So the hotel industry's plan revolves solely around more legislation and regulation?<p>How about competing by innovating and providing the consumer with a better or improved experience?<p>Does the industry really believe that theres nothing they can do to improve on the consumer experience? It feels like its changed very little if at all over the years.<p>How about stop charging $15.00 a day for internet. It's 2017 charging for internet like charging for power in the room.<p>How about getting rid of inflexible checkin/checkout times?<p>How about lobbying local governments to reduce the exorbitant double digit taxes and fees consumers pay on hotels stays instead.[1]<p>Example tax rates:<p>18.27% New York City<p>17.76% Nashville<p>17% Houston and Indianapolis<p>16.75% San Antonio, TX and Columbus, OH<p>[1] <a href="http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/understanding-hotel-taxes" rel="nofollow">http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/understanding-hotel...</a>
Reading through the comments, I feel like I might be one of the few that prefer AirBnB not for money savings, but because they always feel more authentic to me.<p>I've been to several different countries in the past year, and have stayed at AirBnB's every time. Sure, there were some issues here and there that would not have occurred at a hotel. But I'll be damned if it wasn't nice to stay nestled into the local neighborhoods, and meet (and sometimes drink) with the hosts, who were always gracious and helpful in pointing out the best places to check out that are off-the-beaten-path.<p>For what it's worth, dedicated buildings for AirBnB's really rub me the wrong way, because it often takes away from the charming/local feel of the place/host. I try to avoid booking places like this.
AirBnBs are fantastic until you have a bad experience. When that happens, you realize how little recourse and options you have; you're basically screwed and need to scramble for solutions. This is not so bad when you're on a vacation and have some flexibility. It is 100% a total nightmare when traveling for work and have other responsibilities to attend to.<p>Hotels have the advantage of:
1) Consistent product quality
2) Established process and channels for addressing complaints
3) Recourse when things go wrong<p>AirBnBs have the advantage of:
1) Cost, cost, cost
2) Uniqueness in accommodation environments
3) Greater flexibility (especially as it relates to cost) in terms of location and specific accommodation needs (kitchen, multiple beds, etc.)<p>Those who rave about AirBnB, I suspect, have never had a really bad experience. I used to AirBnB all the time, but a few bad experiences really turned me off on the whole platform. You get what you pay for, and with hotels, that extra cost provides "insurance" for when things go south.<p>These days I'll occasionally AirBnB when on vacation if the costs are significantly lower than a hotel (and this is only ever the case if you're booking relatively last moment). Never on business trips - only if there are literally no other accommodations (at sane prices), which is only ever the case when booking last minute in specific cities (SF, NYC, Tokyo, etc.).
So, haven't people been doing things like short-term rentals with their condos, spare rooms, etc for quite a while without Airbnb using things like VRBO, craigslist, other websites, newspaper ads, word-of-mouth, etc? Was the hotel industry very upset about people doing those things before Airbnb and lobbying against it because it was concerned these rentals didn't follow exactly the same regulations hotels did? I can't seem to find information about that, although it wouldn't surprise me.<p>What seems to be actually happening though is now there is a successful and popular marketplace for this type of rental that has gained alot of traction (Airbnb), and under the guise of 'safety, standards, etc' the hotel lobby is fighting (to actually try to get their large share of the market back).<p>I don't necessarily think laws and regulations are bad to have in place as it often protects the consumers. But for the hotel industry to pretend this is their motive is inauthentic, just be honest that it's about the money. What disgusts me about all this is the corporate speak that goes under the guise of values and concern for customers (same could be said of Airbnb marketing lingo).
Having used AirBnB for a while, I now prefer to stay in a hotel. Staying in AirBnB I don't feel safe at all and 80% of the AirBnB's I stayed had one problem or the other. There is no importance given for the safety or even a proper door. I dont want to deal with problems when I stay somewhere for pleasure or business. And No, I dont want to read hundreds of reviews before I make my decision. I am back to hotel stays. I hope their lobbying finds success.
Before I even opened the article I knew it was going to be a legislative rather than customer-focused approach.<p>God forbid hotels recognize their inherent strengths and AirBnB's weaknesses and cater their services/marketing to that end.
"the hotel cartel is intent on short-sheeting the middle class so they can keep price-gouging consumers,"<p>Well... maybe. After staying in about 10 airbnbs total, I'd generally prefer a hotel room.<p>* Hotels are generally clean. I still always check them before I get into them, but I've yet to find a hotel with "gross" sheets. I don't worry much about the showers either<p>* Hotels have parking! This is nice for the driver in me<p>* Hotels are safe. The door locks and general consensus that cameras are not good help me sleep better<p>* Hotels are generally somewhat flexible with room changes if they have availability<p>That all said, you're going to have to pay >$100/night to get that level of service from a hotel but that works for me
1) Prosecute and inform local law enforcement. If you have a rental property exclusively used for Airbnb, it's likely illegal.<p>Adam ruins everything: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGLe0Wgfbyk" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGLe0Wgfbyk</a>
AirBNB seems to be combating <i>itself</i> just as much, frankly.<p>Take this idea that an AirBNB host can set pretty much <i>any</i> service/cleaning fee, which is <i>not</i> factored in to search-by-price and not even <i>displayed</i> until you click a property. This basically makes the entire concept of a “price” meaningless in search results, and I quickly grew tired of having to click into every single property just to figure out the “real” price before returning to the search results page.<p>And price is far from the only way that a property can be misleading.<p>I don’t think the hotel industry has much to worry about.
I would prefer the perfect hotel experience, but airbnb is a better product (at any price) than almost all hotels. If the hotel strategy to fight airbnb rests on pushing regulators to screw consumers, it's unlikely they'll improve their product.<p>(Maybe some new entrant can make something better than airbnb or legacy hotels, though.)
So marriott finds many guests order pizza delivery. They create new uniforms, new name, hats and a separate number for pizza delivery. (Could not find article but ~15-20,it's old ) It goes directly into their kitchen where they make the pizza.<p>Why can't hotels do the same. Make it look like an ABB. ???
I'd be pretty surprised if Airbnb won't be looked at as a fad in a few years time, independent of the hotel's action plan.<p>Hotels deliver a consistent experience up to certain standards, Airbnb doesnt. The price difference is marginal at best and staying in someones spare bedroom doesn't magically make your trip 'authentic'.<p>There are use cases where it makes sense (e.g. cheap shared accommodation, large flats with kitchens for families) but for most use cases covered by hotels it just doesnt.<p>What will happen is that more bad experiences happen and travel through social media, regulation will increase and it will go back to its niche life where it will do a great job.
Aside from compliance costs, hotels are sitting on tons of real estate they must fill with sleepers every night. It's expensive.<p>I still think hotels could someday co-opt airbnb's success by franchising "at-home" versions that provide rental properties with branded products and regular inspections. Take a cut of the proceeds. List the properties on the website.<p>- Hilton at Home<p>- Marriott Anywhere
I am probably in the minority here but Airbnb is a non starter for me. The fact that they rate and review the guests and that it stays online for ever is something I cannot accept. I know there are a bunch of things like living with locals and mingling with them and all of that but I would rather keep that little bit of privacy.
Do they really need to combat airbnb? I travel a lot (relatively), but I can't get the idea of this service. It's a bit cheaper, but a) I can't cancel it b) I can't book it without interaction with a host c) I can't move in without interaction with a host d) it ends up even more expensive after cleaning/service/whatever fees.<p>I've just checked [1]: NYC, a shitty "private" room with shared bathroom for a weekday is $150, with crazy "strict" cancelation policy, that literally says "Cancel up to 7 days before your trip and get a 50% refund plus service fees back."<p>What's the point and why is airbnb still alive?<p>[1] <a href="https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/14165373?checkin=2017-05-18&checkout=2017-05-19" rel="nofollow">https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/14165373?checkin=2017-05-18&chec...</a>
I feel pretty naive. When I read the headline, I assumed the hotel industry was going to adapt and innovate as opposed to using legal maneuvers and regulations.
This whole economic setup becomes more fascinating by the minute.. a shared, near socialistic economy on personal goods- and a buy/sell full capitalistic economy on virtual goods. Finally some mass producion, where the tailoring of the product is left to private sub-contractors.
this isn't a plan, this is just rent-seeking.<p><a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=rent+seeking&oq=rent+seeking&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.1577j1j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8" rel="nofollow">https://www.google.com/search?q=rent+seeking&oq=rent+seeking...</a>
I tried to use AirBnb once, but apparently you can't book a reservation unless you upload your photo. The fuck? And then they wonder why their hosts discriminate by race! I sure don't need to show my photo to a hotel to book a room.
Airbnb.com : Are we talking about that microscopic company that's barely a percent of hotels.com and booking.com ?<p>P.S. That's just to give a perspective on the industry ;)
Awesome. Move to Somalia where there's no state to prevent you from doing whatever the fuck you want.<p>Break the monopoly on the use of force by needing to supply your own to get anything done!
Just an observation...<p>These comments seem to be taken over by a pro-Hotel Lobby.<p>Does the average developer really care that much?<p>So many comments? 318 comments and climbing?<p>Why are there so-many down-voted comments?<p>Why are the ones down-voted almost entirely the ones saying they like AirBnB or questioning the Hotel industry?
Because lobbying is almost always 1) more effective and 2) less expensive than developing and implementing business processes which result in actual change.<p>It is easier to pay off a handful of politicians to legislate maintenance of status quo, for the next several decades, than it is to reengineer an entire industry in response to market forces and Capitalism. We are pseudo-Capitalists. We let market forces decide until those market forces decide that status quo isn't working. Then, rather than allowing the market to self-correct and increase efficiency and value, we artificially prop up and, further, mandate, the status quo via legislation.<p>Transportation, Internet Service Providers, Cable Providers, Automotive Dealers, ..., and now Accomodations.<p>This list of industries is growing at an alarming rate.