Airbnb is past its prime. Now they won’t go away anytime soon. They’re pretty big. But they are trending down in lots of ways.

I live in Thailand and travel a lot regionally. Recently I’ve discovered that in Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City I can get nice, full service, discount hotels for about the same price as an Airbnb flat in similar neighborhoods. Why would I not take the hotel where they make your bed every day and have a restaurant?

My last trip to HCMC, a month ago, I was with a friend who used to be an Airbnb renter. He managed 20 apartments in Bangkok. It is no longer a viable way to make a living for him, too much competition and government regulatory interference.

I have a yoga studio in Bangkok. I went throught a process to get my studio listed on Airbnb’s “Experiences”. It took six weeks. Airbnb is a lumbering corporate giant with its feet tied together. They are no longer the grass roots tech innovator they once were. When they finally approved my Experience, I had discovered Meetup.com where I got my studio listed in under an hour. And I was getting good results. I declined the Airbnb offer.

They were very surpirsed. I think they are in store for lots of surprisies going forward. Don’t lose any sleep over this. They kind of suck.