Quote from
@Lauren Kormylo:
I agree that your host should have told you upfront about all of those fees. Those are excessive. It sounds like they've been burned before. And at the low price of $150 a night for a 3 bedroom, there isn't much profit to cover damages. Airbnb doesn't allow hosts to charge you a security deposit, unlike VRBO. They also don't allow you to have a minimum age requirement for guests, unlike VRBO, to keep out the younger partiers.
VRBO is the OG in this space, and is now doing more advertising to combat Airbnb's market share.
Airbnb is a horribly run company. They allow scammers and criminals as guests, which causes hosts to have outrageous fees like you cited above. Airbnb won't protect hosts, so they've got to do it themselves. And all it takes is a guest trying to get a refund by lying about a camera or bugs, and all of a host's rentals are frozen for weeks, and Airbnb won't even tell the host why. So unprofessional. They are causing more hosts to also have a direct booking site, which they can push repeat guests to.
As far as pushing people completely back to hotels, nope. For 1-3 night stays, hotels may work out cheaper. But for longer stays, or larger families, they can't beat renting a house and having all bedrooms under one roof, with a communal living room and kitchen where everyone can congregate. Contrast that to a family staying in 2 or more hotel rooms. Do you want to hang out in the other person's hotel room and watch TV? Or have to eat out all meals?
In true vacation markets, VRBO and Airbnb are not the first to do this concept. Real estate companies and direct-by-owner rentals have been done for 100 years, and they continue today. I booked a beach vacation this summer through a real estate company in that market, for less than what was available on either VRBO or Airbnb. I did have to sign a contract by email, listing all occupants. And pay a deposit or damage protection fee. So don't think Airbnb is the entire market, it's not by a long shot.
