airbnb

Who needs to go to a restaurant to have a great meal when you could have one made for you at home?

That's the idea behind KitchIt, a Silicon Valley startup that is hoping to use technology, smart and easy design, and good culinary industry connections to offer everyday people custom restaurant-quality meals at home at affordable prices.

The concept is simple: To use KitchIt, you go to its Web site, enter your city, the date and type of the dinner you're planning, how many people are in your party, and the price range per diner.

Once you'… Read more

After backing out of a new funding round for Airbnb, a former Facebook employee and current venture capitalist says he's back in, following an embarrassing leaked e-mail involving the deal.

On Saturday, an e-mail from former Facebooker Chamath Palihapitiya to Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky appeared on AllThingsD after being leaked to ATD reporter Kara Swisher.

In the e-mail, Palihapitiya objected to how the $112 million deal, announced in July but not yet finalized, was structured--with the company's founders enjoying a large cash-out (in the form of a $21 million dividend), and other employees getting relatively little:… Read more

This week, a yearlong cyberwarfare campaign has been uncovered that has stolen everything from private intellectual property to high-level government secrets. The plot thickens in the Airbnb vacation rental horror story, and we bring you Twitter's 30 most eligible bachelors!

You're going out of town for a week and could use some extra cash. Why not rent out your home through a travel marketplace like Airbnb? It can match you with a traveling stranger and you could come home richer.

That's what a San Francisco woman known as "EJ" hoped for until she came back to a ransacked apartment with her personal items stolen or destroyed. She has described her experience with Airbnb as "utter hell."

Airbnb has apologized and implemented new protection measures such as $50,000 for damages for users who rent out their homes.

That hasn't stopped many people from blaming EJ for being so trusting as to leave her credit card, birth certificate, passport, and other important documents at home when her unpleasant guests arrived. She has written about the online vilification of her, which is really blaming the victim.

While the incident was no doubt an exception to the many uneventful and even wonderful transactions that happen through sites like Airbnb and VRBO, it has rekindled discussion of travel marketplaces and the wider issue of trusting online strangers.

What do you think? Has the Airbnb debacle affected your views about accommodations sites? Would you consider using one (as either a homeowner or guest) if you haven't already? Vote in our poll and add your comments below.

And, of course, bon voyage! … Read more

It's always possible to find a room for the night when you're traveling, but if it's last-minute, it'll cost you. Luckily, there are two apps that help you dig up deals for the right price.

Hotel Tonight (for iPhone and Android) focuses its search on the swankier side of accommodations, finding you deals on unsold rooms in hip, stylish, or boutique hotels.

You may have heard of my second choice, too: Airbnb, a peer-to-peer service that facilitates an owner's short-term rental of a space to guests (that's you). Unfortunately, Airbnb has recently been at … Read more

In the latest twist in the Airbnb saga, the San Francisco woman whose apartment was ransacked and robbed by a guest says the travel marketplace should have had protection measures in place from the very beginning, and her life continues to be an "utter hell."

Airbnb matches people looking for a place to stay with others renting out their own homes or apartments. The victim had said the company did little when she reported the damage to her apartment.

Responding to CEO Brian Chesky's apology over the incident and announcement of revamped policies to protect hosts, the … Read more

It's 8-02-11 (in U.S. style date parlance, we know), and therefore it's WiFi Day ... we don't know what that means, but Molly's planning to get some ice cream out of it! Plus, Android malware that can record your phone calls and free WiFi in London, thanks to Virgin Media. Plus, the New Yorker is a winner on the iPad and the MacBook Air is a winner with our show hosts.

Travel marketplace Airbnb is making changes to its policies following a recent incident in which a member's apartment was ransacked by a guest.

The company plays matchmaker to people looking for a place to stay on vacation and those renting out their own homes or apartments. Airbnb has grown in popularity, but a recent vandalism and theft highlighted the pitfalls of using such a service.

A woman known only as "EJ" rented out her San Francisco apartment to a guest through Airbnb in June. After her guest left, EJ discovered that her home had been vandalized and … Read more

Too busy to keep up with the tech news? Here are some of the more interesting stories from CNET for Monday, August 1.

• Mobile payment company Square is handling $4 million a day in transactions, up $1 million more than the company handled in May. But don't let numbers fool you, Square still has a ways to go to prove itself: credit companies process billions of dollars in payments.

• Location data gets a little more private. Microsoft restricts its practice of publishing Wi-Fi locations of millions of laptops, cell phones, and other devices after a CNET article highlighted privacy … Read more