Airbnb Adds Starwood Capital to Apartment-Friendly Rental Program

Florence has been at the top of my travel bucket list for years, and this summer I finally crossed it off. It's since made its way to the top of another list of mine—my ranking of favorite cities. The food, the architecture, the rich history, and, of course, the gelato make it a city like no other. What I loved most about Florence was how surprisingly small it is—every restaurant, museum, and tourist attraction I hoped to visit was in walking distance of one another, which made seeing everything I possibly could see during my three-day stay doable. Hoping for an accommodation that was a little more homey and spacious than a hotel, my partner and I booked a gorgeous Airbnb with a private terrace in the heart of Florence.

In the world of short-term rentals, there are many ways people can book a stay. Offline bookings continue to make up a significant chunk of the market, albeit a declining one, and there are many niche online booking platforms, as highlighted in our Skift Short-Term Rental 250 map.

The late Jimmy Buffett’s popular song “Margaritaville” was based on his time in Key West. Although Margaritaville was a fictional oasis (turned restaurant and resort) where people operated on island time, the Florida Keys is a real-life sanctuary where the sun sets in the west and it's always five o’clock. It's also a great place for a group trip. I hadn’t been on one of this magnitude since my high school marching band and I bombarded the staff at Kalahari. During the week-long vacation with 14 friends, I was most interested in going to the beach, enjoying the pool, and napping in the sun (lathered in sunscreen, of course) without a care in the world.

Flyers who don't want to deal with the hassle of long security lines and happen to be flying with Cayman Airways, French Bee, Titan Airways or Zipair are in luck.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) added four new airlines to its beloved TSA PreCheck program this week, making it easier for travelers to expedite airport security no matter where they’re flying.

Staying in an Airbnb when visiting Kyoto is a great idea for anyone looking to experience the city like a local. An Airbnb rental gives travelers access to unique neighborhoods and accommodation options that can’t be found elsewhere. Furthermore, many Airbnb rentals are located close to popular tourist attractions, making them ideal for those who want easy access to the area’s must-see sights. These Kyoto Airbnbs showcase the best of the city.

Airbnb launched its latest brand campaign, “Get an Airbnb,” last week, using animation styles reminiscent of the previous “Airbnb It” campaign from last fall that targeted hosts. 

One of the significant developments this year is the collaboration between SIP and the Hospitality & Tourism Management (HTM) programme.

Airbnb took several steps to ease the process of onboarding new hosts, increased damage protections, and added a half-dozen new search categories, including trending homes and those adapted for wheelchair access.

Airbnb thinks it’s unfair that the European Commission is proposing increased data-sharing requirements on short-term rental providers across the zone, but Google seemingly is escaping the clampdown.

Building on initiatives that had mixed results in the past, Airbnb is debuting an Airbnb-Friendly Apartments program to enable long-term renters in multifamily buildings where landlords permit it to list their rooms or apartments on Airbnb.

When pressed about an analytics company report that found 38 percent of Airbnb hosts offered only one listing, an Airbnb spokesperson countered this week, without elaboration, that “the vast majority of active Airbnb hosts are sharing just one home as single-listing hosts.”