Bookings suddenly stopped after contacting airbnb

[RoniSue0]

My small Airbnb has been running for about a year. I've had a 99% occupancy rate with only 0-2 nights unbooked per month.  Every one of my reviews were 5-star until a couple of weeks ago when I received a 4-star review. There was an environmental issue with the room that I couldn't control, the guest left, we communicated well, and I contacted Airbnb to ensure the guest would receive a full refund. The guest gave me 4-stars, but my bookings came to a screeching halt. I'm still a Superhost, but I'm not getting booked, no matter what I try! 

Why have I gone from being BOOKED SOLID to not being able to attract ANY bookings during a heavy seaons here? Airbnb prices are really high in my area, but I'm applying steep promotions and/or offering rock-bottom pricing, just trying to pull in anyone! What is HAPPENING??

-- Did my call to Airbnb get me punished?

-- Does getting one rating below 5-stars destroy my visibility? 

-- Did Airbnb's "categories" roll-out have anything to do with this? I'm near a university, in the center of all kinds of arts venues and nature hikes, but not showing up in any of the categories because my place is just a nice, clean, simple, suburban unit; it's not a high-end property with million-dollar views.  

My stats have nose-dived, and I don't know what I can do to get a steady stream of bookings again. I've tweaked and refined every setting I can find, but I'm in the dark as to what went wrong! 

Please help??!!

[Carla1411]

The same here in Brazil! 🙂 I'm super host as well and I'm a litlle concerned about the changes airbnb has done...  That was impossible to be without reservations and now, only for december???  

[Danielle1399]

SAME HERE TWO OF MY LISTINGS HAVE ZERO BOOKINGS GOING FORWARD AND THEY'VE BEEN BOOKED FOR 4 YEARS ABOUT 98%

[Catherine2826]

Did you figure out what happened? My bookings with the platform have stopped. I’m 100% 5 star. Last year was my first year, so no ratings, but 90% of LY bookings were from AirBNB.  Now nothing for May-September? Doesn’t make sense. I’m searching for help. 

[Trude0]

I have been «closed for business» for over a year (Aug 21 to Sep 2022). So it is hard for me to comment on whether the changes made by Airbnb early this year, are affecting my listing negatively - as it so clearly is affecting many of yours.

Before I closed down, I certainly used to have more bookings in Sep-Nov than I do now - I only had 1 in late Sep/early Oct, and have one reservation for November. But this could also be affected by my lost Superhost status (all 5 stars, but no hosted stays for over a year). Or that it takes time to climb in search ranking after an absence. I’ve checked which categories I’m in: Tiny homes, Skiing and National Parks. Which seems relevant, even if I think I should also be in Beach (3-400 m walk), Golfing (5 min drive), and Cabins (tiny homes not being a much used expression in many European countries). But most of my guests did not use to come for the beach, and I don’t think I ever had golfers, so the only category I’m eager to add, is Cabins. 

I’m wondering: It is clear that so many experienced Superhosts, who used to be fully booked, experienced a drastic drop in bookings, with the exact same timing. So no doubt at all it is related to changes that Airbnb made. But have we heard of any hosts who experienced a drastic INCREASE in bookings? Or did all of the business lost by experienced hosts, go to NEW hosts, who have nothing to compare with? Or was the business lost also to Airbnb?

[Laura976]

@RoniSue0 can you please update us on what has happen with your bookings?  I couldn’t tell from your calendar if you have seen an increase. 

Please share how you increased bookings if that has happened. 

Hope you are doing well!

Laura

[Patricia4000]

I’m in the same boat - simply nada.  I’m seriously thinking of letting my place long term as I don’t want to use Booking.com (where you can’t vet the guests)…. Not good 😞