Saw this in my Twitter feed and one person showed an image of the site already showing a hotel option on Airbnb, and said it was an option as of “a few days ago.” He was searching in the South Kensington, London area. the user is @rafat on Twitter.
I posted this hours ago and see no one has commented, why is that?
Hotels and commercial operators have been listing for a while, Airbnb is slowly moving to a hotel model
Thanks @Debthecat I saw this as final proof of the leap into the hotel booking industry for Airbnb. I wouldn’t be surprised if a name/brand change isn’t coming, Airbnb to Airstay, or something that aligns with the mission. For small, more traditional, stays like ours, it’s the final straw until a new disruptor gains traction, maybe Houfy.
Also Airbnb has announced this was coming. I don’t think it is everywhere yet
https://gizmodo.com/airbnb-gobbles-up-last-minute-booking-service-hoteltoni-1833144932
"A little more than a month after the Wall Street Journal reported that Airbnb was in talks to buy HotelTonight, the two have sealed the deal on an acquisition.
Airbnb announced Thursday that it had gobbled up the last-minute bookings service as its latest step in building an end-to-end travel platform, a move that advances its in-house offerings on the hotel front (though it does already offer some hotel accommodations).
The Journal previously reported that Airbnb was exploring the acquisition but also considering masterminding its own direct competitor to the hotel booking service. The idea, the Journal said, was to boost its offerings in order to position Airbnb as a more direct competitor to full-service booking outfits."
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