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.

[Marc7726]

Dear @Catherine-Powell , 

thanks for reaching out! Good to know you are thinking about adding the African continent. Surely will keep an eye on the Community Center. 

have a great day, 

Marc

[Margie24]

Good morning,  I am a host who has had a bad experience with a guest. I just received a notice that I am penalized and I really don't like the idea that a guest can book for one person, for 7 days, and the next day he brings a gal in to share his bed for the afternoon, and claims that he wants to now leave the next day because the sheets and pillow cases were not clean. These were brand new sheets and pillow cases. Not only were they washed and put on the bed the morning that he was arriving. In fact he stated that his arrival was going to be between 3 and 5 PM and arrived 5 minutes after my last guests left which was at noon! I rushed to  get his room ready, and told him to give me about one hour and it should be ready.  At 1.00PM  i went to his car, which was parked on the street to tell him it was ready, and he was fast asleep in his car. He has been living in his car for 2 months except for the few night he spent in an Airbnb. He told me he was not homeless but a nomad .I explained that it was not a good idea to be sleeping  in his car, since we have a no loitering law, and he might get a ticket After I told him the room was ready, he continued to sleep  in his car until 5PM.

That night he went to work until 10 AM the next morning, when he showed up with a young gal. 

Since he had stated that he was a one person booking, I asked if she was staying and she stated that she was just visiting. They had sex and left the door of the bedroom slightly open and they were both naked in the bed. I had a friend help me with some handy man work, and he asked if this was something that Airbnb should be made aware of! This man was just using my house as a bordello. If he booked as a single guest, then he should not be inviting women to his bed. This could be construed as  a place to have sex, especially if he planned on leaving the next day and not staying   for the 7 days that he had booked. The gal that I spoke to told me that if he rented the room, he could no what ever he wants in his room. I have a question about that!

If he wants to smoke pot or snort heroine, or even stab a person, in his room,  is this something that I must condemn! I do not want my house to be used as a  bordello and I feel that i am justified in speaking out. If a guest books a room for 2 people that is one thing, but to book for 1 person and bring in a gal the next day, should not be allowed!  And I should not be penalized in any way! Please let me know if I am sending this to the correct party, and if not please give me the name of the party that I should forward this email to.

Thanks for your help, 

Margie Nicely,

Nicely Residence in Goodyear AZ

My phone number is ** and have been a host since 2017, I have had great reviews and have been a Super Host for a few years.

For him to say that my bedding was not clean, I realized he wanted to cut the booking short because he did not want to spend more money since he only wanted to stay here so he could bring a female guest to have sex. He prefers to  sleep in his car when he does not plan on having a " guest " 

This sort of behavior could bring me a lot of problem with the law! 

**[Phone number hidden due to safety reasons - Community Center Guidelines]

[Katie]

Hi @Margie24, welcome to the Community Center - I'm Katie, one of the Community Managers here. I'm really sorry to hear that you have had this issue with a guest. Have you been in touch with Support at all? If not there is a handy guide for ways to contact them here, or you can send them a message here. 

Just a heads up that I have also had to remove your phone number from your post, as for your own privacy our guidelines don't allow members to post personal details. Let me know how you get on with Support and I can do my best to help you here 🙂

[Saleh26]

This is really great! I look forward to help actively with a committee for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and helping them to develop hosts and hosting services in the region for guests from all over the world.

[Norah48]

Hi @Saleh26 

I am currently looking to host a property in Saudi Arabia; appreciate your guidance on any country regulations I should be aware of, e.g. housing authority, vat extra.

Thanks in advance

Norah

[Denise-and-Barry0]

Hi, who can I contact in Australia regarding technical issues.  I have searched everywhere on the site and unable to find the link or a form.

Thank you

Denise

[Fran2]

Probably for too late in getting an answer, the phone number is 02 8520 3333 and there’s no guarantee on getting local support.

try Twitter,  @AirbnbHelp  there seems to be someone manning the site.

[Marilyn337]

I have been a very flexible host during this whole Covid pandemic and changed my cancellation policy to flexible.  I'd rather have folks book and feel they can cancel because of changing pandemic conditions and travel/local restrictions.  This has worked out well especially since most bookings this year have been impromptu getaways for social distanced hiking and outdoor activities. No big deal.  Now I am getting lots more advanced booking folks canceling last minute because "there is no snow" for snowshoeing and x-country skiing" even though the alpine resorts have skiing.   I would like to see more flexibility and options in cancellation settings to account for this.  Flexible, Moderate and Strict need some addtional options between Moderate and Strict.  I also would like to know if a guest can rebook in same area if they have canceled and fully refunded and then rebooked with someone else cause prices have gone down because of upturn in cancelations in an area?

[Jeremy-And-Rachel0]

I am with you here.  I have had the last three days cancelled three times to be filled at the last moment.  New cancelled today booked again a few hours later. 

[Marilyn337]

Wish I could fill the bookings last minute but I always have to check with my cleaner's schedule which is why I don't instant book.  Also believe the personal connection through email can do wonders to set expectations on guest behavior.  Easier to be a bad guest when there is little communication with host and they view your place as a hotel rather than a home.

Also once you lose booking you don't seem to fill it when seasonal and weather isn't seasonal the whole area takes a downturn so what was once a full calendar now becomes empty.  With flexible scheduling there is no way to recoup any $$.  Learning my lesson with this.

[Katie]

Hi @Marilyn337, welcome to the Community Center, and thanks for your feedback here. Do you have any suggestions on what kinds of conditions you would like the in-between options for the cancellation policies to have? 

[JaNice118]

Congratulations on being selected to serve! I have one request - please get a pet fee added to our options for additional fees! It is so frustrating to have to bill this fee separately and it is an unnecessary waste of my time and that of my guest. If we can add a fee for extra guests why can't we have a line on the charges for pets? It would also allow AirBNB to track the number of pets that are staying world wide, which is a pretty cool statistic for our growing company! 

[Stephen1120]

Maybe you can actually HELP YOUR HOSTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's the story. My cleaner shows up at 10:00am immediately upon check out. She notifies me of damage to my favorite piece of furniture - a one of a kind green velvet bench. I contact the guest. The guest says the bench was in perfect condition when they arrived, but did not damage it. "It must have been my cleaner."

The next guest is checking in at 5:00pm that day even though my check in time is 4:00pm. I quickly run to the house after work to see it for myself and take photos. I call airbnb at 4:30pm to report the damage. He tells me it will all be ok. The next guest arrives and I show them the damage to make sure they know it was not them. 

At 6:00pm I submit my resolution center request with a ton of evidence. 

3 days later airbnb rejects my claim because I "submitted it too late." Claims must be submitted before the next guest checks in. I made the phone call 30 minutes late and now they are not compensating me for the damages under the guarantee. I was there when the next guest arrived and they even confirmed that for airbnb. Airbnb did not care.  How is this possible? Why don't they care about hosts? I am out hundreds of dollars now. Disturbing. 

[Kade3]

Chris Lehane - Wikipedia

Please review the bio of our "Senior Vice President for Global Policy and Communications".

AirBnB is awesome. I would hope that we (property owners, guests, company) could aim to rise above politics.  I personally would prefer to list my property on a platform that is not affiliated with politicians in general, in particular partisan officials.

[Kade3]

Thanks for the support either way. Always appreciate a great company and great people! Take care and be safe.