Anyway, short-term rentals are basically a symptom of making it hard to build hotels. Most of the time staying at a hotel is much more comfortable than staying at an airbnb.
Sometimes! If I'm staying in a place for more than just a few days, I want a full kitchen. That's pretty rare to find in a hotel. Even small efficiency kitchens are pretty rare. And in most markets I can rent an Airbnb with a full kitchen for much cheaper than a hotel room with any kind of kitchen.
Beyond that, I generally prefer the Airbnb experience over that of a hotel. I know I don't speak for everyone there, but I think there are quite a few people with my preferences.
Is that possibly because it is so hard to build hotels, though?
It's trivially easy to see that this isn't true: you probably don't live in a hotel (or a structure resembling one), for example. Why not? The answers to that question generalize to travel.