From Staff Reports

Short-term rental platform Airbnb on May 4 unveiled its list for this year’s Top 10 Most Hospitable Cities in the United States — and the winner was… Asheville.

The city won the distinction for having the highest percentage of five-star ratings per review. Hosts were described as “warm,” “helpful” and “inviting.”

 Asheville’s Airbnb hosts received additional recognition last year for earning $19.8 million from 160,000 bookings, the highest amount from any municipality in North Carolina. Bookings increased 10 percent year-over-year.

 Yet, Airbnbs have been a controversial topic in the city. The business is embraced by homeowners who either like the extra income, sometimes to keep up with the mortgage or invest in home improvements, or enjoy the cultural infusion of entertaining people from a diversity of backgrounds.

 Members of Asheville City Council, however, have at least three apprehensions. Prompted by neighborhood advocacy groups, council has been hearing that Airbnbs disrupts communities. Citizens have complained about guests drinking and making noise late into the night, taking parking spaces and increasing traffic, and just wandering around as strangers.

 Council also is concerned that the city could become a soulless tourist town like Myrtle Beach, S.C., with historic neighborhoods bought up by developers for short-term rental.

 A third concern is that homeowners are renting out rooms to tourists that otherwise could be rented long-term to locals to mitigate the city’s affordable housing crisis.

 After protracted deliberations by various local bodies, Asheville’s council essentially banned short-term housing rentals on Jan. 10. 

Even before then, persons found operating Airbnbs illegally were subject to a $500 fine per night of noncompliance, and the city had a contract with an outfit that searched for illegal short-term rentals.

The only way to legally operate an Airbnb now is for a homeowner to apply for a conditional-use permit, submit to the design review process, and pay all pertinent fees. In light of anti-Airbnb sentiment on the boards that would be reviewing the applications, applying wouldn’t appear to be a winning prospect.

Due to a grandfathering-in clause, Airbnbs operating prior to the January 10 decision were allowed to continue operating.

Airbnb’s 10 most-hospitable cities were: