What’s one surefire way to make sure you’re not annoying your neighbors with a constant stream of Airbnb guests? Live in an Airbnb-branded building, where all your neighbors are also renting out their apartments. [More]
Airbnb
Airbnb Host Says Hidden Camera Was For Taping His Sex Parties, Not For Creeping On Guests
By 10.11.17
An Airbnb host in Florida has admitted to the police that there were hidden cameras in the condo he occasionally rented out, but claims that the secretive devices were for recording his personal sex parties. [More]
Hotel Group Attack Ad Falsely Links Airbnb To Terrorism
By 8.7.17
There are a lot of justifiable reasons to take issue with home-rental platforms like airbnb: “Mega hosts” who are renting out dozens — maybe hundreds — of listings without being subject to hotel taxes or regulations; hosts who will turn just about any vaguely inhabitable space into a rental property; and allegations that airbnb fails to properly vet hosts. But one anti-airbnb hotel group has gone a step further, using incidents of real human tragedy to try to create a false link between airbnb and terrorism. [More]
Lawsuit Claims Airbnb Failed To Properly Vet Host Who Allegedly Assaulted Guest
By 8.3.17
An Airbnb guest accused the company in a new lawsuit of negligence by failing to protect her by performing a thorough background check on a host, who she claims later sexually assaulted her.
Some Airbnb ‘Mega Hosts’ Are Renting Out More Than 1,000 Properties At Once
By 6.9.17
The portrait that Airbnb paints of its hosts is homeowners who either want to occasionally rent out unused rooms, or people who just happen to have amazing weekend homes that they want to share with random strangers. That may be true for many Airbnb hosts, but there’s also a growing concern about so-called “mega hosts” who are effectively running hotel operations, renting out dozens, hundreds, sometimes more than 1,000, properties at any given time. [More]
NYC Landlords Busted For Renting Illegal Rooftop Shacks On Airbnb
By 5.18.17
If you see an Airbnb listing for a New York City apartment with rooftop views, be warned that you may be paying hundreds of dollars a night to stay in an illegally constructed shack underneath a bridge. [More]
Airbnb, San Francisco Decide To Kiss And Make Up Over Rental Registrations
By 5.1.17
The legal fight between Airbnb and San Francisco over rental registrations in the city is over, now that the two sides have agreed to kiss and make up. [More]
Marriott Bringing Boutique Hotel Rooms To Coachella Tents
By 3.16.17
In the past, Coachella concert-goers interested in getting a bit of a taste of the hotel life would have had to trek away from the music festival to an actual hotel. Now, Marriott is bringing its boutique hotel flare to the festival’s field with a handful of luxury tents. [More]
Hotel Industry Claims That Airbnb Market Dominated By “Illegal Hotels”
By 3.10.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Home-sharing platforms like Airbnb describe their services as a way for homeowners with extra rooms — or second houses they rarely use — to connect with people looking for a place to stay. Hotel owners counter that Airbnb just lets people run de facto hotels without all of the regulations and taxes. In a new report, the industry lays out its case against these allegedly illegal hotels.
[More]
Airbnb Adds High-End Rentals To Roster With Purchase Of Luxury Lodging Company
By 2.16.17
Forget about renting someone’s extra bedroom through Airbnb on your next trip, now you can book a luxury villa, thanks in part to Airbnb’s recent acquisition of high-end lodging company Luxury Retreats. [More]
Marriott May Offer Communal Rooms With Shared Living, Kitchen Spaces
By 1.30.17
When you travel with a group, it can be a pain to book adjoining rooms, and even then you all have to cram into one person’s room or lay claim to the lobby bar if you want to get together. This is one reason why groups are increasingly turning to Airbnb and similar services, and why Marriott may try rooms with communal spaces. [More]
Airbnb Invests $13M In Restaurant Booking Service In Quest To Be One-Stop Travel Shop
By 1.9.17
Not content to exist simply as an accommodations booking site, Airbnb is continuing its efforts to provide any service a traveler may need with a $13 million investment in a restaurant booking app called Resy. [More]
Private Eyes Spy On Apartments To Catch Illegal Airbnb Hotels
By 12.27.16
In cities where housing is in short supply like New York and San Francisco, permanent residents are understandably upset when their landlords boot them out to use their apartments as mini-hotels. To prove that this is happening, ousted tenants are turning to private detectives who monitor their former apartments as if they were cheating spouses. [More]
Airbnb Wants To Help Book Your Plane Tickets
By 12.19.16
Airbnb handles the lodging part of your travel, but the company has made it clear that it wants to handle more of your trip. Its previous expansion, Trips, let customers book things to do at their destination. Airbnb apparently also wants to help travelers get to those destinations in the first place, by helping its customers book their flights. [More]
Airbnb Won’t Be Held Liable For Law-Breaking Listings In NYC
By 12.5.16
Back in October, the state of New York passed a new law specifically aimed at micro-hoteliers who rent out one or more New York City apartments to tourists. Airbnb immediately sued the state and the city over how the law will be enforced, and now the case has been settled. [More]
Renting A Rulebreaking Airbnb Could Leave You Without A Place To Sleep
By 11.28.16
While Airbnb and New York City continue to battle it out over new restrictions that would penalize hosts with hefty fines for subletting whole apartments for less than 30 days, a California couple says the law — which isn’t currently being enforced — led to a costly and frustrating scenario while visiting the Big Apple. [More]
Airbnb Launches “Trips,” Offering Customers Things To Do, See On Their Travels
By 11.17.16
Airbnb’s plan to apparently become a full-time travel agency by offering customers add-on travel options like tours, bike rentals, and more moved another step closer to reality this week as the company officially launched Trips, a service that combines accommodations with things to do. [More]
Travelers Can Now Earn Delta Miles When They Book An Airbnb Stay
By 11.2.16
Following in the footsteps of fellow carriers Qantas and Virgin Atlantic, Delta Air Lines says it’s also teaming up with Airbnb to reward travelers who book stays through the home-sharing service. [More]
