Too many business owners on Airbnb?

[Michael480]

Having hosted for 4 years, I am coming across many travellers who are of the opinion that Airbnb have lost their original ethos of having people rent out their "spare room" for extra cash and are now just another platform for businesses to sell their rooms online.  I would tend to agree and I think it's very sad.  I am hearing more and more that travellers are not meeting "hosts" and the service is impersonal.  They are living in a block and then find out from the cleaner that the other ten properties in the block are owned by the same "person" and that they are only using Airbnb to avoid tax liability and improve their chances of rental!  Is it time for another website to start that only allows people to rent out their spare room?

[David-and-Fiona0]

Agree 100%

[Linda108]

@Michael480  I don't have your history with Air BNB having hosted for a year, but I think you are correct.  I am especially concerned about "hosts" who purchase low income apartments and flip them to short term rentals.  Of course Air BNB is not the only booking platform but is the most visible.  In some cities such as Palm Springs this practice has lead to proposing regulations restricting short term rentals.  I have a shared home listing and am grateful for the enrichment of my life both financially and personally.

On the flip side of the business owner type host is the hotel seeking type guest.  Many hosts report that travelers are looking at the price and the availability of a listing then treating the host like a hotlier rather than a host.

I have no idea what, if anything, Air BNB can do about this situation.  All I can do is continue to provide the expected experience of home sharing.

[Robin4]

@Michael480 @Linda108 @David-and-Fiona0.....Michael, thank you for that...you are absolutely correct and I hate what is happening with every fibre of my being.

I am not running a bed and toilet facility!

I am not in competition with the local trailer park cabin!

I am not that crappy old bed directly above the noisy disco below that you will find in Mexborough!

I don't do this because I want to screw as much money as possible out of Mr & Mrs average traveller.

I do this because I love hosting. I love meeting people and I look forward to each new guest as a new horizon!

One night whilst out with my eldest daughter in general conversation I asked her what she thought was a good night out! As quick as a flash she said, "To go to a party where she doesn't know anyone"....That's a big call!! I thought about that for a minute and I realised, that is me, there are all these new experiences!  I love that interaction with different people, I love welcoming strangers into my life and once they have entered they are no longer strangers.

As far as I am concerned, anyone with more than two listings should be banned from Airbnb!! You can't sit across a table and ask a South African what he thought of Rodriguez (Searching for Sugar man)! You can't compare the time you ran for seniors in the Boston Marathon! You are just someone who has their hand out for money!

Yes Michael, Airbnb have lost their ethos....it has been sacrificed to the altar of the almighty dollar, but hosts like you and I and @Linda108 and @David-and-Fiona0, Michael, we keep that alive….we don’t let rooms, we host!

Cheers…..Rob

https://www.airbnb.com.au/rooms/5724253?s=b14U

[Florin1]

@Robin4 Hello Robin. You've painted it perfectly and I find myself in the same situation. I have one property in a small touristic city but this past year the number of properties registered just exploded. Monthly income for this year is around 300E, less than what I would make from a long term rental, however I keep running it because I love hosting, interacting with different people and gathering experiences from this. Hope people like you will stick around on airbnb for all the travellers who deserve having an authentic host and feel the warmth of a home away from home.

[Chris159]

We have had the exact same experience with an explosion of hosts.  We don't show up on the search for neighboring towns as we used to.  The reduction in income could make it impossible to live in our home much longer.

[Tim26]

@Michael480 I completely agree with you.  My city has become really busy full of businesesses who have even gone as far as create a brand for their apartments.  I am more concerned about the fact that the Airbnb platform actually enables some hosts to afford to go on a little holiday of their own - and this is the proper Airbnb ethos of the past.  

Additionally on reading the reviews of the other hosts/businesses, they don't look entirely genuine to me.  It wouldnt surprise me that their having fake guests (as a way of cheap marketing by way of testimonials) was a business decision to improve their chance of being fully booked.

Finally, as a host we get to know exactly who's staying in our place - and they know the same about us.  With these businesses, there's no actual person responsible, meaning it's a little unfair with the information sharing only going one way.

I wonder what Airbnb's stance on it is.... I may submit a help ticket and see - if I find time!

[Helen-And-Mario0]

Everybody on Airbnb and Accepting payment is a business owner, period.

We used to travel on "CouchSurfing" back then (about 10 years ago): hosts recieved us without any monetary transactions: we stayed with hosts in Greece and Australia. They picked us for free, let us stay in their couch or even a complete bedroom for free, and in return, we purchased food and cook few meals and sharing them together, or we gave them presents where we just travel from. That's true hosting, isn't? No expectation, just giving and giving....

Why banning people have more listings? What ground are you based on?  Most guests actually prefer to stay in an independent apartment without host involved, otherwise they will choose a place where host also live there. There is no competition, period. 

[David126]

It is a function of expansion, there are only so many home hosts for the want of a better descrition, there is no way ABB can justify their valuation on just that segment.

I also wonder what the churn is in home hosters, how many are long term, I see people post who want to list a property for say just a week or have been burned etc, so I would imagine that to maintain and expand volume ABB need new markets.

[Hilary-And-Ed0]

Agreed!