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Comment by lasgsf | Hacker News Reader

Yeah no thanks on staying at hotels where you have hundreds of people going through it and underpaid maids who "clean" tons of rooms a day. Sure that is really safe in this environment.

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Haha, last Airbnb I had was mega cheap and the mattress smelled of dried piss. The hosts were nice but god I hated staying there in an extreme way, felt very unsafe.

Hotels (short of the “accommodation” in Chung King Mansions) have never made me feel this way...

> Hotels (short of the “accommodation” in Chung King Mansions) have never made me feel this way...

That was probably one of my more memorable stays while traveling, it wasn't all bad though. Just not something comparable to other places I've stayed before.

This was in 2009, I think when I stayed was horrendous. A flying bug had got between the ceiling tiles and was buzzing around for about 2-3 minutes before banging into something just as I was about to fall asleep. Add on the blood on the stairs between the 11th and 12th floors and the crazy amount of prostitution (and I guess stolen electronics) and yes it wasn’t great.

It's up to you, the renter, to vet your host and rental to the best of your ability. Maybe don't pick a "mega cheap" place next time? I've used AirBnB tons of times and cannot relate even a little with all the complaints in this thread (and other HN threads).

My rule of thumb is I only use AirBnB in areas where there's a good selection of options. AirBnBs in the middle of nowhere tend to be miserable because there's no competition.

I am just saying if I can afford a hotel it's usually better quality in my experience than any Airbnb I've had... depends what you like though. I prefer hotels and I don't like the increases in rental costs that Airbnb is reported to have caused.

And your airbnb host will be any better at cleaning? Plenty don't treat it as a business and will prefer to retaliate to negative feedback rather than correct it.

The point is that your AirBnB host (if there even is a host, which ain't a given) won't be traveling between dozens or hundreds of rooms and potentially spreading viruses among all those rooms.

they just bring a lot of random people into their own house and spread it there

By that metric, hotels are substantially worse. With an AirBnB, you're dealing with, at most, a number you can count with your fingers. With a hotel, you're - again - dealing with tens or hundreds at a time.

Critically, this means that an AirBnB has a greater chance of being able to disinfect the entire property between groups of guests, at a much lower cost. Now, whether or not AirBnB hosts are doing this is a different question, but it's at least feasible for an AirBnB (as opposed to borderline impossible for a hotel).

I agree with the working condition issues, but compared to Airbnb's a licensed hotel/hostel is at least somewhat regularly inspected by government officials to check for hygienic issues, fire/electrical code compliance, accessibility for disabled or otherwise impaired persons, and also for commercial insurance - plus you won't (as a guest) have to deal with police showing up because neighbors are annoyed by noise from an essentially illegal hotel op.

Hotels also can not ruin your chances of staying at another establishment by posting negative reviews about you because you happened to mention the shower didn't work.

Hotels do have a shared blacklist system. Why wouldn't they?

I imagine being a repeat complainer is one way to make the list unless you bring enough business to be worth it.

Chain hotels do have shared blacklists, yes (as far as the law allows them to, GDPR says hello), but unlike Airbnb in every major city there are independent competitors.

I have stayed in chain hotels in the UK, complained sometimes and gotten a full refund. Been welcomed back again with no problems.

Hotels do not have a shared blacklist. And generally they don't care how much you complain as long as you aren't damaging their facilities since they don't have to try to make you happy unless they want to retain your business.

vs what, the airbnb host?

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