I used to swear by Airbnb until I compared three trips and hotels came out $200 cheaper every time.
After booking an Airbnb in Austin that had a $150 cleaning fee on top of a $120 nightly rate, then checking the same dates at a Holiday Inn for $90 a night with free breakfast, I saw hotels win on price and convenience every single time for short stays - has anyone else noticed Airbnb only makes sense for groups of 4 or more?
Came here ready to defend Airbnb but honestly your math is hard to argue with. I had this exact same thing happen with a trip to Nashville last spring. Booked a cute little apartment for two nights, then added up the cleaning fee and service fee and it was like $340 total. Found a Hampton Inn three blocks away for $220 with free parking. Kinda changed my whole view on it. I still think Airbnb can work for big groups or longer stays where the cleaning fee gets spread out, but for a couple nights solo or as a couple, hotels just make more sense now.