[Fuzzwah]

From what I learned about AirBnB's origin story via an episode of NPR's How I Built This [1], the original idea of AirBnB was a kind of "stay somewhere with a local and experience the place not as a tourist" experience.

The fact that this kind of idea never went away even when everyone else found that AirBnB fullfilled a different requirement doesn't surprise me.

[1] http://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this

[ryhamz]

Right. The original idea is now trashed. Airbnb doesn't care if someone is operating a 20 bunk bed dorm room that they don't actually live in, as long as they get a cut.

It couldn't get further from living like a local; it's just an AirBnHostel.

[pmh]

To expand a little on my sibling (prawn's) comment, I don't think the original idea is trashed, but travelers do have more options now. I've stayed at an "AirBnHostel" as well as "AirBnVacationHomes", but most of the time, I've stayed with hosts who like to hang out and share their city/lives.

It's relatively simple to discern which type of AirBnB you're getting from the host's description, and from the cities I've rented in (granted, mostly popular/populous destinations), there's plenty of choice between the types.

[personlurking]

Strange. I mean, we only have our own experiences to go by, but every time I've used Airbnb (throughout Europe) it's always been with a host who doesn't live there and shows no desire nor feels any obligation to show their city (much less talk) to the traveler outside of handing-off the keys. Even when their profile might say differently. They were all way more Hotel than Hospitality Club, so to speak.

[ethanbond]

Yeah, I had a lady cancel her reservation at my place in NYC after realizing it wasn't a professionally operated hotel citing that she'd never experienced such an arrangement on Airbnb.

[prawn]

In some cases. In others, you can stay with others, or rent an entire house in a small village, or rent something crazy, etc. Airbnb has its faults, but there are loads of options on there.

[philihp]

I, too, work at Airbnb, and I'm also a host. A very significant majority of us care a great deal about the quality of the stays booked through us (I can't speak for everyone here, but if they don't care, I would question why they work here). Although there's not much of a reason to be public about it externally, it's a pretty regular occurrence to see poorly reviewed listings warned or failing to improve after that are removed for consistently poor reviews. We take a lot of pride in facilitating meaningful experiences between guests and hosts.

[rorykoehler]

I love Airbnb. I use it almost exclusively (maybe 95% of the time) when I travel and I travel often. I even met my ex-co-founder through staying at his Airbnb. Bearing this in mind I think Airbnb is barking up the wrong tree here. A classic case of a solution looking for a problem. Airbnb are trying to solve a problem with this new move but not one based on a market need like their initial idea. The problem they are trying to solve is they've run out of growth in one market and are obsessed with trying to continue their hockey stick growth so they look to new markets. Lots of companies do this and they all inevitably fail. Doing this rips the soul out of companies and dilutes their value proposition. Growth is great until the delusional need to continue it at all costs becomes a curse. It looks like this is where Airbnb have arrived.

Edit: I just played around with it a bit more and maybe I was a bit harsh. I'm definitely not the target market for this and will never use though I can imagine there is a sizeable number of people who would enjoy this. That said it should definitely be a new app. It doesn't make sense to put it in the main app.

[venantius]

This is more or less correct - authentic, local experiences have always been top of mind. It was sort of an accident that in the process we also stumbled onto "stay somewhere cheap" with a better reputation system than CouchSurfer, et al.

Another way of thinking about this is to understand that Airbnb doesn't think of itself as an accommodations company, and hasn't for years. It thinks of itself as a travel company, and this has significant implications for its overall strategy.