@James471wrote:
I will be renting a unit this August and this will be my first foray into Airbnb. I am quite excited because the apartment that I am about to occupy has all the necessary facilities, especially the kitchen tools, and for a lot less money than hotels, which generally feel less homey.
One of the activities that I do when I'm in other places is that I review hotels. Sites such as Tripadvisor allow me to attach pictures that i've taken of the rooms and the areas, and in the same way, I wish that I would be able to do the same on Airbnb. But it seems that all of the reviews that I've read do not have photos in them so I assume that guests do not have the ability to attach photos.
I really would like to accompany my reviews with photos so that I would be able to help prospective customers in convincing or dissuading from renting an apartment. On the other hand, I also think that pictures could boost the reputation of the host if his or her apartment deserves better attention.
I have not done any reviews before. So my question is can we attach pictures to our reviews? If yes, how? If no, are there other ways to circumvent the restriction?
After you have stayed at a host's property, you are asked to provide a review, the you have the opportunity to rate the accuracy of the host's description of their property.
I think it would benefit Airbnb users, if pictures could be uploaded on to Airbnb during the review process, especially when the host has given inaccurate pictures of their property. Airbnb could make a request of the host, to acknowledge the validity of the pictures, or make repairs and then provide accurate pictures. If the host isn't cooperative, guest's pictures could substitute or replace the Airbnb host's original pictures by default.
I think this is an important issue, because, while there are very kind people offering properties on Airbnb, there are just as many, if not more huskers, deceivers and plain old slumlords. This is especially common in expensive cities like London for example, where the quality of rooms costing less than £50 are often little better than youth hostels.
Let's be honest, most Airbnbs aren't people's homes anymore. Many of them have deteriorated into private hostels or slum hotels. At the moment that I write this letter, I'm staying in an Airbnb in central London and have occupied a room for four days. But, now the weekend has come, the basement flat is packed with people, there are now 10 people (in four small rooms) who are sharing One toilet and shower! Plus, the kitchen stove is broken, after four days, I decided to eat in, but was sadly disappointed.
The other 9 people and I, are paying £50 a night for this? This is dispicable profiteering, in San Francisco, where I am from, we call these sought of people: "Tenderloin slumlords".
Airbnb should monitor the quality of host's properties, and guarantee some level of customer satisfaction.
If not, then I hope there are entrepreneurs out there prepared to capitalise on Airbnb's shortsightedness or failures.
Cheers
