• by Tanya Gazdik , August 6, 2019

Airbnb saw a 164% increase in reservations between May and July, according to a report from Edison Trends, which examined how the hospitality newcomer is fairing against such venerable brands as Marriott and Hilton.

Marriott hotel customer spending volume peaked in October 2018, with Hilton also seeing a noticeable uptick in customer spend. Airbnb’s busiest months are in the summer. InterContinental Hotels Group saw its busiest time in June 2018, followed closely by July.

All hotels saw customer spend volume decline in November and December while Airbnb saw an increase in the final month of the year. Research shows that customers stay at Airbnbs for an average of three days, one day longer than the two-day average for hotels.

Edison Trends analyzed over 2.6 million transactions from each vendor's online website. 

Marriott leads in highest average price per night in New York ($237), Los Angeles ($194), and Chicago ($186). In Los Angeles, however, Airbnb is a close second — trailing by only $5. Average Airbnb price in New York came in at $167 per night and $173 per night in Chicago. The Hilton and The InterContinental Hotels Group consistently rank third and fourth respectively in these cities in terms of cost per night. 

Excluding Airbnb, these hotels are all most expensive in New York, followed by Los Angeles, and Chicago in third. Airbnb breaks this pattern by being most expensive on average in Los Angeles, then Chicago, followed by New York in third.

Airbnb saw the fastest growth in Oklahoma City, gaining 70% from 2017 to 2018  followed by Jacksonville, Florida (44%), and Charlotte, North Carolina (33%). Tucson, Arizona and Tampa, Florida rounded out the top five locations, growing by 32% and 21% respectively.