@Robin That is a snazzy looking rig you got there! I agree: To me, this is the true Spirit of Airbnb: Strangers entering a host's home, and, if open to the possibility of guest/host contact and community connection, being treated like family.
It seems to me that ABB has a marketing dilemma with the introduction of 'Plus'. As you say, 'Plus' presents on their website as being rather sterile and 'air-brushed' (this is no reflection of the hosts that own and operate the 'Plus' rentals; only guests of a 'Plus' home can comment on the actual experience - I refer only to Airbnb's presentation of 'Plus' rentals on their website), while the original ABB concept was strangers taking a chance on each other and both guest and host experiencing a sense of connection and belonging during the guest's stay ("Live like a local", and all that).
It seems to me, even (and especially) from the latest ABB homepage rolled out 2/22/18, that ABB is trying to be all things to all people - A worthy concept, but not a practical one. In my opinion, what ideally would have happened 2/22/18 is that Super Hosts who achieve a 'Beyond' Super Host status (95% 5 star reviews or above for at least a year - But using a WEIGHTED AVERAGE to calculate this percentage, versus the impossible-to-achieve-and-sustain bell curve) should have been elevated into the 'Plus' category - and the 'Plus' category should have focused on not only the accommodations, but on the hosting style.
But this did not happen, and my hunch as to why is that ABB would like to compete within the hotel / boutique hotel / vacation rental market and this means we hosts and even us super hosts are no longer seen as a 'value added'. We are nice to have around, in that we are a steady, reliable work-horse that can plow the fields of ABB while enhancing it's reputation and offering a steady revenue stream, but we are not seen as 'the future of ABB'. Because, apparently the future of ABB is Experiences, Concerts, and sterile, host-free environments that mimic boutique hotels and are bereft of community, connection, and caring contact. All the attributes and qualities that someone like you, Robin, exemplifies, as illustrated by the way you reached out to, and cared about, your current guests, appear not to be valued anymore by ABB. Or so it seems to me, at least in practice, if not in theory.
Given I was a VP of Marketing in Silicon Valley that consulted for a lot of fast-growing start-ups moving toward an IPO during the 'boom days', I feel I have a good sense of what might be happening in ABB's higher level meetings, and I have to say, I am more than a bit baffled by the direction they are taking. The obvious thing to do would have been to promote Super Hosts into higher levels of guest services and experiences (those that were willing); some might be more like boutique hotels with no host present, but others would be built around the possibility of a 'Social Stay', where community and caring between host and guest is not only celebrated and encouraged, but actively supported and encouraged by ABB (e.g., "Experience the further-most reaches of Australia with Super Host Robin!"). Instead, they are making 'categories' and filters for things like 'Social Stays'; this is a nod, of sorts, to their core values but falls short of utilizing Super Hosts in effective ways that might have further promoted ABB's desire to be seen as a trustworthy place to book a vacation, with reliable and also UNIQUE (not sterile) community-based, community-oriented 'products' - the sort of 'product' a Super Host produces and maintains (i.e., a 5-Star Overall Experience rental).
It is frustrating to watch ABB move down this path, because they had something so very special, so very unique to offer hosts and travelers alike - Something that is not so easy to find: Community. And that seems to be fast disappearing the 'Further' and more 'Beyond' ABB goes down this 'Infinite' path they are on. Maybe it's time for 'Major Tom' (David Bowie reference) to come back down to earth. Before it's too late.
