Accommodations 2.0: The Rise of Airbnb

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Interesting post. Airbnb is basically another directory for single room lodging. Otherwise what they think they are doing that is so fresh and new (stay places you never could before! meet locals who can tell you the good stuff! make new friends!) is pretty much what we do anyway.
 
Many of the B&B soothsayers out there - and some of us - advocate for more privacy for the next generation of travelers. Separate breakfast tables, private entrances, in-room tv/coffee/breakfasts. I get that this appeals to a particular demographic - those in search of cheap rooms and new friends - but I'm not sure it's a big demographic.
 
The first think that came to mind regarding this concept is the liability which I do not think that any (or at least most) of the people listing their rooms are thinking about. What if the guest gets hurt on the property or they leave with more than they arrived with
wink_smile.gif
? Their homeowners ins. will NOT cover in either one of these cases - well that is if they are honest when filing the claim!!!
The second thing that comes to mind just makes me chuckle... we have all read of neighbors battling the zoning of a new B&B in their area - with this concept, makes me wonder just how many other neighbors are already taking in transients?
 
Yes, and they are growing leaps and bounds. They really are a 20 something type business, I admit we have a room listed on there but have had no calls. I thought I would give it a shot. :)
 
Yes, and they are growing leaps and bounds. They really are a 20 something type business, I admit we have a room listed on there but have had no calls. I thought I would give it a shot. :).
Do you think most are looking to be in a city? A non-US city? Is it a pricing constraint? Are they looking for a room for $30? More along the lines of 'pin money' for the homeowner? (Until the homeowners realize if they do it right it ain't worth $30!)
 
Yes, and they are growing leaps and bounds. They really are a 20 something type business, I admit we have a room listed on there but have had no calls. I thought I would give it a shot. :).
Joey Bloggs said:
Yes, and they are growing leaps and bounds. They really are a 20 something type business, I admit we have a room listed on there but have had no calls. I thought I would give it a shot. :)
We do too...and nothing!
 
Yes, and they are growing leaps and bounds. They really are a 20 something type business, I admit we have a room listed on there but have had no calls. I thought I would give it a shot. :).
Joey Bloggs said:
Yes, and they are growing leaps and bounds. They really are a 20 something type business, I admit we have a room listed on there but have had no calls. I thought I would give it a shot. :)
We do too...and nothing!
.
We listed on there, too. Nada. But I will say two things: one, it was a really good place (for me) to practice for free before moving on to a paid directory, and two, I have several times been REALLY impressed with their service. I've emailed issues to them and gotten responses from live human beings within hours - even on a weekend. Wow. They even went to bat for me with Google who had our address mapped wrong. They still map our "home" address wrong, but they have the BnB right. Which is very confusing to me SINCE WE LIVE THERE.
Anyway. </derailed>
Too bad we've not even gotten a nibble. But I didn't expect to. We're on the low side of price in terms of BnB's, but still way, WAY higher than anything else listed on that site in this region. My thinking is that anyone wanting to pay that price doesn't actually want to stay in our place, anyway.
 
I guess I spoke too soon. Just got a five night stay at the end of this month from airbnb.com. We communicated via the air bnb site for a couple of days, and then she came to the website and booked. Never say never!!
 
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