[Manouchehri]

> ask anyone who had to book a hotel in NYC before AirBnB!

I've stayed in multiple hotels and Airbnb units in NYC, and every single time, the Airbnb option was terrible in comparison to my hotel bookings. This is for places of comparable prices as well.

The only benefit of Airbnb, is that the units were slightly larger on average than proper hotels.. but they were usually so run-down, that I didn't want to spend any more time than the bare minimum in them anyway.

I don't think it's surprising that a huge professionally run corporation can offer a better service/product than a small real estate investor.

[zamfi]

Yes, this is all true -- and it is also undeniable that AirBnB caused a dramatic reduction in hotel pricing in NYC.

In 2008 it was close to impossible to find a hotel in useful parts of Manhattan for under $500/night (in 2008 dollars!). That pricing seems outrageous now.