[enra]

I've been using Airbnb for maybe 7 years. The cost has been never a reason, and often might rent places on Airbnb that are more expensive.

My main reason is that with Airbnb, you can rent a fully functional apartment or a house, not a badly functioning/uninspiring room with no amenities, no places to chill, all the furniture is weird and everything looks fake. Then you need remind telling people to not to clean your room everyday at 8am, and hear people slamming doors from 6am to 10am. When I travel I like to have a little downtime at the house, shop local groceries and cook some meals at the house.

The second reason is that you find amazing and variety places in the world. Some of my favorite ones has been a modern loft on a hillside in overlooking the lake Atitlan and surrounding volcanoes in Guatemala, A-frame cottage in the forest of Mendocino Coast, and a penthouse loft with 360deg view, filled with vinyl records in Berlin.

I never stayed in a hotel that I found have enjoyed that much, or been that impressed by it. They are all the same and so bland, even the most high end or expensive ones.

(Disclaimer, I currently work at Airbnb.)

[puranjay]

I reckon that it mostly comes down to how you travel. If you're a "slow traveler", you probably like to explore a city extensively over several days. In which case, a home-like atmosphere would be nice to have.