You can now book a restaurant through Airbnb
ALONG with accommodations, Airbnb users can now book restaurant reservations on their mobile app for eateries across the United States.
The latest development out of Airbnb catches up to Google Trips and Facebook City Guides, which also allow users to book restaurants directly from their pages.
The move builds on Airbnb's larger ambitions to become more than just a short-term vacation rental service and grow into a virtual travel agency.
The feature is initially being rolled out for restaurants across the United States in top dining cities like New York, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, San Francisco, Miami, Charleston, Austin, Seattle, Denver, Portland, Atlanta, New Orleans, and Nashville.
Unlike other online booking sites, however, the selection of restaurants will be a curated list featuring local favourites and award-winning dining destinations like Petit Crenn in San Francisco and Han Oak in Portland.
Users can search by cuisine, time of day (breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner), or use the map view to find a restaurant close to their accommodations.
The booking service is powered by Resy.
Airbnb says their guests spent more than US$6.5bil (RM27.5bil) at restaurants in 44 markets around the world during their trips in the last year alone.
And given that more than 50% of bookings made over the last 12 months were for international trips, the new booking feature doubles as a restaurant guide for travellers who may be unfamiliar with the best local eateries.
Airbnb is also working on translations within the app and expanding the offering to international destinations. – AFP Relaxnews A dish by Petit Crenn in San Francisco. Unlike other online booking sites, the selection of restaurants will be a curated list featuring local favourites and awardwinning dining destinations like Petit Crenn. — AFP