Tenish years ago I would use air bnb because it was a good bit cheaper than a mid level hotel and you'd get a whole house with a kitchen. Means I'd save money and could cook. But that's changed and it's usually more expensive for air bnb now

I haven't even considered an Airbnb in close to 8 years. Pay a cleaning fee and have to strip the bed linens, take out all trash, and tidy everything...on top of a moldy af bathroom, having to check all potential locations for the hidden cameras, and getting texts every 30 minutes telling (not asking, TELLING) me to leave a 5 start review. Fuck you

Hotels don't rent out houses in the middle of nowhere for my friends and me to get trashed at for the weekend. They're really nice if you want to get out of the city and relax in someone else's house for a couple days.

It was so much cheaper back in the day. Me and my wife would rent out either a guest suite or a room for a couple nights in new cities. I’m talking like $40/night with fees or a little more but with advantages of a kitchen and a couch vs a hotel suite.

Also we rented one twice to host big parties because neither us nor any of our friends in the city have a house big enough to host and comfortably sleep 15 people. Luckily that’s changing soon as my wife and I finally purchased a place in the city, and look forward to hosting our friends for years to come.

I don’t even understand why people use Airbnb.

So, in the long long ago, in the before time, Airbnb was a way to rent out your apartment or home for a week, while you were on vacation, or to rent out a spare room with minimal headaches. In fact, after Craigslist more or less died, it was THE way to do it.

Over time, this changed.

I paid $80 for a room in the middle of LA

We've used airbnb twice because it was for a whole house and I have a severely disabled daughter who can get loud and physically disruptive. Those were the only family vacations that we've ever been able to take because hotels generally can't accommodate us. This isn't a common requirement, and if not for that special use case, I'd pick a hotel every time.

sometimes it might be useful for a large group visiting that needed a whole house rather than trying to get hotel/motel for each person a room, im guessing its convenience and simplicity for groups. not useful if you are 1-3 people.

When it first started it was good for traveling on a budget. But yeah then greedy assholes ruined it by trying to gouge every dollar they could out of it.

I guess it depends on the region. Used Airbnb a lot in spring when I did an Interrail tour through central/eastern Europe. Often it was just the cheapest option. Sometimes hostels with 10+ beds in a room are cheaper (also used these quit often in my first Interrail tour trough other parts of the continent a couple of years back) but not always.

Then also the thing with having a kitchen which can safe you some more money. Especially for breakfast, it's crazy how hotels are pricing them.

Not trying to say that Airbnb is cheap(or isn't destroying the housing market), it's just that hotels are expensive. At least in the areas I travel.

I think the hidden fees have been abandoned now. They were never a thing in Australia - the price is the price.

For groups of more than two people apartments and houses are usually significantly cheaper on AirBnB, and being fully self contained with a kitchen and laundry changes the calculation too.