
Airbnb Business Travel - jamesjyu
https://www.airbnb.com/business/signup
======
thinkbohemian
This program offers interesting features to a business but not s much for the
traveler. Anyone who is spending 25+ nights a year in a hotel is going to be
sure to be getting points for those stays. Points == status and status == more
convenience when traveling. Beyond earning free nights, there's expedited
check-in, private lounges with free food, gift baskets when you check in, etc.
The caveat is that to get status most (or all) of your points need to be with
the same company. This means most hardcore business travelers are very loyal
to <program x>. This travel program doesn't have any kind of loyalty rewards
which is a non-starter.

Other downsides of airbnb: booking isn't instantaneous as with a hotel (wait
hours or days for confirmation from owner), checkin has to be pre-arranged and
requires you get in touch with the owner (i.e. no 3am red-eye check-ins), each
place you stay is slightly different amenities versus hotel chains which all
have the same brand of pre-wrapped toothbrush when you forget yours. These
might seem trivial but when you travel a bunch it's the little things that
hurt the most.

Story: I once had to wait for 2 hours to check into an airbnb in SF since the
owner was in Africa and his mother forgot to leave his key where he said it
would be.

~~~
DaveWalk
I completely agree. But to play devil's advocate: is there a percentage of
business travelers that would prefer an AirBnB experience over the lure of
elite status and hotel points?

Time will tell if this is a smart move or just AirBnB smashing together
something that it already has anyway. But I'm curious if anyone has an
insight.

~~~
7Figures2Commas
> But to play devil's advocate: is there a percentage of business travelers
> that would prefer an AirBnB experience over the lure of elite status and
> hotel points?

Looking at the photos of the "business-ready homes" on
[https://www.airbnb.com/business/signup](https://www.airbnb.com/business/signup),
I can assure you that there is nothing that would make me prefer the "AirBnB
experience" over, say, a stay at the Mandarin Oriental or St. Regis. Hotels
generally might get a bad wrap, but the quality of the accommodations and
conveniences offered at the higher end of the market are very hard to compete
with, elite status and hotel points not even taken into consideration.

~~~
S4M
I used to go to four stars hotels in London at my previous job for business
trips, costing like 100-200 pounds a night, and really I didn't like it so
much. The rooms had a TV with some light on it that was disturbing my sleep,
sometimes I could hear the ventilation noise, etc. Many small details that
were making it, IMO, a not too good experience, and many times I was happy I
was not paying for this expensive accommodation with my own money.

~~~
Erwin
London hotels are very expensive compared to what you get. Having stayed there
many times I was always jaded about the more expensive hotels, but visiting
luxury hotels in Berlin or Vienna is a much nicer experience, Hyatt or Sofitel
(and sure, Mandarin Oriental if you can afford it). E.g. you can go to Berlin
and stay at the 5-star Sofitel which has a top 20 (out of 800) hotel rating at
Tripadvisor and pay 110€/night for a 4om² room. I've paid the same at a hotel
without a window in London once.

Lisabon is another city good for cheap luxury hotels. Trivago is a great hotel
aggregator.

~~~
S4M
Good point about the quality and price of hotels varying according to the
city. Guess Airbnb business will be more successful in places like London than
Berlin or Lisabon (Lisboa?).

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IanDrake
Seems weird.

"Hi John, attached is your itinerary. You'll be landing in Boston at 9PM. Once
you arrive, text Billy at 617-XXX-XXXX, you'll be sleeping at his place."

~~~
manarth
That's true of some Airbnb hosts - it's their own home, and their letting it
(or a room in it) out. But my experience of Airbnb is generally that the host
has their own home elsewhere, and the Airbnb venue is a dedicated place to
let. For example, someone who has moved in with their Significant Other, and
is letting/sub-letting what used to be their own place.

Compared to a business hotel, it generally lacks in terms of
concierge/information/predictability. But things like a full-size
refrigerator, cooking facilities, and sofas can compensate (if that's what
you're looking for).

Personally, when I travel on business, for a trip of a few days, I prefer a
hotel. If it's longer, or if I expect to have to work from the rental site, I
prefer an Airbnb.

~~~
cnst
> Compared to a business hotel, it generally lacks in terms of
> concierge/information/predictability. But things like a full-size
> refrigerator, cooking facilities, and sofas can compensate (if that's what
> you're looking for).

All of which is available in many 3* brand name hotels -- Hyatt House,
Marriott's Residence Inn etc.

However, do you really need a full-size fridge and cookies facilities when out
and about for a couple of days? Most business people don't even cook back
home, and you're talking about having to cook for yourself when you're on a
business trip that someone's already paying for.

The complementary breakfast (Hyatt House and Hyatt Place are the best) and the
evening reception or nice lobby with pay-for food would seem like a better
option than full-size fridge and a cooker.

~~~
ghaff
I not infrequently stay at the suite places mostly for the sofa. I do wish
more hotels would have a small fridge for guest use though; don't need the
full-size one. Especially given that those who still have minibars are now
often using these RFID-enabled things that will automatically charge you if
you look at them crooked.

~~~
cnst
I don't recall the last time I've had a room without a fridge, or a 3* without
a sofa when King, and I mostly only book opaque 2.5* to 3* !

You usually lose the fridge and the microwave if you upgrade to 3.5* +, and
gain the RFID-enabled minibar at perhaps 4*.

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stonetomb
I've been a business traveler (1-2 weeks/month) for a number of years and
recently began shuffling in stints of airbnb.

I must admit Airbnb cannot beat the convenience and mental simplicity of
business hotels. Flight cancelled, check-in at midnight, parking, need an
ironing board, want to be left alone - no problem.

I typically Airbnb on travel where I expect the workload to be light or
operating on reasonable hours (not coming in at 1am every night). It's really
an experience thing for me (akin to going backpacking/camping) which often
turn into great dinner conversation with customers - they're always amused.
I've met a number of great people (I think most people can be, and Airbnb
provides the venue) and I highly recommend it - just be prepared to deal with
sometimes awkward/interesting situations, but such is life!

------
cnst
"Lower your trip cost with amenities like WiFi, stocked kitchens, and free
parking."

I'm LOL'ing! Airbnb is often several times more expensive than the opaque 3*
hotel deals on Priceline! Whatever they do, lowering trip costs is not one of
them!

Just to give you an example -- I was able to book several 3* hotels in Austin
during SxSW for about $50 per night, all the while craigslist and such were at
$200/ni for one person, or $300/ni for two. Heck, some guy was even renting
out his trailer for 1.2k$/week, or something like that!

~~~
dntrkv
My experience has been the exact opposite. I'm not a heavy user, but I've
stayed at an airbnb at least 5 times now and each one of those stays were
significantly cheaper than a comparable hotel, but with a way better
experience in almost every way.

Also, finding multi room hotel suites for a reasonable price is usually next
to impossible.

~~~
cnst
> My experience has been the exact opposite. I'm not a heavy user, but I've
> stayed at an airbnb at least 5 times now and each one of those stays were
> significantly cheaper than a comparable hotel, but with a way better
> experience in almost every way.

Are you comparing published list prices, or the opaque prices through
priceline / hotwire? Because I was clearly talking about opaque, which is a
better comparison with Airbnb anyways, since you never really know what you're
getting.

> Also, finding multi room hotel suites for a reasonable price is usually next
> to impossible.

You must be a novice hotel traveller, then. Pretty much all Hyatt House and
Hyatt Place are suites that essential have two rooms (House would even have a
door between them often), as well as Residence Inn and SpringHill Suites.
Courtyard by Marriott has full suite rooms, too; surprisingly, very often the
price difference between two-room suite and non-suite is like a symbolic $10
or $20, although you generally don't get any discounts if you require a suite,
and can't use points for them, either. Hampton Inn (by Hilton) has two-room
suites as an upgrade, too. I'm pretty sure other brands do, too.

Heck, you could even go opaque for two rooms, and ask for a connecting door,
which most decent hotels always do have.

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netcan
To those who will point to the incompatibility of AirBnB and business
travel..... This is almost certainly something they are doing because people
are already using AirBnB for business travel.

So, a front desk, loyalty points, instant bookings, avoiding the check-in/key
issues, etc. These are all real. AirBnB will be disadvantaged in these areas.

But, in some cases its advantages outweigh these. Prices & Airbnb's stock of
properties. I don't expect your average VP of Sales to be too excited about
this, but I think business travellers are pretty diverse these days.

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DaveWalk
Wow, there's a market for this? (Such words come before something is canned,
or blows up to make millions I guess.)

Can a business really save a lot of money by putting up their employees in
"business-ready homes," like a twee Lower East Side room for $55/night that
looks like a (very) young woman lives in it?

One would think that the lost productivity in dealing with a different
landlord in addition to the often exciting/terrifying moments that come with
an AirBnB stay seem to offset the cost of a business rate hotel. Productive
employees, also receiving a salary and benefits while traveling, are worth
more to me than saving $100-$200/night on a hotel stay.

The only place I've worked where something like this would fly was where
"employees" could take some abuse: grad school. Maybe I am now an old soul,
but I like boring, dependable hotels when I travel _for work_.

~~~
kapnobatairza
There is definitely a market for this, especially in a city like Manhattan
where business rate hotels are hard to come by and can be inconveniently
located compared to an AirBnB. When we have remote workers come visit us we
put them up in an AirBnB that is a 5-minute walk from the office to get
better, more spacious accommodations than a hotel for under $200 (which is for
an entire apartment, not just a room). And who needs room service when you
have Seamless, Postmates, Caviar, etc.

The only downside to AirBnB is the lack of daily housekeeping. Maybe there is
room for a 3rd party service that caters exclusively to AirBnB hosts to
provide regular housekeeping.

That all said, I'm not sure what this "Business Travel" service provides that
you can't get from a regular booking. Is this just a shared AirBnB account for
teams? Are there special business rates or liability insurance policies
associated with it? This page does a fairly poor job of explaining the merits
of creating a business account with them.

~~~
eitally
That's not the only downside. There's a freaking enormous downside for large
corporations, and that's their inability to centrally manage vendor
relationships with large chains. For example, my company spends about 2500
nights/yr here:
[http://www.itchotels.in/hotels/itcgrandchola.aspx](http://www.itchotels.in/hotels/itcgrandchola.aspx)

As a result, we were able to negotiate a rate down from about 12,000INR/night
to about 6500INR/night. The hotel is huge, has every amenity (in India,
especially if you're flying solo, most business travelers are not likely to
venture outside the hotel for dinner), is close to the office, and we're only
paying about US$100/night.

I think Manhattan may be one of the few cities where this legitimately makes
sense (due to general lack of hotels, or price gouging). SF, perhaps, but it
depends where you're going to be for work and whether there are any huge
conferences going on at the same time. One year at Dreamforce I booked late
and ended up in a shared room at a craptastic rundown place near the
Embarcadero. Perhaps not typical, but it does happen.

~~~
philihp
$100/night is astronomical compared to most Airbnb listings in India. You can
get much nicer accommodations for half the price, and you don't need to be a
large corporation to negotiate a package deal for it.

When I travel for work, I often add additional time onto my trip to explore
where I visit. Sometimes people don't have a sense of adventure, and this may
not be for them. For people like this I believe you are correct, they will not
enjoy this program.

------
covi
Employees might prefer to stay at hotel brands of their own preference, for
better service, loyalty programs, earning points, etc.

------
techtivist
There's a key mental difference between traveling for leisure and for
business.

When you are holidaying, you are looking for those little experiences that
make every trip unique, and living in someone's home definitely adds to that.

But when you are traveling for work, anything that's not work is distracting.
So one seeks 'familiarity', and that's where the experience of just getting
back to a hotel with no surprises waiting wins.

It's the same reason I chose Starbucks to work from whenever I am traveling. I
know I'll get the same environment, same mediocre coffee and similar wifi. No
surprises, so I can GSD.

~~~
ghaff
For me that exaggerates the contrast. One of the things that makes at least
some business travel worthwhile is that I have the opportunity to spend at
least a little time on distractions in the local environment, whether taking a
walk or eating a meal. I don't go out of my way to seek out Starbucks though
I'll go there if that's what is convenient.

That said, I generally try to simplify with respect to the hotel stay. I may
or may not stay with a familiar chain but I'll generally book with something
that looks to be a reliable business hotel.

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scurvy
I question the success of this from a loyalty/perks perspective. Not for the
business traveller, but for the employer. Most people don't realize this, but
when your company signs deals with airlines and hotels, they get big perks in
return for pledging dollars to those businesses. You get to designate X number
of people for platinum status, even if they only fly or stay a few times a
year. Those perks translate into huge upside for the occasional business exec
who has to pay for a business class ticket, but be at the top of the list for
a free first upgrade.

It might sound trivial to most people here, but it's a big part of the sales
pitch when you're managing a large corporate travel department.

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dotBen
Many firms won't let employees share a double hotel room due to the risk of
sexual harassment violations _(one employee stumbles in on the other having
sex in the room, said employee may have grounds to sue the employer)_.

With that in mind, I assumed AirBnB Business Homes would be whole homes to
avoid contact with an owner, other guests sharing the other rooms or
situations that an employee might not be happy with - eg female employee
staying alone in the home with a male landlord, etc.

But looking through it appears many are shared situations, which surprises me
due to the potential for legal issues.

~~~
netcan
Which employee gets to sue in this case?

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wehadfun
Surprised Airbnb isn't worried about getting homejoyed out of the deal if a
business traveler frequently uses the same place.

~~~
_delirium
This definitely already happens, in the few cases where I've seen AirBnB be
used for repeat business travel. A colleague of mine goes to Rome for 2-3 week
stays and found the place he currently rents via AirBnB, but now he just books
it directly. It's quite possible that they can make enough money on the other
cases to not matter, though.

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nailer
What distinguishes business ready apartments from others? The page doesn't
seem to be very specific.

~~~
madcaptenor
Working Internet, for one. I've dealt with prospective hosts that don't have
wifi, and not stayed at their places because of that - and that was for
leisure travel.

~~~
nailer
I've stayed somewhere with working wifi, but the host mailed me and said its
not working right now and I had to plug in. On a Mac that doesn't have wired
Ethernet.

Rant over, but for real I'd want to avoid airbnb surprises.

~~~
madcaptenor
Even if you have a computer with wired Ethernet, who travels with an Ethernet
cable these days?

~~~
sethhochberg
I actually do, specifically for situations like this. A short (2ft) CAT5e
cable lives in my backpack alongside a small 3-outlet surge protector, spare
flash drives, spare battery pack for USB devices, etc when I'm on the road. I
frequently work while traveling and don't want to gamble that a misconfigured
access point near my gate, full power outlet, etc could cost me productivity.
I've occasionally even stayed in hotels which didn't seem to provide wifi (or
wanted to charge way too much for it), but, had an ethernet jack on the room's
desk.

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rdlecler1
Problem with AirBnb for business is the uncertainty: booking & checking. If
you were able to have a confirmed booking and there were iPhone locks it would
solve a lot of issues. AirBnb could underwrite the purchase of digital locks.

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steaminghacker
How about airbnb business space. meeting rooms etc.

