Hello @Christy-Schrader, and thank you for opening this thread aimed at collecting feedback on the Winter Release.
I hope my feedback doesn’t come across as too harsh or overly critical, but as a designer and a long-term host on Airbnb, I believe there are a few issues with the Co-Host Network that Airbnb is aiming to build. I fully understand that Airbnb wants to maximize control over the overall guests' satisfaction by utilizing metrics and criteria aimed at delivering an 'almost perfect guest experience'. However, this will always remain an unattainable goal as long as Airbnb stays a community-based platform, where hosts bear direct responsibility for what guests experience during their stay. Airbnb may excel at handling everything peripheral to 'providing the service' (support, payment, transparency, app UI, and so on...), but it will never have complete control over what a guest actually experiences once they are in our homes.
I believe it’s important to highlight this because the marketing for the new Co-Host Network seems to mislead both inexperienced hosts and guests. It presents co-hosts as if they have 'superpowers' in managing almost every aspect of hosting, despite the fact that, from my understanding, co-hosts can 'claim' what they’re capable of - most of which seems to be 'self-assessed.'
Let me break down a few points from the main landing page:
1. Create your listing.
This phrase is somewhat confusing, and perhaps I’ve misunderstood. Wouldn't it be more appropriate to say 'tailor' or 'craft' your listing? As far as I understand, you already need a listing to hire a co-host - right!?
However, what guarantees me that a potential co-host will be good enough to craft the listing the way I want or exceptionally as per Airbnb's standards? We don't have records whether the co-host took part or not in the previously managed listings (I guess).
2. Take listing photos.
Is this really accurate? There’s no evidence that the co-host metrics account for the quality of photos used in previous listings managed by the co-host, unless Airbnb is employing some AI that analyses these images and scores them. Without such a system, this claim feels misleading, as co-hosts are not necessarily experienced photographers.
3. Clean and maintain your place.
Once again, this is something Airbnb has no real track record of monitoring. We don’t know if co-hosts are generally responsible for cleaning and maintenance, as in many cases, cleaning services are outsourced, or the host handles it themselves. For example, I have 4.99/5 when it comes to cleanliness in approximately 400 reviews - however this doesn't imply that my co-host is good at cleaning since he has never cleaned the listing indeed!
4. Get hosting permits.
This point is particularly unclear. Airbnb lists “Get hosting permits” as something co-hosts can handle, but what does that even mean? Are hosting permits somehow meant to encapsulate all the other tasks described, like managing the listing, cleaning, and setting prices?
The biggest flaw of this program is that Airbnb is attempting to market something that’s inherently difficult to guarantee: performance. We all know that delivering a great experience on Airbnb depends on several factors that cannot be consistently replicated, such as:
- The variability of guest needs
- The unique features of each property
- Location
- Demand fluctuations
- External factors beyond anyone’s control
- And so on...
Relying on past performance as a predictor of future success oversimplifies what goes into good or exceptional hosting, in my opinion. Additionally, the requirements to join the Co-Host Network are essentially the same as those for becoming a Superhost. Over the years, we’ve seen that these metrics, while easy to achieve, are not enough to guarantee a consistently great guest experience. This is why Airbnb experimented with the Plus program (which I was part of, now discontinued) and now uses badges or special callouts to better distinguish between bad, good, average, and exceptional listings.
I’ll try to give a few practical examples based on what I see in my area (Naples, Italy). Here, there are already approximately 15-20 co-hosts available, though not all of them offer to do 'everything,' which is fair. If someone doesn’t want to handle cleaning, it makes sense they wouldn’t make themselves available for that.
However, imagine these scenarios:
Scenario 1) Listing Setup Being Poor.
As a host who has a poorly setup listing, how do I know that? If I setted it up that way, perhaps I do think there's not much more to do. Are these hosts going to value and be able to understand they need to improve their listing? I have the feeling that a correctly setted up listing is valued more by the host already capable of doing so, rather than those unaware. This seems quite paradoxical. Airbnb should perhaps recognize listings in need for improvements and suggest them to hire a co-host. Additionally, even if I decide to go ahead and hire a co-host - how do I select those people? I read, for example:
Co-Host 1) Helped 2 new hosts.
Co-Host 2) Helped 1 new host.
How do I decide between them? Based on their profile picture? Again. There seem to be lacking of a clear metric here to let me correctly choose based on my preferences. What if the co-host is not nice, and I don't want to collaborate with them?
Scenario 2) Cleaning.
We all know differences in cultures and guest needs play a relevant role when it comes to cleaning scores. Leaving that aside, I do think - as previously mentioned - Airbnb should keep track or records of those co-hosts that have been responsible for their cleaning scores or not.
In my case, I see the following:
Co-Host 1) 4.85/5 rating for cleaning
Co-Host 2) 4.83/rating for cleaning
How do I decide between them? Is 0.02 really making a difference here? What guarantees me that the potential co-host will be able to clean my property?
There are a lot of metrics / missing information that should be accounted in this parameter from the previously managed listings, such as:
- Size of the listing.
- Number of beds / rooms.
Easier to clean a small flat with one bedroom versus a 4 bedrooms one, right? What if the co-host isn't capable of really helping me out given my unique listing conditions? And the list could go on forever...
Scenario 3) Managing Bookings.
The wording is quite misleading here, as I don’t fully understand what this refers to. If my understanding is correct, the metric Airbnb is trying to highlight brings up the dilemma of quality vs. quantity. It appears that this page showcases how many reservations a co-host has managed while co-hosting. Great! But what does this actually tell me? Unfortunately, not much. It doesn’t show crucial information, such as the number of managed listings, and only provides the number of reservations. It’s easy to have more 'stays from guests' if someone manages 10 listings compared to just 1. Additionally, quantity does not equal quality - and it’s surprising Airbnb isn’t more aware of this. Historically, hosts managing more listings tend to have lower scores. For example, I see:
Co-Host 1) Helped with 3563 stays
Co-Host 2) Helped with 448 stays
I might assume Co-Host 1 is more experienced, but Co-Host 1 has an overall score of 4.76/5, while Co-Host 2 has a score of 4.93/5. Again, quantity is not quality. So, how does this page help me in selecting my Co-Host?
Solution!? Naah. Too Complicated.
If Airbnb truly wanted to ensure consistency, it would need to take responsibility for delivering the on-site service itself, much like hotels do. This would undoubtedly involve higher costs for the platform (requiring employees), and such listings could be branded as 'Premium' to reflect this enhanced level of service.
