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Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

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Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#491

Post by jlarocco »

JoshTriplett wrote: post #219
jlarocco wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We already have a solution, and they're called hotels. Society forgot why hotels were created, so now we're re-learning it via AirBnB.

"Hotels" does not solve "I'd like to stay in an isolated cabin in the countryside", or various other things that are readily available on vacation rental sites. (AirBnB has lots of other problems, but "hotels" alone are not a complete replacement for what it provides.)

Fair enough, hotels don't fully cover the entire AirBnB usecase, but cabin rentals and bed-and-breakfasts in the country have been around forever, too.

My point is, commercial rentals exist because of the problems AirBnB are having. They're trying to "disrupt" the industry by not providing the protections and safeguards to save money, and basically running into all of the problems that led to the commercial rental industry in the first place.

Their innovation is collecting a fee while pushing the dirty work off to unsophisticated 3rd party property owners.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#492

Post by matsemann »

MissTake wrote: post #456
matsemann wrote: post #452

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If they can handle this, why can’t you? Ohh my god, come on, you've been explained this a hundred times by now. It's not that I can't handle it. It's that it's fairer for everyone if the price is set based on the actual cost. My cabin costs $200 a night to rent, and $100 to clean. If you stay 2 nights that's $500 total, or $250 a night. Do you suggest I just should set the price to $250? But what then for those ren…

“And I don't care what a cabin on the other side of the world does” And there’s the rub. You’re getting very emotive about the subject whereas I am approaching it simply as a customer experience issue. When I book the cabins I get a cheaper price the longer I stay. The issue would therefore seem to be that the Airbnb doesn’t provide you the flexibility you desire. The cabin’s I’ve stayed at are owned by different peo…

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Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#493

Post by jerlam »

closeparen wrote: post #489
klausa wrote: post #414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They don't mean upgrading to a suite at a "regular" hotel; there are chains specializing in renting out "home-style" rooms ("extended-stay" is the industry term, I believe), and I've seen them referred to suite hotels sometimes. The biggest chains have these sub-brands in the space, based off three minutes of googling/wikiing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residence_Inn_by_Marriott https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stayb…

I've never seen an extended-stay hotel in a neighborhood that I would visit for leisure. They're usually in pretty ugly, utilitarian spots - off a cloverleaf or behind a strip mall - serving business travelers.

I don't know how you would easily book them if you're not in the system, but what you're describing is a timeshare rental - suite rooms in resort-like environments.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#494

Post by s1artibartfast »

redwall_hp wrote: post #482
s1artibartfast wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fees are stated up front, and completely to be expected. I think getting shocked by cleaning fees is like getting shocked that there is a sales tax.. Every time you go to the store. Showing the total with cleaning fees at the end is inconvenient and user hostile, but in no way a "scam".

The US is an anomaly in drip-pricing sales tax at the register. It's normal for sales tax to be part of the list price. It's one of the things travelers to the US are frequently outraged by, as well as our "pint" glasses (16 oz) that are smaller than an imperial pint (20 oz) or metric equivalent. As someone else in the thread pointed out, some locales do require that AirBNB and similar list prices with the fees inclu…

Sure, I agree with everything you said,and that is why I think it is annoying, but not a scam.

>Nobody can be expected to know the particulars everywhere they go, while businesses are legally required to know in order to collect.

Which is why they tell customers exactly what the total is and fee/tax breakdown before purchase.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#495

Post by qingcharles »

bombcar wrote: post #140
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…

All of the above makes total sense (to me) when you realize that people don't know how to price rentals at all - just like the average person doesn't know how to price restaurant food. When you know truly how to price (and cost!) something, you know when and where you can offer discounts. If cost to acquire a tenant is $2k, then the discount to preserve a good tenant should be about $2k per tenant turnover time .

There's a great meme image I refer to all the time for people pricing their stuff on the Internet:

https://imgflip.com/i/8j0n0r

I'm on one collector group on Facebook and people come and list their items for thousands of dollars even though the average price on eBay is about $1. You'll point them to the sold items and they will say "OK, I see that, but I really think you are wrong and mine is worth $6500 + shipping, and also you are very rude telling me my price is wrong."

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#496

Post by chgs »

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…

I was amazed at the type of motel I stayed in back in 2008 when I went to Canada. Kitchens and balconies or decks. Pretty much unknown in the U.K.

Of course I’d had plenty of experience of self catered accommodation on holiday - sometimes purpose built but mostly normal cottages that were simply rented out.

Airbnb and similar systems just reduced the friction of finding and transacting self catered accommodation, and the increasing trend for city breaks delivered a growing market.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#497

Post by lobocinza »

xboxnolifes wrote: post #382
ghaff wrote: post #367

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not that I always could or would care to go to the effort for a fancy meal, but in general it's going to be a lot cheaper to prepare most meals at home. Or maybe I'm misunderstanding you.

Of course it'll be cheaper to make most meals yourself. Especially since the imagined price doesn't tend to include rent, kitchen labor, service staff labor, or depreciating costs of kitchen appliances, which all go into the price of restaurant meals.

When going to a restaurant you should include transport costs and time wasted with transport and waiting. Cooking at home can be an efficient pipeline where you have full control of inputs while saving money and time. I was frustrated because I wanted to pay for convenience but in my case I found it to be non-convenient.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#498

Post by TulliusCicero »

scarface_74 wrote: post #481
TulliusCicero wrote: post #408

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It'd be better if there was enough housing to support normal residential uses AND Airbnb, but it's easier to just blame Airbnb for problems.

Or you know, if you want short term rentals for tourists - build more hotels in commercial districts that are professionally managed.

Vacation homes are a somewhat different kind of thing. In practice, hotels don't support the same use cases or charge exorbitant rates to do so.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#499

Post by klinquist »

chgs wrote: post #440
klinquist wrote: post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My cleaners travel 25 mins each way to my remote home and spend 5 hours cleaning. In a hotel, with identical setups in each room, they can do a lot more work in that time. My checkout list is clearly defined in my listing, which is doing great based on my ratings and bookings. The cleaning fee is not hidden. I would re-evaluate if I were not successful.

Doesn’t sound like it’s your home, sounds like it’s your business.

I spend at least a week a month there. It's more my second home than a full-time business. It is not profitable.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#500

Post by klinquist »

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…

Thank you for that perspective. I spend a week a month in my airbnb, so it is considered more of my second home than a business. There are photos of my wife and I in the house, and I think the house feels "warmer" for guests because it's not just a sterile hotel or full-time business.
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