I’m a freelance travel writer, which means I get to visit amazing places and stay in some of the world’s most beautiful hotels.

It was a far cry from the private bungalow in Bora Bora where I had been just 24 hours earlier, but extreme contrasts were becoming the story of my life. My car was empty, finally - the only other passengers had been two drunk men who kept asking where I was going and if they could come - and at each stop I tensed up, hoping no one else would get on. I’d never been on the “L” that late before, and my plan to ride all night was seeming less and less safe the more stops we made. I was tired, a little cold, and things were getting sketchy. one Friday morning two Novembers ago when I found myself on the Red Line train, on the North Side of Chicago, though I had been all the way north and south a few times already that night. Skift reported in March that, according to the analytics site AirDNA, just 5% of hosts own or operate nearly a third of all Airbnb listings, reflecting the massive power wielded by corporate and professional hosts.It was a little after 2. but will Airbnb lose its soul in the process?' Dennis Schaal, the executive editor at the travel industry news and research site Skift, previously told Insider.Īt the same time, Airbnb's increasing popularity has attracted hordes of corporate real-estate owners and professional property managers to its platform, many of whom own or operate dozens of listings within the same city. 'You want things to be professional in terms of the quality of the stay, you want to have standards. But as it has grown, it has had to wrestle with more instances of scam and low-quality listings, as well as guests trashing listings and hosting illicit parties, some of which have turned deadly. It often indicates a user profile.īut cleaning fees and house rules are set by hosts, so customer complaints along those lines reflect another tension Airbnb has encountered as it grows: striking the right balance between allowing hosts to express their individuality and ensuring a consistent and high-quality experience for guests at scale.Īirbnb, originally founded as AirBed&Breakfast, markets itself as a way to connect guests with unique local hosts and experiences. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.

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