Am I the only person who *doesn't* want fancy photos of our listing?

[Catherine232]

We get constant suggestions to vamp up our photos, but frankly I don't WANT to make my place look better than it is. It has been my pretty consistent experience that the photos of Airbnb places we stay at completely distort the space and quality of the listing, and frankly are misrepresentative. That actually puts me off.

Our photos aren't ugly, but they are not "professional" and I'd rather, if there is any discrepency between our place and the photos, that people find it nicer. Ofc we don't go out of our way to make our home look uninviting, but the photos are ordinary, and our place is a true family home, not a high end listing. Our guests are generally happy, and we are totally full from May-September inclusive and mostly full the rest of the year.

[Sandra126]

If you mean the ''too dark'', ''too blurry'' I think it is because Airbnb want the site to show a bright crisp clean look to their site regardless of which listing a prospective guest is looking at. If you have photography which is deemed less good, I imagine the algorithm will slip you down the rankings eventually. Just a hunch. Feel free to have as bad and normal pics as you like, but make them acceptably crisp and bright!

[Catherine232]

We've never had any feedback about "too dark" and "too blurry" 🙂 So we haven't been flagged by Airbnb! But we have stayed repeatedly in places which have angled their photos so they look way better than they actually are! P.S. When I say "vamp up" I mean we get those offers to have a "professional photographer" come in and do photos for us for free.

[Sarah977]

@Catherine232  I'm with you. I got about half my photos marked "too dark" or "too blurry". Some could be a bit clearer, and I may retake them at some point, but my guests are certainly not put off by them. And some that are marked as such are not dark or blurry at all. A small, cozy room is never going to look like a huge, airy space,and if I did manage to make it look like that, it would be misrepresentation. I thought Airbnb wanted us to be "accurate".

One woman told me during her stay that when she found my listing, she passed her phone to her husband and said, "Look at this place, honey- I HAVE to stay here, I just have to!"

And at least half my guests, when I show them up to their room/bathroom walk in, look around, and say "Wow, this is WAY nicer than I expected- I think this is the most awesome Airbnb room I've ever had". 

So if my guests are pleased, and I'm getting as many bookings as I want, and airbnb is getting their service fees, all should be good, no?

I know Airbnb is wanting their site to look super slick for their prospective shareholders, but the shareholders should be far more concerned about the myriad host and guest complaints about dealing with airbnb, the flawed review system, and the bad PR from internet sites such as "airbnb hell". Otherwise they're posting pictures of a silk purse, with the lining of a sow's ear.

[Letti0]

@Catherine232  Right now I am dead in the water. Nothings going to get me a booking except maybe the Jazz feast in the next week or so or a BMT graduation. This is typical for my area though from September to October nothing then the snowbirds and families kick in and I'll get book out through next August usually last minute as I am one of the more high priced places. I have a photographer scheduled to redo my photo's but the weather, graduations, etc has pushed it of more times than I can remember any more and he was prepaid. I have removed some anemities off of my AirBnB listing since the new review process started, like you give them more than they expect when they show up it's the only way to get a 5 * rating now with the rating being based on as expected 3 *, a bit better than expected 4 * or much better than expected 5 *. So sad we need to play these things, but it is what it is. 

[Catherine232]

Ugh! I hadn't thought to remove amenities, but we do have lots of little touches that are not detailed in our listing, and go all out in the kitchen supplies department, so most people are pretty happy. We advertise as a family friendly place, and mostly get families. So, although we're not cheap, for a family with a few kids, we have lots of space, mountains of games and books, big kitchen and lots of supplies. For example, we list as providing basic cooking supplies, and someone recently reviewed us and said we  provided way beyond the basics. In the bathroom we provide toothpaste, shampoo, soap, razors, pain meds, dental floss, and ear plugs. As well as regular soap we put in a bar of nice L'Occitane soap.

Although I'm competitive, and would resent losing Superhost status, it does seem the recent adjustments make it likely that a bad review will drag us down. I've decided if/when, I won't care. We got lots of bookings before being Superhost, and hopefully we will continue to do so. But honestly, people will whinge about the most ridiculous things, while being selfish asshats. Bah humbug!

[Paul154]

Brava @Catherine232 

There really is a niche for "just plain old good housing"

Amateur, not slick, but just what people need. 

When I choose Airbnb, this is what I want.

[Catherine232]

Same! My daughter and I stayed at a little place in Chicago last year. We were counting our pennies so stayed out of the city (45 mins to an hour to get in by transit) in an apartment that was subdivided into multiple bedrooms, had several other guests, and in which the kitchen and bathroom were not very clean (nor was the bedroom, really). Amenities were pretty minimal (dollar store). However, it was very cheap, perfectly adequate, the host was a delight, and it wasn't dangerous to our health. We loved being in the neighbourhood with lots of friends people/families. It made us feel we were seeing the "real" Chicago.

[Mark116]

I agree, especially with the new question of was it better/same/worse than you expected. 

We have also the same experience with renting airbnbs that despite not being technically inaccurate, the photos have been misleading, making the space look more glamorous/larger/slightly different, than the reality-- which does cause a letdown. 

[Ned-And-Laura0]

I think there is a way to show the place it the best possible way without being dishonest or having the guest feel dissapointed.  But I know what you mean, I have stayed in airbnb's that looked amazing and then I walked in and I was like...um, is this the same place?  That's not good and it makes me want to leave a less then stellar review.  Your photos seem fine, well lit and in focus.  Although how tall are you?  A few of the photos are at an odd downward angle, almost like somebody is standing on a chair and 1/3 or more of the photo is just of the floor and the wall is cropped off half way up.  Try bending the knees and taking photos straight on.  Not all are like that, but a few are....just my $0.02 and I don't think it would be dishonest to try and show the entire room floor to ceiling in one photo. 

[Dale7]

It sounds like you are happy with the number and quality fo the guests you get.  I'd say that is what success looks like.  You make clear what the home is, and you say "family friendly" which makes it clear you aren't a swanky hotel.  I'd say relax, and don't worry about what AirBnB thinks about your photos, but about the experience people have when they stay with you.