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Comment by vsnf | Hacker News Reader

I've never been comfortable with the concept of Airbnb, so I'm curious if anyone could chime in with why they think it grew to be as big as it did.

To me the idea that I have to do a kind of song-and-dance negotiation with a host by first introducing myself over texting chat, to see if we meet each-other's minimum standards, and then have them personally arrange for how to do the key pickup and dropoff is an enormous turn off to me. Thinking back on the marketing, Airbnb in my mind occupied the same space as a hotel, but actually it's intensely more social than that. I was shocked when I first tried it and found it was so built on a one-on-one experience.

Granted, I only ever did this once, and maybe 6 or 7 years ago at that, but I vastly prefer the idea of an impersonal hotel check-in desk that confirms my stay and then retreats into the background.

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Most Airbnb's Ive been to require no communication with the host. I book the Airbnb, then I get a message that tells me the electronic door code, or the code for the key lockbox.

Usually I send a message that's says "thanks, I'm checking out" when I leave.

I usually stay at some of the cheapest places tho. If I'm going to be paying more than $120/night I'll just book a hotel.

I've only had great experiences and am very selective with which AirBnBs I get. If you want a nice house/apartment to explore a city from, hotels don't cut it for me, AirBnB or VRBO are the only games in town.

At the time hotels were really expensive and not as available in many locations. AirBnBs could be closer to your final destination, cheaper, and have more personality than bland hotel rooms.

Now, AirBnB has soured and caused lots of problems while hotels are more comparable in price and more reliable.

Just my general opinions I don't really have any proof other than using the service and making the decision to switch back to hotels primarily.

AirBnB and similar is still a better choice for larger groups or vacations where you want something like an entire house: kitchen, multiple bedrooms, privacy, etc.

AirBnBs can have yards, kitchens, multiple bedrooms, and locations hotels don't exist. I think those are the main things that benefitted them as they grew, and that market is still largely only served by AirBnB and VRBO. I haven't had the problems that everyone else in the thread seems to have, but that could be because of the places I choose. They have filters for no-contact check-in, so I have never once had to meet the "host".

Similar to Lyft/Uber, AirBNB increased the reach and variety to meet consumer's short-term housing needs. The old "people prefer 70 different spaghetti sauces to 5" thing.

Some aspects of the experience has worsened, and I've been using them since the beginning. Lately these business-oriented AirBNBs have taken over, one I stayed in sent a massive list of paperwork to sign that included requirements like having to send license photos of any additional guests. Having to clean the place is not technically something you do at a hotel, but many AirBNB hosts now come to expect it despite charging cleaning fees. At a hotel you hand them the CC, they hand you the keys, and that's it.

The best thing about AirBNBs still remains the fact that you can easily book a treehouse in Tennessee or a palace in Cambodia. That and staying with local hosts who have deep experience wherever you're at is always a unique joy.

Some people like having 1-1 personal interactions with someone at a place where they are visiting.

Yes, of course socializing is fun. But when it comes to housing accommodations for travel, I'm surprised so many people view that as being a perk of Airbnb over the hotels. Or maybe everybody else just accepts it not as a bonus, but as a neutral affect of the system and the value of Airbnb is in the location and the style.

Or maybe I'm just an outlier here. It wouldn't be the first time I didn't quite click with a large B2C company's product (cc facebook, instagram).

I mean, this was part of the original value proposition of Airbnb. It's right there in the name: They were trying to replicate some of the personalized experience you get from staying at a bed and breakfast. B&B's definitely aren't for everyone—you get a little less privacy and personal space. But in return you get to interact with someone new and feel a little more embedded in the local culture.

Hotels can be like the big node/hub -- sometimes you want to be closer to your destination.

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