I didn't know I was party to this contract, and I couldn't tell you what the terms are.
I travel a lot for work and I stay almost exclusively in AirBnb because I like having my money and a nice home-like experience.
I still don't understand how society would benefit from AirBnb not existing and us being where we started with the hotel cabal.
"Hotel cabal" is bullshit. Slightly less bullshit than Uber's "taxi mafia", but still a steaming pile of bovine excrement.
AirBnB is a multinational corporation. It's displacing not just large hotel chains, but also all the local legal forms of short-term accommodation - small hotels, hostels, motels, BnBs, etc.
It really bewilders me that people have fallen for the same reality-inverting marketing propaganda not once, but twice. AirBnB and Uber aren't underdogs fighting cabals, they're SV-money-pumped cabals fighting small local businesses.
Having personally made “status” in the various hotel cabal loyalty programs, and having used AirBnb/VRBO/HomeAway/etc... many many times as well. I say with confidence that the hotel chains have negative externalities that exceed those of the various short term rental sites. I’ll go so far as saying the hotel cabal is a net negative.
I can see harm in it. But the solution isn't enabling yet another single company to expand and capture even more of the hospitality market.
> I say with confidence that the hotel chains have negative externalities that exceed those of the various short term rental sites.
Name three.
2. Wages are low
3. Architectural blight/reduces walk-ability
AirBnb (of whom I’ve been very critical in the past)
1. Encourages property ownership and wealth building amongst the middle class
2. Enables the middle class to extract the maximum value from their assets
3. Offers a better product at a lower price
4. Keeps profits local
Everyone assumes the hotels are complying with all local statues and are behaving in good faith just because they pay occupancy taxes and carry insurance. Bizarre.
Local city councils can and do enact laws for short term rentals and the short term rental companies have whole departments of developers who program those laws into the system. If those laws are not being followed then the justice department should do its job.
Many of the people on this site don't see or experience the downsides, as we are privileged enough to own our own properties or have our own space not impacted by airbnb. However, consider for example a family living in inexpensive housing with parents that work and children that are in school. There have been many cases of wealthy individuals purchasing/renting blocks of cheap apartments/condos and turning them into defacto hotels with no rules leading to partying, destruction of property, increased crime, and other issues. How would you feel if where you lived was suddenly overrun with short term tenants that are having a negative impact on your way of life, and not being able to afford to move?
That is how society would benefit form AIrbnb not existing. It may not benefit engineers making 100k+, but it would positively impact many in lower socioeconomic classes
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/26/reader-center/airbnb-new-...
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/sep/17/airbnb-nu...
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/airbnb-affordable-housing-gen...
Does your airbnb host have proper insurance? For example you flood the apartment you rented from airbnb and the downstairs apartment owner sues you. IANAL but I'm fairly sure that usually in home insurance cases short term rentals aren't covered.