All posts tagged: Airbnb

Man Renovates Decommissioned Missile Silo Into Delightful Airbnb, Attracts “Swingers”

Man Renovates Decommissioned Missile Silo Into Delightful Airbnb, Attracts “Swingers”

Published by José

“I’m not a full doomsday prepper, but I like the idea of being prepared for the unknown.” Doomsdairbnb A man in Arkansas turned a decommissioned missile silo into a lavish short-term rental property. But whether it was a wise long-term investment remains to be seen. As owner GT Hill tells Business Insider, he bought the silo for $90,000 in 2010, and then spent a whopping $800,000 over ten years to convert the space into a unique rental experience. “Probably 20 percent of my interest was in the doomsday prepper aspect or the idea of preparing to survive in the case of a catastrophe,” Hill wrote. “I’m not a full doomsday prepper, but I like the idea of being prepared for the unknown, including having food storage and some survival skills.” The end product, dubbed Titan II, is a 3500-square-foot living space located in the middle of a 200-acre ranch and 150 feet below the ground. Hill says it’s already hosted famous YouTubers, bands, birthday parties, and “even some swingers.” And in case the end of the …

What an ‘Airbnbopoly’ Game Says About Silicon Valley’s Standoff With Lina Khan

What an ‘Airbnbopoly’ Game Says About Silicon Valley’s Standoff With Lina Khan

Published by skeptic

Four years ago, one of Vice President Kamala Harris’ top donors—the billionaire cofounder of LinkedIn Reid Hoffman—celebrated the IPO of Airbnb, a company he was heavily invested in, by fashioning Monopoly boards where the game’s “jail” space is replaced by “government regulation.” Since Harris became the Democratic presidential nominee, many billionaire tech investors have come out of the woodwork to support her campaign. While they often tout Harris as a business-friendly politician, they’ve been vocal in their dislike of Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan’s antitrust agenda. Hoffman is one of the most influential donors in that group. He has donated tens of millions of dollars in support of the Biden and Harris campaigns and has organized other wealthy tech investors to do so as well. When Airbnb went public in December 2020, the company was valued at more than $47 billion. Hoffman sent at least a handful of other investors a board game styled after Monopoly called “Airbnopoly,” according to images of the game obtained by WIRED. A top Airbnb investor confirmed that he …

Airbnb releases group booking features as it taps into AI for customer service

Airbnb releases group booking features as it taps into AI for customer service

Published by skeptic

Airbnb’s summer release is usually a grand affair with tons of updates for guests and a few for hosts. This time, however, the company is introducing just a few updates for group booking along with a new category called icons, which are experiences hosted by celebrated names in music, film, TV and sports. Group booking features, which are probably the only update that will reach all users, allow people to create shared wishlists, a messages tab for the group with the host, and trip invitations for the group with details of the property. Users can now invite friends or family to a wishlist through contacts on their phone or a link. Group members can add properties to a list, leave notes about a property, or vote on them to decide on the booking. Image Credits: Airbnb After the primary member books the property, they have to invite people to travel with them again on the trip with a postcard. The invitation card also has details like address, check-in instructions, and Wi-Fi passwords. Airbnb is also …

A pair of Airbnb alums is bringing intelligence and automation to data protection

A pair of Airbnb alums is bringing intelligence and automation to data protection

Published by skeptic

When Julie Trias and Elizabeth Nammour were working together at Airbnb on the company’s data team, they had to deal with data spread across a variety of sources, and that growing sprawl led to challenges in keeping data safe. The founders’ own frustration with the existing crop of data protection options motivated them to launch a company and build the automated data protection tool they wanted. On Tuesday, that startup, Teleskope, announced a $5 million seed investment. “We tested a bunch of different tools to help us understand, protect, delete and redact data at Airbnb, but what we came to realize is that there wasn’t that tool that could help developers do this automatically,” Trias told TechCrunch. That’s not to say there were no solutions, but the ones that existed like data classification tools generated a lot of false positives and had scaling issues. “There wasn’t a tool that could help you go from detection to actual remediation, which is redacting the data, isolating the data, or taking any sort of action on the data.” …

Earth Day: 10 of the most wishlisted Earth Homes to stay at for a tranquil getaway

Earth Day: 10 of the most wishlisted Earth Homes to stay at for a tranquil getaway

Published by skeptic

The Otter House in Aberdeenshire airbnb Earth Day offers people around the globe each year a chance to focus on the challenges facing the planet. And from carbon footprints to climate change, there’s no shortage of issues to tackle. Part of this focus on becoming one with nature entails Brits now adding a stay at ‘Earth Homes’ to their vision boards. Earth houses, which are built at ground level, with earth built up around or on top of them, have recently soared in popularity — in part due to their tranquil appeal, no doubt. Airbnb has seen a 20.4 per cent rise in UK guests wishlisting houses globally from 2022 to 2023. For anyone hoping to book a calming retreat in the UK’s finest spots to unplug, here are 10 of Airbnb’s most charming getaway homes to have a look at this Earth Day, from a Scottish hideaway beneath the stars to calming cave on the Causeway Coast. Hideaway Under the Stars, Moray  Hideaway Under the Stars, Moray  Airbnb This award-winning hideaway lies on the …

Tell us: have you experienced last-minute cancellations on Airbnb? | Airbnb

Tell us: have you experienced last-minute cancellations on Airbnb? | Airbnb

Published by skeptic

We’re interested in hearing from people who have made a booking for accommodation on an online travel platform, only for their host to cancel it at the last minute. Earlier this year, Taylor Swift fans in Australia were left without accommodation after Airbnb hosts cancelled their bookings. Airbnb’s “host cancellation policy” does not seem to have deterred hosts from then relisting their properties at a higher price. Has something similar happened to you? Are you a Swiftie whose plans to watch her European tour have been affected? Or have you made plans for a holiday elsewhere or another trip that have been thrown into disarray by a host’s cancellation? Share your experience You can tell us your experience of Airbnb cancellations using this form. Your responses, which can be anonymous, are secure as the form is encrypted and only the Guardian has access to your contributions. We will only use the data you provide us for the purpose of the feature and we will delete any personal data when we no longer require it for …

Luxury Airbnb High-Rises Are Reshaping Miami’s Skyline

Luxury Airbnb High-Rises Are Reshaping Miami’s Skyline

Published by skeptic

West Eleventh residences, a luxury building in downtown Miami slated to break ground this summer, promises “endless indulgences.” It will feature an entertainment center, food hall, and a resort pool with private lounges—no amenity is spared. But these condos are designed to lure more than just Miami residents. The tower is part of a new trend in which developers build apartments made for Airbnb, allowing them to be rented 365 days a year. The project even boasts the short-term rental platform as a branding partner. The concept of an apartment complex built for Airbnb appears to have won over investors: West Eleventh’s 659 units are nearly sold out, at an average price of about $800,000, says Ryan Shear, managing partner with Property Markets Group, the tower’s developer. Buyers can choose to live there full-time, but their condo fees pay for a concierge who handles the logistics of renting their units out for short-term stays on Airbnb, from check-in to cleaning. Miami is ground zero for a new experiment in urban development catalyzed by Airbnb. More …

Airbnb Guests Abandoned Their Dog In A Rental House With A Note Explaining Why

Airbnb Guests Abandoned Their Dog In A Rental House With A Note Explaining Why

Published by skeptic

Guests forgetting belongings is surely a routine part of being an Airbnb owner. But one man has been left stunned after discovering what his latest guests left behind. His Airbnb guests abandoned their dog in his rental house. TikToker @crazyAirbnbstories owns multiple Airbnb rental properties and uses his TikTok to share exactly what the handle describes — the wild encounters he has with his often colorful guests.  His latest encounter has to be right up there with the worst of them. “Airbnb guests abandoned their dog at my Airbnb property,” the owner said in one of his recent videos.  RELATED: 5 Things You’re Doing That Hurt Your Dog’s Feelings Without Realizing It He noted that he usually likes to keep the stories he shares on the lighter side, including a recent tail — er tale — in which someone abandoned a cat that he ended up adopting as his own. But this one looked to be a much sadder story than that one.  The Airbnb guests left a note saying they could no longer care for their ‘anxious’ …

Airbnb rentals for the Paris Olympics, sometimes encouraged by property managers, are a source of tension

Airbnb rentals for the Paris Olympics, sometimes encouraged by property managers, are a source of tension

Published by skeptic

COLCANOPA The proposal from his property management company, Oralia, arrived in his inbox. “Owners, rent out your home during the sporting events,” stated the email, which was sent at the beginning of February, with the following argument: “Generate additional income with complete peace of mind during the Paris Games period thanks to our exclusive partnership!” Claudine (not her real name), a retiree who owns an apartment in a Latin Quarter building, immediately replied: “That’s out of the question.” “Our property management company is inundating condo owners with this proposal and using information acquired through official business to develop an unrelated business, at our expense,” she protested. Assuming that many homeowners will want to take advantage of the Olympic Games to rent out their accommodation on online platforms, Oralia, owned by the Nexity real estate group, has deemed it “appropriate to offer condo owners of the residence support in making their accommodation available,” the email explained. The partnership in question, signed with concierge company WeHost, which itself is a partner of rental platform Airbnb, proposes to …

Airbnb host increased price by 39% after booking | Consumer affairs

Airbnb host increased price by 39% after booking | Consumer affairs

Published by skeptic

My daughter used my credit card to book a five-month stay using Airbnb after taking up an internship in Toronto. After the host accepted the booking, she got an email saying the price for the overall stay had increased by £4,000 – a further 39%. Panicked, and unable to afford the extra sum, she cancelled. Airbnb has taken a £1,962 fee, plus a further £682 for cleaning and taxes. As my daughter cancelled immediately, it is extremely unlikely that a booking was lost. Airbnb is endlessly quoting T&Cs and says it has asked the host to return the money, but he won’t. It feels as if it has assisted this man to perpetuate what looks like a scam. JS, by email I am amazed Airbnb didn’t sort this out in your favour before I became involved. A request for an extra 39% payment after the booking had been made – seriously? Happily, the company has now refunded you in full. It told you that you should have declined the host’s request for the extra sum. …