Airbnb Reups Emphasis on Boutique Hotel Listings
Airbnb has launched a global program in cities such as New York and Los Angeles, allowing users to book rooms in boutique hotels, as reported by the Financial Times. These are regions and sectors that the short-term renter provider has engaged with in the past.
The move is expected to provide a number of benefits to Airbnb as well as its hotel partners and consumers. For the firm, the structure allows a focus on business travelers willing to spend more for predictability and services from a commercial establishment.
It should help the company to better withstand the move in some cities, like New York, to restrict short-term rentals. Last year, the company called pressure from local authorities "scapegoating" when there were protests about a jump in post-pandemic overseas travel.
Jesse Stein, first head of hotels at Airbnb, told the news outlet that the move also gives the company a path to compete with hotel booking services such as Expedia and Booking.com with a "very competitive commission structure … relative to the other players in the space."
The company is also trying to restart growth, which has slowed significantly in recent years. Since the pandemic recovery, year-over-year revenue gains were 77.4% in 2021, 40.2% in 2022, 18.1% in 2023, 11.9% in 2024 and 10.3% in 2025, according to figures from S&P Global Market Intelligence. During Airbnb's November 6, 2025, earnings call, CEO Brian Chesky said that although the firm owned the HotelTonight app "for a long time," it thought the biggest opportunity for hotels was on Airbnb itself.
"So, we've been doing pilots … in L.A., New York City and Madrid," with New York and Madrid two examples of markets constrained by regulations, he said.
"Hotels are very excited to participate. These are just pilots, but we're seeing a lot of interesting momentum. If, for example, you type in New York City on Airbnb next weekend, you can see some of the hotels that show up."
Working with boutique hotels is even older for the company. In 2018, Airbnb noted its roadmap to add new types of properties, including vacation homes, bed and breakfasts and boutique hotels. It said at the time it would provide more options to customers as well as "help hosts better showcase what's unique about them."
In 2019, Airbnb reemphasized the addition of boutique hotels and pointed to an over 152% increase in the number of listed rooms in boutique hotels, B&Bs, resorts and hostels over the past year. However, without a baseline figure, it is impossible to tell how significant the business line was.
Source: GlobeSt/ALM