That was quite the horrifying article but it’s also unfortunately the world we live in today. Hosts should be looking towards automation for safety reasons (like keyless keypad locks that the hosts change the code to each turnover and outside security cameras) as mentioned above. Guests also need to also be more careful and screen where they stay based upon the safety of things like key retrieval or the area in which they are staying. Bloomberg does expose AirBNB to seemingly trying to pay its guests to keep them out of the press but at the same time they are trying to host a tech platform for homeowners to get paid for hosting guests, not be a hotel that takes on the safety of their own accommodation. I’ve stayed at plenty of AirBNBs in Europe where you stay in a room of the owners’s home and you sit at the same table for breakfast and they let you borrow their bike. The owners are in the same building the whole time. That choice is to be made by the guest. I think AirBNB has done a lot “reactively” to these incidents, but besides a rating and review system, they aren’t going to be able to keep out the weirdos of the world. They still run a background check on hosts but they can only do so much as a tech hosting company on the front end. Like most other decisions in this world, the guests need to be careful and aware of where they are choosing to stay (not to say that any of these horrible experiences were at fault of the guests, but just ways to help prevent them as much as possible). As a host, we must do what we can to provide a safe and secure accommodation and provide those security features in our listings so guests can make sound decisions and have those safe options. Thanks for sharing this article!
