Month: May 2023

Although Airbnb has become a go-to option alongside hotels over the last decade for all kinds of travel, customers have started to notice that the service’s prices aren’t the bargain they used to be. In fact, average rates have risen about 35 percent since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. But when it comes to per-night pricing, one city stands above the rest. 

According to a recent study from ChamberofCommerce.org, the coastal city of Oxnard, CA, boasts the highest per-night Airbnb prices of any major city in the country. An Airbnb rental in the seaside city of 200,000 to the west of Los Angeles runs a whopping $488 per night on average. That’s more than $100 more per night than second-place city Scottsdale, AZ, at $384 per night. 

Some of that may be due to scarcity. While Scottsdale lists a whopping 1,370 Airbnb rentals per 100,000 residents, Oxnard only has 95.

Third place belongs to the rapidly expanding city of Austin, TX, at $373 per night, while Las Vegas, NV ($360 per night), and Honolulu, HI ($315 per night), round out the top five.

Of course, the study only looks at the country’s 115 largest cities, and many pricey vacation destinations lie in small towns and even rural areas. Still, it found some interesting patterns in the 160,000 listings it analyzed. Perhaps unsurprisingly, California dominates with seven of the 25 most expensive Airbnb markets, while Arizona follows with five. Overall, Miami has the most Airbnb listings per capita in the country, with 1,478 Airbnbs per 100,000 residents. 

Check out the Top 10 below and read more about the study here:

1. Oxnard, CA ($488 per night)
2. Scottsdale, AZ ($384 per night)
3. Austin, TX ($373 per night)
4. Las Vegas, NV ($360 per night)
5. Honolulu, HI ($315 per night)
6. Virginia Beach, VA ($304 per night)
7. Nashville, TN ($299 per night)
8. San Diego, CA ($295 per night)
9. Santa Clarita, CA ($292 per night)
10. Miami, FL ($290 per night)

After a four year hiatus, Black Mirror is finally heading back to Netflix on June 15 with what is being called the “most unpredictable, unclassifiable, and unexpected season yet.” On Wednesday, the streamer dropped the trailer for the five new feature-length episodes, which feature a jam-packed roster of big name guest stars.

The science fiction anthology series, which originally aired on Britain’s Channel 4 for the first two seasons from 2011 through 2013, moved to Netflix ahead of its third season. Prior to its recent hiatus, Black Mirror had racked up 14 Emmy nods and eight awards, including outstanding TV movie wins for “San Junipero” (2016), “USS Callister” (2017), and the groundbreaking interactive film “Bandersnatch” (2018).

Here’s everything we’ve learned about the five new episodes so far from the episode descriptions:

“Joan Is Awful” — Annie Murphy (Schitt’s Creek; Kevin Can F**k Himself) stars as “an average woman is stunned to discover a global streaming platform (an apparent spoof of Netflix) has launched a prestige TV drama adaptation of her life,” in which she is portrayed by real-life Salma Hayek Pinault. Rounding out the cast are Michael Cera (Arrested Development), Ben Barnes (Westworld; Shadow and Bone), Himesh Patel, and Rob Delaney.

“Loch Henry” — Samuel Blenkin, Myha’la Herrold (Bodies, Bodies, Bodies), Daniel Portman (Game of Thrones), John Hannah (The Last of Us), and Monica Dolan star in a tale about “a young couple travel to a sleepy Scottish town to start work on a genteel nature documentary, but find themselves drawn to a juicy local story involving shocking events of the past.”

“Beyond the Sea” — The third episode features an all-star cast including Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad), Josh Hartnett (Pearl Harbor), Kate Mara (House of Cards), and Rory Culkin (Signs). Set in an alternative 1969, two men go on “a perilous high-tech mission wrestle with the consequences of an unimaginable tragedy.”

“Mazey Day” — A troubled starlet is “dogged by invasive paparazzi while dealing with the consequences of a hit-and-run incident.” The episode stars Danish actress Clara Rugaard as the starlet, with Zazie Beetz (Atlanta) and Danny Ramirez (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) as the photogs hoping to hit it big with the first snap of her. 

“Demon 79” — Finally, in conjunction with Red Mirror Productions, “a meek sales assistant is told she must commit terrible acts to prevent disaster.” Set in Northern England in 1979, the episode stars British actors Anjana Vasan, Paapa Essiedu, Katherine Rose Morley, and author David Shields.

Speaking with Netflix’s Tudum, series creator Charlie Booker, who wrote all five of the new episodes, explained his rationale behind the new season.

“I’ve always felt that Black Mirror should feature stories that are entirely distinct from one another, and keep surprising people—and myself—or else what’s the point?” Booker said. “It should be a series that can’t be easily defined, and can keep reinventing itself.”

Booker continued that he started off this season by “deliberately upending” core assumptions about what to expect, as both a challenge and to keep things fresh for himself and viewers alike.

“Consequently, this time, alongside some of the more familiar Black Mirror tropes we’ve also got a few new elements, including some I’ve previously sworn blind the show would never do, to stretch the parameters,” he added. “The stories are all still tonally Black Mirror through-and-through—but with some crazy swings and more variety than ever before.”

Sounds like it’s going to be a wild ride—and we’d expect no less from Booker and company. You can watch the full trailer below.