Airbnb Luxe Properties?

[Ann489]

Has anyone else noticed how Airbnb is now not only peddling their "Plus" homes but also a "Luxe home" category?!  I guess we small-fry hosts are soon going to be a thing of the past.       😕

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Ann489 

yes, I noticed and commented a few days ago. Their home page is cluttered with all those categories and it makes the basic search totally confusing.

let's say I need a room in London and I open Airbnb.com and BOOOM! I am buried under the ton of needles information:

stays,

experiences,

adventures

restaurants,

PLUS, ,LUX ,UNIQUE (they should be in the same subcategory of "stays")

family collection, work collection (useless, that's why we have filters)

..... and then the real fun starts....

Continue to search: ( 3 random cities ) -why should I search for Paris, Tokyo, and Barcelona if I need a room in London???

Today in city X - Who cares? My trip is next month!

Tomorow in city X - Who cares?

This weekend in the city X - Who cares?

Popular experiences in the city X - Who cares? I need a room.

Recommended for you ( x random cities) - Who cares? I need a room in London

Places to stay around the world  ( x random homes in random cities) 😄 😄  oh my...

Head to the beach ( x random homes in random cities ) - Who cares? I need a room in London.

Experiences in the spotlight - Who cares? I need a room in London.

Take a city break in Europe ( x random cities) - Who cares? I need a room in London.

Explore a new city in Asia ( x random cities) - Who cares? I need a room in London.

Stay with a super host ( random hosts from random cities)

Explore New york city  -Who cares? I need a room in London.

Experiences in NY - -Who cares? I need a room in London.

Places to stay in NY -Who cares? I need a room in London.

... and then again Explore/Experiences/places to stay in Barcelona, Paris. Lisbon, Tokyo, LA... I am scrolling and scrolling and it seems endless...

But  I just need a basic booking form:

-the city

-dates

-No of guests

and when I hit "search" the first thing I want to see is THE MAP and ALL available listings in the city. 

After that, I need a filter to narrow down my search by the type of accommodation, parking, No of bedrooms, etc...

Everything else is just useless clutter to distract the user and send him away to another, user-friendly platform.

[Ann489]

@Branka-and-Silvia0  those were exactly my thoughts, too!  It sure has gotten crowded on that home page.   We just recently booked a stay in another city through Airbnb,  and I had to navigate through a million suggestions and other useless stuff.  The map seemed to have trouble displaying the correct, available properties(some showed on the left as available, but were nowhere to be found on the map.

I really wish, Airbnb would put some money into fixing all those recurring software issues and focus once again on those who made Airbnb what it is--the thousands of little hosts.  I guess one can dream. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Ann489 

I don't care if Airbnb also shows hotels and hostels, boats and space shuttles.... those are all just subcategories of "stays". One drop-down list and that's it.

Simple user-friendly solutions are always the best.

[Ann489]

@Branka-and-Silvia0    I like the idea of a space shuttle!   😉

[Susan17]

@Ann489 @Branka-and-Silvia0 

Well, let's hope Airbnb Luxe gets off to a more auspicious start than the Airbnb Plus debacle, or the sh*tshow that was the launch of Airbnb Adventures... 

Airbnb's Sale of an Around The World Trip Has Left Customers Angry

https://www.fastcompany.com/90367909/airbnbs-sale-of-an-around-the-world-trip-has-left-some-customer...

Airbnb's Around The World Trip Promotion Gets Off To A Rocky Start

https://skift.com/2019/06/24/airbnbs-around-the-world-trip-promotion-gets-off-to-a-rocky-start/

Considering these are the new products (Experiences, Plus, Luxe, Adventures) that have been introduced to convince potential IPO investors that Airbnb is not just a one-trick pony, and actually has a viable, sustainable business model and a clear path to future growth going forward, the boys at the top of the pyramid should be very, very worried right about now. 

[Ann489]

@Susan17    I sincerely hope that they are getting worried.  Unfortunately, I don't think that they will focus once again on those who really made Airbnb  great--the  thousands and thousands of little hosts who carry all the risks so that Brian Chesky can rake in the big bucks.  😕

[Ann489]

@Susan17    I sincerely hope that they are getting worried.  But I doubt that they will once again focus on those who made Airbnb great in the first place--those thousands upon thousands of little hosts who carry all the risks while Bryan Chesky rakes in the big bucks.

[Ann489]

@Susan17     I sincerely hope that they are getting worried.  But I doubt that they will once again focus on those who made Airbnb great in the first place--those thousands upon thousands of little hosts who carry all the risks while Bryan Chesky rakes in the big bucks.

PS: thank you for sharing those articles.  Again, I'm not surprised.