Airbnb has been getting a bad rap recently. In 2021, Barcelona became the first European city to effectively ban Airbnb. A cascade of cities and even counties followed.
Then, earlier this month, New York followed suit by banning booking service platforms like Airbnb from offering short-term unregistered rentals in the city.
And to add insult to injury, now a new report from Which? has found that Airbnb’s aren’t actually any cheaper than hotels in most destinations anyway.
The study found that a one-bedroom short-term let from a platform such as Airbnb is more expensive than a hotel room in 38 of the 50 destinations surveyed.
This might come as a surprise to many because when they first launched, private rental sites such as Airbnb and Vrbo offered a cheaper alternative to booking a hotel in many in-demand cities.
These are the destinations where the differences were the biggest:
Big Savings In Capital Cities
Hotels were cheaper than Airbnb in every capital city included in the investigation.
The following 7 capital cities are a clear example of this:
The average price of a one-bedroom Airbnb in Amsterdam is $224. The average price of a hotel room is $143.
The average price of a one-bedroom Airbnb in Singapore is $174. The average price of a hotel room is $100.
The average price of a one-bedroom Airbnb in Greater London is $200. The average price of a hotel room is $126.
The average price of a one-bedroom Airbnb in Dubai is $157. The average price of a hotel room is $87.
The average price of a one-bedroom Airbnb in Barcelona is $172. The average price of a hotel room is $116.
The average price of a one-bedroom Airbnb in Hong Kong is $121. The average price of a hotel room is $65.
The average price of a one-bedroom Airbnb in San Fransisco is $201. The average price of a hotel room is $157.
New York, New York
Because the effective banning of Airbnb in New York has been such a big media focus in the past couple of months, the study also looked at the costs of hotels versus Airbnb in New York City.
It found that not only were Airbnb’s in the city more expensive than equivalent hotel rooms but also that many New York options still listed on the site are actually illegal.
You are no longer allowed to rent out a whole home for less than 30 days in New York. This means that the only legal Airbnb options in the city are those where the owner resides in the property and where the property is officially registered for short-term rental.
This change is expected to drive up nightly rates in the city further.
The trend of banning Airbnb and other short-term rental sites is only set to continue. From October 1 Scotland will also introduce a restrictive licensing scheme for short-term lets, for example.
Are Hotel Rooms Really Better?
When asked to respond to the study, Airbnb said “This data is wrong and based on flawed methodology” because private lets generally have more space than hotel rooms.
And it is worth mentioning that when you book an Airbnb, you will typically have more space than a hotel room. But this isn’t always the case.
You will also often have a kitchen or cooking facilities, which means you could save money in the long run if you compare the costs of eating out with the costs of cooking for yourself.
It is ideal if you enjoy cooking for yourself on vacation but not important if you feel eating out is part of the fun of the trip.
Finally, the Which? study concludes that a bigger Airbnb may still be better value for a group as the cost of a larger let is often cheaper than the combined cost of several hotel rooms. Many families also prefer the space and flexibility offered by Airbnb.
But in terms of cost alone, in most cases, a hotel room will be cheaper than an Airbnb rental.
