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Comment by strychn9ne9 | Hacker News Reader

I think Airbnb shines with large groups. Me and 10 friends can split a house in the mountains or in some European city for a fraction of getting multiple rooms in a Hotel - with much less hassle.

However, if I'm traveling by myself or with my partner, hotels still seem the way to go. Valet parking in a city centre with room service can make a stay much comfortable.

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Agreed. I have been using Airbnb since 2010. I've had more bad experiences when using Airbnb compared to hotels. Earlier it used to be cheaper to stay in Airbnb, but not anymore. Their fees are outrageous and the quality of the accommodation has been wildly inconsistent.

I find it more stressful to stay at an airbnb.. lots of weird rules and policies to keep track of. Airbnb customer service is horrible when things go wrong.

The better Airbnb locations are managed by professional companies. Their prices tend to be high.

Nowadays, I consider staying in Airbnb only for a long trip with a lot of people when I can justify the time to thoroughly research the places. Otherwise, I prefer the consistent experience offered by Hilton/Hyatt/Marriott. Ironically it is relaxing for me to come back to the cookie cutter furnishings where I won't have to open 5 cabinets to find a coffee mug.

Same here. I used to always go for an Airbnb, now I generally do a hotel unless I'm staying with a large group of people and need a big house.

The early Airbnb days were great, because it was mostly people that were renting out their place while they traveled. They cared about their place and they wanted you to care about their place. It reminded me of how eBay was before it became just another marketplace, it was a more personal experience.

Every single bad Airbnb experience I've had has been with the people that are taking out second properties to rent on Airbnb as a business, so they are completely disconnected from it.

Why should an AirBNB be cheaper? In many ways, you're getting more. More square footage, more amenities, more options. Sure, I can stick a family of 4 in a hotel room with 2 queens, but we will be way more comfortable in an AirBNB with a kitchen, living room, etc.

I totally understand why a business traveler would want consistency and simplicity. When traveling with family, I'm happy to pay more for the AirBNB experience, even if one of the adults has to sleep on a sofa bed in the living room, while the other is in a king bed with the kids. (Assuming a 1 bdrm rental. 2 bdrms is even better.)

There's no maids, room service, or any of the usual hotel amenities.

Or insurance. Or licensure. Or security, trained staff, inspections, commercial grade construction.

They should be fined or in jail.

Room service + daily cleanings + guaranteed TV in front of the bed is the best for vacations with my SO. Big group of friends = rent a huge house and have an awesome time. Your comment is spot on.

I don’t care about any of those 3 things. IMO it’s more about predictable experience, 24 hour desk, ability to leave luggage at the hotel, etc.

Totally agree about leaving luggage with the porter between early check in and checkout. On top of the predictable check-in, check-out, security, and elite membership benefits like 4pm late checkout, free waters/lounge access, keycard recovery.

Whereas I want none of those things. I want a living room I can hang out in while the kids are asleep, a kitchen where we can make breakfast so we aren't spending $15/head on food the kids don't like, a fridge and a microwave to store/reheat leftovers, and a nearby park or backyard to play in.

I agree that predictable check-in is nice, and I will seek out AirBNBs with code-based checkins.

YMMV.

Sure mileages vary. Long term stay places like Residence Inn can provide many of those amenities though

Yeah, those are options. They usually aren't very well located, though.

The hotel business is largely focused on the business traveler as their primary market. They only really build for pleasure-travel in non-business markets (see all the Condos available on Maui, or the Hyatt House hotels in Anaheim and Orlando, which have bunk-bed rooms for kids, etc.) AirBNB fell into serving this market, and it's served them pretty well, especially since they were priced below hotels to begin with, and pleasure travelers are much more price-sensitive than business travelers.

I find the nominally long stay brands are increasingly common even in cities. On the other hand, other than a kitchen, they’re not necessarily that spacious compared to a standard hotel room even if they have a kitchenette. But I’m staying at one in downtown Chicago this week and it was cheaper than other hotel options.

If you don’t have a car, the ability to check a bag is often unappreciated if you have a late afternoon or evening flight. Lockers are pretty much non existent most US places in my experience even for hand luggage and, you’re pretty restricted in what you can do for half a day if you’re hauling a backpack around.

Don’t forget late checkin caused by a delayed flight not being a problem.

So is VRBO [1] a tech company? I use it all the time for group rentals in the way you describe.

1 - https://www.vrbo.com/

They could be - if they spend a bit on improving the UI (look and feel) and a enable payment processing and they'd instantly be comparable to Airbnb. I use them 50%, 40% hotels and 10% Airbnb on my vacations.

At that size you can rent family hotels (or apart hotels, or vacance homes, whatever they call it). They can be a bit further from big city, meaning you’ll need cars, but for that tradeoff you’ll get decent service for cheaper than standard hotels.

That’s what we do with relatives, as it’s much more kid friendly than any other solution.

I really don't get the appeal of valet parking. It's expensive and I don't like other people driving my car. It's nice when a hotel offers a garage (super nice when it's snowing)

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