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The End of Airbnb in New York
(www.wired.com)
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
A blessing, really, for cities experiencing housing shortage.
Have you considered building more housing?
True! Getting rid of these AirBnBs probably doesn't hurt things though. Now they might actually get a long-term resident.
It probably doesn't but you have to wonder why that company was so successful to begin with. I feel like we are celebrating a weight loss company getting banned.
There is a housing shortage, there is a hotel room shortage. Someone took advantage of that. Getting rid of that someone doesn't stop the next person.
I was successful because it's skirting (pretty blatantly breaking actually) rental laws and thus gains an advantage over the competition.
Well I think it was successful for the same reason so many unicorn startups are. They were bankrolled by promising angel investors marketshare so they were able to run artificially brutally low prices to dry out the rest of the market for years. But now investors are asking for those profits back and we're here dealing with horrible Airbnb prices AND it made the housing crisis worse. Double whammy, bb!!
A bummer though for anyone visiting as hotels become the only option, and prices go way up, beholden to moneyed corporate interests who lobby politicians in their favor and pockets.
Ed: just wow on the downvote brigading. Upvote/downvote is supposed to reflect whether or not the comment contributes to the conversation. Not killing the messenger when it's some info someone doesn't want to hear.
This is just very standard macroeconomics supply and demand, plus regular institutionalized political corruption.
Yes, Abnb sucks shit, and their prices are stoopid high, but that's the free market.
Ban them and watch hotel prices go up. Simple as that.
AirBnB is just as corporate and lobbyist bullshit as any other company. Arguably worse, in that AirBNB breaks the laws and then tries to get laws changed.
Hotel chains at least try to lobby to change the laws before breaking the rules.
Also, hotels are regulated in what fees they can tack on, and ensuring a basic standard of cleanliness and safety.
In my experience over the last two years hotels are either same price OR less expensive due to AirBnBs bait and switch pricing. The taxes, cleaning fees, and random add ons are absurd.
In a recent example, staying at some Yurt for three days was $248. After taxes and fees it was around $515. Like wtf?!
I’m at the point where even if the pricing was flat, a hotel is 10X less hassle to deal with than AirBnB.
Airbnb was nice when it was just a way to rent someone's extra bedroom for the night. I've met some amazing people this way.
Is couchsurfing still a thing?
it requires a paid subscription now, it's not outrageously priced but it feels like it kind of goes against the ethos, and a lot of people have moved to alternatives like bewelcome
I honestly have no idea.
Gotta wonder if the competition from airbnb kept hotel prices lower. I do agree with you though.
I don't think that really contradicts what they said though. It doesn't matter which is more expensive, they both exist within the same market and removing supply will make what remains more expensive.
Then the change is working as intended - residential buildings should never have been pulled from the rental market to compete with hotels.
Kinda related I stopped renting cars many years ago because of this stuff. The price says X amount of dollars a day, the bill says 2X.
Rent via Costco. Somehow the prices your quoted is what you pay when you show up.
The last few times I've tried to book an AirBnB the price difference from a standard hotel room was almost nothing. AirBnB has been trash for awhile.
I find AirBnB to be cheaper when renting an entire house vs 3 or 4 hotel rooms. But an apartment vs a hotel room is even or the hotel is cheaper
I agree. Family of 5 many hotels require us get 2 rooms. Plus no option to cook meals makes for a much more expensive stay usually. At least until a few years ago when airbnb went insane with the cleaning fees plus cleaning requirements and all that nonsense.
I think it's been too long since you've looked at Airbnb. Prices are no longer a deal in contrast to hotels. It's all inflated trash and no longer accessible for regular people.
Not only that, but you get charged cleaning fees, but you need to clean the fucking place after. AirBnB is a scam pure and simple
Then don't rent them I guess?
Airbnb prices are approaching that of hotel rooms. You typically get a kitchen at an Airbnb, but the price argument doesn't seem accurate from the listings I've looked at.
Oh no people forced to use the same highly regulated service as millions of forebears. Tragic.
Rather hotels be inaccessible than housing. You only need one of those to live.
People downvoting either aren't old enough to remember how bad hotels were, or are wearing rose colored glasses.
When airbnbs came to my city, after a few years, hotels finally lowered prices and made a effort to give a shit. I hope it doesn't fall back to that.
But then again, the past few years, Airbnb rentals seem to be run by shady companies instead of by homeowners with an extra room.
Airbnb has basically become "hotel prices, but the cost is hidden behind cleaning fees". Also, hotels basically stopped giving a shit after the pandemic. No loss here.
Then what are you lamenting exactly?
Good? Homes should be homes, not holiday lets for tourists.