Airbnb

Airbnb cements Seattle presence, establishing permanent office with room for 300 people

by Nat Levy on June 15, 2017June 15, 2017 at 9:57 am1 Comment

Airbnb is putting down permanent roots in Seattle with a major new office that makes the vacation rentals company the latest well-known tech brand to grow rapidly in the region… Read More

Seattle goes after commercial Airbnb operators with revised rules for short-term rentals

by Monica Nickelsburg on April 24, 2017April 25, 2017 at 10:28 am 5 Comments

The Seattle City Council is taking a new approach to regulating short-term rentals, hoping to crack down on businesses that operate Airbnbs like hotels while still allowing residents to rent… Read More

Airbnb ‘Trips’ launches in Seattle offering tourist activities from local experts

by Monica Nickelsburg on April 4, 2017April 5, 2017 at 10:57 amComment

Travelers visiting Seattle can now book a catered breakfast beneath the Seattle Aquarium’s underwater dome through Airbnb. The “Seas the Day!” event is part of Airbnb Trips, a feature that… Read More

Podcast

‘Upstarts’ author Brad Stone on Uber’s scandals, Airbnb’s regulatory fight, and lessons from Amazon

by Monica Nickelsburg on February 22, 2017June 10, 2017 at 8:27 pmComment

When it comes to disruption, Brad Stone wrote the book. Twice. The best-selling author of The Everything Store, a detailed account of Amazon’s history, is out with another book, this time… Read More

Stay Alfred raises $15M to expand lodging business that rents apartments like hotels

by Monica Nickelsburg on January 17, 2017January 20, 2017 at 11:35 am1 Comment

Stay Alfred, a Spokane, Wash. lodging startup that operates short-term rentals out of the downtown neighborhoods of major U.S. cities, just closed a $15 million Series A investment round. CEO… Read More

Report: Airbnb ‘Flights’ service is about to take off, increasing competition with Expedia

by Monica Nickelsburg on December 19, 2016December 19, 2016 at 11:18 amComment

Airbnb is planning to launch its flight reservation tool sometime in the next 18 months, according to a report from Bloomberg. The service, called “Flights,” would put Airbnb in more… Read More

Postmates ordered to pay 2+ years of workers’ comp premiums for more than 3,000 couriers

by Nat Levy on December 13, 2016December 13, 2016 at 10:46 am 9 Comments

Delivery startup Postmates has been ordered to retroactively pay more than two years of workers’ compensation premiums for more than 3,000 of its couriers in Washington state, but the company is fighting the decision,… Read More

Airbnb partners with Urban League in Seattle to encourage home sharing in low-income communities

by Monica Nickelsburg on December 2, 2016December 2, 2016 at 10:30 am 4 Comments

Airbnb and the Seattle chapter of The Urban League, a non-profit that helps African-American communities access opportunity, are announcing a new partnership today. The two organizations will work together to… Read More

Airbnb concedes to housing activists in two cities, limiting number of days entire homes can be rented

by Monica Nickelsburg on December 1, 2016December 1, 2016 at 9:12 amComment

Airbnb and affordable housing advocates are fighting a battle in cities around the world. Today, Airbnb made a big concession that could herald a truce between the two sides. The company announced… Read More

Could Airbnb take on Expedia? New ‘Trips’ tool goes far beyond home-sharing, signaling big ambitions

by Monica Nickelsburg on November 29, 2016November 29, 2016 at 12:39 pmComment

Airbnb is undergoing a remodel. At the Airbnb Open in Los Angeles, CEO Brian Chesky announced Trips, which allows travelers to book activities, take guided audio tours, and get recommendations… Read More

Airbnb partners with the City of Seattle to provide lodging during emergencies and natural disasters

by Monica Nickelsburg on November 4, 2016November 4, 2016 at 2:26 pm 4 Comments

Last year, when The New Yorker exposed the havoc an overdue Cascadia earthquake could wreak on the Northwest, I was immediately reminded of Hurricane Sandy. I was in New York when… Read More

Lawmakers and community groups call for federal action against Airbnb and HomeAway

by Monica Nickelsburg on October 13, 2016October 13, 2016 at 10:39 am 4 Comments

In a letter to the Federal Trade Commission, lawmakers and community groups are asking the U.S. government to investigate how many Airbnb and HomeAway rentals are operating like hotels. They… Read More

This Andreessen Horowitz partner loves marketplace business ideas, and here’s why

by Nat Levy on October 7, 2016October 7, 2016 at 9:06 am 2 Comments

Andreessen Horowitz partner Jeff Jordan loves him some online marketplaces. Jordan, the OfferUp and Airbnb investor and former eBay executive who spoke at the GeekWire 2016 Summit, is a big… Read More

Airbnb vs. Expedia: Top company insiders explain how the rivalry is changing

by Nat Levy on October 5, 2016October 5, 2016 at 10:58 amComment

How people get to a travel destination hasn’t changed much in recent decades, but where they stay once they arrive is transforming rapidly. Technology has given many people the ability… Read More

Live blog: Andreessen Horowitz partner Jeff Jordan at the GeekWire Summit 2016

by Nat Levy on October 4, 2016October 4, 2016 at 3:14 pmComment

Jeff Jordan has worked with pretty much every type of technology company in his career. He is a general partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. He was previously CEO and then executive… Read More

Airbnb launches ad campaign to influence Seattle debate over short-term rentals

by Monica Nickelsburg on September 21, 2016September 21, 2016 at 2:26 pm 4 Comments

By September of an election year, anyone who still has cable is used to an onslaught of political ads sponsored by oil companies, environmental groups, activists, and, of course, candidates.… Read More

Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson stops in Seattle, says he wants the future to ‘be Uber everything’

by Monica Nickelsburg on September 19, 2016September 19, 2016 at 10:40 am 7 Comments

Gary Johnson has a vision for the future: Apply Uber’s on-demand, sharing economy model to just about everything. The libertarian candidate for president shared his utopian (or dystopian) dream at… Read More

Seattle woman sues HomeAway for racial discrimination after agent allegedly refuses to book ‘her kind’

by Monica Nickelsburg on September 13, 2016June 29, 2017 at 12:31 pm 13 Comments

Yvette Hobzek, a Seattle-area real estate broker, filed suit against vacation rental company HomeAway on Monday, alleging racial discrimination. Hobzek, a 49-year-old African-American woman, claims she was barred from booking accommodations… Read More

Airbnb’s answer to #AirbnbWhileBlack: New anti-discrimination rules and ‘Open Door’ policy

by Monica Nickelsburg on September 8, 2016September 8, 2016 at 10:40 am1 Comment

Airbnb is finally responding to months of discrimination complaints from people of color. Over the past year, users have been sharing their experiences of racism on the platform, using the hashtag… Read More

Airbnb fights crackdown with new data, claiming year-round entire home rentals are a small fraction of Seattle housing stock

by Monica Nickelsburg on July 28, 2016July 28, 2016 at 10:35 am 7 Comments

Councilmember Tim Burgess told an impassioned audience that short-term rentals account for 12 percent of available housing inventory in Seattle last week at a meeting of the Affordable Housing, Neighborhoods, and Finance… Read More

‘Exploited and defeated’: Tensions mount as Seattle lawmakers debate banning short-term rentals in secondary homes

by Monica Nickelsburg on July 20, 2016July 20, 2016 at 11:04 am 12 Comments

A crowd of homeowners, rental site representatives, and residents gathered today at City Hall as Seattle councilmembers proposed a simplified set of regulations designed to prevent property owners from operating Airbnb… Read More

HomeAway study says its short-term rentals comprise less than 1% of Seattle housing

by Monica Nickelsburg on July 19, 2016July 21, 2016 at 8:38 am 2 Comments

A new report commissioned by HomeAway says that fewer than 500 properties in Seattle were listed on the short-term rental site between April 2015 and 2016, adding weight to the argument… Read More

Home-sharing bookings by business travelers up 56% over last year, Concur report reveals

by Kurt Schlosser on July 18, 2016July 18, 2016 at 1:47 pm1 Comment

Concur has released a comprehensive new report on the state of business travel that reveals, among other things, that home-sharing services such as Airbnb, VRBO and HomeAway have seen a… Read More

Stay Alfred: The biggest short-term rental startup you’ve never heard of is on track for $25M in revenue this year

by Monica Nickelsburg on July 7, 2016July 7, 2016 at 10:35 am 8 Comments

Over the past decade, the lodging industry has split into two rival camps — hotels and short-term rentals — thanks to the rise of disruptive tech companies like Airbnb and… Read More

Airbnb creates Seattle engineering outpost, led by former Facebook and Amazon execs

by Todd Bishop on June 30, 2016June 30, 2016 at 9:18 am 2 Comments

Airbnb is establishing a downtown Seattle engineering operation, GeekWire has learned, making the alternative accommodations giant the latest Bay Area company to set up shop in Seattle in a quest for software development talent. Leading… Read More

Regulating Airbnb: Seattle residents pack City Council chambers for hearing on short-term rentals

by Monica Nickelsburg on June 15, 2016June 15, 2016 at 11:26 am 11 Comments

Seattle residents lined up Wednesday morning to speak out about housing affordability and short-term rental regulations at the Seattle City Council chambers, a window-lined section of City Hall overlooking a small… Read More