I read today’s New York Times Article, “Airbnb Tries to Behave More Like a Hotel” (business section, Sunday June 18) and it helped me perhaps understand changes I was sensing with Airbnb. This article may shed some light on practices that impact my and your hosting future.
My puzzlement (and sense that something was changing) has been prompted by calls from friends unable to find my listing. I thought a technical error had dropped my listing and called Airbnb. Rather than finding that my listing had been dropped I started tracking it’s posting position, which I found often at the end of the string of listings. What I did notice was that “instant bookings” were the lead listings. And in searching for my listing, my search option was activated to instant booking, although I did not initiate that option. So what this article leads me to believe is since I do not allow “instant booking” perhaps it influences my listing position.
We all know Airbnb has grown big quickly and any growth organization is going to be responsive to changes. I applaud Airbnb’s oversight to see that guests have great stay experiences and support most practices with that goal in mind. I jump to defend Airbnb and also cringe when I hear guests’ stories about bad experiences (I even heard “ hosts as guests” stories that were unacceptable at last year’s Airbnb LA festival, like the guest/host who wasn’t allowed to have a key to enter her room).
However what concerns me in the article is what sounds like a push to HOMOGENIZE a guests’ stay and if so, I think Airbnb is missing a key insight into travelers. Some travelers want the predictability (and variety of choices ) that hotels’ offer and yet there are others who want a more personalized stay, which is what we as Airbnb hosts offer. That is a message I recall from Airbnb gatherings (SFO in 2014, Paris in 2015 and LA in 2016) that encouraged us as hosts to match guests expectations to our listing, yet this article seems to veer off and discourage those hosting practices.
At the first Airbnb “festival” in San Francisco in 2014, I recall hearing that Airbnb’s vision was to win the Nobel Peace Prize for bringing people together through personal sharing and interaction. My reaction was “wow thats lofty” and as a host I left feeling proud of that corporate vision. This article appears to debunk that vision and our role in helping to reach it.
