In 2007, when Airbnb’s cofounder Brian Chesky charged $80 for tech conference attendees to sleep on an air mattress in his San Francisco apartment, the rental did not come with the option to have a personal trainer stop by and lead a workout.
The short-term rental booking giant is in a different era these days. The $84 billion company lowered its revenue guidance for the second quarter, saying travel demand had softened, some local regulators had cracked down on Airbnbs, and competition with hotels was fierce.
On Tuesday, Airbnb launched an offering called Airbnb Services, which allows people to hire on-site professionals. These professionals — including private chefs, photographers, massage therapists, personal trainers, hairstylists, and makeup artists — can come to your Airbnb or to your home. Airbnb said that services are available in 260 cities and that many start below $50.
“Maybe you’re staying at an Airbnb for a wedding. You don’t have a spa on-site. Guess what? Bring the spa to you,” Dave Stephenson, Airbnb’s chief business officer, told Business Insider.
The new feature could sway travelers deciding between an Airbnb and a hotel, Stephenson added.
“People choose Airbnb often because of their location and amenities, but our amenities usually are maybe more space, more bedrooms, maybe a washer-dryer,” he said. “But then there are still things that we don’t provide that a hotel does.”
Travelers are often deciding between hotels and Airbnbs
Time will tell if Airbnb Services can win over customers who might otherwise use local directories, other online listings, or social media marketplaces to hire in-home professionals.
Travelers deciding between hotels and Airbnbs have cited reasons beyond on-site amenities.
Duane Brown, a digital marketer who travels internationally at least seven times a year, told BI in August that he had decided to switch from staying in Airbnbs to booking hotels because of consistency.
The change of heart came after a stay in a Budapest Airbnb. Upon arrival, Brown was disappointed to find that the listing pictures hid damaged walls and a run-down bathroom. He said he began to trust the “standard of care” hotels provided. Airbnb has said it cracked down on quality control and, in March 2024, reported that it had removed 112,000 subpar listings from the platform.
“If there are no independent hotels or Marriotts, well, then maybe I’d go to Airbnb, but there’s always been at least one of those in a city I go to,” he said.
Mikhaila Friel, a former BI writer, enjoyed staying in Airbnbs on group trips, but for solo adventures to London, Luxembourg, Brussels, and Oslo, Norway, she booked hotels, in part to meet other travelers.
“It’s not unusual for solo travelers to get lonely once and a while,” Friel wrote. “I’ve found that staying at hotels helped massively, as I was able to socialize with employees and other travelers when I was there.”
Joey Hadden, a BI travel reporter, said she preferred the quirks of unusual Airbnbs, choosing geodesic domes in Canada and a converted lifeguard tower in Florida over typical hotel stays.
“Hotels offer me a comfortable place to doze during my travels,” Hadden wrote, “while Airbnbs give me another new adventure.”
Axel Springer, Insider Inc.’s parent company, is an investor in Airbnb.
