The Disparity Between Hotels and Air Bnbs Is Getting Out of Control
This is what we get in exchange for gentrification and absurd rents?
Airbnb used to be a good deal, but now it’s just a way to scam parents who don’t want to sit silently in a dark hotel room after they put their kids to bed. My own brain is oversubscribed and overmatched even relative to the things I am supposed to know or think about, and when it comes to travel advice, I have come to honor the expertise of the various experts and sweaty pseudo-experts who insist that hotels are now a better value than Airbnb. Personal finances and itinerary planning aside, the disparity between the two could not be greater at the moment.
Once you check into a hotel, they treat you like a god. They’ll service every one of your needs, they’ll even fold a towel to look like a swan and put it next to your pillow. Before you check into your Airbnb, you’ll get 10 texts from a woman named Louise all asking for your estimated arrival time, and she still won’t show up on time. While you’re locked out of her apartment and still waiting for her, she’ll send another text to let you know that the key is under the flower pot on the back porch. The back porch has a thousand flower pots.
Every Airbnb check-in feels like a game show called “Home Invaders.”
The entertainment is not even comparable. Every hotel TV has HBO. At the Airbnb, Louise is texting you, “The instructions for the Roku are on the kitchen table.” You look, and it’s a stationary with flowers on it and a post-it note full of unintelligible scribble and you realize you’re not watching “Love Island” this weekend.
The initial appeal of Airbnb was the wanderlust of travel combined with the fantasy of property ownership. Their website would include recommendations for nearby restaurants and attractions. Now, your stay comes with curfews, chore lists, and quiet hours. All I have to do to check out of a hotel is just throw a towel on the floor. At the Airbnb, you’re getting a text the night before from Louise that says, “Strip the sheets. Start a load of laundry. Sweep the floor. You’ll never see your deposit again.”
What is our arrangement?
Am I your maid? I pay you a $250 cleaning fee and I’m still cleaning?
Old library. Eyes meet. New chapter.
Silence stretches until laughter breaks it.
Invisible ink revealed grandma's last secret.
I’m having to rely on Airbnb quite a bit lately because I’m traveling with my 91-yr old father on various road trips and need a 2 bedroom situation. And, cripes it’s expensive. I loved the initial concept and it worked well but now... it’s out of control! Sometimes more expensive than a motel. In the larger SF Bay Area, it’s absolutely ridiculous. I need a place to sleep for 1 night for a 6am start time that’s 2.5 hrs away. I’ve ended up booking a camping spot at $50 (!) where I’ll have to sleep in my car because there are no rooms under $200 hotel/motel/Airbnb. It’s disgusting. And then there’s the $120 cleaning fee...