Features

[Nuno-Y-Daniel0]

Hi, 

This a thread for leaving some wished features that you would like to see on Airbnb.

Idea: To be possible to change the minimum of nights for specific periods on the calendar. This could be applied between 2 bookings already confirmed the nights left are below the minimum set.  

Feel free to share your thoughts! 

Warm regards, 

Daniel 

[Helga0]

Kelly, like minds! Our comments crossed each other. Let's start lobbying for Minimum Total Amount and change of this misleading Cleaning fee name. Before I called it something like Set-up and administration fee and it was a fee always kept even in case of long term cancelling with full rent refund.

[Nuno-Y-Daniel0]

@Kelly1 Never thought about that issue in the case of "cleaning fee" but it actually may seems a daily service. But also is also a quite standard service and the price should reflect one time cleaning.

Till now the guests i had made an effort to live everything clean up. I think is more a guest problem! Or either they are themselves clean or not. I get more problems when get younger or huge groups. 

I have stayed in other Airbnb hosts with strict rules about cleaning. Specially in nordic countries. Till the extreme "please leave the house as clean as you found" and then charging you 60€.  In this case cleaning price was even higher then average but i definitely got the message! 

My suggestion is to put this clear in house rules. That's not a daily cleaning service and to leave the house as you found. To make your point of view you can let them know where's the garbage (and bags) when showing the apartment. 

About the total amount price this could work great but you could end up loosing bookings for 10, 5....1€. If you set a minimum price for night then you can set a minimum number of nights to give your minimum total price. 

[Kelly3]

It is more a guest problem?? Well, no - if I(or my cleaner who I pay for) am the one who has to deal with that mess, it is not only their problem.

I have hosted more than 2000 guests and tried many different ways in my 5 years of hosting - the best message worked was "I waved cleaning fee cause I expect you to clean the place before check out. If you don't clean up after yourself, I will charge the cleaning fee." 

When I charged some cleaning fee, it was very much of a hassle as well - when I claim the extra cleaning fee through resolution center, they would argue that I already charged the cleaning fee, etc. Bigger the amount, more toubling with cleaning as well. With smaller cleaning fee, I get more shorter term bookings. This is why I don't like the term cleaning fee.

And you really need to know (if you don't know, you are soooo lucky and I really envy you) that guests don't read House Manuals/Rules anymore......

[Nuno-Y-Daniel0]

@Kelly thats part of the business. As there are some guests that leave the flat cleaner others dont. Your price should reflect that. I dont give money back either when the guests leave the place spotless. They could argue that too.

As i dont believe in luck sure i am doing something different. They get the rules 4x. One in the listing. 2nd when booking. 3rd after booking through email and 4rd when showing the place. Lucky gives a lot of work!

[Helga0]

I charge a one time fee on the apartment rentals which I would like to have called anything else but cleaning fee and I ask them to leave the place as they found it. In the South in Summer, they have to wash some laundry too, otherwise it's not possible to rent with only a few hours turnover. That works as it is the local custom and people are not stupid either. In Paris, I never accept same day turnover of the whole flat, ideally only one period rented, not guest after guest. I do not really care if I have to clean 2 hours or 6. Some guests are extraordinary and Mrs. Monk does not find a single thing to clean. Some guests are horrible and I get furious if the apartment is inhabitable before cleaning and the kitchen a sanitary hazard. Very annoying if I arrive late and can't and I mean absolutely can't, no way at all, go to bed before spending a few hours to remove biohazard material from bed, kitchen and bathroom to be able to even change the sheets or step barefooted into the bathroom. Very annoying at 3am, but in the end, if nothing is broken and no permanent stains anywhere expensive, I don't charge them extra. Only for laundry loads over one or two (depending on number of guests), I have a fee in the rules. Mostly to avoid that they use all towels and sheets
I don't ask for extra fees or refund normally, only if furious; but as I raised the prices, I thought about a Good Behaviour Bonus to send special guests 😉

For the bed business: no fee, immediately scolded if chaos starts, no more problems. Small gifts at departure for very nice guests, the good behaviour bonus after all.

[Helga0]

Daniel, what you suggest sounds very complicated to obtain the same results I wish.
Let's say to make ith worth having a cleaner come in before and after a stay and hand over the keys, I need a minum total amount of 300 (including airbnb fees). Room price in low season is 60 and 30 cleaning fees.
So I set a minimum of 5 nights as a strict requirement.
Let's s say a business traveler comes for 3 or 4 nights. He wants a kitchen, wifi, a printer, a big screen for the laptop would be nice too. No hotel room at 75 offers that.
If he goes for 3 nights, he can't book as the data base is set to a strict no.
It would be very easy to have a minimum price set and instead of the strict "No" comes up an alert: your request is for 3 nights, totallying to 210 Euros plus service fee. The host asks for a minimum price of 300 Euros plus service fee and preferss a minimum of 5 nights. 3 options: Add more nights / go ahead at the minimum total price for 3 nights only / book another place (flips back to the results). That also suggests that haggling won't work and we could even switch on IB on such a listing.

[Nuno-Y-Daniel0]

@Helga0 this would be the best option and would like to have this as well. But this not the same thing. Is something a little more complex to put in action.  Is to change the price depending the number of nights. Charge more for less nights. Honestly for 1-2 nights to be worth it becomes quite expensive for the guest (my flat). Although this a decision of them to accept it or not. But in my case (in this terms) it would become to much close (or higher) then a hotel. 

Anyway this clearly seems an option that most of hosts would like to have. Is sure an Airbnb benefit decision to go ahead with this or not. 

In terms of Airbnb not sure to be good to them in future.  

[Nuno-Y-Daniel0]

[Reviews] 

Accuracy, Communication, Cleanliness, Location, Check In, Value

I have listen many opinions from other hosts about how the reviews sometimes mislead the guests, are wrongly misinterpreted or is ambiguous.

One of the histories is about "Location" of 2 bedrooms in the same house, one average rating of 5 and other of 3. Location is a physical position, there's nothing to do about that. Is in the same place to every guest. Other thing is #Neighborhood# it's more open to different opinions. 

Communication  and Check in, is very unclear what's about. It can become very subjective and they are very similar. Mostly I pay more attention to check-in (rather then communication). I don't care too much about communication if i do get in the apartment. Even though some people don't speak the same language they tend to make to be understable, it's human nature and is part of the experience.

And then...there's #HOSPITALITY# that i think is more about what airbnb represents, and a 5* hospitality would say most everything about the stay. This could be a great criteria, is would push hosts for delighthing the guests to other level. 

[Donna51]

I am not a fan of "value" as it's totally subjective and in comparison to too many unknowns, so I'd like it either restated as something more specific or removed. Unless they've stayed at other Airbnbs in the same city/location, this has almost everything to do with individual expectations that we hosts can't manage (beyond a detailed property description, which believe me, I have!).

I've been a Super Host since the first assessment period and consistently rank well above other hosts in my area, but I still see this "value" vary too much and I have no idea of how to set expectations. Compared to a hotel, my place is an unbelievable value. Plus, I'm in a highly desirable, albeit out-of-city-center, location where there actually aren't hotels; a free dedicated parking space is also an unusual feature I have. Still, I have no idea why some guests rate me lower (relatively) on "value."

Would like to see this changed.

[Nuno-Y-Daniel0]

Hi @Lizzie got to see that's possible to embed the airbnb listings in another site (through html). Never got to see this earlier but it could be better for bloggers or site owners to do the same with "Invite friends". It could lead for more visitors as they invite them friends as well 🙂

[Nuno-Y-Daniel0]

@Lizzie i was about to change prices for weekends throughout the year but got to notice that i can insert a value. As the weekends change a lot from season it would make more sense to do it in percentage as weekly/monthly discounts in the same page menu ("Prices"). That way we could set the weekends for +10,15,20% than the week days...and apply to all the year long. 

Sincerely, 

Daniel 

[Nuno-Y-Daniel0]

@Lizzie it would be great to allow guests to send some postcards to past guests! We often don't have this info about there address but sure airbnb as. The thing is, lately i am geting some bday booking presents through airbnb. Bdays seems to be a great way for geting some more bookings in low seasons. It would be great to get both features together: postcards + bday offers. 

I honestly never got a newsletter from Airbnb to my bday in advance but it would be great to know that some past hosts could offer me some kind of discount in this date. 

Well got another idea now....not just i am geting some bookings offered for bdays as I already offered to a friend a 4 days for a wedding in another city.

Is Xmas...what is so common to see on this dates? Coupon offers from some brands. It would be great if I could  airbnb coupon present to someone. 

There's some affiliate programs like "Invite Friends". Why not "Offer your best friend a weekend" / "Offer a weekend".

PS: Thank you for the postcard* 

[Lizzie]

Hello @Nuno-Y-Daniel0,

Thanks again for all of your suggestions, I really enjoy reading them - it is so positive.  

I really love you ideas about sending postcards/cards to your previous guests and/or birthday offers, I am sure there are lots of imaginative little extras you can do here. Though, I imagine that due to security reasons and consent from the guest that it wouldn't be possilble to provide hosts with their addresses. 

I have seen that there is another thread about Airbnb Christmas cards, as far as I'm aware it doesn't appear that these are available this year, but I will pass this over to the team as it seem to be really popular with hosts within the CC and I think it's a lovely idea. 

Thanks so much Daniel. 🙂

[Nuno-Y-Daniel0]

@Lizzie will check that out. About address pricacy you are right but bday date could be easily to set a reminder for there birthday. 

Is any way to offer a coupon on airbnb? I do know that you can offer a different price after a request and that Airbnb gives some coupons but can I create one? This could easily solve that in many ways! 🙂 Why can't I offer a coupon discount to use in the future to a old host ?

Thanks for your thoughts once more!*

[Deb0]

I agree with @Nuno-Y-Daniel0, would love to see a coupon code hosts could offer repeat guests for incentive to rebook. It would be great to have this and other marketing tools to play with.