Are Hotels Better than Airbnbs?

[Scott E.]

In most markets short term rental supply is high. And a big issue is that a good amount of the supply is from new 'investors' chasing what they thought was a get-rich-quick scheme. So the market not only has an unbalanced supply and demand, but there is also a heavy supply of mediocre properties, set up by new investors.

A flood of mediocre short term rental properties on the market not only creates an unbalanced supply and demand, but it's creating another problem. Guests are getting over airbnb and opting to stay in hotels again. I've seen several reports on this, and I personally have chosen to stay in hotels on my past couple of vacations. If you have just 1 or 2 bad experiences in an Airbnb, it's only natural to consider staying in a hotel on your next trip.

The downsides to Airbnb for guests:

-The nightly rate is comparable to a hotels nightly rate

-Airbnb often charges a bunch of fees that drives the price up even more

-The cleanliness, quality, furniture condition, smells, etc is inconsistent from one home to the next

-As a guest you're stuck with a long list of chores to do when you check out

-A lot of neighborhood residents across the country have voiced criticism of short term rentals. So as a guest you sometimes feel like you are "walking on eggshells" in an effort to not upset the neighbors around your property.

Hotels on the other hand have great quality control, you get room service, there's usually a bar/restaurant on site, etc. Makes me wonder if over the next ~5 years we will see a shift back to hotels which are a much more controlled environment for guests.

Full disclosure, I have 3 flips I'm working on right now and I very well may be forced to convert them to short term rentals when I finish the remodels (in the event I cannot sell). So this is not an anti-airbnb post. I'm just curious about others perspectives on the topic.

[Steve Vaughan]

Different purposes for us.   We like to check out new cities.  We fly in and need walkability to the sites, a shuttle from the airport, a pool and breakfast.   Hotel/motel for that, usually our favorite franchise. 

More remote experiences where we have a vehicle and bring our own food and stuff we would STR.

Glad there's more price transparency and hosts are getting pushback on the chore lists. Who wants to pay a cleaning fee and do a bunch of chores on vacation anyway?