Or just go to a hotel! I have a condo in a building where most of the units are listed on Airbnb or Booking.com, quality of life for residents like me has been drastically reduced by noisy tourists that come for a weekend trip and have no regard for keeping it quiet or keeping the shared spaces clean. I hope more cities begin to ban Airbnb. Tourists belong in hotels not in buildings where families try to live their daily lives and have to go to work. I've had to call the police on party goers and notoriously have to knock on noisy doors, I seriously hope Airbnb goes bankrupt and that cities ban the whole business model.
I had a couple of situations where airbnb was a life saver (victim of abusive relationship). There are not many places where a male can seek a shelter as most of them are being targeted towards women and children. In my city hotels are extremely expensive so airbnb was a good option to have. I understand that tourists can be nuisance but I wouldn't like it to be banned.
If you are concerned about cameras in Airbnbs, consider picking up a camera detector off Amazon for ~$30.<p>They are basically a ring of super bright LEDs with a colored lens in the middle you put up to your eye and scan around the room. The light reflects off the curved glass of the lens and the filter helps you see it.<p>The less effective but impromptu version of this is just holding a super bright flashlight between your eyes (facing out), but you kinda need to have to done it before to know what to look for.
Airbnb is not evil. Tourists that don't care or follow the rules are. Without Airbnb, they will bring the same problems just to other people in other places.<p>Many hotels do charge unjustified amounts of money, so I am personally happy there is an option to pay reasonable money for good service. Also, it's not like hotels don't have their share of problems. Many hotels in many countries offer you pure garbage when you arrive, mix rooms, bad food, etc. And in many hotels, you can't sleep because of loud tourists or your hotel neighbors. With Airbnb when you find a listing with 30+ 5star reviews, at least you are sure it matches pictures and description.<p>So obviously, Airbnb has its flaws, just like any other service. But hotels are definitely not the solution to them, at least from a tourist's point of view, though I absolutely see how they are for some local residents.
Just to be clear, AirBnB has rules about cameras: <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/887/what-are-airbnbs-rules-about-security-cameras-and-other-recording-devices-in-listings" rel="nofollow">https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/887/what-are-airbnbs-rul...</a><p>Note that you can get a full refund if the host breaks these rules.
Hmm .. I had a friend recently who rented out a room on Airbnb and had guests that trashed it. Airbnb did pay damaged on his claim.<p>He rented again and the girl asked if she could rent for a few more months. So they signed a standard city lease outside Airbnb and she hasn't left or paid. He's had to file eviction. That obviously isn't AirBNB's fault, but it's now 2 for 2 bad experiences that started with AirBNB.<p>I wonder how many people install cameras in just the entrances/open areas more as a general liability thing. It probably goes against Airbnb policies, might be unethical or illegal in some jurisdictions, but considering the horror stories on both sides, I can understand why it happens.
What is your recourse if you do happen to find a hidden camera? I mean, is it illegal for someone to hide a camera in their own house and not tell you?
Here is an evil idea: hotels could start providing smart speakers integrated in the rooms. Call it Smart Room™. This way you can ask the room where the nearest supermarket is or whatever, that would be convenient for an out-of-town trip wouldn't it? Obviously the hotel would record all the requests and then sell the data to local shops / marketers, or even customize the answers for a fee.<p>There is currently a debate on some Airbnb forums about smart speakers, whether they are a nice-touch or just creepy.
AirBnB has destroyed the housing market in Tasmania. We now have tent cities (ok, hyperbole, but tent villages) of people who have been turfed out of long term rental to make way for short stay tourist market.
Google cache: (couldn't find it on archive.org): <a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fisc.sans.edu%2Fdiary%2FHow%2Bto%2BFind%2BHidden%2BCameras%2Bin%2Byour%2BAirBNB%2F24834" rel="nofollow">http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3Ahttps...</a>
> Here are some of the innocent devices you may find: smart TVs<p>lol... many smart TVs are not innocent devices<p>If it was me I would start by disabling the local modem and router. That doesn't take care of cameras that have on-board SD cards, but it is a good start.
I find it ironic that someone so concerned about hidden cameras is advocating hack attacks on the host's network.
I run an Airbnb, no cameras, not even on the door. The only sensor I have is on the Nest thermostat to automatically turn off heating when no one is present.
I expect the courtesy of my network not being hacked into by some wannabe hacker.
Someone on an Airbnb put me up in their place for next to nothing when I was fleeing a hurricane. Hotels were booked and upcharging people huge amounts. There are pros and cons to the system, anyone advocating banning it, however, is only seeing their own side.
I'm always nervous when I went through Airbnb because you are never really 100% certain until you arrive. While it is significantly cheaper than a hotel or even hostel sometimes it is just better to pay a bit extra and be secure with your choice.
AirBnB has also helped many low income minorities make additional income, because usually these are the people building and maintaining local culture.<p>Most AirBnB guests are not doing what you describe. Call the police, and let AirBnB ban the loud ones.