Officially introducing the members of Airbnb’s Host Advisory Board

[Airbnb]

*Posted live: December 16th

Today, we’re excited to share a video officially introducing the members of Airbnb’s Host Advisory Board.

As we recently announced, Airbnb is launching a formal program to give hosts a seat at the table. The Host Advisory Board is a group of selected hosts that will not only keep the community informed, but share your feedback directly with Airbnb leadership.  The board will also help inform how  the Airbnb Host Endowment is invested in the community, and influence policies, programs, and new products.

These 17 selected hosts were chosen for their passion, their contributions to the hosting community, and their desire to create a better future for all hosts—among other criteria. Together, they’ve hosted more than 15,000 guests with a combined total of 86 years of hosting experience and an average star rating of 4.9!

*To add or change subtitles to the video, hover over the video and click on the little 'Settings' wheel in the bottom right corner. Then click 'Subtitle/CC' and select your language. 

Watch the video above to meet the community members serving on the board and learn about their individual passions and experience. To find out more about how the board will work together to advocate for the community, check out the latest Host Update article featuring our Head of Hosting, Catherine Powell.

Do keep your eyes peeled here in the Community Center as we will be introducing the board members in the new year. There will be regular opportunities for our new board members to respond to your questions and address important topics.

[Michelle617]

Hi Carlos, I do long term bookings more now as well. All I had to do was modify the price for giving a weekly and monthly discount. That reflected in the guest searches as a monthly good price deal and brought the guests here. Good luck.

Michelle

[Mary996]

Hi @Carlos-P5 

If you look through your listing there is an option to offer lower rates for longer stays....this can have the effect of attracting longer stays (although it hasn't worked for me as yet... I think I may review and see if the level of fee has an effect). Good Luck !

[Jackie689]

It's great to see that Airbnb has implemented a Host Advisory Board.  I have often seen hosts and oftentimes, Superhosts, relegated to the back burner in favor of guests.  Superhosts work hard to provide excellence to their guests and I hope the advisory board will implement policies that will reflect the due diligence of Superhosts.

[Mary996]

Really agree @Jackie689 ... and welcome to the first stage of the Host Board.

Great to have you here and that you are another person taking responsibility for our gorgeous Airbnb super organisation which we can help to improve xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Is there anything of particular importance to you?

[Michelle617]

Hello everyone,

I am Michelle, a host since March 2015 and a traveler for 20+ years. I love meeting new people and Airbnb is the best that happened lately, for us travelers. A great idea helping everyone.

Like other hosts here, I just wish that there was a easier way to communicate with each other, with no need to act as we try to make a booking. I had an instance where I had to contact other hosts that a particular guest stayed with and it was not easy. I wish this will change and we will be able to contact each other in a better way.

Plus, I have another suggestion... a dream for me and other superhosts that set up their homes for guests and do all the job from booking to cleaning and guest interaction. Because we would also like to travel ourselves at times and in those times the options are either not have guests in the home or have someone else with little training, taking care of all cleaning and interacting with guests as a not so perfect surrogate. Since I also traveled before using Workaway I am wondering and hoping that there will be a chance for us hosts, to do a type of hands on exchange of homes and experiences. We could maybe belong to a part of Airbnb that would let us communicate and exchange information and dates with each other becoming the host for another home while they become a host for us. The experience will enrich and better our own hosting skills while letting us travel at times, without having to close out own home or worry about someone else doing a poor job for us while we are away.  Workaway charges about $20 for a two years membership. We can pay to belong to an Airbnb host community as well, if needed. We would feel more comfortable with proven good hosts to switch homes and experiences with. Any chance for this happening?

Best Regards,

   Michelle

[Mary996]

Hi Michelle

@Michelle617 

Great idea!! Although might impact overall airbnb revenue???? But I'd love to do a house swop. Lets think about how to organise x

[Eric122]

@Katie Oh and thank you too for whatever you did to get Airbnb to reverse their Kafkaesque prior treatment of me.

[Mark-and-Gabriela0]

You totally missed the point!!! I required 500 dollars deposit and 500 for damage/stolen/lost bike

[Dale711]

 @Anna1403 , @Bez8,  @Antonella78, @Susan208, @Till-and-Jutta0,  @Nutth0, @Norma17, @Peter1, @Merrydith0, @Pascale144, @Omar202, @Pooja30, @Tiffany204, @Vinícius0, @Shinya0, @Ningyi0, @Samuel604  @Pam5 

[Danielle1023]

I am happy the Airbnb is addressing the Review policy when guests abuse house rules i.e. have a party/event at a home, however I am concerned because of the wording "committed a significant violation".  What does this mean?  I feel that if your listing clearly states "no parties/events" then in the eyes of Airbnb, you should be able ask them to leave your home with no review allowed from that guest, especially if you have proven to customer service that they violated your "no parties/events".  

[Mark-and-Gabriela0]

Airbnb is not addressing anything, it is the other way, they ignore the policies that hosts has on their House Manual... even Airbnb ignores the Strict Policy Non Refundable!!!! 

[Claudia1442]

Hello everyone,

Can someone explain how the response rate is calculated and what exactly that means? I have multiple questions. For example does it only apply to responding a reservation request? or to any other non significant inquiry like "is parking on a one way street"  are there bykes stations nearby, etc. I hope you get what I am trying to understand goes into calculating response rate. Thank you. I hope I dont miss the answer as I dont know how this community center works. Best wishes for everyone.  Claudia

[Sarah977]

@Claudia1442  When someone sends an Inquiry message, you have 3 choices- pre-approve, decline, or simply message back. Many hosts just message back, or pre-approve if they have no qualms about the guest. You shouldn't decline Inquiries, because it isn't necessary and lowers your Acceptance rate.

So just answering an Inquiry within 24 hours keeps up your Response rate. You don't have to keep answering all their messages if you don't want to.

For Booking Requests, you must click on either Accept or Decline within 24 hours in order to keep up your response rate. 

[Claudia1442]

@Sarah977  hello Sarah, I appreciate your response and if you could give me further clarification. I read your message twice and I am still a bit confused. You are saying that  "decline Inquiries, because it isn't necessary and lowers your Acceptance rate." and later say that "Decline within 24 hours in order to keep up your response rate. "  

I am not clear if declining within 24 hours lower my response rate or not. It seems contradictory or maybe I dont understand something. It appears that we shouldnt bepenalized by declining but if they lower our response rate then that is a penalty.

It is not clear to me what factors are in play for a response rate.

Claudia

[Sarah977]

@Claudia1442  No, I said not to decline Inquiries because it isn't necessary- a response to an Inquiry is all that's required in order not to get dinged on your stats.

Declining has nothing to do with Response rate, it affects Acceptance rate.

You seem not to understand the difference between an Inquiry and a Booking Request. On Requests, you must either Accept or Decline within 24 hours- simply responding to the message isn't sufficient.

Not responding to an Inquiry or failing to click on Accept or Decline for a Request= lowered Response rate.

Declining Inquiries or Requests= lowered Acceptance rate.

Acceptance rate is not factored into the criteria for Superhost. And while you can get warnings for declining a lot, nothing really seems to happen even if your Acceptance rate falls to 70%. 

Response rate is a factor in Superhost status.