It was the tail end of summer 2020. Nearly half a year of social deprivation had gone by and the effects of the COVID pandemic were really hitting. Sure, I was starting to see more people as COVID cases dropped in and around NYC in summer 2020, but it still wasn’t the same as pre-COVID when my social schedule was seemingly unending. To get a social boost, my friend and I devised a plan to get people together over Labor Day Weekend for a much needed getaway. We found a beautiful Airbnb in upstate New York that was a mini-mansion disguised as a wooden cabin that was actually affordable (I would’ve paid triple the price because of my lack of socialization). The next step was for us to fill it.
We polled a select group of our coworkers and got it almost filled. The majority of us were already friendly, but on different teams and in overlapping friend circles. To round out the final spot, I brought in my buddy from a different friend circle outside work who needed a social charge as well. With a stacked roster, what resulted was a magical weekend etched in the ethos as the birth of our friend group.
Certainly our drunken shenanigans helped us have a grand old time, but the actual Airbnb itself absolutely made the weekend. Not only did we have ample space with beautifully ornate wooden designs, but we also had a spacious kitchen to house a family style meal, a fire pit snuggled into the foot of the forest (thankfully no forest fires ensued by some miracle) and a hot tub that we not only went in on a daily basis, but legitimately spent eight hours in the last night. We likely wouldn’t have had as grand of a time had there not been the cozy vibes and the fabulous amenities. Airbnb made the experience special.
Fast forward almost a year and the same group of friends decided to get together for a trip to Zion National Park in Utah. We could barely arrange all of us to get together in NYC, yet here we were almost an entire country apart, all together. While we had an amazing time in Zion (The Narrows might be my favorite hike of all-time), our Airbnb got mixed reviews this time. On the bright side, we had plenty of rooms and even had an Airstream set up in the backyard that was incredible to hang in. However, we also had a family living below us that we saw routinely. This freaked us out since it felt like we had no privacy to do as we pleased. We felt like we couldn’t really be ourselves because we had people constantly watching us. Conversely, I’m sure the tenants were constantly annoyed by noisy Airbnb guests who came and went on a regular basis.
Herein lies the dilemma: Airbnb can absolutely make travel a remarkable experience, but users are only willing to pay the price up to a certain point; whether that be cost, time or privacy.
It’s become quite fashionable to dunk on Airbnb lately. All you need to do is traverse Twitter to find all the latest horror stories of triple digit cleaning fees for a one-night stay, all while you personally need to wash the dishes, remove the bedsheets and take out the trash. This isn’t even getting into the broader societal problems that Airbnb has caused, such as letting investment firms swoop up vast swaths of units and turn them into short-term rentals (https://www.realpha.com/blog/investors-look-to-build-airbnb-portfolios). Worse yet, there are even more horror stories of cameras set up in Airbnbs to monitor the guests every move. That makes me feel like I got off easy with a mere family below my Airbnb.
This has all led to a certain renaissance of hotels. People left and right have come out of the woodwork on social media saying how they’ve left Airbnb behind for good and are hotel only people moving forward. I get it. Everything in the hotel is taken care of. There’s an inherent relief in not having to clean up after yourself and getting support at all hours of the day (that doesn’t mean to abuse those privileges either). There is a particular feeling of luxury when you stay at a hotel.
Despite the dichotomy that social media has painted, the reality is that it doesn’t have to be hotels or Airbnb. Both have a place in this modern world we live in.
As previously stated, Airbnb has made several of my trips, not just the one in upstate New York. But while some of my best trips have been elevated because of a great Airbnb, I’d also prefer to stay in a hotel for a multitude of other reasons. Take weddings: some of my best wedding experiences have been because I’ve stayed at the hotel where it’s easier to congregate with the wedding parties for late night fun and subsequent hungover misery. I have stayed in an Airbnb for a wedding before and it just wasn't the same.
Other places like Vegas can go either way. I’ve stayed in hotel rooms in the casinos on the strip and they’ve been absolutely remarkable experiences. I’ve also stayed in an Airbnb for a joint bachelor/bachelorette party that would not have been the same had we stayed in a hotel since we had freedom to relax all together and kick back at the pool.
Airbnb needs to address its most fatal flaws if it is to evolve into its next phase of the business. Change the pricing structure so cleaning fees aren’t ridiculous, don’t make the property a surveillance state, work with lawmakers the best way for municipalities to host short-term rental properties, among other burning issues. Said differently, listen to your users and read the room! Thankfully, Airbnb seems to be well on its way to addressing these issues (https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/travel/airbnb-has-a-plan-to-fix-cleaning-fees).
People forget the times of complaining about hotels for the similar reasons that they complain about Airbnbs. Whether it’s that they’re too expensive, or too inaccessible to the major city attractions, or they have disgusting levels of cleanliness (all of which I’ve most certainly experienced at both). If we swung the pendulum all the way back to only staying at hotels, we’d not only go back to complaining about these all again, then think, “wouldn’t it be nice to live as the locals do instead of staying in this stuffy hotel?”
Hotels won’t replace Airbnb (or other short-term rental properties). Nor did Airbnb completely disrupt the hotel industry. Instead, they should balance each other out. One doesn’t need to steal the other’s slice of the pie. Instead, they should grow the overall pie so that more people have the ability to travel. The only thing worse than a bad travel experience is no travel experience.