@Rebecca181
Yes, the marketing for Plus does seem to be a bit full on, considering it must surely make up a quite small percentage of bookings. I wonder if that's just because it's new and Airbnb are trying to get it established. Hopefully the homepage will become more balanced after the initial push, but then you never know...
I actually don't mind the idea of Plus in theory, as an additional option for travellers. I think there's something positive about the idea of a place being verified for quality, because I've heard some horror stories from friends who have stayed in truly awful Airbnbs. However, I agree that most of the Plus homes look very bland, sterile and not at all what I would expect from the marketing blurb, which suggests you will be staying somewhere unique, interesting and decorated with personality.
When I first heard about Plus and saw the homepage (not to mention that I am sure these properties get a massive boost in search results), I was worried. I thought, I need to be part of this or I'll be pushed down to the bottom of the searches, which is what happened when I wasn't using IB. Then I realised, even if I could get past the private bathroom for each bedroom criteria (which it seems some Plus hosts have), I'm never going to maintain a 95% acceptance rate and, frankly, don't want to.
So, for now, I'm just trying to forget about Plus. My bookings remain steady and I am getting as many as I can realistically manage. However, if they start to dive (like they did before I switched to IB), I might have to revisit Plus, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
How are your bookings? Are they still very slow or have they recovered at all?