Airbnb Plus what exactly?

Kate292
Level 3
Saint Margarets Bay, United Kingdom

Airbnb Plus what exactly?

Feeling discouraged as a host seeing media coverage on the "Plus" scheme lauched today.  Firstly, I think the airbnb hosts' who offer easy, affordable, clean and simple accommodation are great and will continue to have a prosperous market: most guests are not looking for "luxury".  My concern is for those hosts that do aspire to be on the higher end of the market, what it means to be excluded from "Plus" category?

 

We were shortlisted for this back in November 2017 and to date have found the whole process to be a shamble. We underwent airbnb's photoshoot, inspection and "design consultation" (nothing more than a professional estate agent photographer with a letting tenancy style checklist). His only response was very informally, he believed we'd met all the requirements but would be better off waiting for airbnb's offical feedback and in the meantime I should google my questions as he didn't actually know anything about the Select/ Plus pilot. 

 

Despite doing so and requesting feedback, our Select/Plus  status has been "under review" with no updates whatsoever. Luxury is of course subjective,  but how can we aspire to coninuous improvement without any feedback? It is even more frustrating and discouraging to see updates in the press.  Thanks Airbnb for keeping us in the loop! From a small business point of view,  the lack of service and consequential loss of marketing as a result of being exluded from the "luxury category", makes me question whether all the airbnbs fees are worth it. I may deactivate my profile. 

 

 

 

 

57 Replies 57
Rebecca181
Level 10
Florence, OR

@Kate292 - Surprised to see no comments on your post. I watched the Global Q & A and there was an Airbnb exec speaking about Airbnb Plus and it's requirements. Wonder if you could get her name and send her an email asking her who you should contact for feedback. I myself wonder if the 'Plus' program was designed and rolled out mainly for hotels, boutiques, and property managers - 'Plus' serving as a 'Trojan Horse', so to speak. You might search on and take a look at Robin's post yesterday here in hosting that has something has 'money grab' in the title. Interesting discussion and you might share your experience on that thread. 

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Kate292

 

As you were part of the pilot, did you have to pay the £150 fee?

Kate292
Level 3
Saint Margarets Bay, United Kingdom

Due to it being a pilot, no-  I wouldn't pay a fee either, to be catagorised as "premium" for hosts and guests alike that's a bit of a false economy. 

Hi, we were asked to join the AirBnB Plus scheme and had a phone call yesterday to follow up as to why we had not replied.

 

I noticed that one of the requirements was to supply 5mbs/s internet, so I never bothered replying to the initial request, however after the phone call I was encouraged to put forward our 'case'.... We are in a rural location in South Africa, where data is expensive and not always available, that aside, we cater for people/families that want to experience the hedonistic delights of South Africa but also the peace and quiet of a farm style stay with a private garden and pool. Consequently intenet speed has never been an issue with our guests. We have even reduced the speed available, obviously to save us costs, but we saw this opportunity because our guests don't come here to surf the internet or download movies and to date we have had not one single comment let alone complaint about the internet speed provided. Having 'pleaded our case to the suggested email address; the reply from Lisa was ... 

 

'unfortunately it's not possible to get around the requirements on the checklist so unfortunately if you can't provide the 5mps WIFI then that listing would not be eligible for the Airbnb Plus program' ...

 

So it seems AirBnB Plus is only targeted at a very specific demographic, it doesn't matter if you provide the most awesome experience in the antarctic, the most luxurious accomodation in the Himalayas or a weekend away in space, unless you can provide 5mbs/s you are history. Is that really what AirBnB is all about and particularly what us lowly hosts have to strive for? Unique, quality, hosting is not the future, it is about just being another clone. Sadly I thought we were doing the right thing, apparently not.

 

Very glad that we did not fork out the 'fee'; I would strongly suggest that unless, you do or intend to, meet all their requirements, then this is not worth the effort because the 'rules' are set in stone, regardless of what unique experience you offer your guests. Please just be who you are and do what you do, the world has more than enough 'clones'.

Cor3
Level 10
Langerak, South Holland, Netherlands

Hi @Mike--Leonora-and-Samant0,

 

Unfortunately, companies such as Airbnb are all about numbers. And nothing else!

So when you don’t fit their ‘scheme’, you cannot opt-in.

 

But then again, there are many other sites. That would be happy to take you on board!

 

BTW @Rebecca181: The lady in question is called: Amber Cartwright, And she is a Design Manager at Airbnb.

 

Success!

I agree - yet more hoops for us long-suffering hosts to jump through. We also cannot meet a minimum 5mb download internet speed, which is not available anywhere in our area! When will Airbnb realise that one size does not fit all, that there are a myriad global locations with their own character and quirks. Character and quirks used to be what Airbnb was about! Staying somewhere 'real' not a 5-star hotel. I tell you, they are losing me !

Hi Cor,

 

yes you are absolutley correct, sigh... yet another dream shattered by commercial reality, but there again I suppose I am also guilty of that sort of commercialism in my own little way.

 

Keep well.

I have no internet at all, for several reasons. One being that if I promise to have it, and it doesn't perform adequately (or at all) the guests would be due a refund. As I am dreadful with techie stuff (modems? Help) I would set myself up for trouble. It is extremely rare that a guest wants it in my place anyway. So if you provided it, but it wasn't as fast as promised, you would have to refund too.

 

Rebecca181
Level 10
Florence, OR

@Cor3 @Kate292 @Mike--Leonora-and-Samant0 @Huma0 I have to say, I simply do not understand ABB's current business plan, even when I look at it through the current lens of the impending IPO. I do not understand making the entire new home page for ABB a gigantic billboard for 'Plus'. The typical ABB traveler is not looking for 'Plus', and the traveler who IS seeking 'Plus' will not be thinking of ABB as their first 'go to' website for that - It will take time to cultivate this 'new' target demographic. In the meantime, hardworking, earnest, and committed hosts (including hosts that share their personal homes) are being buried under the 'Plus' avalanche. Hosts in cities where 'Plus' has been launched have seen their bookings take a kamikaze nose dive - from 2 - 4 inquiries or IBs a day to absolutely nothing. Super Hosts and 'regular' hosts alike are feeling overlooked, de-valued, passed over, and alienated. Unique, interesting homes are being discounted in favor of sterile, de-personalized units that look like they emanated from the warehouses of 'Ikea', with a dash of 'Pottery Barn' thrown in. 

 

Like I've been saying elsewhere, I just don't get it. Does anyone?


Cor, thanks for the intel you provided!

 

 

Perhaps read some of the coverage on the experiences project which is still spinning, then turned out to not be making much money, but taking up a lot of space.

 

It is all a little baffling - above a certain price lies hotels, which offer the uniformity and reliability which Airbnb seems to now want to provide. The Airbnb home page would be better designed to allow the customer to decide if they want plus or regular Airbnb and expand and collapse them, not be forced to scroll through one to get to the other.

 

Or even just mingle them together. While I don't have the data, I would imagine most users first set a date, listing type and price range, and then switch to map view to figure out where in the city etc they would like to be. Only then do they look at the pictures.

 

Its almost like Airbnb want stop this workflow by hiding the map, adding ever more conflicting categories, and playing hide and seek with pricing (set max price to $100, and note nothing below $80 will appear). I would love to see the rationale behind the specs for some of these features.

 

 

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@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?

While we live in an expensive area and large house, the lower level apt we Airbnb doesn't really lend itself to plus 🙂

 

We have another rental which could, but to be honest Airbnb has become too random to risk a steady income on.  

Cor3
Level 10
Langerak, South Holland, Netherlands

Hi @Huma0,

 

A particular interest of mine: Did your page-view statistics took a nose-dive after 22 Feb?

As you are in a Plus Town.

On the other side, you already stated that you did not experience a decline in bookings.

So it shouldn’t have that much of an impact (yet). But then again, only a very small percentage in London is on Plus (Less than 0.4%).

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Cor3

 

It's hard to say really. I did notice that things were much slower for a week or two. However, I had not long since switched to IB and then gotten inundated with bookings. With most nights into the near future booked up, it would have been natural for both views and bookings to start to slow down, what with lack of availability impacting the search results.

 

I was worried, but then things picked up again a few days later and are going steadily for now. I don't have many unbooked nights in general, except one here and there because I don't accept one night stays (I have a two-night minimum).

 

That's not to stay that Plus WON'T affect me in future. I didn't use IB initially and it wasn't a problem, but over time, as AIrbnb pushed it more and more, I disappeared in the searches and my bookings almost ground to a halt. I had no choice but to go with IB and they immediately recovered. The same thing could happen with Plus, but the difference is I cannot turn on Plus instantly...