What Modern Hotel Brands Can Learn From Airbnb

Airbnb is a game changer. But not for the familiar reasons. Sure, you can book a socially vetted room in just about any city from your phone. But the model, and the the requisite political struggles that come with scale, is old news. What is most interesting is the knock-on effect that Airbnb, and other home share services like One Fine Stay are going to have on traditional hospitality. With apartments in every city as potential extra capacity and competition, what does this mean for the market? Airbnb is preaching membership to a likeminded community and makes users feel like they are the in-the-know local. Their user experience reflects this. Their content and hyperlocal recommendations reflect this. And so far, people are responding favorably. To counter, traditional hotels from the Ritz-Carlton all the way down to the local innkeeper need raise their respective games and remember what the core of their business is: service, grace and providing comfort for guests. They n