[deadlyllama]

AirBnB used to be a cheap stay. Now it's often not. Many hosts charge the equivalent of an extra night as a "service fee," pushing up the total price for the stay and making it harder to compare places on price.

We're booking a trip at the moment and finding in many locations we're better off booking a hotel - they're often cheaper, closer to public transport, we can leave bags at reception etc.

[cameldrv]

Airbnb was cheap when it they were renting excess space. Empty nesters. People whose roommate moved out. People on extended vacations. People who lost their job and needed some extra cash and could live without an extra bedroom.

These people were not trying to pay a mortgage and professional housekeepers and turn a profit. They were just trying to recover some sunk costs.

If you look at hotels vs. apartments or houses, the maintanence and cleaning costs of residential housing are very high because you don’t have the economies of scale you need. The hotel cleaners push their cart down the hall 20 feet while the airbnb cleaners drive all over town, and that’s just one of the many ways hotels are more efficient.

[groggo]

Service fees are ok, as long as they're upfront.

My mom runs her house as an Airbnb now. She puts a ton of work into the turnovers. So it's a similar amount of work whether guests stay for 2 nights or 7 nights. So yeah, it can be expensive and maybe it pushes people to do longer stays, but that actually makes sense for whole rentals.

But when you're searching for something, you just don't want the price to double once you get to the checkout page.

I wish they also had more options for just a place to crash for a night, like in a spare bedroom.

Hotels are certainly nicer for many cases. But Airbnb is worth it in some cases still.

[jareklupinski]

> I wish they also had more options for just a place to crash for a night, like in a spare bedroom.

couchsurfing was a great option once upon a time. the customary 'fee' of paying the host for their takeout or dinner and drinks for the night was really worth it.

i guess this informal custom has gone the way of hitch-hiking?

[tarboreus]

You could learn Esperanto. They have a service where you can couch surf basically anywhere if you can speak with your host in Esperanto. Some countries like Japan have a lot of coverage.

[Ridj48dhsnsh]

It still can be a great option in some places. I'm traveling in India, where unlike other parts of Asia, the budget hotels are not great.

Being able to book an Airbnb where people have reviewed the cleanliness and see pictures of the actual room is invaluable. For $30 a night (after fees) I have many nice apartments and small houses with kitchens and living areas to choose from. Higher end hotels with similar standards are either not available or closer to $100.

[jnsaff2]

Airbnb own service fee is often like a nights stay. For a freaking web service?!

[dboreham]

For a vampire squid.