LogFAQs > #897497114

SmartMuffin posted...

But if you're looking for a completely private room to yourself of reasonable quality at a good location, that's already the exact problem hotels are solving for

But they are clearly not. The vast majority of hotel rooms (motels) are very shitty "crash on the couch" kinda spots. And the big chains are designed to be of mediocre quality in a mediocre location for a mediocre number of people (4). None of that is optimized AT ALL for many common use cases. The refinement is merely the average of all the common use cases.

The "average" locations alone, which we were just talking about, is enough of a dealbreaker.

This is the same problem that big chains like McDonald's have. It's impossible for them to optimize because their whole business model is breadth of service. Airbnb is a deeply personalized service, so even if 99.99% of people don't like a certain room, those 0.001% will like it way better than any hotel. Just like that inefficient local taco shop on the corner will serve you better than the hyper-refined McD. Walmart vs craigslist is another example.

The efficiency of the market isn't in homogenizing services to the mean (though it can do that, but others can do it better, e.g. government). It's in providing huge variety in service that a huge variety in customers can all be satisfied.

That being said, if you love being 2.5 miles out of the city in a room designed for 4 people on the 16th floor of a former prison covered with tacky carpets and chandeliers, then mega hotels have got you covered.
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_foolmo_
2 + 2 = 4