🏡 HOSTS V HOTELS

FATE V FUTURE

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FUTUREBOARD

🔼 Starbucks. The firm set records for sales, gift cards, and mobile app downloads in Q1 in the US »»

🔽 Gautam Adani’s net worth. The billionaire from India was one of the world’s wealthiest people before a negative research report from a small New York investment firm chopped his fortune in half in a matter of weeks »»

💬 “I obsess over the way people do things.” How comedian EJ Marcus nailed the art of observational skits »»

🛩️ Six Senses is opening its first hotel in Australia. It’s a family mansion 25 miles outside of Melbourne »»

👗 The Brooklyn art collective MSCHF is releasing an exaggerated pair of comic book style boots »»

💎 The Rolls-Royce Spectre EV promises understated luxury »»

QUICKFATES

Burberry’s new creative director unveiled a new logo and ad campaign »»

Does it mark the end of luxury's sans-serif logo era? »»

The decline of the city grid: The oldest form of city planning is falling out of fashion »»

Antibiotic use in farming set to soar despite drug-resistance fears »»

8 skincare dos and don’ts according to an A-list facialist »»

Prediction: ChatGPT and Bard may result in more jobs, not fewer »»

2 of the best places for digital nomads to live right now are in Bali »»

And here are 15 of the best countries to get a digital nomad visa »»

Revolut’s launching crypto staking in the UK and Europe »»

Binance announced that they would be "temporarily suspending USD bank transfers" »»

Check out all the links between the talent agencies, athletes, and celebrities connected to FTX »»🔐

The next ‘White Lotus’ is expected to be filmed in one of these locations in Asia »»

The rise of the ‘deinfluencer’ »»

Watch the moment LeBron James became the NBA’s all time leading scorer »»

Why do people believe everything they watch on TikTok? »»

Scientists are using AI to talk to animals »»

Did Saudi Arabia offer to pay for new stadiums in Greece and Egypt if they agreed to team up in a 3-nation bid to host the 2030 football World Cup? »»

WhatsApp is letting users post voicenotes as statuses »»

What the longest happiness study reveals about finding fulfillment »»

Ziflow, a SaaS that provides creative review and online proofing solutions for agencies and brands, raised a US$20m Series A »»

Meet Butter, a new-ish remote working app that aims to bring energy into online meetings »»

DEEPFATE 💥 HOSTS V HOTELS

Airbnb’s co founder and CEO is actually an active host on the platform. Does that mean anything for Airbnb guests and investors?

In case you missed it, Airbnb’s co founder and CEO is actually an active host on the platform. Yep, according to LinkedIn user Sheel Mohnot, he spent the night in Brian Chesky’s home.

Apparently, the platform’s chief exec was the perfect host. His puppy even spent the night in the room with the guests, which was a welcome personal touch.

The next day, Chesky brought his guests to the Airbnb office for a tour of the company HQ. Mohnot and his companion were understandably blown away, as anyone would have been.

Mohnot suggests that the whole experience left him feeling $ABNB is a screaming buy. He bought $ABNB stock after the visit, and only wished he'd done so a month ago.

But. This (insanely unique) experience flies in the face of a lot of what we're seeing and reading, which is a backlash to Airbnb. The Guardian compared it to “staying with your cheap, uptight friend, and paying for the privilege.” As one observer, top marketing strategist Megan Weisenberger puts it, people are “re-delighted to check into an ice cold hotel room with a fluffy, white duvet and to have the ability to order whatever type of chaotic room service suits their fancy ...without doing the dishes afterwards.”

Nostalgia for the pleasures (strong air conditioning, crisp sheets, room service and housekeeping) that only a hotel can provide is understandable. Twitter user Jeremy Gordon shared this hot take last month:

“Decided to stay in a Holiday Inn instead of an Airbnb for an overnight trip and strongly feel, one hour after check-in, that there has never been a more luxurious experience in all of human history.”

His Tweet has been viewed 8 million times.

I see two clear take aways: (a) Brian Chesky is an amazing Airbnb host, but (b) not every Airbnb host is CEO of the company. Inconsistent properties, experiences, and host quality is what's driving nostalgia for hotels. While some hosts remain exceptional, others are inconsistent at best or even downright unpleasant.

And while Airbnb completely revolutionised the travel industry in the same way that Uber revolutionised transportation, there's a reason that hotels and even local taxis are on the rebound, and its the fatal flaw of a marketplace business like Airbnb and Uber: users find that third party hosts and drivers are simply inconsistent.

You might get Brian Chesky as a host, or you might get a stretched property manager covering 12 rental apartments, none of which they own, and none of which look like their pictures.

There is, of course, room in the market for all of these options. And consumers can be fickle. Investors will let us know if they agree with Mohnot about the future value of Airbnb.

More:

Sheel Mohot’s glowing Tweet thread describing the experience of staying with Airbnb’s CEO »»

Seth Rogen is hosting a Houseplant creative retreat in LA with Airbnb »»

Counterpoint: “Airbnb feels like staying with a cheap, uptight friend – then paying for the privilege” »»

None of the above is financial advice.

Written by Jon Kallus. Any feedback? Simply reply.