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Comment by meterplech | Hacker News Reader

I think this is the killer feature for Airbnb. I have loved the idea of the service, but haven't used it because of the slight creepiness worry (perhaps unfounded, but I think common). I know I'd feel comfortable staying with friends-of-friends though. I bet this is a huge draw for many news users for Airbnb.

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Speaking from personal experience, you are exactly right.

I used the service a while back just to test it out. I ended up at at place that was technically perfectly fine, but there were a few things that made me cancel and book another place - for a pretty hefty fee.

Again - technically there wasn't anything wrong with it. I haven't submitted a review because I don't know how to do it without being indiscreet.

Friends of friends is a great solution to this.

go on...

What did you find -- HN is perfectly discreet.

I'd argue the opposite; I've found it to be very positive to travel and host with AirBnB and CouchSurfing when it comes to, ahem, the opposite sex. Friend-of-a-friend might get awkward, but then again, that's never stopped us either.

I wish there was a way as a renter to specify your place as available to friends-of-friends only. My wife vetoed my putting up our house on AirBNB when we plan to be out of the country precisely because of the (lack of) trust problem.

Now you can know where your friend's very attractive friend lives, game changing!!!

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