Airbnb Shifts Focus to Affordable Room Rentals for Budget Travelers
Airbnb is adding a new "Rooms" tab to its rental selection, offering solo or couple travelers short-term rentals with hosts who can offer more than just a place to stay. The feature is reminiscent of Couchsurfing, but with more user protections. The company is also introducing more than 50 new features and updates to the app, including a "Display Total Price" feature and more options for hosts to see total costs. Despite controversy over hosts turning properties into hotels, Airbnb is emphasizing longer stays and adding leasing features that make renters act more like tenants and hosts more like landlords.