There are a lot of good reasons for "the AirBNB look. White walls reflect ambient light and can enhance existing light sources. This can help make up for small (i.e: cheap) windows or limited light fixtures.
Natural wood is durable but not hard and cold like metal or glass, nor will it break down and end up permeating your cell membranes like plastic. Exposed beams make ceilings more interesting visually but also dampen echoes and make a space feel less sterile and prison-like.
Humans have been living in shelters made from wood and stone since the beginning. It wouldn't surprise me if affinity toward these materials shows up somewhere in our DNA.
It's often just fashion, not actual affinity for natural materials.
The "AirBnB look" IME is usually engineered wood (aka bits of wood + liberal amounts of adhesive) floor, or even vinyl (tile if they're fancy), not natural wood. Natural wood scratches too easily and is more expensive to deal with generally. So for a rental? Nah. But yeah in actually older places sometimes it's natural wood liberally coated with basically-plastic clear coat. ;)
A lot of the exposed beams are also not "real" structural beams. Often they're plastic too! Stuff like this. Lower maintenance, doncha know. https://www.architecturaldepot.com/BM.html
Reasonably acceptable coffee without demanding skill (aeropress, barista machine), potentially creating mess (anything using fresh grounds), or needing much in the way of regular cleaning & maintenance (any of the full-service machines which contain a dairy refrigerator). Inexpensive and mostly idiot-proof. Just ignore the grotesque environmental waste of the pods.
I'm surprised they didn't call it Architectural Digest look.
Empty palatial interiors staged to appear on magazine covers, but not necessarily lived in by actual humans. Sometimes, I wonder if the the AD places are empty investment homes / porn shoot locations.
As a millennial, like much of my generation who loves good coffee, I'd say it's primarily because we don't want the usual shitty instant coffee packets - Nespresso & similar is a good way to get a decent coffee without too much faff/cleaning (ie my proper machine at home is more expensive, harder to clean & maintain in an airbnb context).
For previous generations the same effect would've been before hotel rooms had TVs; there would have been a stark difference between hotel rooms that did and didn't have TVs for boomers (and maybe GenX?)
Natural wood is durable but not hard and cold like metal or glass, nor will it break down and end up permeating your cell membranes like plastic. Exposed beams make ceilings more interesting visually but also dampen echoes and make a space feel less sterile and prison-like.
Humans have been living in shelters made from wood and stone since the beginning. It wouldn't surprise me if affinity toward these materials shows up somewhere in our DNA.
Not sure about the Nespresso machines.