No, renting != borrowing, but with Airbnb you often meet the owners, may even have breakfast with them in their home, etc.

Yes, money changes hands - you pay for use and cleaning of the place - but my Airbnb rentals have been significantly more intimate than any commercial hotel I've stayed in (even small hotels or regular commercial BnBs).

That's odd. Every AirBnB I've stayed at has been as impersonal as the most generic cheap hotel chain but with far more hassle and inconvenience.

The notion that you'd experience any kind of "community" or "sharing" with AirBnB has always seemed like pure marketing BS. It's cool that you've actually experienced it. Maybe it does happen sometimes.

My wife and I did a trip through Western Europe a few years ago - meeting and visiting with our "hosts", talking about what they liked about living there, etc., was a fun enhancement to the trip. The couple of hotel stays were much less welcoming and more generic.

My wife made the Airbnb reservations, and she really likes meeting local people, so she may have selected for that experience.

It worked out really well for us.