Peace all;
Thought-provoking article and I appreciate Airbnb addressing hosts’ concerns.
I have a property in an area that has some challenges, but it is an excellent location and a great fit for most of my guests. I grew up in the neighborhood and ran a business here so I know it to be safe, but I have had a few guests come and see that it is a predominantly African-American neighborhood and immediately focus on any sign of poverty and then deem the area unsafe. Some of these people are outright mean. I had a couple arrive on 4th of July, while the fireworks of multiple cities were occurring and they complained that it was like a war-zone and attempted to cancel the booking without penalty. They said such judgmental and ugly things in their quest through the resolution platform, and they were wholly unaware of their bias. There is an anger that I have seen and that emotion trumps reason when it comes to the review process.
Is there assistance in writing an accurate location description that can possibly speak to the biases that exist? When dealing with the miseducation of these few guests, as well as biases that have nothing to do with the listing, I wonder if I should attempt to dissuade some potential guests from booking—a type of profiling which would be difficult to execute with accuracy and ethically I haven’t embraced— to make sure that the budget-seeking guest doesn’t get in and I get a review for location that hurts me. And, equally, I want happy guests who feel comfortable in my place! The comfort, safety and happiness of my guests is my focus as a host.
The objective location description cannot address the great divide in experiences that humans have lived. I was one of the hosts who so long ago offered feedback on the reviewing on location. I still feel it disproportionately impacts negatively hosts who have rentals in areas that trigger deep personal or societal bias and it allows the continuation of power of that bias over the livelihood of these hosts as it still impacts our ability to be Superhosts, and the perks of Superhost status are more easily lost to us.
I appreciate greatly this change by AirBnb—that location is judged by accuracy of description—but deeply rooted biases are not going to be unearthed because I precisely describe the location.
Peace,
Chloë