The vast majority of Airbnbs I’ve stayed in were illegal hotels/rentals... only a handful were legit renting out a spare room / couch surfing type deals and the first time I did that I had to pretend I was the host’s college friend.
Airbnb is basically built on shifting liability to shifty people running hotels out of rentals.
Also, pro tip, I’d guess at least 50% of the airbnbs I’ve stayed in do not wash the sheets in a washer (I’ve literally physically observed at least one host lint-roll follow by a spray of fabric freshener).
That being said I still use them to lower my own standards and prices below hotels, but I know what I’m getting into at least.
> Also, pro tip, I’d guess at least 50% of the airbnbs I’ve stayed in do not wash the sheets in a washer
It happens at hotels, too, and it's why I always take the sheets off of the bed when I check out. Putting the sheets on is the worst part of making the bed but taking them off takes two seconds. My hypothesis: if lazy hosts/housekeeping are forced to go through the trouble of putting sheets on then they might as well use a clean set. And if the host/housekeeper was going to change the sheets anyway then maybe I've made their job just a little bit easier.
I stay in AirBNBs a couple times a year (used to do more) and I would agree it's mostly "illegal" rentals but interestingly, in the US I found more "company owns a bunch of flats" things and in the EU more "some dude owns this one flat or maybe two." (And in parts of the EU it's totally legal as long as your neighbors in the building have not managed to forbid it, which isn't always possible.)
I even have a friend who owns one flat, AirBNB's it, and rents another flat of about equal quality. In his case it's legal and a kind of interesting way to work the market; however it is ruinous to the rental market for locals.
I'm about to stay in one in Asia that very much seems to be a place someone lives about 1/3 of the time, and the rest of the time they rent it out. Apparently this is allowed there, but I'm curious what the vibe will be in a big luxury apartment building with many AirBNB listings.
I also agree that the AirBNB business model is impossible without shifting liability, but it seems like in many cases you're not so much shifting as removing it. Hotels are subject to all sorts of laws to ensure the safety of guests; these laws have developed over time and usually as the result of bad things happening; outside of maybe the US, nobody is kidding themselves that there is any meaningful liability on the part of a flat owner.
Even in localities where it is legal, the ratio of "hosts" running their operation in accordance with the law is comically low. There is a serious enforcement problem and it's largely because AirBnB does everything it can to not cooperate with local government.
Airbnb is basically built on shifting liability to shifty people running hotels out of rentals.
Also, pro tip, I’d guess at least 50% of the airbnbs I’ve stayed in do not wash the sheets in a washer (I’ve literally physically observed at least one host lint-roll follow by a spray of fabric freshener).
That being said I still use them to lower my own standards and prices below hotels, but I know what I’m getting into at least.