Guests do not know if they book a whole place or a private room

Dori715
Level 1
London, United Kingdom

Guests do not know if they book a whole place or a private room

As a host it is a constant pain that guests don't know that they book a private room or a whole apartment as it is absolutely no clear to a guest if the listing is a private room only or a whole apartment. I keep hearing this from a lot of guests as well as hosts. Guests book these places and then when they realize they booked the wrong place (e.g.: private room instead of whole apartment), they lose their money as host do not offer refund or they only find out at the check in. THIS IS REALLY BAD and Airbnb should really do something about it! Guests read the details of the listing very rarely or even read the title. They usually check the pictures and do not filter on private room or whole apartment. This FILTER SHOULD BE MANDATORY!!! What do you think?

6 Replies 6

@Dori715   This is a non-issue if you keep Instant Book disabled and engage the guest in dialogue before accepting a booking.

 

That might cost some potential business, but it certainly reduces the stress level of the bookings that do come in.

Matt682
Level 9
Hednesford, United Kingdom

Has there been a change in the layout of the listing recently?

 

I never used to have this problem, but recently I’ve had a lot of enquiries confirming whether or not I live at home and whether it’s a room vs a house. You’d think people could take an educated guess based on the pricing, or using filters, but apparently not.

 

Normally you only see these surges when something changes and guests struggle with the new layout, which is why I’m wondering now…

@Matt682  There doesn't seem to be a new layout, I think there are just more clueless guests these days who do nothing more than look at the photos and the price. They don't think reading is required.

 

If I were you, I would work "Private room" into your listing title.

Dale711
Level 10
Paris, France

Hi @Dori715 

You’re right.

The guest doesn't care or carelessness about the listing detail. They don't read the title, description, even the host clearly described in the listing announcement.

Furthermore, after the booking, the guest is not aware of the check-in procedure; also, they do not respond to the host message.

I hope the Airbnb message can be motivated by the senders, as notifications the receiver has  ‘read’ like in a WhatsApp message.

 

Pete69
Level 10
Los Angeles, CA

You have to word your listing for the lowest common denominator of guests who merely skim over your description. I have a laundry list of disclaimers. Some things I mention more than once. Once guests book, I remind them to read my "Other things to note" section.

Dori715
Level 1
London, United Kingdom

Yes, it is very annoying, especially if they are absolutely careless to communicate with the hosts. A simple filter around stay type (whole home, private room, etc.) which is mandatory would solve all this, or a notification before booking that states that it is a private room for example.