The rental company is considering the next step: designing spaces made specifically for homeowners who want to easily rent out spare rooms.
Joe Gebbia, Airbnb’s cofounder and chief product officer, likes to observe the simple ways that Airbnb hosts “hack” their homes in order to take on guests. He stayed with one New York City mother who had a bunk bed in her son’s room, so she could rent the master bedroom. Others build extra storage space, for sheets and towels and the like, or install electronic locks. He has a list of more than 50 examples made by talking with Airbnb hosts around the world.
