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Unbundling Airbnb

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Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#81

Post by mancerayder »

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.

Yes and this is so frustrating to me that I'm going to force myself to use hotels more.

What people don't understand is how one manipulates information not from what one says that's false, but in what one omits.

We know for a fact it's easy for a host to remove bad reviews. Take a look at the AirBNB subreddit, which is run by hosts. They actively tell each other how to get rid of reviews. Biggest tip: find something in the review that is 'not something the host has control over'. Boom, success, the entire thing is silently canned, and the writer will never get notified.

I got burned a lot with crappy experiences the last few years. My biggest issue was unexpected noise never mentioned in 20 reviews. One apartment had a bedroom attached to the top floor of an elevator shaft, making clanking noises. Another had THREE restaurant courtyards literally in the yard.

Caveat emptor with AirBNB, because you won't get to leave early and get a refund, whereas hotels are often negotiable.

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#82

Post by eezurr »

mg wrote: post #56
eezurr wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hotels have solved this problem. Each brand more or less offers the same quality across the US. You only need to see a few photos to know what options you have. Most of the rooms are the same design, same furniture. And its common for them to have desks and computer chairs. Consistency. Why are you still using airbnb?

Can you link to an example? The type of standardized hotel room you describe sounds like the small rooms that are made to sleep during the night and leave during the day. Not for "living" in a foreign city.

If you don't need a kitchen, DoubleTree by Hilton typically have desks. Some locations have full sized ones (4-5 feet).

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#83

Post by Spivak »

lom wrote: post #71
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #60

Just point out one example of this that I think has been very successful, and that's MisterBnB for gay travelers. I think a lot of straight folks don't understand the mental calculus that goes through a gay person's mind when they travel. I'm at the stage of my life where when I go on vacation, I want to relax and feel at ease. Why would I spend money to go someplace where I may feel unwelcome, or worse, unsafe? For…

Is that the reason for the LBTQ+ friendly tag you can add in google maps?

Yeah, it's honestly really nice to see when businesses add it because I don't then have to worry about showing up and having that awkward "oh. uhh, okay. guess i'll leave" moment.

The flip side is also sad but ultimately useful, I know to avoid shops that proudly display the Trump, Let's Go Brandon, Blue Lives Matter, Confederate Flag, Don't Tread on Me, the one weird flag that's like fuck Biden but written with guns, or honestly the American flag. And look, I completely agree with the stance "those don't necessarily imply homophobia," you can hate Biden and love the gays, you can love America and the gays, plenty of my conservative friends do, but the kind of person who flies the flags at their home or business is on a whole different level.

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#84

Post by gregkerzhner »

mijamo wrote: post #15
ricardobayes wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, according to my experience the owners who actually care and will solve any issues are not using real estate agents. Only those who want to be 'hands off' do. It usually ends up not being a great experience for everyone involved.

My experience is that the owners not usings agents are the cheap ones that will cause trouble for everything and not pay up for renovations and things breaking down. Hands off owners are the best as they just let the agent handle things professionally instead of trying to save a buck by calling illegal workers to half fix everything, then steal your deposit because things are broken when you leave. I have not met any…

I (hope) I’m like this. Im not handy at all, and have a tenant. When a problem arises for them, I just call the appropriate person (plumber, handyman, etc..) to come fix it. It’s the same thing I do when a problem arises in my own house. Problems don’t tend to come up too often, maybe once every few months, so I don’t see why I need to pay someone to handle this stuff for me.

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#85

Post by lambic »

eezurr wrote: post #53
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…

Hotels have solved this problem. Each brand more or less offers the same quality across the US. You only need to see a few photos to know what options you have. Most of the rooms are the same design, same furniture. And its common for them to have desks and computer chairs. Consistency. Why are you still using airbnb?

If I want a clinical office space style room I'll use a hotel.

If I want something different or fun, or a place that's shared so I can talk to people, I'll use airbnb.

Airbnbs also tend to be cheaper for longer stays (more than 4 nights).

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#86

Post by pat_erichsen »

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 ran into basically these exact issues (and a few more) while living/working from Airbnbs for 6 months last year.

So, I built a Chrome extension called Offie that helps other remote workers using Airbnb view info about Wifi and workspaces from the search page:

https://www.offie.co/chrome-extension

After launching the Chrome extension we realized that to actually solve these problems will require a managed marketplace where all properties are vetted to have fast, reliable Wifi and high-quality workspaces.

We're working on launching an MVP marketplace for that in Austin, TX by mid-May. We've got a waitlist on the site to be notified when we launch if interested!

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#87

Post by saimiam »

Spivak wrote: post #83
lom wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that the reason for the LBTQ+ friendly tag you can add in google maps?

Yeah, it's honestly really nice to see when businesses add it because I don't then have to worry about showing up and having that awkward "oh. uhh, okay. guess i'll leave" moment. The flip side is also sad but ultimately useful, I know to avoid shops that proudly display the Trump, Let's Go Brandon, Blue Lives Matter, Confederate Flag, Don't Tread on Me, the one weird flag that's like fuck Biden but written with guns…

As a legal alien who used to live in the States, I would avoid any establishment showing the American flag.

It just felt like the place would be loudly and proudly nationalistic and as an alien, I would be more welcome elsewhere.

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#88

Post by bena »

Spivak wrote: post #83
lom wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that the reason for the LBTQ+ friendly tag you can add in google maps?

Yeah, it's honestly really nice to see when businesses add it because I don't then have to worry about showing up and having that awkward "oh. uhh, okay. guess i'll leave" moment. The flip side is also sad but ultimately useful, I know to avoid shops that proudly display the Trump, Let's Go Brandon, Blue Lives Matter, Confederate Flag, Don't Tread on Me, the one weird flag that's like fuck Biden but written with guns…

Not to mention, given the choice between figuring out whether or not "this" one is ok or just going somewhere that doesn't display any markers co-opted by bigots, it's just easier to go somewhere else.

No, not all X are Y, but if I'm going to have to spend time and effort to figure out if this X is Y when I could just not, I'm going to choose not. That's just easier for me.

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#89

Post by ben_w »

Spivak wrote: post #83
lom wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that the reason for the LBTQ+ friendly tag you can add in google maps?

Yeah, it's honestly really nice to see when businesses add it because I don't then have to worry about showing up and having that awkward "oh. uhh, okay. guess i'll leave" moment. The flip side is also sad but ultimately useful, I know to avoid shops that proudly display the Trump, Let's Go Brandon, Blue Lives Matter, Confederate Flag, Don't Tread on Me, the one weird flag that's like fuck Biden but written with guns…

> or honestly the American flag

Huh, that’s kinda surprising. I’m not American, but always had the impression that Americans used the American flag like the British use CCTV cameras — putting them everywhere essentially decoratively, because everyone else does, even in situations where they don’t add anything.

(I absolutely understand the problem with the Confederate flag: that’s much weirder than say the English (i.e. not U.K.) flag, which itself seems to only be used in the two contexts of football and nationalism).

Re: Unbundling Airbnb

#90

Post by bena »

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.

Yes, all of these disruptors rediscovering the core issues with the segment they're in and why the sectors they disrupted operated as they did.
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