I run a nice little ‘hotel’ style Airbnb in a private section of my house, in the suburbs right next to a major university. I’m in the desert, surrounded by fine arts, cultural, pro sports, desert hikes, etc. but apparently I don’t show up in any of those categories because the VIEW from my place is a simple neighborhood. Along the thinking of what I expect when looking for an Airbnb, I offer a place that is very clean, comfortable, uses nice linens, provides lots of amenities, has free parking and is surrounded by public transport stops, AND COSTS LESS THAN A COMPARABLE HOTEL STAY NEARBY. Out of 80 or so guests, all but one (who gave 4 stars) have given me 5 stars. I’ve workEd hard to keep up quality and earn my superhost status. I was doing well, staying booked 95-100% of each month.
Several days before the roll out, my business just STOPPED. It’s a high season here, with graduations at the university this month, so Airbnb smart pricing was suggesting double my normal prices, and kept pushing upward, but I couldn’t get booked! My business just tanked! I’m not ‘worthy’ of a category, it seems, being just a simple, affordable, suburban alternative to a nice hotel, so I have been bottoming-out my prices to well below what they’ve been during the slowest time of year. That’s attracted me a couple of bookings, but just at a small trickle compared to the past year. I’m so frustrated that this roll out seems to have ruined my business. I feared it was happening because I got that 4-star review, but my rating is still 4.99, and this is peak season here, and I’m reading that others are struggling too, so I am now more convinced that this calamity is being caused by the recent changes.
If Airbnb is more interested in its hosts offering million dollar resort-style places, and doesn’t value hosts that offer simple, affordable hospitality, like mine—which are what I think of when I am traveling—maybe I’m in the wrong platform? Should I go to Bookings.com instead? I’m sure to show up with filters for ‘near university’ or other cultural landmarks, or with the ability to sort by price!
I’m watching for news of improvements closely and hoping my bookings to rebound VERY SOON, while researching other platforms.