They're called Bed'n'Breakfasts. They're licensed. They're run by small proprietors. They pay taxes. And they're generally in the same neighborhoods as the AirBnBs. Oddly enough, it's almost as if "AirBnB" had them in mind. The price difference between an AirBnB and a non-air BnB is the difference in taxes and regulation. Period.AirBnB obviously fills a niche that needed to be filled.
Yeah for sure. But just as with ride sharing, it's not just about price, but availability. The chance to get an ultra short term rental anywhere you want to go is enough to paper over the problems. Not at all saying it's problem free. Just saying that while it's available it's irresistible.
I resist 'em just fine. They have zero fucking charm for me and they destroy neighborhoods. You probably haven't seen end-stage weirdness like I have - you visit a friend in his 1-br apartment and are told to talk quietly because the lump on the couch is an AirBnB "guest." You stop in on friends from out of town and you talk about the decor and you hear a loud "HAH!" from the upstairs you didn't know it had because behind that door over there is a stairway that the family retreats behind when they rent out their house to cover their ridiculous Santa Monica rent. My last apartment in LA was $2850 a month for 1300 sqft. As soon as we left the landlord flipped it to a $300/night AirBnB despite every CC&R forbidding them from doing so. Why? 'cuz it takes months for condo boards to act and that's at least six months worth of income while "guests" break corona bottles in the hot tub.