New Report Says Hotels Unaware of Airbnb’s Upscale Product Quality

Spend enough time with any hotel executive and the issue of Airbnb will always come up eventually, with someone asking, "What impact do you think Airbnb is going to have on the hotel industry?" It's the future tense of that question that's important, because no one knows the answer for sure and no one knows how concerned they should be. Hotel consulting company HVS came out with a new report suggesting that hotel executives first need to have an "awareness of the increasing quality, availability, and economy of lodging options offered through Airbnb. Many hoteliers and hotel executives are too quick to dismiss Airbnb, thinking its listings far too humble, too inconsistent, and too unappealing to travelers accustomed to more upscale accommodations." For example, in February this year, Kimpton Hotels CEO Mike Depatie appeared on a Bay Area NBC television affiliate with three business reporters, including Michal Lev-Ram, senior editor at Fortune Magazine. She asked, "So ho