@Airbnb @Stephanie etc... (Not sure who to direct this to).
Aloha everyone. I am on the Big Island of Hawaii. I have been a host with Airbnb since the beginning when Airbnb was a brand-new start-up, no one had ever heard of them and Brian himself answered the phone when you had to call customer service. Yes really. Airbnb helped me stay out of foreclosure during the recession, and for that I am eternally grateful.
So yes, I have seen a lot of changes with the platform over the years. This one is not your finest hour.
I have been experimenting with the new search and category function. I have found some very odd errors with the mapping/geotagging of listings. First issue. All listings in Kailua-Kona are tagged with something called "Beans Beach." I am a 30-year resident and senior travel writer for Fodor's Travel Hawaii Big Island since 2011. I have never heard of Beans Beach. If it does exist on a google map somewhere it might be someone's nickname for a small beach that got added to Google maps. Screen shot below. This is literally on EVERY listing in Kailua-Kona. They are all geotagged to Beans Beach! What is it and where is it? I've lived here three decades and I have no idea what they mean. Needless to say, travelers to the island are going to flood hosts with inquiries about how close they are to Beans Beach and whether they can walk to it. Then when they find out it's nowhere nearby, or is basically non-existent, they will smack us around with a bad review and one star for accuracy. Could you blame them?
Next issue: Many listings not in the Mauna Lani Resort are tagged with "49 Black Sand Beach." 49 Black Sand Beach is an exclusive oceanfront housing development where Lisa Mare Presley once owned a villa. It's not a spot where the little people typically book vacation rentals. While there could be some Airbnb rentals available there, these in the screenshot below are located outside the Mauna Lani Resort and have no access to the exclusive address or facilities at 49 Black Sand Beach.
Were the programmers just trying to add the closest beach? If so, that's inaccurate, especially here on our island. And 49 isn't a beach, it's a luxe housing development. But the AI bots wouldn't know that.
Third Issue. I searched the Beaches and Amazing Views categories on my side of the island (South Kona) where there is an abundance of both but no listings pop up. My place, which has amazing views (the number one thing mentioned by guests in reviews, and which has access to a private beach in our neighborhood) is not listed in either category. But in the Beaches category I DO find this little house located in a remote location of the island NOT near any beaches. See Screenshot. It's tagged to Pohue Beach, which is accessible only by 4WD and with the permission of neighboring property owners who have gated off roads to get there. Not only is this house nowhere near any beach, it's tagged to one that can only be reached by trespassing on private property. Will guests who check in and discover it's not by an accessible beach be eligible for a refund? Just curious because I'm pretty sure the listing host doesn't promise that so why should they be penalized with a bad review or forced into giving guest refunds? Guests would now have 72 hours to try to get to Pohue Bay, and when they couldn't get there might have a case for a refund, since it's inaccurate on the listing.
While I am no IT professional, I'm a long time resident and travel writer familiar with every corner of this island. I know where the beaches are in relation to the properties they are tagged to. Hire me and I will go through all of them and fix it for you.