Fortunately, @Loretta126 didn't think that I was trying to sell her a timeshare and answered my Whatsapp call, and she walked me through how to find split stays. She told me to select a location, enter a date range, number of guests, and other filters that I feel are necessary for the stay. This will refine the search results to a manageable number.
For our walkthrough, I did the search on my laptop with the following criteria: Gros Islet, St. Lucia, September 1 to 8, 2 guests, entire space, 2 bedrooms, 2 beds, kitchen, wifi, air conditioning, pool, washer, and dryer. There were 98 listings returned on 8 pages. The first five pages showed normal results of individual listings. At the bottom of page 5 were the first set of split stay recommendations, and pages 6 through 8 only had split stays.
These are my observations, and pointing them out so that the feedback can be provided to the Airbnb product development team. Loretta and I were unable to decipher the criteria used to make the recommendations, because distance or areas were not consistently used. For example, the first two split stay results provided listings that are about a 30 minute drive apart, and each location represents a cross section of different St. Lucian communities and their offerings.
However, the third and fourth split stay recommendations provided listings that are essentially in the same area, and only a few minutes drive apart. Guests who stay in either place will go to the same places, eat and socialize at the same restaurants and bars, and do similar activities.
It was the sixth recommendation that had the longest geographical distance, and according to locals, offer a very diverse representation of St. Lucia.
Ironically, Airbnb also purposely suggested listings in the same community, and highlighted the close proximity as noted in title of the following search recommendations. Unless there was an issue, I don't believe many guests will plan a trip to travel all the way to St. Lucia so they can repack their luggage after a few days just to stay in another place down the road.
Strangely, the Shared Homes and Bed and Breakfast categories provided no results, and I know there are plenty of listings (well, at least ONE) that should be available during the dates entered, because it's low season on the island.
When I chose the Beach category, the results included places on other islands. Some people may think that's great, because it exposes the guests to more places. This is true, but I have met more than my share of people who are geographically challenged, and think that Jamaica is the entire Caribbean, and if they hear the name of another island it must still be in Jamaica. Or, that the entire archipelago is one country. There are plenty of folks who don't know that Guadalupe and Martinique are French Overseas Departments, the people are French Citizens, French is the official language, the euro is the currency used, and they follow Schengen Area regulations. It would be very unfortunate for a guest to book a place thinking that it's in St. Lucia, and fly to the island only to find out that their reservation is in a different country where they may not meet the immigration entry requirements.
Lastly, my place in St. Lucia, which I didn't find in any category, is a 5 minute drive from the St. Lucia Pidgeon Island National Landmark: https://slunatrust.org/sites/pigeon-island-national-landmark. I've been there several times, and it has been highlighted in numerous write ups and reviews. When I chose the National Park category, the only results were for listings in Guadalupe.
Again, these are not complaints, but I would like to see them addressed.