New category honoring Airbnb's original intent

[Leslie7]

With specialized collections like Plus and Family, I wish that Airbnb would create a new category for the unique, individually owned types of listings that started the whole thing. It appears that the majority of listings are now investors and people with multiple properties who have no real emotional connection to hosting. It seems more and more the personal appeal of staying in a unique, individual space is disappearing. The advent of Instabook, professional management hosts, and people buying or building places specifically to be vacation rentals, has changed the culture dramatically. My husband and I travel a lot, and we use Airbnbs for the experience and feeling of being a guest in someone's home, rather than the impersonality of a hotel. We usually like to stay in a place that is a whole house type listing, but it used to be that meant a little guest house on someone's property, a basement apartment, or possibly a little place that someone rents out because they got married and combined households. Now it's getting harder and harder to find places like that having to wade through listing after listing of professional rentals. I wish Airbnb had a category for listings that still reflected the sharing economy that started Airbnb. I'm not doing a very good job of explaining what I mean, but I'm pretty sure most of you know. Maybe someone will start a new homesharing platform that honors that smaller, personal feeling, and will strive to be more like Airbnb was in the beginning. If so I'll be the first in line.

[Olivier291]

@Francesca-and-Dave0,

These 3 properties are all mine (in the meaning of MY private homes). Personal touches provided, personal connection and even vulnerability are the same!

It's quite easy to determine if the listing is a commercial or a private one just looking at the pictures. We could also set in the listing parameters if we (hosts) are available for social interaction with guests, discrete but available if necessary or not available. Commercial hosts informations are also clearly displaid directly on the host profile and even on the listing.

But you are right about " there are plenty of guests now who prefer not being in someone’s home.", this is not the type of guests I want to host.

The initial "Live as a local" turned into "home away from home" and to "belong anywhere". There is a total gap between the site branding and the reality: the site is accepting high volume professional hosts, hotels, companies with more than 100 listings, all over the world (easier to deal with rather than with tons of individual hosts), created (paid) Experiences (something most of us here are providing for free to our guests), Plus category (only the listing matters, host doesn't), building its own residences (with dozens of cloned ikea/heavenly designed flats and 24/24h reception), etc.

Unfortunately the initial qualification of "Sharing economy" no more applies to Airbnb since a long time. 

[Davidand-Julie0]

We like the old school  home sharing concept. We use our air bnb guest house for family friends and new friends we meet through air bnb, never will we  be a hotel with instant book smart key door men, I like to met and greet each of or guests. Let their children  play in our fields, with our chickens etc. Call the category Old Skool maybe

[Ben551]

Slightly off topic, but it sounds like this will become academic soon, in my little corner of the world. It’s looking like there will only be the original category left here.

Councils are looking seriously at putting barriers and disincentives in place to reduce, limit, and control all the kinds of STR that aren’t a part of someone’s primary residence. It’s part of the government plan to deal with the NZ housing crisis. So, in that sense, there will likely only be the original type of Airbnb left standing.

Dunedin council already sent letters to many Airbnb hosts telling them they needed to apply for resource consent, which forced many to close.  My own city has announced plans to do the same, plus there have been public submissions (so many!) asking the council to add commercial rates and taxes to STR hosts.... which they are considering.

Changing times... 

[Miki5]

@Ben0 I’m afraid that fits in perfectly with the mega corporation’s strategy. They tend to zoom into markets where the original hosts are being wiped out by tough legislation, leaving a void in the market place. They buy up, or rent places by the hundreds, with the cash and connections to pay for, or obtain all the correct licencing etc. Then they flood the market with hugely discounted rates to squash whose left. It’s happening in my market now and will be coming to you soon. 

[Susan17]

Perfect analysis, @Miki5, as has already been proven, again and again over the past several years, in a multitude of heavily regulated cities worldwide - the small traditional hosts are the sacrificial lambs on the altar of global domination, while the big players escape unscathed, and continue to flourish and prosper, unhindered.

This deception has been taking place on an epic scale for some time now and hasn't happened overnight, but despite the evidence all around them, many small hosts are still  flatly refusing to see, ot accept, what's going on right under their noses. By playing straight into Airbnb's hands, and continuing to blindly defend the company against the indefensible,  small, traditional hosts are literally complicit in their own demise. We have only ourselves to blame for the situation we now find ourselves in - when we all should have been standing together to shout "STOP! Enough is enough!", everyone was too busy covering their own arses and taking care of Number 1, to see - or care - that what hurts one host, ultimately hurts all  hosts. 

[Miki5]

@Susan17 You know who I learned this from, right. ; )

[Marilyn43]

@ Leslie I couldn't agree more, and gave this feedback to Airbnb in the survey. I feel the original idea has gotten totally lost. The attitude of guests has changed in the 3.5. years I've been hosting. A lot of them norw arrive with the idea that their stay will be equivalent to the local Motel or Hotel rather than in someone's home. They tend to complain about 'little things' and downrate as a result, rather then looking at the unique experience they are offered. I offer Farmstay and have 185 acres with native wildlife, birdlife etc. It is quiet, peaceful, beautiful etc. etc. and I serve, to their table each morning, a cooked breakfast of bacon, eggs, tomatoes, toast and fruit juice. I welcome each group of guests on arrival, show them around and wave them off when they leave. In spite of all that is offered, again and again I get downrated because they have no phone signal and I don't offer them Wifi. These things I state on my listing but they book anyway!!!!  I am becoming more and more disillusioned with the pressure on Hosts by Airbnb and the lack of support for us. Also, I have reported a couple of guests who really should not still be listed and yet they are.

[Heather133]

This resonates with me a lot! I host for a real estate office and have a wide variety of listings. Some are hotel perfect, some are peoples homes with unique artwork and belongings in them. I have been thinking about this because of the different homes AND different guests I'm experiencing. I've been thinking about the concept of Airbnb Classic a lot for two reasons.

I have had recent guests who were Airbnb hosts themselves who thought there was way too many personal items (photographs etc, not dirty sneakers or anything like that) in one of my listings. They told me so when they dropped off keys. I told them I thought it was a nice reminder that it was someone's home and that "old school" Airbnb guests very much appreciate that. It made me think we need a category for Airbnb Classic Guests as well as Classic Homes - those who want and appreciate a real home and aren't looking for a hotel-like experience. 

Frankly, I'm finding new Airbnb guests harder to please. I really appreciate the guests who have been using it for a while and understand they are staying in individual homes with individual idiosyncracies.

[Darryl-and-Bridgette0]

We have been hosts for 4 years and , yes, most of our listings (8 of 10) are located in an apartment building we own. The other 2 listings are in half of a 4 plex condo building where I live in the other half. However, we are certainly NOT detached hosts. We are on-site at both properties every day and what we provide meets a specific need: a large number of our guests are single female travel nurses who need a safe, quiet, economical and dependable place to stay for 13 week travel assignments close to the 3 area hospitals. I personally decorate all of our units and have a full-time on-site cleaning woman who lives on the property to help us maintain the level of service we want to provide our guests. Obviously, we are locals (not absentee investor-owners.) So, while I agree with the premise of the idea that started this thread, I do also want to represent the class of "investor-owner-host" that has fully embraced the heart of what the Airbnb platform provides: community, accountability, transparency and equality for hosts and guests alike. 

[Brenda389]

I’m disappointed on rating system, I had two guest and gave me 5 stars in all categories plus a great review yet overall gave me 4 stars?  And Airbnb listed as 4 stars!  This is unacceptable rating then drops as many have stated my studio has everything plus in Center of everything for very cheap!  What do people want Ritz Carlton, thinking of trying different platform!

[Susan1028]

@Leslie0

Thank you for articulating something that’s needed it’s own thread for quite some time.

Unique home stays and personal touches are what built airbnb and its what’s also created a steady steam of return guests to my cottage. Pre-stay/booking Communication has been essential to the success of our listings and airbnb’s success.

I think we need our own category so new and repeat guests can search specifically for what we offer...or I hope someone creates a new platform that does because there are millions of us who do offer this all over the world.

”Glamping” has created its own genre, although it doesn’t serve as large a demographic as we do.

Ive personally sought out this “classic” accommodation experience several times in the last year and between algorhythm errors and the flood of mass listers and commercial properties, it’s taken so much  time to wade through the other kinds of listings, I booked my “classic” through a different platform.

I offered this feedback to airbnb in several ways and received no response or one that was not useful.

Airbnb could create this new category as easily as they create new review categories  and policies that have confounded us.

How do you suggest we get their attention?

[Miki5]

 IMO we don't  need a term like "social housing" or whatever term someone comes up with. It's the corporate hosts who should be put into a category like boutique hotels, or something. We should not be a sub category. We are the originals. 

[Suzanne-and-Gordon0]

I agree wholeheartedly!  I don't think the overly friendly, sloppy or any other underperforming hosts would be a problem because guests ratings would sort them out organically within the category.   Great idea though and hopefully we will be heard without requiring thousands of hosts to post their support. Airbnb have historically heard the voices and responded, so fingers crossed they're working on a new category as we speak!

[Carmen785]

@Leslie7 I completely agree! I think most of the listings managed "professionally" rarely(if ever) meet the promise of "live like a local" & are just budget-subpar hotel experiences.  Basically offering the worst aspects of both worlds- 1.an impersonal stay + 2.unreliable quality standards

[Miki5]

Added to what everyone has said - corporate owned listings have an unfair advantage. They can buy up property in large quantities, pay all the legislative fines and handle the paperwork. They also have deep enough pockets to put their listings on the market, at rock bottom prices to try and drive away competition. I hear they have signed agreements with ABB that offer them more favourable Terms and Conditions. They really should not be in the same search results as the rest of us. I'm sure there are guests who would be happy to financially support the small residential hosts who correspond to the hosting portrait upon which ABB build it billion-dollar brand. To stand by and watch us be blasted with legislation, while at the same time facing the kind of market competition that could wipe us all out in a few years, seems cruel.