Is Airbnb that bad?
After all the news of bias and gentrification, what is it really like to stay at an Airbnb?
Airbnb has suffered no shortage of controversy this year. From #AirbnbWhileBlack and criticisms of the platform’s bias against minority users to complaints that the service decreases large cities’ affordable housing stock, 2016 has seen Airbnb’ s reputation go through the ringer. But is the peer-to-peer bed and breakfast service as bad as the press says?
After all, following the complaints of racism, the startup made a massive power move hiring former United States Attorney General Eric Holder to help them mitigate discrimination. And while a lot of outlets covered how the company hurts the local housing market, many of these stories neglect that Airbnb also empowers local residents to turn their spare rooms into extra cash.
So what’s the verdict — is this Silicon Valley startup really a unicorn or just a mule in disguise?
I decided to book a room, and see if I could find out for myself.
As a newly-minted New Yorker, I have crashed on many friends and acquaintances couches and air mattresses in the past year, but this would be my first time using an online service to stay with complete strangers. And while I am a millennial, and a fan of the sharing economy (Uber everywhere!), I must admit that I was a little nervous at the prospect of sleeping in a stranger’s home.
Sitting in a downtown Starbucks, I ordered a coffee to help me get over my jitters and got to work Airbnb’ing. I booted up my Chromebook, created a profile, and surfed the site for someone who looked safe and friendly. The caffeine mixed with Airbnb’s marketing soon proved a powerful cocktail.
For months, my friends had been talking about Airbnb. (“It’s so cool! It’s so cheap!”) Plus the catchy commercials during the NBA Finals still stuck in my head. (“Please don’t do Paris, LIVE in Paris.”) After a few minutes of searching, I found a place hassle-free. To expedite the process, I used the instant booking, and then I was on my way.
“This is so easy,” I thought to myself. But when I gave my host a call to get the directions to his apartment, that’s when things went south.
When he answered the phone, the first thing that he told me was that he was out of town….IN JAMAICA!
“How am I going to get into your apartment complex?” I asked him. To which he replied, “Don’t worry. Just ring the bell and somebody well let you in.”
He continued. “And don’t worry about getting into the room either. When you are in the building, walk up the stairs to the door with the mat. Lift it up and there will be a key to get into my room. (If the idea of strangers, letting you into someone else’s building where there is a key under a mat sounds a little sketchy… that is because it is.)
At this point, had I not already paid, I would have pulled out, but I was already ninety bucks in. Disregarding the little voice in my head, I walked to the train and rode towards my Airbnb.
When I got to the stop, I noticed area was in okay shape. The most prominent vendors appeared to be the liquor store and check cashing spot, but there were lots of people out chatting warmly and enjoying the evening. In the distance, I saw a group of young men sitting on a stoop and listening to music. As I walked closer, I notice that the building matched the address of my Airbnb. I walked up, and the young men let me in.
I went to the door that my host described on the phone, lifted up the mat, and I saw that there were at least four keys underneath (Red Flag). I tried not to think much of it, grabbed one of the keys and hurried into the room.
Once inside, I could see that this particular Airbnb was the type that many locals hated. The owner had clearly converted his entire apartment into a mini-hotel of sorts where every room was retrofitted to host a guest. And it turned out that my host didn’t even live there.
I went into my room, closed the door, and messaged my host letting him know that I had safely arrived. He told to be sure to leave the other keys under the door as he was expecting several other guest to arrive that night. I obliged.
And excluding the other guests booming voices and the thumps from the music that the young men on the stoop were playing, the night was mostly quiet. I awoke the next morning, and this was the end of my Airbnb excursion.
As I reflected on the trip, the two big questions were safety and community sustainability.
The way that my particular host left several house keys under a mat was clearing concerning. The arrangement made very easy for virtually anybody in the building to walk into the apartment at any time. I can’t say that this kind of thing is endemic to the platform, but it was definitely a loose end on my trip.
Then there is the community impact of the Airbnb’s like the room I spent the night in. When people like my host convert entire apartments into rentals, they make an already sparse affordable housing market like New York City even more competitive for locals, because Airbnb guests are occupying the tenements allotted for residents. Many feel this is uniformly bad, but the silver lining is that Airbnb may provide paths to entrepreneurship for those who don’t have enough money to secure a traditional business loan or purchase an expensive rental property.
All in all, I would have to say that my experience with the service was a mixed bag. If you need a place to stay, Airbnb provides a plethora of options, and convenient way to pay. But if you are looking to get an authentic neighborhood experience, and you want to stay with someone who actually lives in the community, you’ll need to really research and double-check before you double-click.
