2. Price. We've hosted via Airbnb for a year. We rent out a room and bathroom for $30 a night. It takes us a half hour to flip the room, plus an occasional outlay of supplies like soap, etc., so this is a good investment for me. You won't find that price anywhere in or near the major city closest to me.
Sure, the issue is the if (which should be guaranteed by Airbnb and isn't).
>2. Price. We've hosted via Airbnb for a year. We rent out a room and bathroom for $30 a night. It takes us a half hour to flip the room, plus an occasional outlay of supplies like soap, etc., so this is a good investment for me. You won't find that price anywhere in or near the major city closest to me.
Your case is the "right" way, you have a spare room in your house and you rent it, but a large part of Airbnb accomodations (even the good ones) are like the ones described in the article, a self-standing apartment (actually - if it is good - more suitable to a family than a hotel room) somewhere you never meet the host, not when you arrive (either combination lock with code sent via text or physical keys in a box with a combination lock) not when you go away, if you have an issue of any kind during the night, let's say that the electricity goes off or there is no water all you have is a mobile phone number (and it has to be seen if anyone will answer your call).
For domestic travels (and with a car) you still have some ways out in case of issues (an hotel nearby, if any), but think of an international travel (in a country you don't speak the local language) and with no available infividual means of transportation ...
But in a hotel you're guaranteed a good experience? I've personally had much better luck with AirBnB than with hotels, in the same price range.
Usually, yes, and, additionally, you are going in a place that is surely registered with the local authorities, has been licensed to host you, follows a number of Laws (regarding - among the others - size of the rooms, safety, hygiene, preparation of food, etc.) that is human-presided and that has a lot to loose if it gets a "bad name".
Obviously if you are in the same price range, you are going to (you choose) a "better" AirBnb or a "worse" hotel.
A hotel has - again obviously - much higher running costs than a rented room in a house or than an apartment, as hotels tend to have personnel and pay them.
Conversely - viceversa - an AirBnB run "as a hotel" - has even greater costs (no economy of scale)than a hotel, only very often the owners (at least here, Italy) are not very good at math and if they operate according to the Law, once they have paid costs, commissions and taxes they find out they gave essentially invested a lot of money with very little return.
One or two spare rooms (like the one the parent poster described) inside one own's apartement and run by the family is what an Airbnb should be (but often isn't).
High cleaning fees for basic places are a ripoff though.