#airbnb

#airbnb

Some even rented out the new additions as Airbnbs with applications for retention permission flooding in More than 11,000 applications for retention permission have been submitted in the last two years after thousands of people built extensions, garages, log cabins, apartments and gyms without planning permission. An investigation by the Irish Independent into the culture of "build first, ask for permission later" has revealed how more than half of all retention applications lodged since January 2024 have been approved by local authorities across the country.

In November, the hospitality space witnessed an especially high-profile implosion - Marriott's partnership with Sonder ended abruptly, leaving travelers who thought their lodging was secure in a much more precarious place. While this particular business arrangement did not pan out as expected, it's worth considering what it reflected: a moment for the hospitality industry where hotels and residential options - think Airbnb and Vrbo - began to converge.

Ahmad Al-Dahle, who most recently led generative AI at Meta and the team behind its Llama open-source models, joins the company Wednesday and will oversee its engineering and data science teams.

Through Airbnb, dozens of castles are available to book for a stay, from New York State to Italy. Many of these properties offer luxury accommodations, modern amenities, and transportive, historic estates and grounds. Whether you want to get lost in the corridors of a 12th-century Irish tower or lounge by the pool at a Loire Valley château, these castles are straight out of a storybook.

My base for the weekend is a gorgeous, topsy-turvy Georgian townhouse built in 1835 and perched on the secluded, leafy Hawley Square. The square itself is steeped in history, having been developed in the 1760s as a reaction to the rise in visitors being advised by medical professionals to "take in the sea air." How very Jane Austen of them.

It was exactly a year before one of the biggest events in American soccer history, when the U.S. will kick off its World Cup in a match against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium, and Orenstein had set up the system to only accept booking requests up to a year in advance. Orenstein's rental sits just across the street from the venue. Suddenly, her Airbnb became one of the hottest homes in the Southland.

The Scottish capital is just as much about its craft and its soul as it is about its lodgings. To many, it's the perfect city: full of history, beautiful architecture, great food, friendly locals, and easily walkable. It's worth a few nights, whether as part of a wider Scotland trip (next stop, the Highlands or the Cairngorms) or a weekend city break.

A good spa retreat doesn't always require a check-in desk or a treatment menu. Across North America, a growing number of thoughtfully designed Airbnbs are delivering the same restorative payoff-minus the crowds and set schedules. These vacation rentals prioritize wellness through ample space, tranquil settings, and elevated amenities: barrel saunas tucked into the trees, cedar hot tubs under the stars, oversized soaking tubs framed by floor-to-ceiling windows, and outdoor showers that turn morning rinses into rituals.

Colonial architecture sits alongside cutting-edge design, traditional markets share blocks with high-end boutiques, and quiet temples carve out a peaceful space among the urban chaos. The city's hotel scene has all the big names you'd expect - the Peninsula, Shangri-La and Mondrian all take up space throughout the smartest neighbourhoods - but for a truly authentic experience, look to the city's Airbnb offering.

The frontman of the Black Eyed Peas spent the early 2000s driving his pop-rap group into the cultural zeitgeist and plowing some of those earnings into budding tech startups in the Bay Area. He joined one of Twitter's early funding rounds, and he put money into Tesla before Elon Musk became CEO, the musician told SFGATE in a wide-ranging interview at San Francisco's Dreamforce conference on Wednesday.

The beauty of an Airbnb is that, more often than not, it comes with a strong sense of place. Hotels can be successful at capturing the vibe of a city, but there's nothing quite like cosplaying a day in the life of a local, wandering around hidden gems, and exploring family-owned cafés. Plus, if you're not into understated spots, Airbnb also offers the opportunity to try out something one-of-a-kind, like a houseboat in Oregon or a converted grain silo in Missouri.

They compared this to staying at a detention centre. The rules reportedly included no cooking, no washing, and only turning the heating on in the winter for 90 minutes in the morning and two hours in the evening. There were also a number of additional fees such as £50 for call outs, £20 per day for parking and a £200 fee for a lost key or for smoking outside.

From its best Airbnbs, visitors can tap into that lifestyle and soak up South Florida's essence for as long as their trip allows. Whether tucked away in historic neighborhoods, perched on serene canals, or situated steps from the vibrant pulse of Las Olas, these stays are all about escape. With artful interiors, design-forward amenities, and resort-style outdoor spaces, they are designed to delight, recharge, and connect you with the rhythm of coastal luxury.

I'm pretty much a pro when it comes to staying in tight spaces. From a tiny-home hotel to a repurposed wine barrel, I've booked small, unique accommodations around the world. But I'd never stayed in an Airstream trailer before my trip to Vienna, Austria, in October 2023. Seeking an affordable, atypical accommodation, I booked two nights in Hotel Daniel's luxury camper through Airbnb for $300.

"Hopefully it looks smaller on the outside than it feels on the inside," I thought as I walked up to the front door of my home for the next two nights. In 2021, I took a trip to Miami and stayed in a 250-square-foot tiny home I found on Airbnb for about $100 a night. It was my first time staying in one, and I figured I'd find the space uncomfortably small for more than a couple of nights.

Every year, a sprinkling of countryside escapes decorates my calendar like pixie dust and-like so many Londoners -trips like these fill my soul, clear my mind, and leave me returning to 'real' life with a lambs-spring in my step. City life is fun, but it's fast and full-on. Retreating somewhere that promises blissful quiet and a clear night's sky, a watercolor sunrise, and best-of-British landscapes feels medicinal.

One of Airbnb's most underappreciated competitive advantages is how it has quietly become a home for long-term travelers. In 2024, stays of 28 nights or more made up 18% of gross nights booked, according to company filings. That's not a small niche -- it's nearly one in five stays. This trend aligns with broader shifts in how people work and live.