Same architect?... Marriott International and Airbnb both announced shiny new ventures Monday. But they look a lot alike: Airbnb is entering the hotel biz, while Marriott is jumping into home rentals:
- Marriott unveiled "Homes & Villas" — A booking platform for shared apartments and houses (sounds Airbnb-ish). The best part for Marriott's hardcore customers: It's reward-program eligible.
- Airbnb unveiled... it's actually not named anything yet. But this "new category of urban lodging" begins with 10-floors of curated, designer-designed high-end hotel-like units in NYC's Rockefeller Center. Airbnb calls it "authentic." New Yorkers doubt that.
That's not where the similarities end... Both will feel more hotel, less Craigslist. They'll be maintained and cleaned by 3rd party management companies so you're not guessing whether the sheets are supposed to be off-white.
Same product, but different target customers... As Airbnb preps to IPO soon, Marriott doesn't want to lose its old school business travelers. And Airbnb wants its Millennials to stop wasting money at old school hotels. They're each dipping into the other's playbook to hospitably keep their same core users.
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