When we travel, we love to feel like locals. It’s part of the fun of travelling. You get to live in a trendy neighbourhood. Maybe you have your own apartment. You most certainly have a kitchen. And hopefully a bathroom you don’t have to share with many other people.
But most importantly, you’re not surrounded by those pesky tourists.
Few of us seem to see the irony in that, but we love it nonetheless, We love getting a good deal to stay in relative comfort and not have to stay in a soulless, cookie-cutter hotel.
The trend towards staying in accommodation through apartment rental websites like airbnb (and there are many others, I’m not solely picking on them – they just happen to be one of the biggest and most popular) is on the rise. These days, it isn’t just backpackers and budget travellers using them, but also weekend breakers, parents and grandparents, who simply don’t want to stay in a hotel room or who are getting priced out of the boutique B&B market.
I totally get it. I *love* having my own kitchen when I travel.
But there’s a downside to all of this. And it isn’t for the tourists themselves, but for the locals of the neighbourhoods that the tourists are staying in.
I’m now an Amsterdam local. I chose my neighbourhood because I loved it and because I wanted to get to know my neighbours and feel like I have a base.
And yet, on an increasingly regular basis, there are weekend trippers wheeling carry-on suitcases down the streets of my ‘hood, looking lost. They are staying in apartments nearby, obviously rented out on the aforementioned websites. We’ve even interacted with these people and know this for a fact.
There are several problems with this, but the main ones are:
1) These people are not my neighbours. They are not familiar faces. I can say hello to someone one minute and then they’ll be gone the next. That doesn’t make it feel much like a neighbourhood.
2) By renting out apartments on a short term basis on these websites, local people who need housing are being denied a place to stay. Many apartment owners find the prices they can charge on apartment rental websites so attractive, they would prefer to rent their apartment out to holidaymakers than to rent it out long term to local people, or even sell it. This means that there’s a housing shortage for people who live in the country.
3) There is no legal recourse for the neighbours of the renters. The apartment owners themselves are often protected under rules of the websites. But what about the people in the surrounding buildings? If people who are only staying for a couple of days decide to vandalise something / steal something / throw an insane party until 5am, what recourse is there for the people nearby who have to put up with it? None at all.
Being on the other side of this business has really opened my eyes. While travelling I had selfishly never considered what it was like for locals when we traipsed through their streets with our backpacks on. Now I know that they were probably rolling their eyes and sighing, regretting the day their neighbour ever signed up for such a service.
In the pursuit of a good deal, we’ve started breaking down neighbourhoods and putting an expiry date on friendships and experiences. In some cities such as mine, we’ve also created something of a mini housing crisis (and I know this from my recent housing search).
Once the market starts getting saturated with more and more people using sites like this, it’s only going to get worse. At what point do we all stop being locals and start being tourists in our own city?
I’m torn. One the one hand, I love having the comforts of home when I travel. But on the other hand, people who live in majorly touristed cities shouldn’t have to feel like the only place they can escape the crowds is out in the remote suburbs. All I know is that, judging by the amount of people staying near us in recent weeks, hotels really need to start offering more competitive prices to lure their customers back. Otherwise they’ll have no business whatsoever.
There must be a lot of holiday lets in your neighbourhood for you to feel this way. At least it sounds like all the visitors are behaving!
There aren’t a lot, but a recurring number that stand out in their conspicuousness 🙂
There must be a lot of holiday lets in your neighbourhood for you to feel this way. At least it sounds like all the visitors are behaving!
There aren’t a lot, but a recurring number that stand out in their conspicuousness 🙂
One thing I think is interesting is that many times people opt to rent apartments when traveling in places like Europe because to do so is MUCH cheaper than to rent a hotel or hostel room, even if you disregard things like the convenience of having your own space & kitchen. I know that people on these sites are charging much higher fees than locals would pay, but it makes you wonder about what hotels & hostels are charging… I’m sure they’re seeing drops in traffic now that there are so many private rentals popping up. I wonder if they are starting to feel the pressure and whether places like that will start to price themselves more competitively to compete with private rentals.
You do raise a really interesting conundrum, one that I had never considered before either. We all want to live like locals, but I guess the flipside is locals having to deal with tourists more than they might otherwise like. Eventually these “local” communities we all prize so dearly will become so diluted, there may soon be no distinction to be made!
Exactly. Soon, these “local” neighbourhoods will become so saturated with tourists staying in rented apartments that they’ll no longer offer the local atmosphere we’re all longing for. And I agree that hostels and hotels really need to re-consider their pricing structure if they don’t want to go out of business.
One thing I think is interesting is that many times people opt to rent apartments when traveling in places like Europe because to do so is MUCH cheaper than to rent a hotel or hostel room, even if you disregard things like the convenience of having your own space & kitchen. I know that people on these sites are charging much higher fees than locals would pay, but it makes you wonder about what hotels & hostels are charging… I’m sure they’re seeing drops in traffic now that there are so many private rentals popping up. I wonder if they are starting to feel the pressure and whether places like that will start to price themselves more competitively to compete with private rentals.
You do raise a really interesting conundrum, one that I had never considered before either. We all want to live like locals, but I guess the flipside is locals having to deal with tourists more than they might otherwise like. Eventually these “local” communities we all prize so dearly will become so diluted, there may soon be no distinction to be made!
Exactly. Soon, these “local” neighbourhoods will become so saturated with tourists staying in rented apartments that they’ll no longer offer the local atmosphere we’re all longing for. And I agree that hostels and hotels really need to re-consider their pricing structure if they don’t want to go out of business.
This is a really interesting post and leaves me torn. I am a huge fan of the home rental sites and even wrote a whole post about my love for Airbnb :), but I can see your point. When we lived in Washington, DC the influx of tourists during the high season drove us crazy, although we didn’t have the problem of many staying in our neighborhood.
I know for us, when it comes to using sites like Airbnb, we actually like it for the shared apartment listings. We aren’t keen on couchsurfing, so renting a room in someone’s home allows us to experience ‘local life’ and get insider tips while still having our privacy and the freedom to come and go as we please. For us I think we’ll always choose those types of accommodations over hotels, even if the hotels are slightly cheaper. Especially since having a kitchen saves loads of money in the end!
This is a really interesting post and leaves me torn. I am a huge fan of the home rental sites and even wrote a whole post about my love for Airbnb :), but I can see your point. When we lived in Washington, DC the influx of tourists during the high season drove us crazy, although we didn’t have the problem of many staying in our neighborhood.
I know for us, when it comes to using sites like Airbnb, we actually like it for the shared apartment listings. We aren’t keen on couchsurfing, so renting a room in someone’s home allows us to experience ‘local life’ and get insider tips while still having our privacy and the freedom to come and go as we please. For us I think we’ll always choose those types of accommodations over hotels, even if the hotels are slightly cheaper. Especially since having a kitchen saves loads of money in the end!
We heard a lot about this sort of thing while we were living in Berlin last year. Apparently there was a lot of cheap housing there, but there are some landlords giving notice to an entire building that they have to vacate, and then they’re renovating the building so they can charge more, including renting out exclusively through sites like Airbnb. I can totally understand the problems it can cause. However, I do really like renting apartments when I travel. As you said, it’s so nice to have the extra space, the kitchen, a washer if we’re staying long enough to need to do laundry, etc. Hopefully, like most things, it will work itself out. I don’t think Airbnb and sites like that are going away anytime soon, despite their being banned in certain cities.
We heard a lot about this sort of thing while we were living in Berlin last year. Apparently there was a lot of cheap housing there, but there are some landlords giving notice to an entire building that they have to vacate, and then they’re renovating the building so they can charge more, including renting out exclusively through sites like Airbnb. I can totally understand the problems it can cause. However, I do really like renting apartments when I travel. As you said, it’s so nice to have the extra space, the kitchen, a washer if we’re staying long enough to need to do laundry, etc. Hopefully, like most things, it will work itself out. I don’t think Airbnb and sites like that are going away anytime soon, despite their being banned in certain cities.
Personally, I kind of like having the occasional tourist in the neighborhood. I love that people are trying to experience more than just a hotel and the main sights.
And I suspect we’ll see more cities instituting rules like New York City has, which prevent short-term rentals (anything under a month), popping up if this becomes a big problem. Or we’ll see rules like we have here in Switzerland (I recently listed my room on Airbnb and discovered our own legal constraints), which mean we’re charged a tax for accepting tourists into our homes. This forces us to have prices comparable to the lower/middle end hotels.
Personally, I kind of like having the occasional tourist in the neighborhood. I love that people are trying to experience more than just a hotel and the main sights.
And I suspect we’ll see more cities instituting rules like New York City has, which prevent short-term rentals (anything under a month), popping up if this becomes a big problem. Or we’ll see rules like we have here in Switzerland (I recently listed my room on Airbnb and discovered our own legal constraints), which mean we’re charged a tax for accepting tourists into our homes. This forces us to have prices comparable to the lower/middle end hotels.
i never though of this before!!What a though provoking post.thankyou.
i see how great the sites are and the great reviews ive had from friends.but now im so sad for the locals if they are feeling like you.i am actually quite sorry for that.
but also unsure how this can/will/should be fixed.if the hotels start competing will people move back to them or once tasted this new self servuice living will they just keep doing the renting…
i never though of this before!!What a though provoking post.thankyou.
i see how great the sites are and the great reviews ive had from friends.but now im so sad for the locals if they are feeling like you.i am actually quite sorry for that.
but also unsure how this can/will/should be fixed.if the hotels start competing will people move back to them or once tasted this new self servuice living will they just keep doing the renting…
I felt like this in NYC, particularly in regard to your point #2. But ultimately I was more concerned about my wallet than the plight of locals…
I felt like this in NYC, particularly in regard to your point #2. But ultimately I was more concerned about my wallet than the plight of locals…