Airbnb Eyes Expanded Hospitality Services

The home- and apartment-sharing company Airbnb is looking to become a one-stop-shop in the hospitality business, expanding its menu of services offered to everything from airport pickups to room cleaning.

“Our business isn’t [renting] the house,” CEO Brian Chesky told Fast Company in a recent interview. “Our business is the entire trip.”

In 2013, upwards of 10 million people stayed in Airbnb rentals—houses, apartments and spare rooms that people rent out using the company, which takes a cut, as a middleman. That led to $250 million in revenue, a 2.7 billion valuation and IPO speculation.

Now the company is expanding to provide comprehensive services for every part of the booking process. That will include facilitation of key exchanges, but also more luxury services, like car services to and from airports, cleaning services that flip rooms with clean linens in between guest, and even stocking the fridge with Vitamin water leaving a mint on the pillow. The add-ons won’t be free: The cleaning service costs an estimated $60 each time.

Chesky said Airbnb wants to become the Apple of the hospitality business: “People went to Dell for the computers, but they go to Apple for everything.”

[Fast Company]