It's really nice for 1) being in a neighborhood 2) having a kitchen 3) having a room for kids

it was good 10 years ago in peak airbnb me and my pals stayed in this huge villa in Girona for 2 weeks and it was way cushier than a hotel of the same cost

I often travel in a decently large group like 5+ with a variety of bedroom needs for a laundry list of legitimate reasons. It is often significantly cheaper to get an airbnb somewhere with all the rooms we need than that many hotel rooms. Imagine we need 4 rooms, can often find that at an air BNB for half or less of what a hotel would cost. Not always though, sometimes we do just get 4 hotel rooms

In addition to the other comments, Airbnbs were also often more likely than hotels to offer in-unit kitchens I haven't used Airbnb in years, but a big draw for me, personally, was saving money on food because I could cook at my lodging.

Twice.

My ex booked one once for a trip to an out of town wedding because AirBnB had the only dog friendly options for accomodation in that postcode. We were travelling with our friend and her partner and their dog.

I'm not sure how much or even if we saved any money getting it, but if a dog sitter was included, it's unlikely.

The second time was my housemate getting one. Also related to a wedding, coincidentally. It was for a bucks (or stags or bachelor's in other English dialects). I don't recall the exact numbers, but it was almost a grand cheaper than a hotel in the same town over the same 3 nights.

All of these things were pre-COVID, no idea if they're accurate currently.

I believe when it started out it did the thing most companies do and charged much lower prices than hotels, which is what led to their success, like how Uber was cheaper than a taxi. But now they've jacked up the prices and it's basically just like staying in a hotel except you have a list of arbitrary rules put forth by the pettiest of petite bourgeois.

I've never used AirBnB, but from what I've seen from people who have used it, it used to be considerably cheaper than a hotel, but now it's pretty much the same price thanks to kulaks making it a full time business instead of a regular person letting you crash at their place.

It's only worth it when you have a pretty large group of people and you can find a big place to accommodate everyone, otherwise a hotel generally is best these days.

Used to enjoy (respectfully) snooping through the stuff of strangers. Now that it's all professional what's even the point?