"Airbnb vs. hotels in 2025: has consumer trust in home-sharing fully recovered — and what drives the choice?"

Without prompting, which brands come to mind first in this category? Where does this brand land in that mental list?

When I think about travel accommodations, Airbnb and Marriott are honestly the first two that pop up. Then maybe Vrbo right behind Airbnb, and Hilton somewhere in there. Where does Airbnb land for me personally? It's complicated. It's still top of mind — I'd say top two — but it doesn't automatically win the booking anymore the way it might have a few years ago. It's more like I consider it and then talk myself through whether it actually makes sense for the specific trip.

Walk me through your honest first impression of this brand — not what they claim, but what you actually believe.

When I think about Airbnb right now, my first instinct is that it's a platform I *want* to trust more than I actually do. The branding is still strong — visually it's beautiful, the app experience is clean — but underneath that, there's this accumulated frustration that's hard to shake. The cleaning fees, the service fees on top of that, the last-minute host cancellations with basically no real recourse — those things have chipped away at the goodwill pretty steadily. I've had friends get burned and then just... go back to booking a Marriott because at least they know what they're getting. For me personally, it's still situationally appealing — like a family trip where we need a kitchen and extra space. But I wouldn't default to it the way I might have five or six years ago. The brand promise feels a little disconnected from the actual product experience right now.

What 3–5 words do you most associate with this brand? Give me your gut, not what sounds polite.

For Airbnb? "Adventurous, unpredictable, fee-heavy, Instagram-worthy." And honestly hotels feel more like... "reliable, boring, overpriced in a different way."

How has your perception of this brand shifted over the past year or two? What drove that change?

My relationship with Airbnb has gotten more complicated over the last couple of years. The fees are the biggest thing — I'll find a place that looks reasonably priced and then by the time I get to checkout it's like, cleaning fee, service fee, taxes, and suddenly it's more expensive than a Marriott. That math used to work out in Airbnb's favor and it just doesn't as consistently anymore. The other thing that's crept in is the reliability question. I've heard enough stories — and had a couple of close calls myself — around hosts canceling last minute that I find myself building in a backup plan in a way I never used to. That adds friction I didn't sign up for. That said, I haven't fully switched over to hotels. For family trips especially, having a kitchen and real living space still matters to me. So it's less that my trust collapsed and more that I'm a lot more selective now about which listings I'll actually book.

When would you actively recommend this brand, and when would you steer someone away?

For Airbnb, I'd recommend it pretty confidently for leisure trips where you have time to research the listing carefully — like a family vacation where you need extra space, a full kitchen, that kind of thing. It genuinely beats a standard hotel room when you've got two kids and you need somewhere that feels like a home base. Where I'd steer someone away is anything time-sensitive or last-minute. The host cancellation issue is real — I've heard enough stories from friends and coworkers where a booking just falls apart close to the trip and the platform doesn't do much to make it right. If you're traveling for something where you can't afford that kind of uncertainty, just book a hotel.

What would this brand need to do differently to become your clear first choice?

For Airbnb specifically, the fee situation is probably the biggest thing. By the time you add cleaning fees, service fees, and whatever else gets stacked on, I've had trips where the Airbnb ended up more expensive than a hotel — and the hotel came with daily housekeeping and a front desk if something went wrong. The other piece is reliability. If a host cancels on me two days before a trip, especially when I'm traveling with my kids, that's a real problem. Hotels don't do that. So for Airbnb to become my clear first choice again, I'd need to see some kind of meaningful guarantee — either compensation that actually makes you whole or a rebooking commitment that doesn't leave you scrambling.

Without prompting, which brands come to mind first in this category? Where does this brand land in that mental list?

When I think about where to stay, it's pretty much Marriott — specifically the Ritz or St. Regis end of that portfolio — Four Seasons, and then maybe a handful of independent boutique properties I've used before. Airbnb is there, but it's further down the list. It's more of a situational option than a default.

Walk me through your honest first impression of this brand — not what they claim, but what you actually believe.

When I think about Airbnb in 2025, my first reaction is that the brand promise has drifted pretty far from the reality. The original pitch was "feel like a local, unique experience, better value" — and for a period that was genuinely true. Now when I look at the fee structure, the cleaning fees, the service fees stacked on top, the total cost often lands higher than a decent hotel. That's a fundamental problem for them. The trust piece is the bigger issue for me personally. I've had colleagues — people who travel as much as I do — deal with last-minute host cancellations with basically no meaningful recourse. When you're coordinating around a conference or a client meeting, that's not a recoverable situation. A hotel doesn't do that to you. So my instinct, right now, is that Airbnb is fine for leisure travel where you have flexibility, but for anything time-sensitive I wouldn't rely on it the way I would a property with a real reputation to protect.

What 3–5 words do you most associate with this brand? Give me your gut, not what sounds polite.

For Airbnb? Inconsistent, unpredictable, cheap-feeling. And honestly, fee creep.

How has your perception of this brand shifted over the past year or two? What drove that change?

For Airbnb specifically, I'd say my perception has drifted more negative over the past couple of years. The fees are the main thing — by the time you add the cleaning fee, the service fee, and whatever local taxes get tacked on, the "value" proposition compared to a decent hotel has largely evaporated for me. The reliability concern has also crept in. I've heard enough stories from colleagues about last-minute host cancellations with limited recourse that it's made me more cautious about using it for anything time-sensitive. When I'm traveling for something that actually matters — a client meeting, a family event with fixed dates — that uncertainty feels like an unnecessary risk. I don't think my view has shifted dramatically in one single moment, more of a gradual erosion. Hotels have gotten better at offering the kind of residential-feel options that used to be Airbnb's differentiator, so the tradeoff calculation has shifted.

When would you actively recommend this brand, and when would you steer someone away?

For leisure travel — a villa in Italy, a house rental in Costa Rica, somewhere you're getting real space and a kitchen and it genuinely feels like a place rather than a room — I'd recommend Airbnb without hesitation. That's where the product still makes sense. Where I'd steer people away is anything time-sensitive or professionally consequential. If you're traveling for a deposition or a client meeting and your host cancels the night before, you have essentially no recourse. I've heard enough of those stories from colleagues that I wouldn't take that risk. For business travel, a Four Seasons or a Ritz is just more predictable — there's accountability built into the brand, and if something goes wrong, someone fixes it. The fee structure has also gotten harder to justify. By the time you see the cleaning fee and the service fee, sometimes you're at or above what a good hotel would cost, without the consistency guarantee. So the value calculation has shifted, and I think that matters especially at the higher end of the market.

What would this brand need to do differently to become your clear first choice?

For Airbnb specifically, the cancellation issue is the single biggest thing. If a host cancels on me 72 hours before I'm supposed to be somewhere for a work commitment or a family trip, the platform essentially shrugs. Hotels don't do that — if a Marriott or a Four Seasons cancels my reservation, there are protocols, compensation, accountability. Airbnb needs to match that level of guaranteed follow-through before I'm going to default to them for anything where reliability actually matters. The fee transparency is the other piece. I don't mind paying a premium — I pay premiums for things all the time — but I want to know what I'm paying upfront, not discover a $200 cleaning fee at checkout. That feels like it's designed to obscure the real cost, and that's a trust issue more than a price issue. If they fixed those two things and built something that felt more like a concierge-level product — real customer support you can actually reach, meaningful recourse when something goes wrong — I'd genuinely reconsider them as a primary option for leisure travel.

Without prompting, which brands come to mind first in this category? Where does this brand land in that mental list?

When I think about booking a place to stay, Airbnb comes to mind immediately — it's kind of the default mental shorthand for home-sharing at this point. After that I'd probably think about Vrbo, and then hotels kind of as a category rather than a specific brand, maybe with something like a boutique hotel or a hostel mixed in there. Airbnb lands first, but it's not like it used to feel — it used to feel like this scrappy, interesting alternative and now it just feels like a platform I use out of habit more than enthusiasm. The fees and some reliability issues have eroded that goodwill a bit for me.

Walk me through your honest first impression of this brand — not what they claim, but what you actually believe.

When I think about Airbnb right now, my first impression is that it's a platform that used to feel like it had a genuine community angle — like you were actually connecting with someone local — but that feeling has mostly eroded. It's become pretty transactional, and the fees have gotten to a point where I'll often pull up a hotel comparison and find the difference is smaller than I expected after all the cleaning fees and service charges stack up. The trust piece is real too. I've heard enough stories about last-minute host cancellations with basically no recourse that I factor that risk in now, especially for anything important. It's not that I've completely written them off, but I'm more skeptical going in than I used to be.

What 3–5 words do you most associate with this brand? Give me your gut, not what sounds polite.

For Airbnb: convenient, expensive, unpredictable, fees. For hotels: consistent, corporate, bland.

How has your perception of this brand shifted over the past year or two? What drove that change?

My perception of Airbnb has honestly slid a bit over the last couple of years. The fees are the biggest thing — I'll get to what looks like a reasonable nightly rate and then by checkout it's like 40% more after cleaning fees and service charges, and it just feels like a bait-and-switch at that point. There's also been a few times where I've heard from friends about last-minute host cancellations with basically no real recourse from the platform, and that erodes the trust factor pretty fast. For someone like me where travel is a real budget consideration on a $55k income, that kind of unreliability is a dealbreaker. I don't think my view has totally soured — I still see the appeal for the right trip — but I'm a lot more skeptical going in than I was maybe three or four years ago.

When would you actively recommend this brand, and when would you steer someone away?

For a trip where someone really wants a unique space — like renting a whole house with friends, or finding somewhere with a kitchen and a yard — I'd still point them to Airbnb. That use case holds up pretty well. But for anything time-sensitive or where reliability matters, like a work trip or a conference, I'd steer them away. Last-minute host cancellations with basically no real recourse from the platform is a genuine problem, and the fees have gotten to a point where the value proposition isn't as clear as it used to be. If someone's budget is tight and their schedule is firm, a hotel is just lower-risk at this point.

What would this brand need to do differently to become your clear first choice?

For Airbnb specifically, the fee thing is the biggest barrier for me. I'll find a place that looks reasonably priced and then by checkout the cleaning fees and service fees have added like 40-50% on top — at that point a mid-range hotel is just more transparent about what I'm paying. The trust piece matters too. I've heard enough stories about last-minute host cancellations with basically no real recourse that it makes me hesitant for anything that's a significant trip. If they actually backed bookings with something meaningful — like guaranteed alternative accommodation, not just a refund — that would shift things. And honestly, as someone who cares about sustainability, I don't have a strong view on whether Airbnb is better or worse than hotels on that front. I'd want to see something concrete rather than just vague messaging about community or belonging. That framing feels a bit hollow to me at this point.

Without prompting, which brands come to mind first in this category? Where does this brand land in that mental list?

When I think about booking a place to stay, Airbnb is honestly the first name that pops up, and then hotels — like Marriott or Hilton — kind of as a block. Maybe Vrbo comes to mind third, but it's a distant third for me. Airbnb lands near the top just by habit — I've used it enough that it's automatic. But "top of mind" doesn't necessarily mean "first choice" anymore. There's been enough frustration with fees and that whole uncertainty around whether the host is actually going to cancel on you that it's not an automatic yes the way it used to be.

Walk me through your honest first impression of this brand — not what they claim, but what you actually believe.

When I think about Airbnb, my first instinct is that it used to feel like a genuine deal — like you were getting more space for less money compared to a hotel. But that impression has shifted a lot for me. The fees have crept up to the point where by the time you check out the cleaning fee and the service fee, you're sometimes paying more than a comparable hotel room, and the hotel at least has consistent standards. The other thing that's always in the back of my mind now is reliability. I've heard enough stories — and seen enough posts — about hosts canceling last minute with basically no real backup plan from Airbnb. For a nurse working variable shifts, if I'm booking time off and planning a trip, that uncertainty feels like a real risk. Hotels might be boring, but they're predictable. So my honest belief is that Airbnb is a platform I still check, but I go in skeptical now rather than excited. The trust isn't fully there for me.

What 3–5 words do you most associate with this brand? Give me your gut, not what sounds polite.

For Airbnb? First thing that comes to mind is "fees," "unpredictable," "risky." And honestly a fourth one — "used to love it." Because I did, a few years back. But the last time I was seriously considering it for a trip, I kept reading about hosts canceling last minute with basically no real help from the platform, and that just stuck with me.

How has your perception of this brand shifted over the past year or two? What drove that change?

My perception of Airbnb has gotten a bit more mixed over the last couple of years. The fees are a big part of it — by the time you add up the service fee and cleaning fee, sometimes it's not actually cheaper than just booking a hotel room, and for me on a nurse's salary, that math matters. The other thing is I've heard more stories about last-minute host cancellations, and that makes me nervous. Like, if I'm planning a trip and a host cancels on me two days before, what's my recourse? That uncertainty didn't feel as real to me a few years ago. Now it does. That said, I haven't completely written it off. For longer trips where you need a kitchen or more space, it can still make sense. But my default used to be "check Airbnb first" and now it's more like I compare it alongside hotels from the start rather than assuming it's the better deal.

When would you actively recommend this brand, and when would you steer someone away?

For Airbnb, I'd recommend it when someone's going somewhere for a few days and wants more space for the money — like if you're splitting a whole house with a few people, the math usually works out better than booking multiple hotel rooms. That's where it makes sense to me. But I'd steer people away if timing is tight or if the trip really matters, like a work trip or something with a fixed schedule. The host cancellation thing is a real concern — if a host cancels last minute, Airbnb's not going to make your problem disappear quickly, and you're scrambling. Hotels at least have a front desk and some accountability. For something where I can't afford a hiccup, I'm going with a hotel every time.

What would this brand need to do differently to become your clear first choice?

For Airbnb to become my clear first choice, they'd really need to fix the fee situation — by the time you add up the cleaning fee, service fee, and taxes, I've had quotes come out higher than a decent hotel. If the final price was actually competitive with what I can find on Hotels.com or through a loyalty program, that would change things for me pretty quickly. The other thing is the cancellation risk. I've heard enough stories about hosts canceling last minute with basically no real recourse that it genuinely makes me hesitant, especially if I'm booking something important like a trip I've saved up for. If they built in stronger protections — like a guaranteed rebooking at the same price range — I'd feel a lot better about committing to it.