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Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

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Re: Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

#151

Post by s1artibartfast »

subpixel wrote: post #28
theGnuMe wrote: post #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.

People want a hotel like experience where it all just works. Airbnb had novelty, inventory, and savings as its special sauce. Nowadays we all know what a sub-par, overpriced Airbnb is like and it’s worse than a hotel because it’s usually far more inconvenient. So we’re back to a hotel like experienced as the desire: convenience, available, and competitively priced.

I would like a pony and a million dollars, but the real world is full of tradeoffs.

Vacation rental fulfil a niche that hotels do not, and I don't understand people who view them as substitutes. The fewer people use them the better. More for me and at better prices.

That said, Im probably not the median consumer. When I vacation, hotels cover almost none of my needs.

Im looking for a private beachfront Jacuzzi, hobbit hut in the forest, or someplace to party with family and kids.

I cant imagine using one as a hotel substitute.

Re: Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

#152

Post by xdfgh1112 »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #130
fasthands9 wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. In the long run there was never a way for individual hosts to compete with hotels on price. Hotels have economy of scale so of course they are going to be better bang for the buck in places where both are options. I think airbnb is still the better option in many situations - such as when you are willing to pay a premium to be in nature or you going on vacation with 6+ people. I don't really see how bette…

> there was never a way for individual hosts to compete with hotels on price. That way was to skirt laws around obtaining hotel permits and zoning and paying all the relevant hotel taxes and business insurance.

Exactly. Airbnb was much cheaper than hotels when it started because of this.

Re: Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

#153

Post by darkerside »

fasthands9 wrote: post #124
dreamcompiler wrote: post #93

Airbnb made the same mistake Google did: They screwed up their core service. I used to be a steady ABB customer but now hotels are almost always cheaper, offer better service, and are more predictable. Not to mention that hotel websites are typically easier to navigate and contain a lot less React-sludge that makes every click take forever to respond.

I disagree. In the long run there was never a way for individual hosts to compete with hotels on price. Hotels have economy of scale so of course they are going to be better bang for the buck in places where both are options. I think airbnb is still the better option in many situations - such as when you are willing to pay a premium to be in nature or you going on vacation with 6+ people. I don't really see how bette…

The only way to compete against the economy of scale was the original thesis of AirBnB. People were renting out their primary homes to bring in an extra stream of income. It was never going to be mainstream profitable to buy a normal apartment and rent it out on AirBnB.

Re: Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

#154

Post by buerkle »

fellowniusmonk wrote: post #12
elteto wrote: 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…

I find this hard to believe unless some major event was occurring while you were staying in Boulder and you purchased at the last minute.

Re: Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

#155

Post by bcoates »

Spooky23 wrote: post #146
aibrother wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Airbnb for X" startup ideas, now done by Airbnb lol

Perhaps they can use AI to create bespoke services?

Maybe I can rent other people's compute and prompt engineering, a sort of uber-for-openai-for-airbnb-for-x operation

Re: Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

#157

Post by jrowen »

levocardia wrote: post #139

Maybe I'm in the minority but I've generally had very good -- or at least, "good as I expected" -- experiences at AirBnbs, even recently. Sometimes I've stayed with rich friends who book nice places, and the experience is, as expected, very nice. Many other times I have stayed at bottom-of-the-barrel places, which were, as expected, bottom of the barrel flophouses. But tolerably so, and true to the advertisement (fun…

I think the core value prop of Airbnb is (or should be) to provide a different experience than a hotel. It may have been "cheaper than a hotel" at one point and idk what the numbers are on how people are using it but in my experience it excels for larger groups or for people just looking for a more house-like experience than a hotel. Being able to stay in a nice house with a bunch of friends in any city is an amazing thing they made a lot more accessible.

Doesn't really make a lot of sense to me to just shop on price and then compare the experience to booking a hotel room, it's totally different.

Re: Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

#158

Post by tdeck »

monster_truck wrote: post #106

Have had some insanely bad experiences with AirBNB and swore them off forever. People listing mcmansions they cant sell in a state of disrepair, lies about amenities and internet. Had to relocate several people repeatedly in the middle of the pandemic lockdown and it took months for the refunds to process. Had another host try to pressure me into a cash deal and then claim damages to extract fees when I turned it dow…

> I now exclusively use craigslist and other sites that allow you to directly deal with property owners

You rent vacation rentals on Craigslist? That's the first I have heard of this even being a thing.

Re: Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

#159

Post by jen729w »

> Chesky figured that Airbnb’s experience in attractively displaying homes, vetting hosts, and responding to crises could make it more trustworthy than competitors and therefore the go-to option for virtually anything.

Online reviews are totally broken. I recently spent a week at an Airbnb in the Gold Coast, Australia. The property was rated 5* but was tired and worn. The photos must have been 5 years old before a soul set foot in the place.

I rated it 3*. Shortly after, I got a phone call from the owner. He had my number because I'd had to call him because one of the two toilets in a five-bedroom 14-guest 'villa' was blocked. As in, overflowing with fecal matter blocked.

He essentially tried to bribe me to raise my review. I refused. The house is currently listed as 4.9* with those same photos. A preposterous exaggeration of its quality.

Re: Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

#160

Post by Quarrelsome »

Sorry, but what in gods name is this passage:

> Despite never meeting Jobs, “I feel like I know him deeply, professionally, in a way that few people ever did

As opposed to all the people that did actually met him, or worked for him?

This is such a painfully gushing puff piece and this sentence is peak cringe that just makes the man sound mentally ill.

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