Which? Report Finds Hotels Cheaper In Most Locations Than Airbnb

Airbnb has been running for several years now and many travelers use the app to book private rooms, apartments, or even villas in various vacation destinations. It was always believed that going this route was cheaper than staying in a hotel. At least, until now. After Which? did some investigation into the subject, it turns out that isn’t strictly true.

Hotel stays are cheaper than Airbnb

Back in 2021, Barcelona was the first European city to ban Airbnb. Anyone letting out rooms or apartments located in the city on the app was effectively illegal. Now, New York City has also banned booking platforms like Airbnb from offering short-term, unregistered properties in the city. No doubt, people were upset at not being able to rent a “cheap” property in the Big Apple.

If that wasn’t enough, a new report has been issued by Which? that finds that rooms, apartments and homes on Airbnb are not any cheaper than hotels in the same destination. In 38 of 50 destinations surveyed by Which?, a one-bedroom, short-term let from Airbnb is actually more expensive that a hotel in the same location.

Travelers might be surprised to hear this, as when private rental sites like Vrbo and Airbnb first launched, they offered a cheaper alternative to a hotel in many popular destinations. The following destinations are where the differences were the biggest.

Seven cities where hotels were cheaper than Airbnbs

Amsterdam, the Netherlands:

According to the study, the average price of a one-bedroom Airbnb in Amsterdam is $224. Meanwhile, the average cost of a hotel room is $143.

Singapore:

In the case of a one-bedroom Airbnb in Singapore, the average price is $174, while the average price of a hotel room is $100.

Greater London, UK:

On average, a one-bedroom Airbnb in Greater London costs $200, while the average hotel room costs $126.

Dubai, UAE:

The average price of a one-bedroom Airbnb in Dubai is $157 as compared to the average price of a hotel room at $87.

Barcelona, Spain

In Barcelona, the average price of a one-bedroom Airbnb is $172, while on average, a hotel room costs $116.

Hong Kong

The average price of a Hong Kong one-bedroom Airbnb is $121, while the average hotel room costs $65.

New York City, USA

The banning of Airbnb in New York City has been in the headlines for the past couple of months. However, the study also compared Airbnbs and hotels in the Big Apple. The study found that those in New York were more expensive than hotel rooms. Meanwhile, it also revealed that most of the options listed for New York were actually illegal.

In the Big Apple, people can no longer rent out a whole home for anything less than 30 days. This meant that the only legal Airbnb options were those where the owner resides in the property, that is officially registered for short-term rental.

But that’s not all, as the study reveals that the trend of banning short-term rentals will only continue. For example, from October 1, 2023, Scotland is introducing a restrictive licensing scheme for short-term lets.

Airbnb responds to the Which? study

When Airbnb was asked to comment on the study, their response was, “This data is wrong and based on flawed methodology.” Their reasoning was that private lets usually offer more space than hotel rooms. However, this isn’t always the case.

It was also mentioned that an Airbnb would give access to a kitchen or cooking facilities, which would save money when compared to the cost of eating out. If you do enjoy cooking for yourself, this would be ideal, but not everyone wants to slave over a stove while on vacation.

The Which? study did reveal that a larger Airbnb might still be cheaper for a group traveling together. They figure this would be cheaper than the combined cost of several hotel rooms. Moreover, families vacationing together might prefer the space available in an Airbnb property. However, according to them, when it comes to cost alone, in the majority of cases, a hotel room will still be cheaper than one booked on the app.