Is the shine wearing off on STR's?

[Robert Willard]

I have been lurking around this site for a couple of years now. In 2020 my wife and I were seriously considering doing a STR. We picked Nashville as the market we wanted to pursue. Long story short, the market was not attractive to us. Nashville was booming. Multi-Unit STR's were going up as fast as they could build them. Sale prices were high.

To this day I remain interested in real estate.  I was shocked recently when I saw a post on Social Media that was mocking Airbnb.  I went into the comments section and could not believe that pretty much all of the comments were negative.  People did not like the fees they were being charged to rent them.  Paying a cleaning fee and then having a list of cleaning responsibilities before check out.  People were even dismissive about the idea of it being someone's home.  They felt they were the customer but were not being treated like one.  Objectively, I felt like they were making some good points.   

I bring this up for two reasons. I am curious as to what people think is the future for STR. More cities are restricting or limiting new STR's. Is the STR as good of an investment today as it was say 5 years ago? What about 5 years from now?

I think the overall point people were making in the comments page was they prefer working with hotels.  You come and go as you please.  When you leave, you walk out and are not responsible for the trash, sheets, etc.

Personally, I continue to be a customer for STR's. I believe it is the best option for larger groups. As my wife and I become empty nesters and travel more just the two of us, I am not sure if we will continue to use them as much.

[John Underwood]

STR'S are here to stay.

A massive amount of people prefer to rent a house than a hotel room.

When you travel with friends and family it is usually cheaper and you all get to hang together.

I have a cabin that sleeps up to 23 people. This place stays booked and it is always a large group of people that apparently like to vacation together. Fond memories are created and many of these people come back every year. 

A hotel room cannot match this.