I’ve stayed in my fair share of Airbnbs. I’ve stayed in units where I had the entire space to myself, and I’ve stayed in units where the host was present. I’ve gone for the cheapest option, and I’ve splurged. But at this point, I’d choose a hotel every time.
Preference counts here, obviously. In my personal view, there is something to be said for privacy. If I could have the same location, the same access to things I value (coffee shops, restaurants, what-have-you), and the same price… I’d choose the hotel. I like the predictability of a hotel: I know to leave a cash tip for housecleaning and how to keep track of a room key. I don’t mind noise in the hallway or hearing music from the hotel pool if I feel secure in my room and there’s an active front desk. Pros and cons, obviously.
But the reality is if you’re staying long-term (say, an entire month), many times the Airbnb listing costs less (sometimes a lot less) than a hotel. I tend to travel solo or just with an adult partner, however, and I can certainly see why people who are booking stays for a larger group or with children would prefer, say, having extra rooms or bathrooms as you’d get with an Airbnb. Some hotels will offer a kitchen space, and sometimes you’ll find on-site laundry, but I can imagine scenarios where you simply want to be able to cook all of your own meals, do your laundry, and basically stay in the space as though you’re living there. Makes sense.
Consumer cost aside, there is a big issue with short-term rentals (like Airbnb and VRBO, among others) that is worth seriously thinking about whether you prefer them or hotels. It’s a little thing called the housing crisis.
RELATED: What is the debt ceiling? An economic trap Republicans are likely to set in January
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The short-term rental industry has driven up the cost of housing in many, many communities. The general idea is that real estate investment firms and corporations convert spaces that would be perfectly fine to rent long-term into short-term rentals in order to make a profit. When there is less housing available, landlords can then increase the prices of what’s left. So then you have people scrambling to make rent (or get approved for a place, to begin with) in a community where you have fewer long-term neighbors than you do people staying for a night or two. That’s a very quick way to force people out of communities. Basically: It’s a highway to displacement.
And for what? Corporate greed.
Now, at one point, homeowners were posting on platforms like Airbnb to make some extra income to cover their personal housing costs. Makes sense. Renters would use the platform if they were going out of town and wanted to “make up” for the rent they’d be paying for an otherwise empty space. Again, that makes sense.
People with truly unique homes or side projects (like tiny houses, for example) got in on the short-term rental market and became a sort of travel destination in itself—some people like to stay in a space that feels like a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Maybe they like the super privacy of a remote location where there simply isn’t a hotel around for miles. Maybe they like specific perks, like an outdoor hot tub or a personal hot spring. Again: Reasonable!
But times have really changed. And while you can still find individual hosts who actually live in the place they’re renting out, the system is simply not what it once was. And that’s what happens when investors value the bottom line more than the actual community in which these units exist.
Greedy corporations and investment firms are making it a nightmare for locals to find safe, reliable, and affordable housing in the places they live and work. This brings us back to our previous framing: People (or corporations, really) are converting what should be long-term housing into short-term spaces to make a nicer profit. And leaving people out in the cold because of it. (Sometimes literally, as the short-term rental industry has been accused of evicting people in order to better turn a profit, though the platform says it will ban listings for properties where a tenant was evicted for inability to pay rent...)
Folks have realized they can turn what would be an apartment building into a pseudo-hotel and get way more money by operating at a short-term turnover rate than at a long-term one. And this is one of the reasons rental costs have increased even in non-short-term-rental units; less housing is available, and so what is available can be priced higher. And higher. And higher.
It’s not fair to blame the housing crisis solely on Airbnb and comparable platforms; the global supply chain crisis, for example, has slowed the construction of new housing. Zoning laws can make it incredibly difficult to build more housing even if rental costs are skyrocketing in the area. But that doesn’t mean corporations aren’t playing a major role, either.
As highlighted over at Archdaily, Inside Airbnb estimates that about 25% of hosts on the platform actually run more than half of the listings. Yikes! These are not the folks described earlier, who were maybe renting out a spare bedroom to help cover mortgage costs. These are not the people asking you to watch their cat while they’re overseas for a discounted stay. These are essentially corporations that don’t have any community relationship or presence, much less ever actually live in these spaces that are up for “rent.”
How can we solve this? I’ve always thought the U.S. needs more hostels—they technically exist here, though they’re not nearly as popular as they are elsewhere. But they’re (generally) affordable and offer amenities like kitchens, laundry, and communal spaces to hang out. They’re (often) located in convenient spots if you’re traveling.
But that said, hostels are not a perfect solution, either, as I can imagine someone isn’t going to want to stay in a hostel with ten strangers if you have a baby or a senior you’re traveling with, or even if you yourself have certain disabilities. Hostels are (unfortunately) not always designed with inclusivity in mind unless you fit the stereotype of being young and broke.
And here we can discuss another aspect of the short-term rental discourse: Are these spaces actually worth it? Obviously, there is not a one-size-fits-all answer here. But there is a recent trend of short-term rentals operating like hotels without… being hotels.
Here’s a scenario. You want to store your luggage after you check out. You don’t want to carry it around before you head to the airport, so you’re hoping to store it out of the way. A hotel will almost always offer to do this for you securely behind their front desk. Even after you check out. A short-term rental? Maybe if you’re staying in the home of a real person. But a corporate-owned one? Yeah right.
Another scenario: Something goes wrong. Maybe the toilet is clogged. Maybe the hot water doesn’t work. Maybe there’s a problem with your key. In a hotel, you have an on-site staff available who is trained to handle these things. It is quite literally their job to help you figure this out. And if they can’t figure it out in a reasonable amount of time, they will (generally speaking) move you to a different room… because it is a hotel, and there is hopefully more space available. Or, again, they’re apologizing and working on it.
In that short-term rental? You might have a super helpful host who is prepared for these situations. And that’s great, if so! But you also might have a host you’ve never met and can’t get in touch with, much less take the elevator downstairs to speak to in person. You may very well interact with a “host” who has no specific contacts available to solve this problem because they don’t live in the area and are actually responsible for a bunch of these rentals. You might be virtually chatting with someone in a different time zone and wondering how long you’re stuck in a place you don’t want to be. It can be rough!
Another reason folks are tired of these spaces? Experiences of racism on the platforms. So many folks of color—and especially Black travelers—have shared their negative experiences trying to use the platform that Airbnb has actually moved to use only a guest’s initials when booking in Oregon because discrimination against Black travelers has been such an issue.
As reported by CNN, users overall found their reservation requests were confirmed (approved) by hosts more than 90% of the time in 2021. Except when it came to Black guests. According to the outlet, Airbnb’s data reveals that guests perceived to be white had a 94% success rate, and users perceived to be black had a 91% success rate, with folks perceived as Latinx or Asian in the middle.
As highlighted over at The Root, Airbnb says it’s working on it. And Airbnb says it’s removed 4,000 hosts in 2022 alone for violating its nondiscrimination policies. But all things considered, is it enough for the platform to continue to strive? That remains to be seen.
We'll be adding to this conversation in an upcoming story that will include interviews with urban planning experts, community organizers, and those displaced by the growing short-term rental takeover of family housing—please feel free to share questions or interest points in the comments!
Or, let us know: Have you used a short-term rental service? Tell us the good and the bad below!
Preference counts here, obviously. In my personal view, there is something to be said for privacy. If I could have the same location, the same access to things I value (coffee shops, restaurants, what-have-you), and the same price… I’d choose the hotel. I like the predictability of a hotel: I know to leave a cash tip for housecleaning and how to keep track of a room key. I don’t mind noise in the hallway or hearing music from the hotel pool if I feel secure in my room and there’s an active front desk. Pros and cons, obviously.
But the reality is if you’re staying long-term (say, an entire month), many times the Airbnb listing costs less (sometimes a lot less) than a hotel. I tend to travel solo or just with an adult partner, however, and I can certainly see why people who are booking stays for a larger group or with children would prefer, say, having extra rooms or bathrooms as you’d get with an Airbnb. Some hotels will offer a kitchen space, and sometimes you’ll find on-site laundry, but I can imagine scenarios where you simply want to be able to cook all of your own meals, do your laundry, and basically stay in the space as though you’re living there. Makes sense.
Consumer cost aside, there is a big issue with short-term rentals (like Airbnb and VRBO, among others) that is worth seriously thinking about whether you prefer them or hotels. It’s a little thing called the housing crisis.
RELATED: What is the debt ceiling? An economic trap Republicans are likely to set in January
Campaign Action
The short-term rental industry has driven up the cost of housing in many, many communities. The general idea is that real estate investment firms and corporations convert spaces that would be perfectly fine to rent long-term into short-term rentals in order to make a profit. When there is less housing available, landlords can then increase the prices of what’s left. So then you have people scrambling to make rent (or get approved for a place, to begin with) in a community where you have fewer long-term neighbors than you do people staying for a night or two. That’s a very quick way to force people out of communities. Basically: It’s a highway to displacement.
And for what? Corporate greed.
Now, at one point, homeowners were posting on platforms like Airbnb to make some extra income to cover their personal housing costs. Makes sense. Renters would use the platform if they were going out of town and wanted to “make up” for the rent they’d be paying for an otherwise empty space. Again, that makes sense.
People with truly unique homes or side projects (like tiny houses, for example) got in on the short-term rental market and became a sort of travel destination in itself—some people like to stay in a space that feels like a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Maybe they like the super privacy of a remote location where there simply isn’t a hotel around for miles. Maybe they like specific perks, like an outdoor hot tub or a personal hot spring. Again: Reasonable!
But times have really changed. And while you can still find individual hosts who actually live in the place they’re renting out, the system is simply not what it once was. And that’s what happens when investors value the bottom line more than the actual community in which these units exist.
Greedy corporations and investment firms are making it a nightmare for locals to find safe, reliable, and affordable housing in the places they live and work. This brings us back to our previous framing: People (or corporations, really) are converting what should be long-term housing into short-term spaces to make a nicer profit. And leaving people out in the cold because of it. (Sometimes literally, as the short-term rental industry has been accused of evicting people in order to better turn a profit, though the platform says it will ban listings for properties where a tenant was evicted for inability to pay rent...)
Folks have realized they can turn what would be an apartment building into a pseudo-hotel and get way more money by operating at a short-term turnover rate than at a long-term one. And this is one of the reasons rental costs have increased even in non-short-term-rental units; less housing is available, and so what is available can be priced higher. And higher. And higher.
It’s not fair to blame the housing crisis solely on Airbnb and comparable platforms; the global supply chain crisis, for example, has slowed the construction of new housing. Zoning laws can make it incredibly difficult to build more housing even if rental costs are skyrocketing in the area. But that doesn’t mean corporations aren’t playing a major role, either.
As highlighted over at Archdaily, Inside Airbnb estimates that about 25% of hosts on the platform actually run more than half of the listings. Yikes! These are not the folks described earlier, who were maybe renting out a spare bedroom to help cover mortgage costs. These are not the people asking you to watch their cat while they’re overseas for a discounted stay. These are essentially corporations that don’t have any community relationship or presence, much less ever actually live in these spaces that are up for “rent.”
How can we solve this? I’ve always thought the U.S. needs more hostels—they technically exist here, though they’re not nearly as popular as they are elsewhere. But they’re (generally) affordable and offer amenities like kitchens, laundry, and communal spaces to hang out. They’re (often) located in convenient spots if you’re traveling.
But that said, hostels are not a perfect solution, either, as I can imagine someone isn’t going to want to stay in a hostel with ten strangers if you have a baby or a senior you’re traveling with, or even if you yourself have certain disabilities. Hostels are (unfortunately) not always designed with inclusivity in mind unless you fit the stereotype of being young and broke.
And here we can discuss another aspect of the short-term rental discourse: Are these spaces actually worth it? Obviously, there is not a one-size-fits-all answer here. But there is a recent trend of short-term rentals operating like hotels without… being hotels.
Here’s a scenario. You want to store your luggage after you check out. You don’t want to carry it around before you head to the airport, so you’re hoping to store it out of the way. A hotel will almost always offer to do this for you securely behind their front desk. Even after you check out. A short-term rental? Maybe if you’re staying in the home of a real person. But a corporate-owned one? Yeah right.
Another scenario: Something goes wrong. Maybe the toilet is clogged. Maybe the hot water doesn’t work. Maybe there’s a problem with your key. In a hotel, you have an on-site staff available who is trained to handle these things. It is quite literally their job to help you figure this out. And if they can’t figure it out in a reasonable amount of time, they will (generally speaking) move you to a different room… because it is a hotel, and there is hopefully more space available. Or, again, they’re apologizing and working on it.
In that short-term rental? You might have a super helpful host who is prepared for these situations. And that’s great, if so! But you also might have a host you’ve never met and can’t get in touch with, much less take the elevator downstairs to speak to in person. You may very well interact with a “host” who has no specific contacts available to solve this problem because they don’t live in the area and are actually responsible for a bunch of these rentals. You might be virtually chatting with someone in a different time zone and wondering how long you’re stuck in a place you don’t want to be. It can be rough!
Another reason folks are tired of these spaces? Experiences of racism on the platforms. So many folks of color—and especially Black travelers—have shared their negative experiences trying to use the platform that Airbnb has actually moved to use only a guest’s initials when booking in Oregon because discrimination against Black travelers has been such an issue.
As reported by CNN, users overall found their reservation requests were confirmed (approved) by hosts more than 90% of the time in 2021. Except when it came to Black guests. According to the outlet, Airbnb’s data reveals that guests perceived to be white had a 94% success rate, and users perceived to be black had a 91% success rate, with folks perceived as Latinx or Asian in the middle.
As highlighted over at The Root, Airbnb says it’s working on it. And Airbnb says it’s removed 4,000 hosts in 2022 alone for violating its nondiscrimination policies. But all things considered, is it enough for the platform to continue to strive? That remains to be seen.
We'll be adding to this conversation in an upcoming story that will include interviews with urban planning experts, community organizers, and those displaced by the growing short-term rental takeover of family housing—please feel free to share questions or interest points in the comments!
Or, let us know: Have you used a short-term rental service? Tell us the good and the bad below!