Airbnb 2022 Summer Release: What you need to know

[Airbnb]

Our 2022 Summer Release represents the biggest change to Airbnb in a decade. We’re introducing:

• Airbnb Categories: A new way to search that makes it easy for guests to discover millions of homes they never knew existed

• Split Stays: An innovative feature that pairs two listings when a guest searches for a longer stay

• AirCover: The most comprehensive protection in travel, included for free with every stay

Get all the details on the Resource Center, and tell us: Will you be updating your listing for Airbnb Categories and Split Stays? How will you update it?

[Lisa34]

The very fact that you have to go into such detail to explain how this works definitely indicates that this is not intuitive. Do you sound a little bit too much like Apple, technology should work for you and be intuitive. It should make life easier. I love the concept but there are key issues with this rollout that make it very difficult to use.

- not showing listings in the area you actually searched for 

- categories not being adequately populated prior to roll out.

- Host not being able to opt into the appropriate categories or even opt out, I have heard from a handful of host that do not want to be in the categories that they’ve been put in because they feel like it will change the guests they attract

- The default to a random weeks if you do not input specific dates

- Only showing properties that to have a two night minimum for weekends when the weekend filter is shown. It should show all properties that have weekends available. That opens up travel both for guests and hosts

These are all things that is fixed could make categories work very well.

[Lisa34]

I dare say that having to give such instructions to people who are searching means that this is not an intuitive system. If they have to zoom back in after they search for the town just to go back to the area they were looking for I suspect a lot of guests will just abandon the search and go to another platform or just not travel altogether.

[Susan1188]

I guess you are not in an "Iconic" city!  

[Huma0]

PS, while we are talking of categories, it seems still to be the case that when guests search for shared listings, they are also shown 'Airbnb' hotel rooms. So, when bringing in this new exciting category search, did Airbnb not consider including a homestay category after so many hosts have been calling for this for years and years and bearing in mind that it is a key element of the Airbnb marketing spiel about 'living like a local', being part of a community etc etc?

[Huma0]

Actually, see my comment above that last one. There is now a category for 'shared homes'. Just don't expect your shared home to necessarily show up in the search results...

[Nancy1633]

Why this redesign sucks (for me):

(1) My cabin is not a returned result for "cabin" unless one zooms into the local map. Other cabins "out of town" are returned results instead for no apparent reason. 

(2) There is no "sauna" amenity to search- my outdoor barrel sauna differentiates my property from others and appears to be my main draw. Guests love it. Why isn't "sauna" an amenity? I believe "hot tub" is. 

(3) Guests can no longer peruse the listing calendar to see what is available. Guests have to input their travel date first. What is the reason for that?  It only makes planning more opaque and difficult. 

(4) Search result for "cabin" does NOT return my LISTING TITLE-- only the word "cabin". My listing title includes "barrel sauna". The photo "chosen" to appear does not show my sauna.  I believe this redesign will reduce interest in my property. Search results by category should return the property title. 

Guests and hosts are already unhappy with excessive Airbnb fees. I am a new host (5 months), so it remains to be seen how changes will impact business. Not optimistic. 

[Suzanne302]

@Nancy1633 

#3 100000000 times THIS!

[Sybe]

@Nancy1633 I'm sorry to hear you're not keen on the changes, and thank you for providing such detailed feedback. This is really useful and constructive and we'll make sure the team is aware. 🙂

[Nancy1633]

Thank you, but there is too much that is not working for too many Hosts and Guests.

Since Airbnb's redesign, I've gotten ZERO bookings and only one inquiry: " Is June 3-5 available?"-- a fundamental question that could have been answered if Airbnb had not hidden the calendar!  Instead, you're promoted WEEKS in late 2022 and 2023!!! Meanwhile, I have huge gaps in BUSY SEASON which guests are prevented from finding because (again) you're showing them what you're promoting instead and not the Calendar!  Next, you've made my charming cabin GENERIC:  my "Barrel Sauna" title is gone, along with my cover photo which shows it!  WTF?

Messing like this with Host control to get bookings and market their properties-- especially to FIND their properties on a map! is NOT what built Airbnb. Hosts are not your pawns, we are partners. This is not how you treat the folks that built you. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. 

I hope that Airbnb acknowledges their mistake, brings back booking calendars, lets Host market their properties ( listing titles, photo selection), brings back nightly charges/ drops the week future promotions-- in other words, HANDS OFF.

All the features that made Airbnb what it is, ease of booking, ease of listing, has been undone in one fell swoop. Airbnb has become too dominant for its own good. This redesign wouldn't have happened if there were a viable competitor. Maybe one will arise from this debacle. 

[Mary3607]

All the hosts I’ve spoken with HATE these changes. Several have said they are or have already left the platform because of them. I’m strongly considering it. My business had already dwindled due to undisclosed algorithm changes that damaged my isting’s visibility, which had been excellent previously (and kept me booked solid for two years), and with this new overhaul I’m staring at an empty summer calendar. I’ve even had repeat guests contact me because they want to return and can’t find the listing on the platform. Why?  I’m sure there are some changes buried in this overhaul that would be great. Conceptually it sounds wonderful. But the sad truth is that I, as a guest, have found it nearly impossible to use effectively to book an upcoming trip and ended up over at VRBO, which I have never cared for but which now looks like paradise compared with AirBNB’s latest iteration. Thanks for ruining my business and gutting my income. Turns out I won’t need a vacation after all, I’ll just stay at my own place any time this summer-–it’s not booked because no one can find it. 

[Aj119]

SO Sybe? is the team aware? everyday that this goes on you're destroying good business's

[Louise1097]

Re your points 3 and 4: Back in the early days of the Web, we used to refer to this practice as 'mystery meat'. I thought we'd got rid of mystery meat across the web, but ABB have managed to reintroduce it!

[Catherine-Powell]

Hi @Huma0,

Thank you for sharing your comment! We created nearly 60 Airbnb categories for this launch and will continue adding to this list as we can. Good news is that categories are grouped into three themes, the style of the home, the homes's location and the home's proximity to an activity (like skiing or surfing). We think this will lead to many more ways for your listing to be discovered. We also continue to offer the filter during the search to look for a shared space in a Home or Hotel. My hope is more and more guests will be able to discover the wonderful listings our Hosts offer.

Best,

Catherine

[Huma0]

@Catherine-Powell 

Thanks for your response. I wasn't sure if shared homes were still being categorised together with hotel rooms or not, but I'm assuming by your post that they are?

What would be great would be to completely separate these two. A room in a homestay (i.e. the traditional set up that Airbnb started with) is a completely different thing to a hotel room. I know that the guests who come and stay with me don't want to stay at a hotel at all. 

Another thing to mention is that there is also a big difference between renting a room in a shared accommodation with an off site host, which is often a hostel, student dorm or bedsit type situation, to staying with a host in their own home and the benefits that come with that.

Many guests have told me about listings they booked assuming it was the latter type of set up only to discover that the house or building had been divided into as many bedrooms as possible with very limited shared facilities, e.g. seven bedrooms sharing one kitchen and bathroom and no living space. The host did not live there and no one was keeping an eye on noise, mess and other problems. Naturally, they were quite upset about it. 

I think there should be a 'homestay' category, which actually means homestay, i.e. you are staying with the host in their home. A lot of people still want this. It's what Airbnb was supposed to be about in the first place, so why isn't there a category for it?

[Aj119]

There's no way this was a good idea. I will be curious to see the financials for next quarter. It makes no sense.