AirBnb's in London

Timalay

Is it me? But why do AirBnb's always seem more expensive in London than hotels? I often stay in London overnight after seeing show/musical, and every time I stay overnight, it's cheaper stay in hotel than a AirBnb.

borderline

I don't know about London but I have noticed the same in other big cities, NY for example. I prefer a hotel anyway

Emmia

So stay in a hotel? What's the issue?

If people doing Airbnb can get more than the cost of a hotel room, then why should they charge less?

Timalay

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81905483#Comment_81905483

I always do, I was just questioning why it is.

Emmia

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81905492#Comment_81905492

Supply and demand, why should Airbnb be cheaper?

MyRealNameToo

Some AirBnBs are hotels, which just adds to the confusion.

London planning laws only allow you to use the likes of AirBnB for 90 nights a year, if you want to do any more you need planning permission for change of use. As such there are a lot less casual people putting their properties online to drive down prices.

Also depends if you are looking at a room or a whole property, property is expensive in London and you arent really comparing like for like if you are comparing a 22m2 hotel room with a 85m2 flat. Unless you have a whole empire of properties then your servicing costs are also higher, hotels will have an army of people at NMW who go from room to room cleaning. A live out Airbnb person is paying a cleaner £20/hr plus has much more travel time between the different properties.

You certainly can get cheaper than a hotel though, 2 nights at a local place to us (border zone 1 and 2) is £185, the same dates in our local hostel with exclusive use of a room is £236

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6657559/airbnb-039-s-in-london

Err.. Could it be because house prices are higher in cities?

daveyjp

Airbnb is a completely different financial model to a hotel and some visitors prefer an Airbnb environment and facilities over a hotel.