People who do not want to be trapped in a resort with a hundred people peeing in the pool and rude people pushing in front of them at the buffet for their 9th plate of mystery meat and yucca.
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A friend forwarded this to me today. From the UK they are offering a week in an all-inclusive for £560 per person INCLUDING A 9.5 HOUR RETURN FLIGHT. (Yes I know it's Whala, but honestly they are not terrible). So, under $100 per person per night including the flights. You can book this locally for about $60 per person per night. I have worked in hotels in DR for a number of years, I can tell you the math simply doesn't stack up to offering AI at these prices, not with current food costs, electricity costs and wage costs, plus the commission you have to pay to an agency.
Who is going to pay $100 a night to stay in an Airbnb when they can pay $120 a night and have all their food, all their drinks and all their entertainment included? And these deals aren't only in September, I've booked for 3 nights in an AI in December at $65 per person per night.
- Thread starter Mario1208
- Start date
Abnb hosting been a struggle recently
That’s a good point. Personally I can’t tolerate a resort beyond a weekend for those reasons and the repetitiveness with the daily food/activities/music/entertainment/water down drinks
you are speaking of AI resorts. They are similar to apartment rental apps. They are trying to capture the budget traveler.
Rental apps are geared towards the budget traveler. For the most part they do not get the business traveler with an expensive account or even a middle range vacation or business traveler that would book a Marriott or Hilton. As such they have a propensity to attract the bring your own food and booze crowd that I choose to allow a 150-yard buffer zone.
I am not sure how you came up with this. Many airbnb's are more expensive than a hotel after you include all the fees. Most of my renters are not on a budget. What they want is more space, more privacy, less people and a quieter experience. They do not enjoy gorging themselves with buffet food or waiting in line for restaurants, or hoping to get a seat in one of the "good" restaurants. They enjoy going out for a walk, exploring during the day, eating light, and then returning to a full kitchen where they enjoy cooking with their spouse.
That has been my experience. Most Airbinb owners are not trying to capture budget travelers. When 10 people show up in an SUV to capture a bargain by renting an apartment only suited for 4 people, we tell them to pack up their speakers and go somewhere else.
An Airbnb demographic that one may capture in Galeras is quite a different population than one say for Santo Domingo
There are plenty of mid to high end luxury villas/houses/apts listed & not for the budget traveler. Thou I’ve been down on Airbnb based solely on my experiences a bit of research could help before making non factual generalized statements
Thank you. Very good comparison. AI's and airbns. Who shows up at a Marriott with 10 people in an SUV with speakers. ZERO, they are drawn to the apartment rentals. There are few gate keepers at an apartment weekend rental. Privacy? Hands down a nice hotel. An apartment/condo building has a completely different mission than a nice hotel. There is a level of desperation in an apartment rental. People are in over their heads and need to "slum it out".
You’d be surprised with mixed crowd of individuals showing up at (nice) hotels. Apparently anyone who decides to take an alternative route & not stay at a hotel is slumming it out ..if not they’re frying fish or hanging up cloth in the balcony. Amazing the mindset & prejudices some ppl have in 2024
A stay at a hotel is not so prestigious cmon seriously lol nor the gauge of a persons wealth. Some individuals prefer the privacy & flexibility of staying at locals elsewhere besides a nice hotel.
I was going to discuss this with you until I read your last two sentences. You always cheapen your argument with baiting statements like that. If you are so well traveled, wealthy and an expert on everything, why don’t you start a travel site instead of offering your expertise for free on this forum?
Many people who rent from me are from all over the world, are well traveled and are far from desperate. They are successful, but they don’t need to have their egos boosted by staying in a hotel for $800 per night, and then making sure friends and family know how much they paid.
Very well, so please elaborate on why are those higher-end rentals (that cost way more than a hotel) on Airbnb as well?
This article seems to contradict on your target audience definition as well:
Maven: The Art of Product Positioning: Lessons from Airbnb
What you build is important, but how you position it competitively in a crowded market is just as important. Learn about product positioning using Airbnb as a case study and how it positioned itself against century-old hotel brands.
My apologies, I did not realize that we as a family with small children fall also under the category of "bring your own food and booze crowd", good to know and I need to tell my wife that we need to start drinking heavily as well... Apparently this is what you're expected to do while staying on an Airbnb...
And outside of the DR obviously, you will definitely find stuff on Airbnb that, if you count that as for budget-travelers, you must be a millionaire...
This is just a matter of preference. Coming from a business travel culture, I always prefer and appreciate a nice hotel, a well-oiled machine if you will, of staff, ambiance, security, cuisine and quality. That has carried over to my private life when I travel with my kids as well. Airbnb is a business, and if you're on the ownership end and making some nice, honest supplemental income, that's very respectable. It is not my personal preference and I sure can understand how folks coming from the business travel culture don't prefer to be hassled by some of the inconveniences seen with an abb deal, such as the uncomfortable situation one of our lovely members MariaR posted.
I agree on this in that Airbnb is not exactly your usual business accommodation booking source (I used to work in a global corporation, and indeed, only hotels were allowed to be booked), but other than that (so outside the business traveler segment), it's certainly not low-end either. You have hostels, motels and cheaper accommodation on Airbnb for that...
I don't think there is even a question about that. For what I have seen and understand, the rental conditions and for how many people it is meant for, are non-negotiable. We're 4 people and once attempted to rent a villa via Airbnb for 5, and I explained that it will be 3 adults (we and my elderly mother-in-law) and 2 kids, the answer was no and we obviously accepted, as the villa description only allowed 4. So if someone tries to even enter your property with more than stated amount of people, I don't think you have to even let them in...