What the latest Airbnb updates mean for Hosts

[Airbnb]

Community feedback is as important to us as guest reviews are to you. Since our May 2023 release, we’ve made several updates based on top suggestions from Hosts and guests. 

CEO Brian Chesky shared the latest on social media today, including:

• New search filters for pet-friendly homes and king-size beds
• A search feature that shows listings available for similar dates
• A verified listing badge, which starts rolling out next year
• Improvements to customer service
• Current data on pricing and cleaning fee trends

Find out more about the updates and what they mean for Hosts on the Resource Center.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Airbnb Oh dear - I fear the filter for King size beds will lead to issues in Europe. Our King size is closer to the American Queen. There are also issues with stating what floor the listing is on. Our first floor apartments in the UK would be on the ground floor in the USA.

This American centric view of the world will cause issues and it is a real shame as Airbnb purports to be an international company.

[Laurelle3]

@Airbnb, my concern is the promotion of king beds in accommodation. What has to be taken into consideration is the size of the rooms where the king bed is located.

Yes, I could put a king bed into the room and then have to slide along the wall to get into the bed

You might have a king bed but guests will need to have a good look at the picture of the room  and where the bed is located and the room/space around it. I can see complaints and low scores on the reviews.

My advice to hosts is to think long and hard about king beds before jumping in trying to play the airbnb game.

Also to consider the extra cost of the linen and laundry.

[Adriano78]

 would be good for Chesky to take care of the climbing of the guests' defamatory reviews, blackmail, cuts of the Airbnb accounts without any explanation,  spoliation of the host by Airbnb by refunding the travelers who lie and making once and for all visible host house rules, which is at the bottom of page!

Frankly, the preoccupation of the host is not a badge or the King size beds ........... this is just pure marketing which in no way improves the catastrophic relationships that the host has with Airbnb 2

[Gordon0]

It's a shame some of the basics were broken in said update, and complaint tickets are simply closed without a fix. For instance, not being able to hard block any dates that are beyond my three-month booking window is beyond bonkers.

No, I've been told I need to open up my window to cover the impacted dates (such as my own holidays), go in to the calendar and block them, then revert back to original window. Oh, and if any bookings come in while I'm doing this that I can't accommodate, you got it - that's my problem.

Blocking dates in this scenario was easy as pie before the update, so it is doable.   

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Gordon0 switch on pro tools from your account and then in the multi-calendar you can block dates ahead of your booking window.

[Gordon0]

Only available for those with multiple listings (the real cash cows) from what I can see, @Mike-And-Jane0? 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Gordon0 good to hear from you (even if I am being called a cash cow!) 😀

Anyway anyone can switch on pro tools. For people with more than one listing the multi calendar is great. For those with only 1 listing it is not such a great format (although you can still get to the monthly view by clicking on the listing name) but its worth it for other things (like blocking dates outside the booking window).

[Helen427]

That's really great @Airbnb  are finally recognizing the challenges taller people have with finding suitable accommodation and bed sizes for them.

There's nothing worse and more annoying than having short beds for those who are tall.

As an aside we met 5 people in the space of a week who were all over 6 foot 5 inches from all corners of the world.

It's long overdue Taller people were not discriminated against because of Bed and Ceiling sizes!!!

[Helen427]

In relation to Verified Badges, we hope and pray Airbnb will see sense and recognize that not all people have all forms, or any form of Photo ID, nor is it required to have a Passport if one is a local traveling in our country of New Zealand.

Bring back commonsense Best Practices and a personal touch where a name and either email/ Residential or Post Office addresses, using a phone number and subsequently that of Reviews to verify a person, including Manually like we used to.

Airbnb are not a Government Department, nor should they be requesting or required to collect such vast amounts of data that previously was between an individual and our Governments.

We must all be mindful of Data Protection and Privacy Breaches and those who have been subjected to Identity Fraud regardless of where it's happened must be afforded the right to Personal Safety including of all their information.

Take note of Latitude, Telco and other recent breaches of information whereby Government ID documents have been accessed and the nightmare impacts it has on people's lives.

Sort out your Templates, provide proper Options on forms and start to adhere to Rule of Law with our Jurisdictions.

Thanks in advance

[Helen427]

From November 2019 re Verification of Listings - so is the Verification of Listings in 2023 any different and in addition to SuperHost badges and that of existing Reviews and accuracy processes already in place?

Will it be in accordance with our Jurisdictions we are covered under, including Data Minimisation requirements?

Will Airbnb be ensuring Customer Due Diligence and giving credit where it's due to Hosts with active listings and removing all dead/ deceased operator listings from the ABB Platform where there is no response to Emails or Phone calls so that those looking for accommodation don't have to keep meeting Dead Ends where there's no answer to messages?

@Airbnb 

Airbnb verify 7 million properties

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/airbnb-verify-7-million-properties-1.5351284

Airbnb to verify all 7 million properties to improve user trust Changes follow a deadly Halloween party shooting in an Airbnb in California

The Associated Press · Posted: Nov 07, 2019 10:37 AM EST | Last Updated: November 7, 2019

Airbnb says it will spend the next year verifying that all 7 million of its listings are accurate and that the homes and rooms being offered for short-term stays meet basic quality standards.

It's one of several moves the San Francisco-based company is making to improve user trust and make it easier for guests, hosts and others to report problems and obtain refunds when things go bad.

The changes come after a rough week for Airbnb. Last Thursday, a shooting at an unauthorized Halloween party in an Airbnb rental in Orinda, California, left five people dead

[Laurelle3]

@Helen427 thank you  for the interesting read of the information in the articles.

What it points out to me is the idea and the concept of Airbnb has become a profit making  busines of greed to some and Airbnb has lost what it began to  the true meaning of Airbnb.

Verification can begin with

*  A limit of number of properties to one person.

*  The host shares their home.

*  The host lives on site and shares their land with an adjoining building or separate building that has been passed by local authorities.eg councils.

*  The host lives in the same town or region and can arrive within 30 mins to an hour ( like being on call). Locals in our local are have said some are registered under Real Estates and phone calls go to message bank and opening hours are.......!

The NSW Government rules for STRA state  that if their is a complaint realating to noise, party, a health reason or unacceptable conditions occurring at a property and this is reported to the  Police or Council and or NSW Government. The host can be closed immediately or given 3 strikes and then cannot host again for 5 years.

Yes, Airbnb do need to go back to the beginning and make changes that are acceptable for today's world.

Great work Helen researching  the archives Across the Ditch

[Helen427]

For those who may be new to ABB or new to CC, including Hosts and Guests and new CC Moderators who may also be learning about the ins and outs of ABB, This previous informative topic and thread is most useful with regards to ongoing challenges Hosts have now faced with 'Paused Payments' and not been treated in accordance with Common sense Best Practices.

Verify or be delisted

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Verify-or-be-delisted/td-p/1182937/page/3

[Patrick3039]

Suddenly it's not possible any more to set weekly discount for certains months.

The discount applies to the whole calender. I would like to have a 5% weekly discount for the whole year EXCEPT FOR JULY AND AUGUST. This is NOT POSSIBLE.

Very annoying and pointless.