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

Unbundling Airbnb

peterfabor.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 148 posts

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#31

Post by breakfastduck »

zdkl wrote: post #21
mg wrote: post #18

Every time I travel, I spend insane amounts of time browsing AirBnB to find a suitable place. For example, I miss a "good table" option on AirBnB. I have to manually discard over 90% of the listings after looking at the images because there is no table suitable for work. That is so time-consuming. It's not that I want to work at home all the time, but still I need a proper table to put my laptop on. A proper chair an…

> I often wonder if one could build a business by creating a site that lists a small subset of AirBnBs that are manually vetted like this. s/AirBnB/lodging --> A travel agency?

It's hilarious to me how many people deep in tech think they've come up with a new idea but it's literally the entire proposition the new tech destroyed.

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#32

Post by erezsh »

mg wrote: post #18

Every time I travel, I spend insane amounts of time browsing AirBnB to find a suitable place. For example, I miss a "good table" option on AirBnB. I have to manually discard over 90% of the listings after looking at the images because there is no table suitable for work. That is so time-consuming. It's not that I want to work at home all the time, but still I need a proper table to put my laptop on. A proper chair an…

Another thing I always look for in the comments is quiet/noisy.

Sometimes I will look for that before even looking at the pictures.

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#33

Post by mg »

rjh29 wrote: post #24
mg wrote: post #18

Every time I travel, I spend insane amounts of time browsing AirBnB to find a suitable place. For example, I miss a "good table" option on AirBnB. I have to manually discard over 90% of the listings after looking at the images because there is no table suitable for work. That is so time-consuming. It's not that I want to work at home all the time, but still I need a proper table to put my laptop on. A proper chair an…

There is 'laptop-friendly workspace' as a checkbox, but not always accurate.

Yes, but every host who has a wonky, round kitchen table made from plastic checks those. So it does not help much.

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#34

Post by mg »

erezsh wrote: post #32
mg wrote: post #18

Every time I travel, I spend insane amounts of time browsing AirBnB to find a suitable place. For example, I miss a "good table" option on AirBnB. I have to manually discard over 90% of the listings after looking at the images because there is no table suitable for work. That is so time-consuming. It's not that I want to work at home all the time, but still I need a proper table to put my laptop on. A proper chair an…

Another thing I always look for in the comments is quiet/noisy. Sometimes I will look for that before even looking at the pictures.

Exactly! And it is also important to check for noise especially in recent reviews (which AirBnB does not let you find easily) to avoid staying next to a construction site.

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#35

Post by erezsh »

marcohernaiz wrote: post #29
jdrc wrote: post #3

or you can up-bundle airbnb. I would like to be able to pick "2 years in " as a package that includes everything from home to food/gym/car etc

I tested this concept with smarthubs.club (digital nomads living and traveling around the world with everything included). We started in Spain, and used 4 stars hotels to standarize the experience. Although it worked during the pandemic, hotels are now reluctant to change their business models, and they will not accept the required conditions to make the business model viable and expand the concept to other hotels/ci…

Hotels suck anyway. I can't imagine why anyone would want to pass through a reception and a bunch of corridors just to arrive "home", at a small room with bad furniture, and it isn't even cheap.

It might make sense if you just need a place to crash after a long day of traveling, but it's not a way to live.

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#36

Post by mg »

postsantum wrote: post #28
mg wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where would the "8/10" number come from?

From other users of this extension

So crowdsourced data.

Certainly worth a try.

The tough question is the business model of the whole thing.

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#37

Post by jdrc »

ackbar03 wrote: post #4
jdrc wrote: post #3

or you can up-bundle airbnb. I would like to be able to pick "2 years in " as a package that includes everything from home to food/gym/car etc

You mean real estate agent?

that s not what real estate agents do here. but it might work with some kind of "local agents" that arrange all things for you before and after , making the moving easy and seamless. there are relocation experts in many major cities, they all have differnt websites and all. someone should unite them under a gig platform (this was actually an idea for a website i made some time ago)

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#38

Post by baxtr »

breakfastduck wrote: post #31
zdkl wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I often wonder if one could build a business by creating a site that lists a small subset of AirBnBs that are manually vetted like this. s/AirBnB/lodging --> A travel agency?

It's hilarious to me how many people deep in tech think they've come up with a new idea but it's literally the entire proposition the new tech destroyed.

Nah, not true. Travel agencies controlled the access to the booking systems. That was their only role in the value chain. So basically, they would put in your dates, look for options and then make a booking with your detailed info.

Help, guidance, recommendations, curation were MOSTLY off the table. They are and were of course exceptions. But in the end, quality selection IS a new proposition.

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#39

Post by jdrc »

mg wrote: post #18

Every time I travel, I spend insane amounts of time browsing AirBnB to find a suitable place. For example, I miss a "good table" option on AirBnB. I have to manually discard over 90% of the listings after looking at the images because there is no table suitable for work. That is so time-consuming. It's not that I want to work at home all the time, but still I need a proper table to put my laptop on. A proper chair an…

airbnb needs to categorize listings by purpose rather than popularity. They have a huge network of users that have already solved the issues that other users will face.

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#40

Post by thelittleone »

mg wrote: post #18

Every time I travel, I spend insane amounts of time browsing AirBnB to find a suitable place. For example, I miss a "good table" option on AirBnB. I have to manually discard over 90% of the listings after looking at the images because there is no table suitable for work. That is so time-consuming. It's not that I want to work at home all the time, but still I need a proper table to put my laptop on. A proper chair an…

Hosts can remove bad reviews? Never worked in my years of hosting.
Post reply on HN