I went to Rome with my wife and stayed at an Airbnb thing. The guy who rented it to us looked like a mafia boss and wanted the payment in cash.
But the apartement was actually really nice, and right in the middle of old Rome!
Part of the reason for the rise of AirBnB is that hotels suck too:
- “Your $225 per night hotel”, oh sorry, all those rooms are booked, we do still have these $250 per night rooms though…
- Oh, you didn’t want to be next to the ice machine and hear that crunch sound all night? There’s another room here but that will be $275…
- Not next to the elevators? Well, there’s this $300 room down the hall
- Yes, the room has a mini-fridge. Oh, we didn’t tell you but it’s 100% full of overpriced things, and if you touch one you bought it. No, there’s no way to put your own things in the fridge.
- Oh, you wanted to use the TV? Well, we have HotelTV and every time you turn it on it goes to the HotelTV channel, you can get all the local TV stations too. HDMI? No, sorry, we don’t have that feature.
- Of course we offer a free “continental breakfast”, it’s offered between 4:35 and 5:20 AM, and consists of reconstituted dehydrated eggs, malk, cereal, taste-free muffins, and pancakes. We’re out of pancakes.
- Internet? Of course we offer Internet. Just sign on to this captive portal and you can use Google. Send emails? You should be able to get to gmail… Play games? You mean like backgammon? I think we have a backgammon set in the back here. VPN? That sounds like hacking…
None it’s this is remotely true of the vast majority of hotels. I stay in hotels 30 to 40 nights a year and, yea, just no. Most of it’s the opposite. Oh this room is booked, here is a nicer room for the same cost. Oh we have plenty of rooms, here is a huge discount. A mini fridge, cool. Place to put your left overs. Very few have in room anymore, unless it’s like a Vegas resort. And even most of them don’t any more. And cost wise, your still high. I stay in Orange county near Laguna Beach multiple times a year. The last place I stayed was 155 a night, for a nice room 20 minutes from the beach. They upgraded me to a double room suite the last 2 nights for free because the toilet stuffed up. I stay in Montana regularly and the place there is 260 a night, but it a King suite with a hot tub in the room. So, worth it. Yea, there are times I slum it and pay 40 or 50 a night, and it isn’t great, but on average I think I pay around 125 a night in almost every state in the West. Hell last year I spent a week in Atlanta and it was 85 a night. Great place too.
Not to mention that AirBnB doesn’t give me “points” to stay nights for free. So if you travel for work especially you basically squander your money away. AirBnB only makes sense if you’re a group of people and even then my last trip with them ended up being one where I regretted just not paying for me and my friends to stay in individual hotel rooms because it would have been cheaper and more convenient for parking and amenities.
Oh God yes, I get rooms free all the time.
I stay in hotels 30 to 40 nights a year and, yea, just no. Most of it’s the opposite.
You get that treatment because of that. Us plebs who go once or twice a year don’t get treated like that, lol. I used to fly a shit ton, there is a difference.
Bullshit. I don’t stay in the same hotels, brands, etc.
oh, okay buddy. You go on 40 different trips, but don’t duplicate any of the brands. Sure.
All right also it’s not necessarily 40 different trips. It could be anywhere from 15 to 20 different trips. I’ll sometimes go on 10-day multi-state trips where I’m staying in different hotels every single night or I’ll stay at a campground one night or hit a hotel another night depending on what I’m looking for and what time of year it is. I may go on a single trip where I’m staying in a hotel for 3 to 4 nights or I may just be going overnight. It all varies.
Rarely. I do stay in some of the same, but you would be surprised how many hotels there are. When you shop for price and features the brand doesn’t matter. Also I rarely book through the hotel, almost exclusively online so they don’t know who I am until I show up.
So you don’t collect points or your employer doesn’t? We had certain hotels because we got better deals through bulk, and the employees got to keep the points. Not adding up or you’re kind of doing it wrong.
I use hotels.com so it doesn’t matter the hotel I stay in.
What kind of hotels do you frequent?
Normal ones? But as infrequently as possible.
Do you stay at the worst hotels in the world? Let me guess you stay at trump branded hotels only?
I stayed at an airport bnb once. Never again.
AirBnB may have some niche uses, but it is no replacement for hotels if you are just looking for general lodging.
Why is the Airbnb $225? This is the point of it to be cheaper. Also, I haven’t used an Airbnb in approximately seven years.
Airbnb no longer ads much value over hotels. Their pricing is frequently similar.
I’d say AirBnB’s pricing is worse since my hotel stay means I can just pack my stuff and leave. Most of the AirBnB’s I’ve stayed at have required me to cleanup after myself like I didn’t just pay a “cleaning” fee.
Airbnb used to be about renting your room for short stay, nowadays it’s renting the whole unit/house, so the price reflect that. Then there’s also cleaning fee that usually around 30%/40% of the total price, which then they demand you to clean the place before leaving. They also jack up the price after covid. It might worth it if you have a big group, but for 1 or 2 persons hotel is still the best option.
Ok yeah I’m remembering like renting out part of the house that was converted to an airbnb so that you can come and go without interacting much with the host, but they still live there in the other part of the house.
Or maybe they live there but they’re gone this week so they rented it out.
Perfectly sums up why I always pick a chain hotel for my vacations. I’m here to relax, not follow a cleaning checklist.
I mean, seriously, does AirBnB really not include housekeeping services as part of your stay? Why would anyone agree to stay at one of these? Daily housekeeping is a make or break amenity for me. How is that not the case for everyone?
I rent apartments a lot on booking.com for staff travel, it’s never any hassle.
Used Airbnb once, never again.
Family book it often if I don’t get ahead of them, apart from one time the places are always sub par and half the stuff is broken.
On the other hand, I’d pay extra to not give those cunts and their israeli buddies a cent. But it’s almost impossible now. I call the hotel and they say “make a booking through booking.com (or one of its thousands of sites)”
Before I would hang up and look for another one, but I realise now that the cancer has taken total control.
Airbnb, Amazon, this shit… Only someone insane would refuse to bend to our benevolent overlords, and I am still insane, putting up a fight I already lost.
Wasn’t aware they had ties. Fuck sake
Sorry I made your life worse, because you’re probably not going to escape them. They probably own whatever other website you’re thinking of using too.
My favorite hotel is the “C’mon inn” in Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, etc. It’s a small family-owned chain that charges about $100 per night and has rustic decor and always has a pool and a bunch of jacuzzis. Amazing service, tasty breakfast, low price, and I’m not feeding some gigantic corporation. It’s a matter of finding the smaller outfits, I tell ya.
I’d love to try if weren’t for the fact that you have Trump harassing foreigners.
I don’t know what to tell ya. This country sucks and always has. I’m just hoping this is things getting worse before they get a lot better.
You think he’s leaving the citizens alone? We’re all fucked.
Thankfully we have the option of not visiting.
Holiday Inn Express. I feel smarter already!
Tbh I’m a bit surprised how quickly Airb’n’b enshitified. It’s not even a competitor anymore imo.
worst, its behind the housing crisis in many countries.
The early days were actually great. People renting out spare rooms for cheap was a win/win, but of course “entrepreneurs” had to turn that into a side business and AirBnB had to maximise profits so it all went to shit.
Criminal money actually have real utility for being criminal money, the only problem is it being used as an investment vehicle.
It’s interesting how the newer ones are more valued. Piracy isn’t even on there anymore. 🧓
Holy shit, I love this!
I think about it once a month
Once again, Late Stage Capitalism in the root problem in all enshittification of an otherwise innocent and slightly innovative idea.
It’s so funny because that’s exactly how capitalism ruins great ideas. I’m actually proud to have never used AirBnB, but when it first came out, it was probably a great way to save vs hotels that were overpriced and have massive overhead anyway.
Sure, they were…but Airbnb is now so old Trump wouldn’t try to fuck it, so why are people still giving them money?
Too many people who should not own and rent investment properties bought investment properties to rent as ABnBs. It broke the spirit of the thing, which was to rent space in your house, not a property used solely for that purpose.
Why haven’t zoning laws caught up?
They do but it’s apparently hard to enforce.
Couldn’t you just search Airbnb for your jurisdiction, then catch the landlord red handed?
I would agree.
I say it less as I know why and more that I know a lot of municipalities (including mine) have laws and codes in place that prevent using properties as hotels, and have had them for years, and yet they still operate.
So either they’re hard to enforce or they’re understaffed to do so.
They can pretend they live there. It’s harder than you think. And legislation takes time that a new app development does not. It is also local, so you are talking about thousand of civic governments not in concert with each other, and often playing the game with rental properties themselves.
They have also destroyed rent in lots of places. Here in Spain prices have more than doubled for rent since AirBnB is a thing. Landlords even tell you that they get way more money from airbnb, so supply and demand and all that.
Supply and demand isn’t really a thing with housing. I understand that Spaniards are upset, but that’s why you tell your socialist government to convert everything to public housing.
Tbh ive booked no less than 8 airbnbs in the last 3 years and have always had zero issues in any of them. No ridiculous rules or deposits or anything, and a lot more privacy than getting a hotel. More importantly, always far cheaper than getting a hotel that isn’t questionably shitty
In that same span of time, Ive booked like 4 hotel rooms. One was a four star property that was great but stupid expensive. One was a “3 star” property that was shoddy as fuck, had bedbugs, and refused to give me a refund despite bringing one of the bugs to the front desk and politely declining to be put in another room. The other two hotels were decent but cost more than what they were worth compared to a STR. Hence I roll on with airbnbs
Why anyone would pay more for less space and less privacy I fail to understand.
Just an FYI, since privacy seems to be a big concern for you… AirBnB used to allow hosts to hide cameras inside of their rented spaces. It was explicitly allowed in their renting rules, under the premise of allowing owners to enforce rules and collect evidence in case of excessive mess/damage/theft. They banned hidden cameras in 2024, but over half of rental owners still admit to using them, and about half of all guests still report finding one inside of their rented spaces if they bother to look.
Horror story from Germany: colleague from my former workplace was living a bit after away and always rented local AirBnB locations until she found several hidden cameras, including one in the bedroom. This was before the official ban, but I’m never going to use the platform again.
& the host quite likely committed a felony under German law.
AirBnB never allowed hidden cameras; they allowed visible indoor cameras in common areas like a living room or kitchen. This isn’t to say that some nefarious hosts might have hidden cameras, which has always been an issue, but to say that they explicitly allowed it in their policy is patently false.
Here’s the archived version of the policy page in 2022: Use of cameras and recording devices
Just hypothetically speaking, is it against the end user license agreement to use a Wi-Fi jammer?
This is blatantly false. Got a source for your claim?
Which part are you suggesting is false?
That it was explicitly allowed in the rental agreement for the purpose of collecting evidence of rulebreaking.
I don’t know if you’re going to find anything that explicitly states that the security cameras are intended for security, but
https://news.airbnb.com/an-update-on-our-policy-on-security-cameras/
you’re looking for this.
From your link:
Historically, Airbnb allowed the use of indoor security cameras in common areas of listings, such as hallways and living rooms, as long as they were disclosed on the listing page before booking, clearly visible and were not located in spaces like sleeping areas and bathrooms.
How do you read that and conclude “they explicitly allowed hidden cameras”?
I meant privacy moreso as in coming and going as I please without interacting with anybody or being surrounded by other guests. But that is a valid separate concern I suppose
“I’m chill if strangers watch me sleep, I just don’t want to have to talk to them”…what a world
Says something about how awful some people are to interact with when anyone would rather the alternative, doesn’t it?
Well it says something about at least one of the people in the interaction. What it’s saying may be related to seratonin reuptake, but who am I to judge.
What sort of hotel are you staying at?
I just looked and the cheapest air BNB in my city is literally someone’s RV for $100 a night.
In most cities I can grab a room in a nice hotel for $100 to $150 per night. Cheap hotels are more like $80 a night.
STR?
Short term rental, an umbrella term for airbnb, vrbo, etc
Ugh just say the words.
It’s short for string, a data type in pretty much every programming language which traditionally is a length followed by a sequence of characters. Another storage approach used by C is to make strings just the sequence of characters with a 0 value on the end. However this approach was an optimization for 1960s technology which had aged into being a pain in the ass by 1961.
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The way I see it is that enshitification is inherent to late stage capitalism, which has unfortunately become endemic in our culture.
I suppose that’s a 6/half-dozen distinction, though
Sometimes there’s free breakfast too. And less chance of hidden cameras.
Also zero expectation to tidy up. Not an excuse to be an animal, but a reasonably behaved adult won’t have to worry about sneak attack fees.
And all the cum stains you can lick
I forgot where I saw it, but someone took a blacklight to Hilton Hampton Inn and then to a airbnb in the same area of Chicago, and the Hilton was way cleaner. Think it was on tiktok. Most Hiltons I’ve stayed in are spotless. Except one time in South Bend Indiana, the DoubleTree, one of the worst hotels I’ve ever been too.
Nothing is clean in south bend Indiana.
Factual
Yeah, I’ve done the black light check at hotels before. I was pleasantly surprised.
One tip though: They don’t usually change the top comforter in between guests. They’ll typically change the sheets, but the comforter is only changed on a regular (typically weekly) schedule. But they’ll be happy to change it for you if you ask.
Unless it’s a honeymoon suite. That shit all gets changed in between every guest, for obvious reasons.
At least in the southeast US, Hiltons are hit and miss. Holiday Inn Express is the most consistent in my expirence.
I’ve stayed in a lot of hotels all around the US (and a few abroad), ranging from 1 to 5 stars. I’ve found that the age of the hotel is the primary factor in the quality of the room.
It seems like they build them nicely, but then never seem to have (or want to spend) the money to maintain them. There are exceptions, certainly, but I’ve seen maintenance issues even in high end hotels.
As opposed to Airbnbs which ask guests to clean their own sheets and I guess use the honor system that they actually did it.
Hey airbnb’s have fine cum stains. Adequate even.
I stayed at one AirBnB where the owner had replaced all the kitchen counters with untreated butcher block. The instructions basically said “don’t use the kitchen”. For bonus points, my parents got the one bedroom and I had to sleep in the kids’ room … on the bottom bunk with the actual kid’s sheets because there weren’t any other sheets in the house. I just felt sorry for the kid.
Hope they wash them at least
You can’t truely wash porous surfaces.
This makes an assumption that the Airbnb you booked actually exists. That is usually but not always a correct assumption. 🫥
And if it does exist, sometimes it’s not legal. 🤡
I once had the guy tell me to enter and exit the building discreetly because the other tenants weren’t supposed to know he was subleasing the apartment. I think they knew.
I had the same thing happen to me in London. Twice.
Both booked from hotels.com. The place didn’t have the advertised room available so we got moved to another location. Both times.
Never book through Hotels.com even for actual hotels. Just look at the price and call the hotel directly. They will always price match because Hotels.com takes a cut of bookings through their site so they always win out if you book directly at the same price instead of going through hotels.com
They used to have a decent loyalty program.
At least they moved you, I got a voucher that definitely did not cover a same day booking in the city where I was. And that was the last time I used Airbnb.
Yeah so many places have those types of rules and yet shocker nobody ever enforces them ever.
Two bad experiences with airbnb. Will never use them again. I’d prefer hotel now. Actually cheaper, closer to right things and much much less hassle.
Hostels are the best. Just give me a bed to crash and tomorrow morning I’ll be off again.
I would love for the Japanese capsule hotels to become a thing here in the US. I’ve always hated paying $150 or whatever for a full room (or suite) during a road trip late at night when all I do is crash out on the bed and then get up and drive first thing the next morning.
Weirdly, the capsule hotels tend to be more expensive than traditional hostels, and that’s for 150 dudes in a room.
I assume part of it is the novelty + influencers will pay anything for a few more clicks.
Maybe, but the couple I stayed in were mostly 30-50 year olds traveling for business.
in japan or in the US?
Japan, compared to traditional hostels in Japan, which can be quite nice. I didn’t know there were capsules in the US.
I sleep in my car, often. If I drive until 2 am, and have to be back on the road around 8, I don’t see the point in spending a bunch of dough.
If I was home, I’d probably be sleeping in my TV chair anyway.
I wish I could do that but I drive a roadster. Absolutely no fucking way to stretch out comfortably.
Yeah, a full stretch out doesn’t really work in my van, either, but I can deal with it for a few hours. I can see where a roadster would be absolutely impossible.
At least your getting good gas mileage. You can use the savings to pay for the room.
By the way, when I do stay in a motel, I always stay in cheap places like Motel 6 and Super 8. They’ve renovated most of them, and while they aren’t fancy, they’re clean, the beds are comfortable, the shower works, and they have a TV. They usually have a fridge and microwave, but I seldom use them. You can usually find one under $75, and I recently found one for $37!
At least your getting good gas mileage.
Lol I get about 16-18 mpg. 6-cylinder engines ain’t fuel efficient even when they’re jammed into a go-kart. For bonus points, the damned thing takes 93 octane.
And I’m bitching because my van only gets about 22.
Keep the dirty side down, and the shiny side up!
It’s funny, I also own a used school bus and that gets barely worse mileage than the roadster.
Capsule offers no benefit over regular bunk beds. I’ve been in both but I try to avoid capsule now. You don’t even save that much space, people still need to get in and out of their space anyways. But getting to your bed from the short end is just a damn hassle
But I prefer having the walls around me if I’m honest.
Last hostel I stayed at in Berlin (the one with the cool painted facade they were forced to change) the bathroom was so small I had to sit sideways on the toilet. Was still a fine room to be honest.
Hostels always got some weird ass shower and bathroom setups tbh
The hotel I stayed at in Park Slope Brooklyn for a few months was $90 per night after I worked my hotel discount magic (this was a few years ago). As a 6’ long person, I nearly had to sit sideways on the toilet. I couldn’t close the door because of my knees. No problem!
Not to mention a lot of them even have private rooms for pretty cheap.
