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

Airbnb asks people to donate money to landlords, backlash ensues

sfgate.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 195 posts

Re: Airbnb asks people to donate money to landlords, backlash ensues

#71

Post by solidasparagus »

claudeganon wrote: post #48
jliptzin wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is being inflated after the fact? When you book on Airbnb it shows you all the fees including cleaning fee before you book...

Go look at an Airbnb listing, it will be advertised at a lower, per night rate, but when you go to book, it can jump up as much as 50% with tacked on fees. Hotels don’t do this. I just went on the site and looked at an advertised $80 per night listing. On booking it became $137, with the $40 cleaning and $17 service fees. That’s a $137 room not an $80 one and I doubt it costs $40 to clean it.

Hotels absolutely do this. Most egregiously in Las Vegas with 'resort fees', but try to book any hotel and you will get charged more than the advertised price due to 'taxes and fees'.

Re: Airbnb asks people to donate money to landlords, backlash ensues

#72

Post by seanmcdirmid »

sk5t wrote: post #50
claudeganon wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...which is baked into their room rates? It’s predatory to advertise a lower rate and then inflate it after the fact with all kinds of tacked on fees. People (rightfully) go nuts at hotels that try to do this.

Although, many hotels have managed to wedge a mandatory “resort fee” into the final bill (and I’d like to see this nationally prohibited).

Resort fees are annoying especially when someone else prepaid your hotel bill but you are still asked to pay extra on checkin, even when it provide no resort amenities and is obviously just a business hotel.

Re: Airbnb asks people to donate money to landlords, backlash ensues

#74

Post by PeterisP »

julianlam wrote: post #31
thealistra wrote: post #16

Wouldn't it be a better idea to have some CTA for like future booking or booking voucher so the hosts can get money now for a future service? So you know if someone really likes a place and visits it every year can spare a few bucks if they can to freeze it

Honest question, how is this different from just booking in advance?

Booking in advance requires knowing the dates of travel beforehand, the proposal above does not.

Re: Airbnb asks people to donate money to landlords, backlash ensues

#75

Post by ahelwer »

Nasrudith wrote: post #54
sleavey wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The attitude of many people towards property is incredible. People expect house prices to rise and rise and somehow think they've been wronged by society/government policy/acts of god if the bubble bursts and they lose money. I've been called out by many ordinarily level headed people for saying that owning property is a risky investment.

It isn't just property but also jobs and industries. Look at the vastly disproportionate amount of tears for coal miners. That feeling seems to apply to any way to make a living that they react hostility to being told is risky. Because everything is an investment and everything is a risk including not taking one. I suspect it has to do with Calvinism essentially and the religious fixation of work as righteous and a g…

Actually, quite a few people (including myself) believe there is a vast gulf between doing actual work and making money off of the people doing actual work - aka investing in property (especially to rent it out) or stocks. I have little sympathy for people who get hosed doing the latter, but a great deal for the former.

There's no doubt coal miners have been used nihilistically as a political tool to conjure the aesthetic of being attached to the honest, hard-working underclass. Still they (and other workers who have been displaced) deserve support. It is very easy to diversify investments. Extremely difficult to diversify skills needed for a career.

Re: Airbnb asks people to donate money to landlords, backlash ensues

#76

Post by seanmcdirmid »

foota wrote: post #49
claudeganon wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...which is baked into their room rates? It’s predatory to advertise a lower rate and then inflate it after the fact with all kinds of tacked on fees. People (rightfully) go nuts at hotels that try to do this.

I personally would rather hotels separate a per cleaning fee and allow me to choose not to have it done every day.

Extended Stay America cleans rooms once or twice a week while you are staying there, you can ask for fresh linens and toiletries at the front desk. But it’s a budget hotel, you get what you pay for.

Re: Airbnb asks people to donate money to landlords, backlash ensues

#77

Post by cultofmetatron »

claudeganon wrote: post #48
jliptzin wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is being inflated after the fact? When you book on Airbnb it shows you all the fees including cleaning fee before you book...

Go look at an Airbnb listing, it will be advertised at a lower, per night rate, but when you go to book, it can jump up as much as 50% with tacked on fees. Hotels don’t do this. I just went on the site and looked at an advertised $80 per night listing. On booking it became $137, with the $40 cleaning and $17 service fees. That’s a $137 room not an $80 one and I doubt it costs $40 to clean it.

airbnb makes a lot more sense for long term stays. I'm a nomad and hop between cities and countries so I book for a minimum of two weeks with a norm of one to two months.

The one time Cleaning fee is minimal compared to the total cost and I would not be able to afford my lifestyle if hotels were my only option.

Re: Airbnb asks people to donate money to landlords, backlash ensues

#78

Post by TheOtherHobbes »

mytailorisrich wrote: post #67
malechimp wrote: post #11

Being a regular customer in a very hot market (Dublin) I can attest that most of the places I've been to were grossly overpriced and let's not speak about the quality. Back in the fat cows era (up until a few months ago) it seemed that Airbnb was synonymous to "if you have a spare doghouse in a hot overpriced market then you can make very good money out of it". Not to mention how airbnb was contributing to such marke…

If it lets it's not overpriced. We often make value judgements on these things but the reality is that as long as someone is willing to pay it is not 'overpriced'.

If it lets if it's not overpriced it doesn't need support when it doesn't let.

Re: Airbnb asks people to donate money to landlords, backlash ensues

#79

Post by Mediterraneo10 »

Raed667 wrote: post #43
malechimp wrote: post #11

Being a regular customer in a very hot market (Dublin) I can attest that most of the places I've been to were grossly overpriced and let's not speak about the quality. Back in the fat cows era (up until a few months ago) it seemed that Airbnb was synonymous to "if you have a spare doghouse in a hot overpriced market then you can make very good money out of it". Not to mention how airbnb was contributing to such marke…

They must be so disconnected that they feel their hosts and guests are actually having a meaningful connection. Most of my Airbnb interactions don't go beyond the exchange of keys (or not even that with the key boxes). I have no sympathy for landlords or Airbnb, they are just going to have to deal with the market like everyone else.

Not only does one actually meet one's host much rarely these days compared to AirBnB's early years, but the cases where one indeed interacts with the host are often pretty tiresome, think lonely elderly people who just keep talking after you have tried to make it clear that you are tired and want to be alone. Sadly, this doesn't get mentioned much in reviews for fear of upsetting the host or the forced-positivity corporation that is AirBnB, so it is very hard to avoid these awkward encounters completely.

Re: Airbnb asks people to donate money to landlords, backlash ensues

#80

Post by apexalpha »

monkeynotes wrote: post #62
sleavey wrote: post #14

This was really short sighted given Airbnb have claimed since the beginning to regulators, local authorities and the public that they exist only to provide a platform for people to rent out their spare rooms when it's convenient for them. Their core claim is that they are not a hotel company, which is how they manage to skirt so many hotel regulations. Built into these claims is the assumption that the owners of the…

I have somewhat of a 'not in my backyard' opinion of Airbnb. I have admittedly used the service multiple times, but since I moved into a new house I've changed my view on the business model. Our neighbour Airbnbs multiple rooms in his house full time. He barely has parking for 3 cars, 2 cars if you don't want to be boxed in. However he rents out room for 6 people. He constantly has business moving through his house,…

In my country the city is playing catchup on policy level.

Currently you can only allow 30 days of AirBnB for a property.

Over here the demand for AirBnB is pretty much non existant now, though. The Coronavirus lockdown has put an end to all travel and tourism for now. Many properties are now returning to normal, long term rental units.

Post reply on HN