No Place Like Home

I’ve been thinking a lot about the differences between Airbnb and high-end hotels. Not only am I deciding where to stay on an upcoming trip to Split, Croatia, I am also preparing for a talk I will be giving at the international Airbnb conference. I am honored to have been chosen to be a Speaker at their annual conference, Airbnb Open. Taking place November 17-19 in Los Angeles, it attracts 5000 hosts from around the world.

I have been interviewing Airbnb Hosts about their experiences with guests—both rewarding as well as challenging—in order to customize my talk on the heart of hospitality. I keep thinking about the biggest differentiation between staying at a hotel and staying at an Airbnb. What I have concluded is that the single biggest distinction can be found in the word “Home.” The fact that Airbnb owners are called “Hosts” is fitting for people who welcome you into what is literally, in the majority of cases, their personal home.

When I was first starting my career as a concierge, I was often baffled with the slogans and taglines of hotels promising that people will feel like they are home when staying there. I always thought the opposite should be touted, as in, at home there is no engineer to call when the TV doesn’t work. In most homes, no one is there to pick up after you and make your bed and line up your toiletries or send food to you with the touch of a button complete with a flower on the tray. Not to mention a concierge arranging your plans and smiling doormen welcoming you back. No, hotels are diametrically different than being at home. They are wonderfully different and something to capitalize on. Imagine my delight when I saw this sign at the Hyatt Regency Boston on a stay this past July. I loved it.

The Airbnb host, on the other hand, really does need to strive to make people feel at home, and oddly enough they can look to the hotel business to help them to do that. Hotels provide a standard of comfort that is not always included in Airbnb homes. These include robes, amenities, coffee and tea that are easily accessible, decent lighting that is close to the bedside, a good mattress and sheets that smell and feel pleasing, a thin blanket and not just a heavy duvet, a focus on safety and cleanliness, knowledge of the area and the overarching belief that having a guest is a privilege.

While the premise of comfort and hospitality remains the same in both, the intention is actually quite different. High-end hotels more than ever need to offer an experience of ease as well as the types of luxuries not usually found at home. Airbnb hosts need to make people feel truly at home in order to compete for the business of the traveler, whether on leisure, business or medical reasons.

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