Yes, I think a lot of people forget - or maybe don't know - that, GB. In their early days they were just one step up from Couchsurfing - iirc they set up to be couchsurfing with fees, and then they absorbed Couchsurfing altogether. I liked Couchsurfing - it was a great way for travellers to get to meet people in different cultures, and it was based on a real exchange between host and guest.greenbarn wrote: Worth remembering perhaps how AirbnB started - as Airbed and Breakfast, a means to find a room with maybe an inflatable mattress and a bit of toast in the morning for travellers on a very tight budget. I thought they'd made real strides to shed that image and move into the mainstream holiday rental business, (albeit with short city breaks as their most likely market) but this episode suggests the opposite.
ABB have replaced that exchange with money, but in so many ways they haven't moved on from the couchsurfing ethic, and their T&C are still those appropriate to those just letting a spare bed or a shared room. I'm not sure that they're still run by amateurs, but - and I know some will disagree - I believe that they're run for amateurs, not for those who are letting as a business.