It seems there are two interconnected worldwide trends in accommodation.
While travellers are falling out of love with AirBnBs and similar platforms such as Stayz, once again hotels are becoming more popular.
AirBnBs and similar peer-to-peer booking systems burst on the scene in 2008 to connect property owners with travellers seeking a cheap alternative to traditional accommodation.
It began with people renting out spare rooms, but also tents in their loungeroom and even in one case in Idaho, a giant potato.
The system was seen as a win-win. Hosts bagged some extra income, and travellers got a cheap room and maybe a bit of insight into the local culture.
However, along the way, the brand became a bit tarnished. Whole properties – especially in popular tourism centres – were given over to the platform. There were claims, not without merit, that led to housing shortages.
Taxing times
To combat this practice, Victoria will introduce a short-stay levy, in a bid to cap short-stay accommodation.
Then there was the price gouging. Customers were selecting their accommodation, only to find a series of fees when they got to the last booking page including, in some cases, cleaning ‘fees’ of up to $400.
Complaints were also poorly handled. Guests who wanted a refund were given the runaround, often by a call centre in another country, which is less than ideal if you are in a foreign country with nowhere to stay.
Imagine a similar situation in a hotel. You want a refund, and instead of negotiating with the person on the reception desk, you have to spend four hours on a phone with no guarantee of resolution.
Add to that, many hosts were demanding excessive requirements before checking out, including a whole bunch of cleaning those extra cleaning fees should have covered.
Right to the top
Even the people at the top agreed it has lost its way.
“It wasn’t about empty homes, it was about people staying with each other,” Chief executive and founder Brian Chesky told travel news site Skift. The values got “watered down”, he added. “If I could do it over again, I would hold on to those values.”
I think I speak for many people when I say I don’t want to spend the last day of my holiday cleaning up a property I have already paid for.
So it appears we are turning back to hotels, and Australians are some of the most enthusiastic.
Travel insurer Europ Assistance’s annual Holiday Barometer report found that almost six out of 10 Australian respondents (59 per cent) will now choose a hotel for their next trip, compared with 50 per cent of Europeans and 53 per cent of North American respondents.
As for those accommodation platforms, just 24 per cent of Australians said they would be their first choice, compared with European respondents at 31 per cent and North Americans at 27 per cent.
Bigger the better
And it seems size does matter.
Hotels with less than 20 rooms are an unpopular option – with less than a quarter of all respondents from across the three continents choosing the accommodation type. Just 23 per cent of Australians, 20 per cent of North Americans and 24 per cent of Europeans plan on a small hotel stay.
Just 24 per cent of Australians will opt for free accommodation at a friend or family’s place, and a mere 10 per cent would consider camping or road trips in a campervan.
Insure&Go chief commercial officer Jonathan Etkind says, “With affordability, reliability and safety reigning supreme for Australians, the travel trend towards bigger hotels will continue to grow, especially given the introduction of the short stay levy.
“That levy, combined with sometimes expensive additions such as cleaning and administration fees, is clearly causing budget-conscious Australian travellers to shy away from apartment and house rentals – especially given safety and amenity inclusions are another major consideration.”
Europ Assistance is the parent company of Australia’s Insure&Go.
At a distance
In Europe, where there’s far greater population density and a glut of short-stay accommodation on offer Mr Etkind says travellers may see vacation rentals and apartments more favourably, particularly considering travel distances between tourist sites and cities are typically far shorter.
“With just over a third saying they would choose an apartment or house rental for their next trip, Europeans are the most in favour of this accommodation and this speaks volumes to availability, accessibility and perhaps even cost,” he says.
Do you prefer hotels or AirBnBs or other platforms? Why not share your opinion in the comments section below?
Also read: Transform your hotel room into a haven with these genius hacks
