Re:Airbnb S-1
by Guest19023892 on Monday November 16, 2020 @09:48PM
(#25119788)
I rented a number of Airbnb apartments in different countries, many of which required guests to be registered with the police. Typically the owner would meet me when checking-in, and they'd take a copy of my passport or drivers license, and occasionally I'd have to fill out a form with a few basic pieces of information (name, date of birth, etc) for them to submit. It was usually 2 minutes of work.
The downside was it was all incredibly insecure. They'd be snapping passport photos on their personal phone, and one apartment had a book in the living room with passport numbers and personal information of every previous guest.
So, technically it works now in different countries, but Airbnb really needs to assist these owners and get some proper procedures in place.
I had to do this at an AirBnB in Cuba. It seemed like a lot of work for the owners. I was also a little nervous about taking photos of passports and things before I understood it's a government process. The platform should help out here.
How are they going to do that at the place where you're not legally allowed to be staying?
This was reckless and stupid of them and demonstrates what AirBnB often does -- that they put their business above the safety of their guests and hosts.
What do you mean? Airbnb is perfectly legal in China, subject to the guest registration requirements mentioned here.
It was not when they first started operating there which is the context with which the conversation was being had.
I do not see how AirBnB can figure it out at all, under their current business model. Their business model depends on not vetting the place of stay and doing bare minimum for deal brokerage. Dealing with this would require them to incorporate all the fine details of hoteling into the business model.
Re:Airbnb S-1
by goatinaboat on Tuesday November 17, 2020 @03:51AM
(#25121458)
If a hotel can do it, surely there’s no reason why Airbnb can’t figure it out?
A good innovation for AirBnB would be to automatically notify the relevant tax authorities about their hosts income from illegal subletting, ahem, I mean "renting out a spare room"
If a hotel can do it, surely there’s no reason why Airbnb can’t figure it out?