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Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

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Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#471

Post by wodenokoto »

DenseComet wrote: post #238
casenmgreen wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a digital nomad. One luggage, no permanent home, been fifteen years. I used to use AirBnB all the time. They gradually become more and more, well, "large company". Governments gradually made AirBnB illegal or effectively illegal, largely or wholly killing off AirBnB in given cities, or countries. For example, it used to be about impossible to get into Amsterdam, because of rent control and renting regulations; no…

What have you been using in place of AirBnB?

Not parent, but bluegrounds and regular apartment hotels.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#472

Post by sfink »

MissTake wrote: post #385
klinquist wrote: post #375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First, note that Airbnb shows it "built into the rates" when you put in the number of days you are staying when making a reservation. See this article from 2022: https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/7/23444561/airbnb-total-pri... But to answer your question - because it is a fixed cost per stay. If you stay two nights @ $250/night, you'll pay an additional $200 cleaning fee (so that would be $350 night if I were to "buil…

First off: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/travel/airbnb-has-a-plan-... And secondly if you reread my post you’ll see that I think it’s morally wrong to charge a cleaning fee AND expect guests to clean as well. That’s double dipping.

I'm a guest, not a host.

I do not think of airbnbs as identical to hotels in every way possible, and I don't want them to be. I am ok with doing some basic cleaning tasks despite being charged a cleaning fee. I naively still consider airbnbs to be a little bit like sharing a space, with an implied social contract. I expect to do a little stuff that is low cost to me, high value to the host. I also know they're still going to have to pay a cleaner. And I really would prefer them to not unconditionally wash and dry the bedding for every single unused bed in the place. That's how our planet got into this mess.

I tend to be way more distrustful of previous guests than I am of the host. There are a lot of nasty and entitled people out there.

You have your perspective. Others of us share mine.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#473

Post by npteljes »

sschueller wrote: post #256

I find it sad how Airbnb has taken a market that worked (in many places) and re introduced all the problems that have been resolved through decades of regulations being put in place for hotels etc. Chances of finding a camera in a hotel room are near zero while at Airbnb you have no idea what kind of pervert the renter is. At this point prices for Airbnb have rissen so high why not get a hotel? It's like we don't lea…

I feel like this is a trend, and it comes in cycles. People do business directly, end up fucking each other over, regulation is desired. Such regulation is moat, it benefits larger players, so business concentrates. While this enables things like standards, it also becomes soulless and expensive, and people began to feel that business needs to be more direct. So, with technology, a new alternative is unlocked, people deal with each other again, discover the same outcomes. A case of history repeating itself, well, at least if you look from far enough.

Same happened with crypto, I feel, vs banks and stocks. The latter is regulated and saturated, and crypto is a wild west. So every scam is new again.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#474

Post by MissTake »

sfink wrote: post #472
MissTake wrote: post #385

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First off: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/travel/airbnb-has-a-plan-... And secondly if you reread my post you’ll see that I think it’s morally wrong to charge a cleaning fee AND expect guests to clean as well. That’s double dipping.

I'm a guest, not a host. I do not think of airbnbs as identical to hotels in every way possible, and I don't want them to be. I am ok with doing some basic cleaning tasks despite being charged a cleaning fee. I naively still consider airbnbs to be a little bit like sharing a space, with an implied social contract. I expect to do a little stuff that is low cost to me, high value to the host. I also know they're still…

I totally support your right to your view.

As I’ve stated before these are my personal beliefs - and they may have been influenced by my age. I come from a time long before Airbnb was even the merest glimmer of a thought in anyone’s mind, and base my expectations and experiences on that.

Whilst Airbnb started off as folks sharing their properties. It’s now a fully fledged business for many where “hosts” are now corporations who buy properties to let out (in 2021 the figure stood at 28%).

So that also makes me very jaded.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/biggest-airbnb-hosts-canada...

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#475

Post by mancerayder »

sschueller wrote: post #256

I find it sad how Airbnb has taken a market that worked (in many places) and re introduced all the problems that have been resolved through decades of regulations being put in place for hotels etc. Chances of finding a camera in a hotel room are near zero while at Airbnb you have no idea what kind of pervert the renter is. At this point prices for Airbnb have rissen so high why not get a hotel? It's like we don't lea…

>find it sad how Airbnb has taken a market that worked

Houses and apartments come with kitchens and back yards and balconies. Even in 2024, hotel rooms are miniscule and that stupid fridge is, at worst filled with 20 dollar boxes of cookies and liquor samples, and at best too small to fit a large bottle of water in.

I've grown to dislike Airbnb as a customer, but what you said is one-sided, and dismisses the disruption of the hotel model in a digital nomad age.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#476

Post by toss1 »

Good to see that they are also thinking at least one step ahead:

>> Hosts can’t use outdoor cams to keep tabs on indoor spaces, either, nor can they use them in “certain outdoor areas where there’s a great expectation of privacy,” such as an outdoor shower or sauna.

There are certainly hosts who would instantly put a camera in the tree looking in the windows.

They'll still do it, but they can't use the pictures without incriminating themselves.

The arms race continues, but slightly better for guests.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#477

Post by rchaud »

bombcar wrote: post #21
endisneigh wrote: post #17

In my experience Airbnb isn’t even cheaper, just has more “interesting” housing available. Back to the topic - removing listings isn’t a sufficient enough punishment imho. And how would you even prove it from the guests side? Take a picture I suppose? But how do you stop bad actors? Not sure what the correct solution is. Someone who wants to spy can purchase a spy camera which is very abundant these days.

AirBNB "when it started" was quite likely to find you quirky and cheap options. Now it's commoditized and a business, and the quirky and cheap options are few and far between. Part of the degradation is both the company, the sellers, and the buyers - back in the very beginning it wasn't well known and most of the customers were well behaved - I'm not sure that's entirely the case now, as the customer base has grown.

> most of the customers were well behaved

...because back then they were dealing with a single homeowner, where there was a certain level of mutual respect.

Once "Airbnb host" became synonymous with party houses, cleaning fees and multi-unit short term rental empires, that changed.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#478

Post by ghaff »

lupire wrote: post #466
geon wrote: post #454

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should raise prices until you are not quite sold out. If you are at max capacity, you are by definition not charging enough.

Almost no restaurant is ever sold out.

At peak times. There's a reason lots of restaurants have happy hours and lunch specials. And a weekday night tends to be less in demand than a Friday or Saturday.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#479

Post by ghaff »

throwaway2037 wrote: post #444
Doxin wrote: post #438

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For example, it used to be about impossible to get into Amsterdam, because of rent control and renting regulations; no supply of places to let. Then AirBnB came along, and everyone and their dog let places on AirBnB. You could get in, and at a good price. Then AirBnB was essentially banned, and now you can't get into Amsterdam. Slightly off topic, and not aimed at you in particular but at tourists in general: For t…

Will you say the same for Paris, London, Rome, Milan, New York, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Beijing, Tokyo, Hongkong, Singapore, and Seoul? All of those cities (and more!) fit this template: "X is expensive and overcrowded." Yeah, and they have lots of interesting culture so people want to visit. They are willing to pay the high prices and put up with crowds.

Beat on Instagram influencers all you like but popular cities tend to be popular for good reasons. I might go meh to a few cities on that list but quite a few of them would be high on my visit again list.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#480

Post by ghaff »

mancerayder wrote: post #475
sschueller wrote: post #256

I find it sad how Airbnb has taken a market that worked (in many places) and re introduced all the problems that have been resolved through decades of regulations being put in place for hotels etc. Chances of finding a camera in a hotel room are near zero while at Airbnb you have no idea what kind of pervert the renter is. At this point prices for Airbnb have rissen so high why not get a hotel? It's like we don't lea…

>find it sad how Airbnb has taken a market that worked Houses and apartments come with kitchens and back yards and balconies. Even in 2024, hotel rooms are miniscule and that stupid fridge is, at worst filled with 20 dollar boxes of cookies and liquor samples, and at best too small to fit a large bottle of water in. I've grown to dislike Airbnb as a customer, but what you said is one-sided, and dismisses the disrupti…

Houses and apartments come with a very mixed bag of amenities. You can research to a certain degree but...

I've actually be thinking about Airbnb for a fairly extended stay at one point. On the one hand, it seems like the right solution. On the other hand, it's a big commitment for essentially an unknown quantity.

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