PLEASE REINSTATE THE MAP AIRBNB.

PLEASE REINSTATE THE MAP AIRBNB.

I know other hosts/guests have brought this up in different Airbnb Community Forums, but I’m sure many hosts are unaware of this change and what devastating effect it will potentially have on bookings. We need Airbnb to listen to us. When guests search for accommodation on a computer they are no longer given a map view unless they input the dates (we get many enquiries from people who do not know their exact dates), instead they are given rows and rows of properties with no clue as to where they are situated. 

 

My husband and I have used Airbnb for travel and like anyone else we first type in destination and then we zoom in on the map to the exact part we would like to stay in (eg near train station, in city centre, near wedding venue etc) so that we can view the appropriate properties. Now, because there is no map, you have to click on each property individually to find out where it is located and quite frankly no-one has the time or patience to do that when faced with 100s of properties.

 

I tested this by logging out of Airbnb and then searching for a property like ours in Bath (entire property, sleeps 8 etc) and was shown 100s of properties with no idea as to where they were situated or how far they were from the city centre - some of the houses were miles outside of Bath in villages. There was no order (ie proximity to the town centre) all the properties were muddled in together.

 

Our bookings are definitely down this year - whether this is due to the over-saturation of properties in our area, I’m not sure, but removal of the map view certainly cannot help the situation.  PLEASE REINSTATE THE MAP AIRBNB.

 

(Apologies if this appears twice but I thought I had posted it earlier but am unable to find it!)

7 Comments
Anonymous

I can see that the search page has been redesigned, but for me the Map View appears as soon as I click on "Homes." 

Prue0
Level 6

The map is the most important tool for at least 75% of guests and should be there right from the start everywhere in the world .... the view should be consistent reliable and user friendly. Almost all the recent innovations smack of smart folk in the office having a good idea over coffee rather than ideas tested on customers (and hosts!) to see if they work for them..... focus groups are not a novel idea!

Joey-And-David0
Level 5

I think you are quite right @Prue0 it is so frustrating that Hosts are not consulted before these sometimes nonsensical ideas are put in place by Airbnb (eg the out of order reviews - this one drives me crazy, the updated cancellation policy etc etc)

Charles337
Level 1

I supply the name of an area, and my travel dates, and price range, and now all I see are photographs of homes that could be anywhere in the so-called "neighborhood."

No map. And no way to display a map that I can find, unless I click each photograph one at a time.

 

This is so utterly moronic it defies my descriptive abilities. A travel site that DOESN'T SHOW A MAP of available places. I guess I have to go back to booking.com. Their site is very usable.

Joey-And-David0
Level 5

I know @Charles337 it's crazy and Airbnb don't seem to be listening - so many people have brought this up on various forums.

Leigh37
Level 2

When I travel I mostly use the map. In my case as a host when I use the map for my immediate locality there is a listing showing up from 4 to 5 miles away (flagged in my area). I called the superhost help line, they didnt care. Unethical or what? 

Sasha56
Level 2

No map! It's madness. Does AirBnB want to drive us away from using their service? I need to find hosts close to convention centres and customer offices; my husband and I host a property in the country and need to show guests how close we are to where they want to be. Fortunately it's not too hard to list the property elsewhere -where they have a map. We'll give AirBnB until 31 May to sort this before moving.