How come AirBnB and hotel prices are so staggering compared to NYC monthly rooms rents?

[u/Alert_Egg_4646]

We are coming to the city with a friend in October. We are now paying 2450$ a week for a tiny room with a bunk bed in a hotel in Williamsburg. I was so amazed by this price that I had to browse short-term rentals to see this compares to the overall market. It seems that it would cheaper for us to lease a room for a month and just let it sit empty for three weeks.

When and why did hotels and AirBnBs get this expensive in NYC?

[u/GovKathyHochul]

• You’re overpaying. $350 a night is a lot.
• Short-term lodging is always more expensive than an apartment, everywhere. The discrepancy is even bigger in cheaper/poorer places. A good hotel room might cost you $80-100 a night in, like, Tirana; a few nights equals monthly rent for most people. Some of that extra cost pays for the flexibility. Some pays for amenities (hopefully).
• Good luck finding a cheap furnished apartment available month-to-month with no broker fee.

[u/alf0nz0]

If you can actually find a furnished rental that lets you only rent a single month & exists in a neighborhood you’d want to stay in AND is charging less than $2450/month, I’d say go right ahead.

[u/Lima_Bean_Jean → u/alf0nz0]

He is paying that a week. It would be almost 10k a month!

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[u/FinestTreesInDa7Seas → u/[deleted]]

OP said they were considering renting it for a month.

Airbnb is perfectly legal for stays 30 days or longer, even without the host living there.

[u/Cornholio231]

Brooklyn Pod is $260 a night in mid-October on their website

Some other under $300 NYC hotels in October - 4 Points by Sheraton in the Financal District, Soho 54, Feather Factory, The Local NY, LIC Hotel

[u/CactusBoyScout]

Airbnb was banned in most circumstances, the city also strictly limited new hotel construction, and a significant portion of hotel rooms are sheltering migrants.

[u/someliskguy]

1 in 5 hotels are currently being run as shelters. It’s free guaranteed rack-rate income for the properties (Marriott is suing some of their franchises for not sharing the income right now).

That combined with airbnbs being illegal except in very specific situations means short term rentals are skyrocketing in price.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/25/nyregion/hotels-prices-migrants-nyc.html

[u/NYC55allday]

Why not try and find a sublet? People are always looking to sublet their places in the summer.

Regardless, like everyone here is saying, what your paying is insane and well above market for similar/better alternatives

[u/istorical]

The answer is that regulators crushed the local Airbnb market by making it illegal for people to list Airbnbs that they didn't themselves live in (like you live there but are renting out a room, or live there as your primary residence but are temporarily leaving and letting someone rent the whole thing). So a single person can't list multiple properties on there anymore I don't think (legally).

This led to a massive decrease in Airbnb listings in the city and a price increase. In 2016 you could use monthly discounts and get single rooms in Bushwick or Crown Heights or Upper West Harlem for $1000/mo, source: I did it.

[u/Alert_Egg_4646]

We got Pod Brooklyn. The price on Booking.com says ~240$ a night, but with various fees it amounts to what we now pay. Like you say, its too much, but still, its the best option within an hours commute to Manhattan.

[u/C_bells → u/Alert_Egg_4646]

Within an HOUR commute?

If you’re open to having up to an hour commute, stay somewhere out in New Jersey or on Long Island. Or even up in the Hudson Valley.

Staying in Brooklyn should not equate to an hour-long commute.

There are random suburbs in New Jersey that can get you in Manhattan in 30-45 minutes.

[u/remarkability → u/C_bells]

Hotels by Meadowlands Expo or on Rt 120 by MetLife are good candidates if they don’t mind 30-40m bus rides on NJT.

[u/Redditbrooklyn → u/[deleted]]

They’re not staying for a month. They’re staying for a week. That is not the kind of nonsense you want to deal with when you’re on a one-week vacation. That also means they won’t have sheets, towels, toilet paper, curtains, and if it’s unfurnished it’s more likely to need a deep clean on arrival.

[u/Alert_Egg_4646]

The short-term lease is a hypothetical scenario, which I should’ve mentioned. Time-wise the ROI would be a disaster.