feel that I need to test the waters with self-proclaimed "patriots" and their associates.

Sometimes you'll be ok temporarily in those spaces until one of their friends/family shows up who's not and it becomes a problem. Generally, you don't have to wait that long.

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#115

Post by cycomanic »

skeeter2020 wrote: post #111
lotsofpulp wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am also a child of an immigrant family, but my prior probabilities put me on high alert around people who egregiously use the US flag (or flag of any nation at this point). Maybe putting one on your house is OK, but the more fanatic you seem, the more on alert I am. Most normal people I meet just use it on 4th of July or something, but if you are draping yourself, your business, your car in it, then I assume you ha…

It's important we don't confuse Patriotism with Nationalism. The former is about the individual and generally positive & good; the latter is faceless and evil.

Seriously I don't see any difference between patriotism and nationalism. Patriotism to me is mainly a veil to hide behind, so that one can argue that the kind of nationalism one self practices is not really nationalism.

An example is that many even quite left leaning people in the US (but also other countries) often start criticism of US politics with "I love my country, I believe it's the best country in the world..." how is that not nationalistic? You literally are saying you find all other countries inferior. Also what does it mean to love your country? It's completely abstract, do you love the people (I assume you certainly don't love every one), do you love the politics? What concrete thing do you love?

Maybe I'm colored by growing up in Germany during a time when (for very good reason) patriotism was frowned upon because we saw what it lead to. Maybe it's because I've lived in 4 countries now and I feel much more like a world citizen (even though I liked living in some countries more than others), but I find the concept of patriotism just doesn't lead to anything positive.

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#116

Post by halostatue »

otterley wrote: post #92
saimiam wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a legal alien who used to live in the States, I would avoid any establishment showing the American flag. It just felt like the place would be loudly and proudly nationalistic and as an alien, I would be more welcome elsewhere.

I’m sorry you felt that way. For most fellow Americans I know, displaying our flag is not intended to convey anti-immigrant or racist sentiment. It’s more often intended as an expression of support for the U.S. as our home and for freedom. Canadians proudly do the same, FWIW.

Canadians mount flags far less frequently than Americans do, especially on private homes.

There are neighbourhoods where nearly every single house has a flagpole with the American flag in it. In my ~4km x 4km area where I walk my dog regularly, I can think of one house that has a Canadian flag—and that’s the Kwakwaka’wakw design (https://www.canadiannativeflag.ca).

There are occasional flag decals, but many of them are also Pride variants of the Canadian flag.

I see more Canadian flag decals on businesses (but usually in a group of decals, including pride flag decals, city decals, etc.) or maple leaf accents to business logos, in part because there is some signalling going on that "we are a Canadian-owned business" (even if it isn’t really true anymore, like Tim Hortons). I rarely see Canadian businesses flying a flag or mounting a flag in store.

Canadians often have Canadian flag patches or decals on luggage &c. when travelling so that it’s a signal that ”we aren’t American” because we often get confused with Americans and treated poorly because the Ugly American Tourist stereotype exists, with reason.

There’s likely to be a bit of a drop in flag flying because the signals have been sent by Canada’s white nationalists that the flag is theirs given their raucous and obnoxious displays in Coutts and Ottawa, which has left an even bigger distaste for overt nationalistic displays than Canadians usually show. (We are proud of being Canadian, but we’re not obnoxiously patriotic most of the time, and we are mostly disdainful of outright nationalists.)

There’s one other point: it is seen as downright unAmerican for a politician to not be wearing an American flag pin on their lapel. The Canadian equivalent is not wearing one of those crappy disposable Legion poppies in early November (we’ve seriously had politicians called out for wearing an enamelled poppy).

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#117

Post by WorldMaker »

chronofar wrote: post #65
eezurr wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hotels have solved this problem. Each brand more or less offers the same quality across the US. You only need to see a few photos to know what options you have. Most of the rooms are the same design, same furniture. And its common for them to have desks and computer chairs. Consistency. Why are you still using airbnb?

They also very rarely have kitchens or washer or dryers for long term stays, or monthly discounts (advertised at least). If you’re just there for a few days stay over sure hotels are a fine choice, if you’re staying for a while they often won’t be particularly well suited, and finding one that is will take just as long as searching AirBnB. Like the person you responded to I also spend a great deal of time searching f…

Many "extended hotel stay" chains offer amenities likes kitchens and laundry. Most have "Extended Stay" somewhere in their brand name. Marriott's relatively common brand in many major cities is Residence Inn. To my experience Residence Inns are quite reliable.

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#118

Post by gbear605 »

arcbyte wrote: post #112
arcbyte wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because for the same quality, hotels are easily 3x the price. Consistently.

I traveled extensively in 2021 and routinely I can find weekend stays on Airbnb, for the entire place, between 250 to 350. Two star Hotels (la quinta, HIE, etc) routinely want 400-600+. It's total insanity.

Where are you traveling that hotel rooms are that expensive!? Up and down the US east coast, there are plenty of perfectly good two-queen-bed rooms for under $100 per night. I recently stayed in downtown Boston in a boutique hotel for $130/night and the surrounding hotels were all under $175/night.

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#119

Post by daviross »

silicon2401 wrote: post #96
Spivak wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, it's honestly really nice to see when businesses add it because I don't then have to worry about showing up and having that awkward "oh. uhh, okay. guess i'll leave" moment. The flip side is also sad but ultimately useful, I know to avoid shops that proudly display the Trump, Let's Go Brandon, Blue Lives Matter, Confederate Flag, Don't Tread on Me, the one weird flag that's like fuck Biden but written with guns…

This whole comment is just contributing to the toxic divisiveness that's permeating our country > or honestly the American flag this is especially disheartening. As a child of an immigrant family, one of the first things I'm going to do when I buy a house is proudly fly an American flag. I love our country and there are many reasons to be proud of it and its flag, and they're the reasons so many people want to immigr…

It's odd to attach "contributing to toxic divisiveness" to someone pattern-matching, rather than the people creating the pattern.

It's all signaling & identification, so if you don't want people seeing a Thin Blue Line flag & going "maybe that's not somewhere I want to be", talk with the thin-blue-line people & get them to stop doing the things that make some people want to avoid them.

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#120

Post by silicon2401 »

daviross wrote: post #119
silicon2401 wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This whole comment is just contributing to the toxic divisiveness that's permeating our country > or honestly the American flag this is especially disheartening. As a child of an immigrant family, one of the first things I'm going to do when I buy a house is proudly fly an American flag. I love our country and there are many reasons to be proud of it and its flag, and they're the reasons so many people want to immigr…

It's odd to attach "contributing to toxic divisiveness" to someone pattern-matching, rather than the people creating the pattern. It's all signaling & identification, so if you don't want people seeing a Thin Blue Line flag & going "maybe that's not somewhere I want to be", talk with the thin-blue-line people & get them to stop doing the things that make some people want to avoid them.

Let's see if you're consistent

> if you don't want people seeing a predominantly black neighborhood & going "maybe that's not somewhere I want to be", talk with the people living in black neighborhoods & get them to stop doing the things that make some people want to avoid them.

Do you still think there's nothing wrong with prejudice, or in your words, pattern-matching?

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