Report finds Airbnb cheaper than hotels in major cities

A new report from bus fare comparison site Busbud has found that in at least eight major American cities Airbnb is consistently cheaper than hotel rooms. Apparently Airbnb rentals in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, Seattle and Washington, D.C., are significantly lower than comparable hotels, sometimes by as much as $80 a night. Furthermore, Busbud then took a more international view and found that the same was true in London, Sydney, Paris and Toronto.

Kevin Farrell

Special for USA TODAY

While the debate over whether hotels or Airbnb rentals provide a superior experience will surely continue for years to come, 2016 has already brought with it study after study that illuminates the turf battle between the two industries. The latest salvo comes in the form of a just-released comparison of global rates of both traditional hotel rooms and Airbnb offerings. And the results may surprise you: Airbnb listings are often dramatically less expensive than their hotel room counterparts, at least in some of the largest U.S. cities.

Bus ticket comparison site Busbud says that in at least eight major U.S. cities, money-conscious travelers are better off booking an Airbnb than a hotel room. Airbnb rates in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, Seattle and Washington, D.C., are significantly lower than comparable hotels, sometimes by as much as $80 a night.

The pricing breakdown curiously applies largely across geographic lines. In the South, it appears you’re largely better off skipping the home-sharing site and instead checking into a hotel. But the U.S. isn’t the only part of the world that Busbud has taken a hard look at. Plenty of the world’s most iconic international cities are also home to Airbnb options that are markedly less expensive than the area’s hotels. Cities like London, Sydney, Paris and Toronto can save travelers big bucks with their wealth of affordable Airbnb listings.

Busbud's global price comparison comes on the heels of a study conducted by Goldman Sachs which suggests that once travelers have stayed in a peer-to-peer rental like Airbnb, their preference for such accommodations over traditional hotels in future travels is nearly doubled.