Airbnb's CEO said that he's heard guests "loud and clear" that pricing on the platform isn't transparent and "checkout tasks are a pain."
Airbnb is adding cleaning fees to a new ‘total price’ of bookings in search results after people complained listings were misleading::Airbnb’s CEO said that he’s heard guests “loud and clear” that pricing on the platform isn’t transparent and “checkout tasks are a pain.”
It was only just recently that the flood of “Airbnbust” articles seemed to abate a little. I can never tell if Airbnb is going great, or it’s terrible.
For my own part, I’m happy for this update. Despite the complaints, Airbnb is usually a great option for families with little kids, where the alternative is usually “book multiple hotel rooms, and split the parents between them.” Price transparency is good, and I won’t book a place that has a task list for me.
Definitely a good fit for families, being able to stay in a house has allowed us to do things we couldn’t have otherwise. We just got back from a trip that would have taken at least 3 hotel rooms (me, the wife, 3 kids, and my parents), and we paid less than the price of 2 rooms for a gorgeous 4BR beach house with 5 beds. We priced it out and it would have cost the same for 2 hotel rooms, which would have meant no grandparents, and my wife and I sleeping in separate rooms, and at least one kid on a couch.
So, yeah, new use cases enabled that weren’t possible before. That’s cool!
As for taxes, Airbnbs are taxed same as hotels here (15%), and the property owner also pays $10k/yr in property tax on top of that (per public records), so I’m not sure what else would make sense there. In some markets (esp cities) I get the concern about rent impacts, but this isn’t the kind of place that is ever going to be a long term rental. It seems like a parallel market to me, but I’m open to learning otherwise.
See, I think this is the big issue - totally different travel instances. AirBnB was sold (back in the day) as cheaper than a Hotel room, and I think a lot of these posts are people saying, well, I wanted a cheaper hotel room, but the market doesn’t actually support making cheaper hotel rooms when done professionally as a business because hotel rooms are very competitive so there’s likely to be one at whatever price point you want that’s profitable.
So anyone who was in the “market” for a single hotel room now feels like AirBnB is a ripoff, and I tend to agree.
For larger accommodations when travelling - they’ve always existed, Suites / Long Stay hotels / Timeshare Resorts / and traditional house rentals. But I was ignorant of these “being an option” because I always assumed they’re be prohibitively expensive. AirBnB and I guess other market forces have really made that not the case anymore, and there’s likely to be something in most places, especially if it’s a tourist area. And I think a lot of people are like me - “Oh, that rent a house, those people are rich”. “Oh a Suite? Mr Moneybags over here”. When in reality it’s often not that much money when you compare - especially for larger family groups.
Great, now fix where listings outside of your price filter keep appearing. And it’s not just places where there are so few options in one’s price range that it would otherwise be no results.
Tell me again why I would ever choose to get a room through AirBnB? Or travel across a city using Uber? Or have my food delivered by GrubHub?
Everyone wants to claim they have no money, and yet all these services needlessly add cost and complexity to what used to be a far more simple and cheaper purchase just a few years ago. I’ll take a taxi to my hotel room and pick up my own food thankyouverymuch.
Indeed, I’ve used airbnb several times now to rent a vacation home in the French/Belgian/German countryside. For that it’s great. Cheaper than renting a bungalow somewhere and you have more space.
Quick google search shows quite a few hotel rooms under $100/night. Divide that with 1 or 2 other people and you’re talking about having a clean, safe place to stay with no other headaches for the night for roughly the cost of a reasonable meal.
I can believe you - people when travelling are so used to hotels they’re stuck in that “Hotel Room” mindset, which is great if it’s 2 people, or 2 couples that share a room. I don’t think many people have looked into “larger accommodations” so the “economy of scale” as it were can kick in. And I can see renting an entire house if you’ve got enough people going, for long enough, to be more economical. I know it has been for 1week or so. It’s hard to compare most hotels where people tend to stay for less than 5 days IME, and have less than 4 people to larger group trips.
When I used to use it, over 10 years ago, it was great for couch surfing for a six pack and staying in peoples spare rooms for like $20. Did it all over Australia and Europe in college.
Now I think they’ve positioned themselves as being high-end hotel alternatives, because there’s more margin there. It was never good for that.
“Yup yup, we hear you loud and clear, everyone, it’s all good bro”
[Doesn’t turn full price on by default]
Incoming follow-up, if challenged…
“So we actually paid an expert consultant to tell us that a percentage of our user population actually wants to be actively deceived whenever they use our service. So by default we will still obscure these non-negotiable fees that you will definitely pay in the final pricing.”
I will never understand how this is a fucking thing. Let alone so fucking much? Don’t want to have to pay to clean up after your guests leave? Then I guess you are in the wrong fucking business assholes.
AirBnB fucking sucks now. There needs to be a term like “slum lords” for AirBnBs. They outsource so many properties to property managers and the house is disgusting PLUS they charge you the cleaning fee.
Can’t scroll past an air bnb post without stopping in to say fuck air bnb for its role in the housing crisis. It should be banned unless it’s owner occupied.
In my city it is banned unless owner-occupied, but it’s not enforced (along with other small crimes like bike theft). Since its not enforced, and everyone knows it, nobody adheres to the rule! Whole condo blocks, townhouses etc, all bought up for vacation rental now.
I guess it’s much like everywhere else, but hey, at least we have a rule!
As many other things on the internet, the original idea was great (renting your couch or a room in your house for tourists to accommodate and feel a local experience, but once it reached the masses, and speculative companies bought properties just to rent them and pay cheap labor to maintain the rooms, it became BS one more time.
No matter what those whose drive is pure economical touch, they always ruin it.
It’s also obvious that most of the savings in the US anyway go away when you’re running it as a business. AirBnB has basically turned into VRBO, but apparently sketchier.
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It was only just recently that the flood of “Airbnbust” articles seemed to abate a little. I can never tell if Airbnb is going great, or it’s terrible.
For my own part, I’m happy for this update. Despite the complaints, Airbnb is usually a great option for families with little kids, where the alternative is usually “book multiple hotel rooms, and split the parents between them.” Price transparency is good, and I won’t book a place that has a task list for me.
It’s gotten to the point where I wonder if the hotel industry is astroturfing posts about Airbnb’s.
For families they’re a great option instead of being in a single room and being able to prep meals and save on eating out.
I don’t like what they’ve done to the housing market however and should be taxed heavily.
Definitely a good fit for families, being able to stay in a house has allowed us to do things we couldn’t have otherwise. We just got back from a trip that would have taken at least 3 hotel rooms (me, the wife, 3 kids, and my parents), and we paid less than the price of 2 rooms for a gorgeous 4BR beach house with 5 beds. We priced it out and it would have cost the same for 2 hotel rooms, which would have meant no grandparents, and my wife and I sleeping in separate rooms, and at least one kid on a couch.
So, yeah, new use cases enabled that weren’t possible before. That’s cool!
As for taxes, Airbnbs are taxed same as hotels here (15%), and the property owner also pays $10k/yr in property tax on top of that (per public records), so I’m not sure what else would make sense there. In some markets (esp cities) I get the concern about rent impacts, but this isn’t the kind of place that is ever going to be a long term rental. It seems like a parallel market to me, but I’m open to learning otherwise.
See, I think this is the big issue - totally different travel instances. AirBnB was sold (back in the day) as cheaper than a Hotel room, and I think a lot of these posts are people saying, well, I wanted a cheaper hotel room, but the market doesn’t actually support making cheaper hotel rooms when done professionally as a business because hotel rooms are very competitive so there’s likely to be one at whatever price point you want that’s profitable.
So anyone who was in the “market” for a single hotel room now feels like AirBnB is a ripoff, and I tend to agree.
For larger accommodations when travelling - they’ve always existed, Suites / Long Stay hotels / Timeshare Resorts / and traditional house rentals. But I was ignorant of these “being an option” because I always assumed they’re be prohibitively expensive. AirBnB and I guess other market forces have really made that not the case anymore, and there’s likely to be something in most places, especially if it’s a tourist area. And I think a lot of people are like me - “Oh, that rent a house, those people are rich”. “Oh a Suite? Mr Moneybags over here”. When in reality it’s often not that much money when you compare - especially for larger family groups.
The amount the owner often asks you to do yourself would make you think they should be paying you the fee.
I wonder which other fees won’t be rolled into the total price
It’s great playing a cleaning fee when the host expects you to strip the bed and take it to the laundry, empty the bins and leave the place spotless
Since they’re gonna keep the fee anyway, might as well floss yer ass on the sheets I guess!
Great, now fix where listings outside of your price filter keep appearing. And it’s not just places where there are so few options in one’s price range that it would otherwise be no results.
Tell me again why I would ever choose to get a room through AirBnB? Or travel across a city using Uber? Or have my food delivered by GrubHub?
Everyone wants to claim they have no money, and yet all these services needlessly add cost and complexity to what used to be a far more simple and cheaper purchase just a few years ago. I’ll take a taxi to my hotel room and pick up my own food thankyouverymuch.
In cities yes. It still is unparalleled for renting small holiday homes in “rural” areas. E.g. Scottish Highlands, French Brittany.
That is the proper use case, where you would otherwise book an other B&B.
Indeed, I’ve used airbnb several times now to rent a vacation home in the French/Belgian/German countryside. For that it’s great. Cheaper than renting a bungalow somewhere and you have more space.
It allowed me and my friends to sleep in London for pennies compared to a hotel room.
Doubt.
Quick google search shows quite a few hotel rooms under $100/night. Divide that with 1 or 2 other people and you’re talking about having a clean, safe place to stay with no other headaches for the night for roughly the cost of a reasonable meal.
deleted by creator
And yet it happened…
We were sleeping with 5 of us, at that point you simply can’t beat a cheap AirBnB for price.
Frankly I trust my real-life experience literally doing it over your quick Google search.
I can believe you - people when travelling are so used to hotels they’re stuck in that “Hotel Room” mindset, which is great if it’s 2 people, or 2 couples that share a room. I don’t think many people have looked into “larger accommodations” so the “economy of scale” as it were can kick in. And I can see renting an entire house if you’ve got enough people going, for long enough, to be more economical. I know it has been for 1week or so. It’s hard to compare most hotels where people tend to stay for less than 5 days IME, and have less than 4 people to larger group trips.
When I used to use it, over 10 years ago, it was great for couch surfing for a six pack and staying in peoples spare rooms for like $20. Did it all over Australia and Europe in college.
Now I think they’ve positioned themselves as being high-end hotel alternatives, because there’s more margin there. It was never good for that.
It’s almost as if they don’t want people to use their service.
deleted by creator
“Yup yup, we hear you loud and clear, everyone, it’s all good bro”
[Doesn’t turn full price on by default]
Incoming follow-up, if challenged…
“So we actually paid an expert consultant to tell us that a percentage of our user population actually wants to be actively deceived whenever they use our service. So by default we will still obscure these non-negotiable fees that you will definitely pay in the final pricing.”
I will never understand how this is a fucking thing. Let alone so fucking much? Don’t want to have to pay to clean up after your guests leave? Then I guess you are in the wrong fucking business assholes.
AirBnB fucking sucks now. There needs to be a term like “slum lords” for AirBnBs. They outsource so many properties to property managers and the house is disgusting PLUS they charge you the cleaning fee.
Just stick with hotels.
Why “before tax”, doesn’t that still confuse things?
Can’t scroll past an air bnb post without stopping in to say fuck air bnb for its role in the housing crisis. It should be banned unless it’s owner occupied.
In my city it is banned unless owner-occupied, but it’s not enforced (along with other small crimes like bike theft). Since its not enforced, and everyone knows it, nobody adheres to the rule! Whole condo blocks, townhouses etc, all bought up for vacation rental now.
I guess it’s much like everywhere else, but hey, at least we have a rule!
100%
As many other things on the internet, the original idea was great (renting your couch or a room in your house for tourists to accommodate and feel a local experience, but once it reached the masses, and speculative companies bought properties just to rent them and pay cheap labor to maintain the rooms, it became BS one more time.
No matter what those whose drive is pure economical touch, they always ruin it.
It’s also obvious that most of the savings in the US anyway go away when you’re running it as a business. AirBnB has basically turned into VRBO, but apparently sketchier.