Superhost award suggestion

[Boris145]

Hi everyone, 

This is my first post here in the airbnb community 🙂 I am not sure if this has ever been proposed, but I would love for AirBNB to have some sort of an annual award/recognition plaque for superhosts but for each and every city. As far I know, AirBNB has an anual award, but it combines all countries and cities into one competition, but in my opinion it is a bit unfair since a city like Yerevan Armenia would not even come close to competing to a host with a massive villa in Hawaii, so having an annual superhost award per city/country would mean the world to some of us. Maybe even have the plaque mailed to the host by Fedex, since not everyone can attend a superhost conference in Paris, I think that's where it was held the last time 🙂

cheers

Boris

[Ana1136]

@Boris145 becoming a Superhost isn't a competition between hosts 🙂 It is merely meetings the requirements clearly stated on Airbnb. On the contrary, I feel it is only fair to be the same for everyone. Is your only request to have a plaque mailed to you? In what way do you feel you are competing with a host in Hawaii for exaple. You can easily make your own plaque if that means so much to you. 

[Boris145]

@Ana1136 I don't want to make my own plaque, what a ridiculous idea 🙂 I know that Airbnb has a host award that is presented each year at an AirBNB open conference. I was just suggesting that instead of one big award, it would be better to have an award per country or city if the city is big enough.

[Ana1136]

@Boris145 you are contradictory with your first statement. You first say that hosts in each and every one city shoul be treated the same and now only those in the bigger cities, the very same thing you opened this thread  to give your opinion about. I was serious about the plaque, if you want it - make it. I don't see why id that so ridiculous. And it is for your personal satisfaction only, guests already know that they are staying with a superhost. 

[Boris145]

@Ana1136 The reason why I mentioned bigger cities was that it may not make economic/financial sense for AirBNB as a business to have this in a small city, in which case maybe a statewide award or a countrywide. My post was exactly for the reason of being fair, hence why I want the award to be assigned per country or city and my example of Hawaii vs Yerevan does make sense, I am just having a hard time explaining it to you. I know some people go above and beyond for their guests and I want them to get recognized for it. My dad, for example, let a family stay in his car overnight, because they didn't want to spend extra money on a hotel since they have arrived very early and we've had prior guests and had walked home for 2 hours at the middle of the night. Some hosts personally meet and greet each and every guest at the airport and drive them back to the airport upon check out, even it's 5 am 🙂 Some other host I know drove a family with a child back and forth to the hospital when the child got sick. I think such actions deserve some sort of recognition beyond a superhost status. I know some superhosts who aren't even willing to keep guests' luggage beyond the check out time, but they are still superhosts.  You can become a superhost by simply meeting some requirements, just like you've said, but some hosts go beyond those requirements and I think they should be recognized for it.

[Boris145]

@Ana1136 I've written such a long message explaining what I meant a little better, but somehow it didn't post and I don't have a copy of it. I wasn't contradicting myself whatsoever. The idea behind small cities vs big cities was from the economic standpoint for AirBNB as a business. It may not make sense for them to have an award for a very small city with only a handful of listings, just like they don't have experiences running in every city at the moment. You didn't quite get what my suggestion was, but hopefully, someone will 🙂 But thanks for contributing!

[Stephanie]

Hi @Boris145 ,

I think that's a pretty cool idea! What sort of criteria would you judge the superior superhosts on?

Thanks,

Stephanie

[Boris145]

@Stephanie We can think of some way to do it. Just to mention few things. We personally meet every guest at the airport and give them ride back to the airport upon checking out for free and at a very late night like 3-4 am sometimes 🙂 . I know a host who had spent 10 hours in the hospital with the guests and their kid when the kid contracted a virus. Another time, guests had arrived very early and our previous guests were still in the apartment. The newly arrived guests didn't want to spend any more money on hostels, so my dad offered them the car and they slept in it for 5 hours and my dad walked home at the middle of the night with no street lights (they are a luxury here lol). I see how my parents go above and beyond the super host status and I am sure there are thousands of hosts who do the same. Just want some sort of a solution for them to feel extra appreciated other than making my own plaque. 

[Helen3]

Hello @Boris145 

Have you thought about setting up a host group for your country or city,

For example we have one where I live on Bristol on Facebook.

This group could then vote for superhosts who go over and above and have a ceremony/give out awareds.

[Boris145]

I wish I had the time to do it 🙂 Hopefully, someone else would pick up on the idea.

[Sarah977]

@Boris145  That my guests are pleased with what I offer and leave lovely 5* reviews is award enough for me. I do all kinds of little extras for guests and they always express their appreciation. I'm not sure why anyone would need more recognition than that, nor would I want to see hosts pitted against each other for the distinction of who went out of their way more.

[Boris145]

Yea, see you're putting some sort of a negative spin to it. My thought is more along the lines of friendly competition. Restaurants have awards, hotels have awards.. it's all good and fun. But yea, you can opt out from them if you'd like 🙂 Plus, you're competing whether you like it or not by creating a catchy title, description and offering lower prices than the competitor host. 

[David6]

@Boris145 I think some  hosts who have been hosting for years - like myself - really scale back on their offer after finding guest after guest abused their hospitality. I stopped serving basic breakfast after some guests ate 4 meals a day in my home (including a midnight feast) and even packed meals to take on day of checkout. I had guests slam their room door in my face after I met them as a huge favour  for a 9am checkin. Our check in is 5pm.  They were tired apparently. Another time I Ok’d guests to leave their bags, explaining they please were not to enter apartment as it would be fully prepared for our new guests arriving that night. But they took showers . Used the new guests’ towels and left the toilet in disgusting condition. The new guests arrived and of course went crazy. Do I need this grief? No! So I offer a good fair price and nice clean room. A service i would like when I am a guest. But not all the extras. I admire these hosts you mention. But in London at least it’s pointless to be a doormat host.

[Boris145]

@David6 I understand you completely. We've had really bad experiences as well. We've had a guy relieve himself onto bathroom mats because they were soaked in urine when we came to clean. Possibly was drunk and didn't make it to the bathroom? God knows.. But, honestly, only around 10%-20% are like that, rest are amazing experiences so we don't let that discourage us and degrade our service. Basically, I am thinking of it as cost of doing business.