undefined | Better HN

0 pointsfellowniusmonk1y ago0 comments

I will always love AirBnB for driving down prices by breaking the hotel cartels in major cities.

Over 10 years ago I rented a folding couch right off of Pearl ST. Boulder, CO.

I stayed in the living room of someones 1 bedroom apartment for $300 a night instead of 1k+ a night for the equivalent at what amounted to a travel lodge motel. The prices there were out of control, no inventory, just awful.

There are "plausible deniability" cartels everywhere, it's and it's always nice to see their grip on a region drop.

0 comments

11 comments · 5 top-level

donnachangstein1y ago· 4 in thread

You could have saved yourself $300 and slept on a bench in the central bus station for approximately the same level of accommodation.

handoflixue1y ago

Can you actually? Every major city I've been to in the past five years is pretty harsh on that sort of thing. I'd happily pay $300 to avoid the risks of arrest and having all my stuff stolen.

rightbyte1y ago

If you don't look poor it is considered normal to sleep on public coaches in terminals. You might need to sit up though.

jazzyjackson1y ago

Funny but couches can be pretty comfortable, and in the days of Airbnb being a monetized couchsurf, you'd at least wake up to fresh coffee

Safe place to stash your luggage is another matter, there's a dozen apps that cater to this need now too so if you are sleeping in the bus station at least you can put your baggage behind a locked door

donnachangstein1y ago

> there's a dozen apps that cater to this need now

Before someone declared a need for buggy and unreliable locker apps, for decades prior you could deposit something called a "coin" into a slot which would allow you remove an equally archaic object called a "key" from the lock, which you would deposit in your pocket and be on your merry way.

3 more replies

infecto1y ago· 2 in thread

You paid $300 to stay on a fold out couch in a strangers living room. $1000 sounds like market price for a hotel room then.

nine_k1y ago

This is fair. But the market of barebones $300/night sleeping spots was underserved by hotels, and likely even hostels.

singleshot_1y ago

Couldn't you stay in a nice $300/night hotel and just close your eyes when you walked by the pool?

lumost1y ago

Was there an event? I stayed at the historic Boulderado hotel for 350/night 13 years ago when Airbnb was getting started.

lispisok1y ago

What you described is an experience I would expect using couchsurfing.com which was around long before airbnb.

Source: Have hosted couchsurfers very long ago

buerkle1y ago

I find this hard to believe unless some major event was occurring while you were staying in Boulder and you purchased at the last minute.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse