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How to Find Hidden Cameras in Your Airbnb

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Re: How to Find Hidden Cameras in Your Airbnb

#241

Post by mbostleman »

noxToken wrote: post #174
terryf wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is one of the reasons I don't stay in airbnbs - the system breaks the social contract. The reason hotels are more expensive is because they have to follow a bunch of rules that makes everyone's life a bit better by having insurance for risks and zoning and so on. However you have to pay a bit more. So, if you ever find yourself complaining "I wish people did something in a not the absolute cheapest and effortles…

>This is one of the reasons I don't stay in airbnbs - the system breaks the social contract. But it doesn't. People are breaking the social contract by not respecting the area. If I invite friends from out of town over for the weekend, is that breaking the social contract? If I'm going away for 2 weeks, and I have friends house sit for the duration, is that breaking the social contract? Tourists and visitors existing…

I'd also like to see some data on the loud and unruly complaints. Of course those that have had problems are going to be the loudest voices, but it's anecdotal. I have friends in a nearby suburban neighborhood (we live in a heavily seasonal tourist area) where, amazingly, the HOA allows vacation rentals and they have the opposite impression: they have told me that they have always heard that vacation renters are loud and annoying, but have never had a problem in their neighborhood. Also anecdotal of course. But makes me wonder if there's really anything to it.

Re: How to Find Hidden Cameras in Your Airbnb

#242

Post by ukyrgf »

sschueller wrote: post #9

I guess requiring a license to run a hotel or a cab company do have a reason after all. /s

With Uber, I need to have an account, the driver needs to have an account, we need to find each other in the app and both agree to the service, etc. With taxis, they have a license to just pick up any pedestrian and end the transaction with cash.

Re: How to Find Hidden Cameras in Your Airbnb

#243

Post by sleepychu »

noxToken wrote: post #174
terryf wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is one of the reasons I don't stay in airbnbs - the system breaks the social contract. The reason hotels are more expensive is because they have to follow a bunch of rules that makes everyone's life a bit better by having insurance for risks and zoning and so on. However you have to pay a bit more. So, if you ever find yourself complaining "I wish people did something in a not the absolute cheapest and effortles…

>This is one of the reasons I don't stay in airbnbs - the system breaks the social contract. But it doesn't. People are breaking the social contract by not respecting the area. If I invite friends from out of town over for the weekend, is that breaking the social contract? If I'm going away for 2 weeks, and I have friends house sit for the duration, is that breaking the social contract? Tourists and visitors existing…

> breaking the rules for a special event once in a while is no big deal.

This is the core of the problem. My neighbors across the hall might have a party from time to time and it's of course no big deal (espescially if they take the time to leave me a note with a way to contact them if it's causing a problem). My neighbors above me are always on their "special event once in a while" with 6 people in a 2 bedroom flat because today is their bachelorette, stag do, end of year blow out, holiday, party.

Re: How to Find Hidden Cameras in Your Airbnb

#244

Post by ilikehurdles »

learc83 wrote: post #213
nsajko wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> we require hosts to disclose all security cameras and other recording devices in their listings, and we prohibit any security cameras and other recording devices that are in or that observe the interior of certain private spaces (such as bedrooms and bathrooms), regardless of whether they’ve been disclosed.

Banning them only in bedrooms and bathrooms is insane. Common spaces aren't public spaces if you rent out the whole place. If you can't rent out your place without recording your renters, you dont need to be renting.

A host's desire to reach some profit margin shouldn't stomp on my right to privacy. Hosts should get insurance, set a security deposit, increase prices, and/or vet guests better if they're incapable of trusting the people they invite into a home. Cameras have no place inside of residences.

Re: How to Find Hidden Cameras in Your Airbnb

#245

Post by pacaro »

ppseafield wrote: post #219
mensetmanusman wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the type of NIMBYism that is contributing to the housing policy problems. Instead of using nuance and recognizing the good and bad, only the bad is focused on and the proposals are to throw it all out.

Generally NIMBYism involves push-back on policies that increase housing density to help more (and generally poorer) people live somewhere. AirBNB without regulation (and enforcement) doesn't help more people live in an area - in fact it removes long term residences from the market in favor of generating more revenue for existing property owners. Reducing the long term housing supply increases demand and prices, thus…

NIMBYism isn't only about housing, it refers to any pushback on a change that is generally agreed as good/useful/necessary on the basis that "sure we need this thing, but not where I live".

Currently we hear it a lot regarding housing density, but it's also a factor in locating sewage treatment plants, nuclear waste disposal sites, etc.

Re: How to Find Hidden Cameras in Your Airbnb

#246

Post by Symbiote »

alistairSH wrote: post #197
TeMPOraL wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I made an edit in my comment. Must be a US/Europe term difference. I don't know what the horror show you described is called in my part of Europe, but over here, hostels have nothing to do with shared fridge for 50 people, or limited privacy. They're just cheaper hotels. Kind of like a motel, except not optimized for cars, and usually in an apartment building.

Hmmm, unless things have changed since I backpacked western Europe, hostels in London|Barcelona|Florence|Paris are dorm-style with shared bathrooms and other facilities. So, it's not a "Europe" thing either. As a 40-something professional, I would never stay in a hostel - I'm too old for that crap. I want a nice bed, a small living room, and a small kitchen.

If it says "we have a lounge where you can meet people, and info on trips" it's a backpacker hostel.

If it says "we have a great atmosphere, and go clubbing every night" it's a party hostel.

If it says "we have family and dorm rooms, kitchens and car parking" it's probably for families or school trips.

There are also hostels used by people who are essentially homeless, though I've never seen one advertised. I knew someone who volunteered at one.

On hotels.com, what you're looking for is described as an "apart-hotel".

Re: How to Find Hidden Cameras in Your Airbnb

#247

Post by georgespencer »

JacKTrocinskI wrote: post #6

Or just go to a hotel! I have a condo in a building where most of the units are listed on Airbnb or Booking.com, quality of life for residents like me has been drastically reduced by noisy tourists that come for a weekend trip and have no regard for keeping it quiet or keeping the shared spaces clean. I hope more cities begin to ban Airbnb. Tourists belong in hotels not in buildings where families try to live their d…

Wouldn't it be better to find some way to incentivise good behaviour from people instead of banning something which often allows cheaper, more comfortable stays than hotels, whilst also providing homeowners with a way of making money efficiently from their property?

Re: How to Find Hidden Cameras in Your Airbnb

#248

Post by TeMPOraL »

impendia wrote: post #203
rhacker wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So let's say I buy a quiet home in a peaceful neighborhood. I've risked my life savings on this home so I can get work done, meditate, relax and not hear barking dogs, children scream, etc.. So you're saying I don't have the right to want those things? That new people coming into that kind of environment should be allowed to, even though there is nearly literally anywhere else in the f-ing world they can go. I'm not…

I certainly believe you have the right to want those things. And moreover, there are noise ordinances and related laws, and I do believe those should be enforced. But, I also believe that new people coming into that kind of environment should be allowed to. People step on each other's toes, and it can be annoying. But I still don't believe that people have the right to keep other people out.

> And moreover, there are noise ordinances and related laws, and I do believe those should be enforced.

They generally are. But it's not practical to enforce them in a condition of a lot of short-term rentals, where people rotate on a weekly basis. Before AirBnB, that might not have been a problem, but now that's trivially easy to become a pirate hotel anywhere in the world, people are pushing to ban such rentals in residential areas, because it's the only way to make the problem go away.

That's another negative side effect right here. Occasional vacation sublet by a thoughtful homeowner doesn't hurt anybody. But those cases become collateral damage of the effort to fight off AirBnB's pirate hotels.

Re: How to Find Hidden Cameras in Your Airbnb

#249

Post by alkonaut »

nemetroid wrote: post #233
alkonaut wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In many cities apartments are normally owned through some kind of co-op with a board that decides things. If that’s the case then I wouldn’t buy one in a building that allows more than temporary subletting. This is the case at least in Sweden, i.e it’s pretty hard to buy-to-let, and that’s normally a good thing (also for price stability).

My impression is that this form of apartment ownership ("bostadsrätt") is uncommon outside of the Nordic countries.

It is, but I think various forms of condo associations also exist in the US? The question is of course how far reaching their power is, e.g when it comes to violating rules of the association when subletting on Airbnb, can they be “evicted” (the property sold etc)?

Re: How to Find Hidden Cameras in Your Airbnb

#250

Post by TeMPOraL »

mbel wrote: post #139
TeMPOraL wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I started reading the comments in surprise, and immediately headed to English Wikipedia, which revealed the depth of the mistake I made.

Well, according to Wikipedia it's the same in polish: https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hostel ;)

In a state of even greater surprise, I accept that the word "hostel" may in general mean something else than what I came to expect from staying in places calling themselves "hostels".

(Curiously, the Talk page of that article suggests that Polish law doesn't even recognize the term "hostel", so all those places - both defined here and the kinds I stayed in - must really be something else.)

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