Airbnb, the hip travel site allowing you to book a room in a local apartment — or a local treehouse — is rolling out Airbnb neighborhoods on Tuesday, a new product that will allow visitors to search by neighborhood within large cities to get the right travel experience they’re looking for.
Initially launching in New York, Paris, London, San Francisco, Washington DC, Berlin, and Rio de Janeiro, Airbnb neighborhoods attempts to give visitors a sense of the neighborhood’s personality before booking. The company will give a brief description and photos of the location, as well as available properties in the area.
Company executives said the move was prompted by the realization that travelers in major cities like San Francisco were going to exceptional lengths to research locations and neighborhoods before booking, and by giving those potential customers more information the company would be solving a piece of the puzzle.
“They are overwhelmed with choices, and these choices are vastly different,” said CEO Brian Chesky.
Airbnb is a home-share company founded in YEAR that’s exploded onto the travel market, allowing individuals to rent out their homes, couches, vacation rentals, and even tree houses or castles or villas. The company has booked more than 10 million nights so far since its launch and passage through Y Combinator, and it most recently raised $ 112 million in July 2011, although it has been rumored to be raising more that could value the company at $ 2.5 billion.
Interestingly, Hipmunk, another San Francisco-based travel company, also rolled out a neighborhood project on Tuesday, giving its users greater context for the areas where they’re booking lodging in major cities. In addition to allowing users to book hotel rooms, Hipmunk also aggregates Airbnb and HomeAway listings, and CEO Adam Goldstein said Airbmb listings have a significant impact on the company’s bottom line.
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