>But a new kind of "hotel" that consists of one person running a handful to a couple dozen apartments.
The most important part of Airbnb is creating a hotel "chain" or "brand" without having to deal with things like zoning or licensing or insurance for hotels.
While Hilton/Marriott/IHG/Hyatt/Accor/Choice/Wyndham/etc collect 10% to 20% in exchange for putting their brand on the line, Airbnb also was able to create a business where they can take 18% without putting their brand on the line, and keeping the ability to dump all the liability on the hosts. However, I think this is a weakness for Airbnb long term, but they may be able to take advantage in the short term.
Quality control for real world products, especially volatile ones such as abodes rented night after night, are costly and I'm willing to pay a premium to make sure there are some double or triple checks going on.
Those chains don't really deal with zoning or licenses. The actual hotels are almost all franchises.
The real difference, as you allude to, is centralized reputation. If you stay at a crappy Marriott you blame Marriott. If you stay at a crappy Airbnb you blame the host.
It will be interesting what happens in the long run. There's now a proven market for apartment style hotel options. I could see a reputable brand move into the space.
My point was that the above mentioned brands only offer their product in a properly licensed and insured hotel. They couldn't have came onto the scene and enabled small time owners to flaunt local laws like Airbnb did without great reputational risk.
I kind of despise Airbnbs for this reason. It's usually some clean on the surface mess that was mostly cleaned up by the previous guests. I got sick of having to wash all the dishes, take off sheets, etc when I check out (usually having to check out at 11 am or earlier, so it can be as easy as possible on the host to rent it out again!). When I vacation I want a hotel room that someone else professionally cleaned, not more chores and what feels like staying in someone's dirty house.
And we stay in some of the nicest Airbnbs, my brother is a doctor.
The most important part of Airbnb is creating a hotel "chain" or "brand" without having to deal with things like zoning or licensing or insurance for hotels.
While Hilton/Marriott/IHG/Hyatt/Accor/Choice/Wyndham/etc collect 10% to 20% in exchange for putting their brand on the line, Airbnb also was able to create a business where they can take 18% without putting their brand on the line, and keeping the ability to dump all the liability on the hosts. However, I think this is a weakness for Airbnb long term, but they may be able to take advantage in the short term.
Quality control for real world products, especially volatile ones such as abodes rented night after night, are costly and I'm willing to pay a premium to make sure there are some double or triple checks going on.