Why is it that in places like Nashville and Savannah, the average private room is well over $100, but in Orlando, FL (the tourist capital of the world) the average is $35?
It has to do with supply vs. demand.
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First, when I searched just now I get an average price for 2 people in Orlando (no dates, no filters entered) is $54 and for Nashville it’s $81, a $27 difference. Your post makes it seem like a difference 3x that. If you are searching with filters on maybe you have certain needs that there is a greater supply of in Orlando. Like if you are 2 people traveling with a toddler there is probably a bigger supply of people catering to children in Orlando.
Supply vs demand as Chloe said, plus I would say that some destinations are more upmarket than others. I don’t know America enough to know how chic Savannah is relative to Orlando (I guess Orlando is not chic at all though 
, whereas Savannah seems full of old charm from the movies I have seen) but there are very expensive small villages and affordable cities.
For instance, in Europe usually areas which are culture, food and wine destinations are more expensive than alcohol/beach/parties destinations.
There are so many contributing factors. Yes, Orlando is cheap. And so is Kissimmee FL. I don’t think I’ve ever seen places to inexpensive. I was shocked when I first saw this. Phenoix also has very low prices.
Of course supply and demand plays a role. Also, it depends on the “high season” for that particular city. For example - New Orleans is busiest from Feb - May. Other places are busiest summer or winter. You also have to keep in mind the cost of living in the area.
My current guest has 1 review. Right now he is paying $237 for the nightly rate (2 bed/2 bath). I looked up the one place on Air that left him a review. He stayed in a 6 bedroom/5 bath that currently is priced at $260 a night. My rental is nice and I’m not going to post it. But the place he stayed at looks incredible for the rate. This was in Kissimmee: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/12358175?check_in=2016-10-01&guests=1&check_out=2016-10-11
Airbnb is amazing but there is still a HUGE percent of people that don’t want to take the try and prefer to stay at a hotel. This might change in the future but for now what it is defining low prices is the increase in the supply. For Airbnb as for any other vacation rental site it is more easy to get a new host than a new guest. You, as a host, will try to publish your place in every possible site is available out there to maximize your outcome and minimize the risk. Ok, you might be comfortable staying with one of them, say Airbnb, but once you start seeing your occupancy rate under troubles you will start publishing in the others. On the other side, guests are much more comfortable staying with the same choice they have made in the past. If you have been staying at hotels in your past 20 years then you will most likely stay at a hotel the next year. The biggest challenge for Airbnb isn’t how to become the leader platform in alternative lodging but how it become the leader lodging site. The supply is growing much faster than the demmand and that explains the trend of seeing low prices.
True. I didn’t even look for an Airbnb last year when we went to D.C. I was taking my son to his US Seante internship and simply wanted a hotel experience… found a perfect three star boutique hotel for $79 with breakfast. I don’t feel like an airbnb would have been competitive with that.
Over Christmas week and New Years, we’re going to Prague. Obviously a high demand time of year. Everything I searched for was booked and the Airs and Wimdus were all expensive. With a little searching I found a four star hotel for $51 a night.
Hotels all the way for me. But my guests? They either have to choose one of the ginormous resort hotels or a hostel. Nothing really in between. They will generally pay more for a condo with a kitchen. So I hope I am a unique offering with a unique niche. Most of my guests do a circle island, and want three or four nights my side and three or four the other side. The only time I don’t offer that is during Christmas and NY weeks.
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Ah, he has no reviews. But yeah, nice place for an amazing price!!!
Oh…there were about 20 reviews on that gorgeous house. I just couldn’t back to the place where it only shows the listing. I had to click through from my guest’s profile to get to the listing, but couldn’t figure out how to get to the main page.
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The only review I saw on that listing was from “Daniel” and read, “very welcome.” Rather strange for a review.
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You are a whiz at finding hotel bargains! Will both of your boys be joining you?
It took three days of searching, and I was about to give up! And none of them had appealing cancellation policies so I had to be ready to commit. They could charge the moon over New Years too, so that was a challenge. I hope the hotel will be good. It got great reviews even though it’s outside of Prague 1 by quite a bit.
No… only one will go with me as of right now. The other one is in Japan and is still considering whether he could do it, but I tend to doubt it.
Bahhaha…thanks for confirming that - thought exact same thing. It is Daniel. I wondered about that. He won’t be getting a review unless I receive one ;). Unless bad guest of course. I doubt it though since grandparents are present:).