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Latest news
Every story the desk has filed, newest first: the crackdowns, the platform moves, the money, host life, design, the stays going viral, the markets and the world.
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World
British Columbia Crushed Investor Short-Term Rentals. The Mid-Term Pivot is Now a Fight for Survival.
When British Columbia outlawed non-primary short-term rentals, it did not just regulate the market. It fundamentally altered the economics of real est
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Platforms
The Digital Ghost in the Living Room: Why Smart TVs Are Your Rental’s Biggest Security Threat
Guests checkout but leave their digital identities behind. Here is why your smart TV is a ticking data bomb—and why the major platforms are ignoring i
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Host Life
Airbnb Funds Rural Pivot with Ten Thousand Dollar Grants for Arkansas Farmers
A tech giant hands out cash to small agriculturalists in the Ozarks, chasing unregulated inventory and a shield against city crackdowns. Here is the r
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Design
Why the 400-Square-Foot Studio Out-Earns the Three-Bedroom House on Design Alone
A disciplined layout with custom built-ins and a single material palette out-performs sprawling, bland listings by winning the battle of the digital s
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Crackdown
The Pacific Wall: Inside Airbnb's Secret War for the California Coast
A major investigation exposes the platform's backroom campaign to weaponize 1970s environmental laws against local cities trying to ban short-term ren
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The Money
Oktoberfest 2026: Munich Short-Term Rentals Book Slower but Earn More
Data from PriceLabs reveals a high-stakes game of chicken between Munich hosts and festival-goers, with slow booking curves masking record-breaking ni
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The Nostalgia Stay Sells a Whole Decade
Time-capsule rentals crush the beige box on feed clicks and off-season bookings, but half-hearted kitsch and fragile appliances will destroy review sc
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Host Life
The Ghost in the P&L: The High-Yield, High-Risk Business of Haunted Short-Term Rentals
Sleeping in a 1900s morgue sounds like a dare. For short-term rental operators, converting stigmatized historic properties is a masterclass in high-yi
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World
Mandy Rennehan Hands High-End Rental to Homeless Mission as Market Tightens
When an Atlantic contractor hands a premier vacation asset to an addiction charity, it exposes the brutal reckoning facing Canada's short-term rental
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Host Life
The Short-Term Rental Bathroom Standard That Saves Bookings
Why a minor investment in hospitality-grade bathroom amenities is the ultimate protection against bad reviews and falling search ranks.
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Platforms
Vrbo Sued Over Fatal Dominican Republic Fire as Safety Shield Cracks
A devastating wrongful death lawsuit over a Caribbean rental fire that killed four family members threatens to dismantle the legal shields of the shor
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Platforms
The Great Search Squeeze: Vrbo and Airbnb Push Pay-to-Play Just as AI Threatens to Bypass OTAs
As Vrbo launches sponsored listings and Airbnb eyes a billion-dollar ad business, emerging AI agents like Instinct are preparing to ignore paid rankin
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The Money
Renting to Film Crews Requires Massive Premium Pricing
When location scouts offer triple your nightly rate, it sounds like easy money. The reality is a high-risk commercial operation that can wreck your pr
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Platforms
Airbnb Expands Instacart Grocery Integration Across the United States and Canada
The booking giant is embedding grocery delivery directly into the guest journey. But who carries the operational burden when the milk spoils on the fr
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Platforms
Airbnb’s Pivot into Hotels: Inside the Multi-Billion-Dollar Assault on Legacy OTAs
Once built on the promise of "forgetting hotels," Brian Chesky’s platform is now listing them. Here is what it means for your bookings and the future
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World
The Byron Bay Warning Shot for Coastal Short-Term Rentals
As Australia's premier coastal market prepares to enforce a brutal 60-day annual limit, professional hosts worldwide must prepare for the new era of m
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Design
The Death of the Twenty Seven Thousand Dollar Cabin Dream
A Connecticut carpenter built a design-forward empire on five cheap acres in upstate New York. Ten years later, his playbook is both legendary and imp
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The Money
The Real Cost of Realtor.com's Secondary Market Predictions
Realtor.com wants owners to buy into under-the-radar markets. But the operational reality of secondary-market hosting is a far cry from the portal's r
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Platforms
Google Vacation Rentals Cuts Out the OTA Middleman
By opening direct booking links to property managers, the search monopoly takes aim at the multi-billion-dollar tollbooths of Airbnb and Vrbo.
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Design
The Demolition of Civic Dignity: How Britain’s Admiralty Estates Became High-Yield Airbnbs
As historic naval assets and public monuments transition into private holiday rentals, a fierce battle is erupting over architectural preservation, ta
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World
The Peak District Tourist Tax Fight Signals a Dangerous New Era for UK Hosts
As the newly elected East Midlands Mayor faces pressure to introduce a tourism tax, rural holiday let operators warn of economic disaster for the Peak
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Markets
The Great Canvas Crash: Why the Glamping Market Has Hit a Hard Ceiling
Thousands of pandemic-era canvas tents and geodesic domes are sitting empty as supply outpaces demand, regulatory crackdowns intensify, and operationa
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Design
Renovated West Virginia Fire Tower Highlights the Brutal Reality of Novelty STRs
A newly renovated lookout tower in West Virginia highlights the extreme costs, liabilities, and operational realities of experiential short-term renta
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World
Labour Targets Holiday Cottages in a High-Stakes Tax Raid on British Hosts
The abolition of the Furnished Holiday Let regime is no longer a distant Tory threat. The new government is preparing a swift fiscal squeeze that will
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