Has Airbnb lost its appeal? The numbers seem to say otherwise.

According to a recent viral tweet, Airbnb ABNB,
-0.27%
hosts have seen bookings evaporate since the busy summer travel season.

(It’s a tweet from a screenshot of a Facebook post, because that’s the world we live in.)

My recent story about Airbnb hosts who are tired of Airbnb made its own little splash, based on the number of emails I received in response. And anti-Airbnb sentiment bubbled up everywhere, from Reddit to the Wall Street Journal.

Yet the so-called #Airbnbust, like most social media phenomena, seems to inaccurately reflect what is really going on in the real world. Total demand for short-term rentals actually rose 24% in September compared to the same month last year, according to a recent report from AirDNA, a vacation rental data platform. Average daily rates increased by 31.9% compared to 2019.

So, according to social media, everyone is fed up with Airbnb. Based on what’s happening in the real world, Airbnb is doing better than ever. Which give?

See: When is a hotel better than an Airbnb?

The apple effect

Remember Apple’s Batterygate Scandal? In 2017 (about 5,000 years ago), the company was accused of “planned obsolescence” with software updates for its iPhones. Basically, Apple AAPL,
-0.34%
was sued for intentionally slowing down its older phones in an effort to entice more customers to upgrade to newer models.

Social media was filled with vitriolic reactions at the time, with iPhone users proclaiming they would switch to Android devices en masse. Did it happen? Well, Apple was a $671 billion company in 2017 and has more than tripled in value to $2.5 trillion since then. So, uh, no.

The problem for Apple users and Airbnb guests is that while they may not like everything these companies do, they like the alternatives even less.

Switching to Android means learning a new interface and becoming a possibly dreaded green bubble on iMessage. And switching from Airbnb is either going back to hotels, which have their own flaws, or using Airbnb competitorswhich are not much better.

Someone trying to book a house with friends in Palm Springs or backpack through South America on a shoestring is still likely to turn to Airbnb. There just aren’t many good alternatives.

At least not yet.

Also see: The Best and Worst Days to Fly in December

Takeover of the inn?

I spoke with Lee Gonzalez, who, along with his sister Lauren, is trying something daring: building hostels in America. Their company, L&L Hospitality, opened a new hostel in New York in 2014, and another in Portland, Oregon, in 2021. She says they struggled with the word “hostel” at first, but they have since adopted it.

“Many travelers flatly reject hostels in the United States — they think of the YMCA,” Gonzalez says. “In the end, we like the word. We want people to come with that hostel attitude.

Their Portland property – called Lolo Pass – bucks the stereotypical image of grimy dorm rooms with an even grimier guy playing guitar in the common room (at least that’s my image). Rooms at Loss Pass are minimalist yet stylish. And the focus is on connecting guests with each other and with the surrounding area.

“We make sure our programming is connected to the neighborhood,” she explains. “The spaces are as much for the neighborhood as for the guests.

When I asked why his hostels could snatch some of Airbnb’s market share, Gonzalez gave me a long list of reasons. His properties are affordable, clean (but no cleaning fee!) and managed by professional hosts on site. Even little things, like being able to leave your luggage behind after checkout, make hostels more convenient than Airbnbs.

The biggest hurdle, as mentioned, is overcoming North Americans’ aversion to the idea of ​​hostels. Still, Gonzalez thinks Airbnb has set the stage for this transition itself, especially among younger travelers.

“I realized that Airbnb had actually paved the way for hostels to work in the United States by introducing the idea of ​​shared spaces,” she explains. “Because Gen Z was raised on Airbnb, they don’t have the preconceptions about hostels that older people have.”

Don’t miss: ‘This is one of the coolest places I’ve ever seen’: Splurge for a stay – or at least a cocktail, during a layover – at this nostalgic airport hotel

Competitive Opportunities

Hostels only challenge part of Airbnb’s business model – the part that appeals to low-income travelers looking for a cheaper alternative to hotels. And traditional hotel brands aren’t about to go away without a fight. Hilton Hotels recently ran an ad aimed at disgruntled Airbnbers, featuring a spooky vacation rental full of talking dolls, while extolling the reliable virtues of an old-fashioned hotel room.

And maybe Airbnb needs its own disruption. After shaking up the entire travel industry after launching 15 years ago, the vacation rental giant is no longer the young upstart. Perhaps a new pattern is ready to emerge. What happens next depends on what we, the paying customers, decide to do.

More from NerdWallet

Sam Kemmis writes for NerdWallet. Email: [email protected]. Twitter: @samsambutdif.

Comments are closed.