The idea of "living like a local" is, in reality, a fallacy - a local often has far more mundane and real-life things to do than experience their own city.
But the rise of so-called sharing economy-type accommodation options has meant that owners of such properties must be able to provide the same level of expertise and information about the destination as, say, the hotel concierge once would.
This is where a new ecosystem is emerging - businesses that support the owners of Airbnb or HomeAway properties with technology or services that help enhance the guest's stay.
One such company is Pearlshare, a UK-based startup which has developed a destination guide builder for rental owners.
The idea is pretty simple: hosts can group neighbourhood information into "Pearls" and then create personalised guides for each new guest.
Each guide can include information about where to eat, places to see, things to do, etc, which is then given to the guest either before arrival or during a stay by way of a mobile app or desktop guide.
Other businesses that have come along as a result of the Airbnb/HomeAway growth curve include Hostmaker (raising $2 million in November 2015), which created a revenue management and pricing control system for hosts.
Here is a clip of the Pearlshare service: