Airbnb News

From the looks of it, this new experiment seems like a smart move for Airbnb to test out: it broadens Airbnb's appeal even further to guests who expect or want more hotel-like amenities at an Airbnb, and it helps them compete against other startups that try to offer a more service-oriented home-sharing experience.

Travelers always want more choice. Services like Rocketrip let companies give their employees more choices on the road while saving money on expenses. A move towards more progressive corporate travel policy is a win-win for business travelers and their employers alike. More flexible travel policy, however, does challenge the orthodoxy of the corporate travel ecosystem.

Google tends to favor digital products over human-facing services but it's possible that a new "travel assistant app" could blend the two. Then again, they've tried this before.

An SEIU partnership would have helped Airbnb score brownie points with Americans supporting the Fight for $15. But even if the deal had gone through, it's very doubtful whether Airbnb would have been able to get its hosts to hire unionized cleaners.

Airbnb is on a mission to get legalized and gain more acceptance in cities throughout the U.S. A partnership with one of the nation’s biggest labor unions to encourage hosts to hire cleaners for at least $15 an hour would be the next big step if Airbnb can convince hosts to sign on the usually more expensive unionized labor.

Just as Airbnb has had a transformative impact on the home sharing and vacation rental business, it hopes to do the same by going beyond just offering stays into offering actual travel activities and experiences to its community. It'll be very interesting to see how they do it.

Airbnb is doing all it can to become legalized in cities like New York and Los Angeles by saying it'll pay occupancy taxes, just like hotels do. But if you look at the math and the overall economic impact, is that money really enough to have a positive net impact on those cities?

To say that Newark comes to this fight as the weaker party is an understatement. If the city wants to do more than just collect taxes and begin regulating short-term rentals, however, it might want to take a good look at a recent San Francisco city report that shows just how complicated that endeavor can be.

Does regulating short-term rental platforms like Airbnb really work? Well if Airbnb and its peers would cooperate instead of passing the buck to taxpayers regulation could have a fighting chance.

Cracking down on Airbnb "Super Hosts," or those who use the platform on a "professional" full-time basis to operate illegal hotels, is becoming a serious hot button issue. If Airbnb wants to become more widely accepted, it has to assure local and state governments that its platform isn't becoming a front for illegal hotels.