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Comment by ohbleek | Hacker News Reader

AirBnB failed. I don't even check it out anymore when I travel because a hotel typically costs about the same due to the fees charged by the hosts. I would choose a hotel over AirBnB until the price difference is 15-20% lower in favor of AirBnB because there are too many unknowns with AirBnB and the novelty has worn off entirely. Plus since so many listings are owned by some company or person renting out multiple locations, whats the difference any more?

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AirBnB didn't fail. It has some work to do with managing fees, but overall, it provides a great service for people wanting a better or different experience than traditional hotels AND it's provide hosts with additional income at the same time. I much rather give my money to people needing extra savings than big business hotel chains.

I always look at Airbnb first when traveling because I value options like a kitchen where I can cook my own meals, a washer and dryer where I can wash my clothes, and a sofa to relax on.

What AirBnB has over hotels is locations inside neighborhoods. Take Montreal for example, the hotels are clustered downtown, which is fine if that's what you're looking for. But by staying in an AirBnB you get a local experience, in a local neighborhood. It's like this all over the world.

As far as I know the locals in most places despise the train of strangers who make noise late near their house/building and hope they aren't people with bad intentions.

Sleeping in an Airbnb is no more local than a hotel except hotels can't get zoning in those neighborhoods and wouldn't get permits for fire safety with those buildings.

This is exactly what’s terrible about Airbnb. A listing in a residential neighborhood creates negative externalities on that community.

That's a failure of urban planning, not Airbnb.

The city probably didn't plan that someone puts a hotel in the middle of a residential area. This is exactly why airbnb hosts tend to get into legal trouble in some countries.

I've found the big advantage to be for longer stays. You can get almost half off which, while more expensive than rent, is considerably less than a hotel stay and allows me to live somewhere with a kitchen etc. rather than in a hotel.

Why would a host allow that? In many cities, renter rights begin on day 31.

I'm not sure of the laws but for context, this is primarily outside of the United States I'm speaking about.

I use both hotels and Airbnbs a lot. Price difference I noticed really depends on the location and also changes over time. Also depends on how many people are traveling in the group and duration of stay.

For example we were down in LA last month and picked a hotel for the night because the prices were about the same. However in Bangkok late last year staying at an Airbnb apartment was significantly cheaper than a hotel (roughly 1/3 the cost for the duration).

That’s strange because Bangkok hotels are in general very affordable, and the comfort of a 3 star hotel should match most Airbnb’s. On the other hand, I’ve never done an Airbnb in Thailand before.

I was mostly comparing against 4 star hotels in the same locations, relatively central and close to transit. They were typically around the ~$80 range. Add in taxes etc and you're looking at ~$100 per night. Airbnbs in luxury condos with some discounts (early bird, longer stay) you can get for ~$40 per night. So not quite 1/3 I guess.

EDIT: Luxury condos in Bangkok I find to be very nice. Last one I stayed at had gym, roof top infinity pool, movie theatre, library etc. And it was a few minutes to the MRT.

AirBnB didn't fail from my point of view. I travel exclusively with AirBnBs, even for work. Whenever we travel with friends, we use AirBnB as well. It pretty much completely replaced hotels for me.

I have to say though that I hate that they lie about the price/night.

I always see this view about hotels being cheaper but this has never been the case for me. I use Airbnbs all the time because they are cheaper (though I do like hotels better in a lot of cases). For example I am planning a road trip through CA, NV, UT, AZ and not once has a hotel room been cheaper than an Airbnb.

Also the case in Australia where I live, the hotels are super expensive, easily > 150 a night for pretty low level.

At this point, I'm too afraid of using airbnb and having to check for cameras. At least in a hotel, the rooms are barren and easy to take a look around. Plus if one person finds a camera, the whole hotel's name is tainted.

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