Airbnb and hotels have had their sites set on each other for years, creating a turf war over travelers' nights. We love the diversity Airbnb and similar services like Kid & Coe, OneFineStay, and Le Collectionist bring to our travels, but we've been staying in hotels for work and for play for nearly 30 years here at Condé Nast Traveler, and they have a real soft spot in our heart. So this week, Traveler editors are at it again, to go head to head and duke it out over housekeeping versus home shares. Which do you prefer? Tweet us @CNTraveler and let us know where you'd rather spend your nights.
Airbnbs Have the Perks
There is no competition in my book. Airbnb is, far and away, the best choice when it comes to accommodations. I can pay the same price (or sometimes even less!) for multiple rooms, a stocked kitchen to do my own cooking, a backyard, maybe even a private pool, and I don’t have to hear my neighbors’ doors slam at all hours of the night. Why are we debating this again? –Lara Kramer
Grand Hotels Haven't Lost Their Charm
Fresh towels and linens daily. Room service. A concierge. Someone else to make your bed. Tiny little bottles of an unfamiliar shampoo that smells vaguely familiar. The appeal of hotels to me lies in countless little ways that represent taking a vacation not only from my 9 to 5, but all aspects of my everyday life. In hotels, it feels like pesky little details like plumping that duvet is someone else’s job (unlike real life). It’s impossible to replicate that experience when you’re borrowing someone’s life for a weekend, or a week. I’m a firm believer that the appeal of traveling lies in every aspect: the destination, the journey, and where you stay. There’s nothing more indulgent or restorative than deliberately opting out of a day sightseeing and luxuriating in a hotel room; someone else’s home just doesn’t have the same appeal. I just end up feeling like I’m paying to be a houseguest, which is the worst of both worlds. –Mark Ellwood
Home Shares All the Way
Well, unlike some people I know (ahem, Mark Ellwood), I don’t need my bedsheets changed on the regular—so, for this, and a few other reasons, I happen to love Airbnb. That’s not to say I can’t appreciate the desire to be pampered and fussed over while on vacation, but it just doesn’t rank that highly among my travel needs. Air conditioning? Yes. Chocolates on my pillow? Not so much. Full disclosure, though: I’ve never used Airbnb domestically. But in Europe, I find hotels at the two- and three-star level to be, in a word, sad, with crusted wrought-iron bed frames, weirdly-sized bathrooms, and a disappointing lack of warmth or service—and, since I can likely find a funkier (and often, cleaner) Airbnb in a great neighborhood, where a helpful host can give me a primer on the area, I’m apt to book that instead. It all depends on the experience you’re looking for—and whether or not you really need to hang that ‘do not disturb’ sign from your door to feel like you’ve checked out of real life, and into your vacation. –Betsy Blumenthal
I Want to Be ON Vacation
Airbnbs have their charms—don't get me wrong. But for truly feeling like I'm, well, on vacation, I'm a hotel gal all the way. It may be the minibar at one, or the fact that I know I can have my sheets turned down and breakfast delivered to me on a silver cart at another. Whatever it is, hotels give me the feeling that I'm a step outside my "normal" life. Otherwise, I'm just in a house or apartment, worried about leaving things cleaner than how I found them. -Katherine LaGrave