[benastan]

It's definitely an interesting story. The author was offering a personal experience that was enjoyable for both the guest and the host. As he said, his guests and he often established a unique connection. On the other hand:

"When I delivered my rent at the beginning of the next month, I found the management company’s office under construction. It's now a hotel. The “loft-style” rooms are now listed on Airbnb for $169 a night."

Is this how airbnb was intended to be used? Isn't the point of a bed and breakfast-style experience the small-scale feel that the author described? Are guests really going to get the same attention/enjoyment out of airbnb if it's more-or-less a run of the mill hotel experience? Also, aren't there different regulations in place for rentals vs. hotels? The property manager may be violating laws as well.

[fraserharris]

from: Paul Graham

to: Fred Wilson

date: Fri, Feb 20, 2009 at 10:00 PM

subject: airbnb already spreading to pros

I know you're skeptical they'll ever get hotels, but there's a continuum between private sofas and hotel rooms, and they just moved one step further along it.

[link to an airbnb user]

This is after only a few months. I bet you they will get hotels eventually. It will start with small ones. Just wait till all the 10-room pensiones in Rome discover this site. And once it spreads to hotels, where is the point (in size of chain) at which it stops? Once something becomes a big marketplace, you ignore it at your peril.

--pg

http://paulgraham.com/airbnb.html

[AJ007]

There are lots of hotels listing on airbnb. And yes, some look like they were intended to be apartments.

NYC hotel laws are strict. Its very possible what the landlord is doing is illegal. If the OP was staying in his room, may be it qualified as a bed & breakfast. I don't think the landlord would meet that qualification.

[JoeAltmaier]

In an efficient market, every niche will be filled. Resistance is futile. If there is money to be made, landlords will flock to it. The laws will change or be ignored.

[untog]

It may well not be how AirBnB was intended to be used, but it definitely is. When I took a trip to London recently I rented an "apartment" (A room with a kitchen in it) from a guy on AirBnB that had at least seven rooms listed on the site.