The new Airbnb host "dashboard" page is terrible. Change my mind.

[Willis8]

No, don't try to change my mind, you can't. It really is terrible. What were they thinking?

[Sarah977]

@Willis8  They just can't stop screwing around with  things, can they? Every time they redesign the hosting pages, for no apparent reason, leaving hosts to waste their time trying to figure out where the things they need have now been hidden, it's a step backwards.

Meantime there are glitches galore that they simply ignore or seem unable to fix.

[Brian2036]

@Willis8 @Sarah977 

It kind of looks like someone decided that the whole hosting side of the website was not complicated and confusing enough.

Perhaps too much information, but I nearly peed myself when I foolishly tried to check a few things before I got up to go to the bathroom.

That’s always a nice way to start the day.

[Stephanie]

Hiya @Willis8 ,

Welcome to the Community Center - I appreciate your honest opinion here. Could I ask you to give some more specific thoughts on what you don't like about the dashboard? Any suggestions on how it could be improved? 

Please add your thoughts too @Brian2036 @Sarah977

Thanks

[Mark26]

I discovered the changes yesterday when I attempted to update my calendars.  A simple process that could once be done with a few keystrokes and mouse clicks in less than a minute turned into a half hours worth of frustration, and I'm not certain that I was successful.   Again last night I needed to update a calendar, and thought perhaps because I'd worked through the new process earlier in the day things would be much easier, but no.  What was once a very user friendly interface has turned into something incomprehensible.    If the new program is designed to make things as difficult as possible, I think you've done a spectacular job.

There was nothing wrong with the old, straightforward calendar interface.  There is nothing positive I can say about the new calendar format.  The only "fix" I can recommend, is to get rid of the new program, and revert back to the old user friendly format. 

[Jennifer2682]

For starters, my dashboard is just flat-out incorrect.  Very first thing when I open it, it shows that I am currently hosting "0" and have no guests staying right now.  Tell that to the folks who are ACTUALLY staying right now.  It also says I have "0" guests coming soon.  Good thing I'm on top of things and know otherwise.  So #1, I can't trust it. 

#2 - All of the "opportunities" are super annoying.  Every single time I want to check on my performance, I am reminded to "allow pets at your place".  Even more annoying is that even if I wanted to allow pets (I don't), Airbnb refuses to acknowledge why they refuse to give hosts the option to add pet fees (and other custom fees).  I don't want to add a crib.  I don't want to give discounts for longer stays.  And I really don't want Airbnb making my life more complicated by cluttering up my page with their "suggestions".  

#3 - How about an easy way to look back and see what I charged on a particular date last year?  I would LOVE to be able to look at historical data that is applicable to my specific property. Simply being able to scroll BACK through the calendar would be awesome.  

#4 - "Next steps for you".  Airbnb wants me to "share more about your backyard".  Then I have to check whether my "yard" is fully fenced or not.  The house is in the woods and I don't allow pets.  What does it matter and why is Airbnb bothering me and wasting my time with this?  

#5 - Yes or No Questions such as:  "Does your place have beach access?  This means guests can enjoy a nearby beach."  Well, at my place, they can access the lake, but it's two miles down the road.  Does that count as "nearby"? Does the lake count as a "beach"? If I answer "yes" to this question, I can only imagine how many guests would think that meant "a sandy beach on the property" and how many of those guests would be upset to learn they have to drive 5 minutes to get to the lake's state park.  If I answer "no", guests may think they can't get to the lake at all.  So I can't answer the question at all and I just have to try to ignore it every single time I access my listing. 

At the end of the day, all I want is simple access to my inbox, calendar, and performance page without all the fluff.   

ays 

[Claudia-And-David2]

I must say she has a legitimate concern.  I did the same double take when I saw what you did.

OMG just leave it alone.  And I have several AIRbnb so its all askew.  I want to see who is leaving and who is coming in.

I woke up today to see you snuck in a guest and I had no idea he was coming.  Please dont make us all go somewhere else.  Are you over paid and think you need to be doing something with your time.  I have a retail shop Im trying to run solo !!! with a couple of bnb's while taking measures of peoples kitchens and bath and then designing the spaces.  Selling the cabinets and running a store.  Help is hard to find and guests are not.  They are every where and I would like to capitalize on that. 

Its hard enough to keep up with everything, reviews, repairs, ends and outs.  

Taxes, payouts.  To dog or not to dog.  

Calgon take me away!!!  Im sure you all are to young to know what that means.

[HomeGrown-HideAways0]

@Stephanie 

@Jennifer2682 and @Willis8  nailed it, especially the "Opportunities" nonsense. It's super annoying to see "68% of your opportunities haven't been completed." Guess it's gonna stay that way since I'm never gonna allow pets, add a crib/hairdryer/iron, or let people camp in my front yard for 28 days or more.

Mine current dashboard is showing zero reservations and I have 7 sites and 15 people booked on my farm right now. When I sent a fb message last night, it was suggested that I reinstall the app on my phone, but I've been "Downloading Airbnb Host" for 20 minutes and it's still at 0%. So great - now I can't even use my phone at all for hosting. I'm gonna have to run back and forth to my laptop multiple times a day so I can continue being a responsive host.

Yesterday, when it was still working, when I looked at TODAY, it just showed the person and the dates they were staying, but not which rental they are in or how many people. I have over 20 listings so knowing at a glance which ones need to be prepped and ready is pretty dang important.

______________________________________________________________________

Unrelated to the new (terrible) dashboard, but something I've been asking for years, is that hosts REALLY need the ability to have a date-specific inquiry option (something halfway between "Available" and "Blocked"). I prefer the ease of Instant Book, but if we have a large group wanting to book multiple rentals for a specific date, then I need the ability to screen those guests to ensure that they are members of the group that are booking. 

Hosts STILL need the ability for guests to buy gift certificates that work on the platform.

Hosts with more than 20 listings also need a special badge/criteria that's somewhere between Superhost and Plus. Maintaining 4.8 stars on a couple listings is one thing, but try keeping 2000+ guests per year that happy (and for 5 years straight). I'm a campground so I know my listings will never be "Plus" or "Luxe," but I do a really good job keeping guests happy and returning. Tools like the aforementioned group booking feature would be a fantastic perk for someone like me.

(Sorry to go way off topic, but in the name of time efficiency for a busy host, I figured I'd just throw it all in one place).

[Joanna656]

Can Airbnb please change the airbnb app splash page to inbox or calendar?
Since y’all changed it up, it’s always confusing to use when I first open the app.

[Nicky200]

I am new to Airbnb and picked up the issues with the dashboard and reported them, no resolution.  

When you get a new booking the Earnings update in less than 1 hour but  the number of nights booked and occupancy rates take about 2 days to update.  Given the frequency of bookings & cancellations a two day wait for the dashboard to update renders it useless.  It can only ever be meaningful if there is no activity for a few days.   Also, there shouldn’t be inconsistencies between the timing that different data points update.  

It honestly makes me laugh that all this inconsistent and out of date information  is found under the heading ‘insights’ 🤔😂

I did raise the issues but it seems Airbnb are happy to tell you it’s due to timing and not recognise that there is a fundamental issue with the dashboard.

[Nicky200]

Just to add to this July is now showing 29 nights booked (correct) and 3 nights unbooked, so 32 days in July??

knock on occupancy rates incorrect.

August earnings incorrect.

I feel for people with multiple rooms to manage.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Stephanie @Willis8 Can someone do a screenshot of the dashboard in question? I see many complaints that I don't agree with only to find I am on a different version of the dashboard and ours is then changed some weeks later.

[Willis8]

Screen shot attached.

My gripes about this design:

1. The biggest step backward for me vs. the old design is that it doesn't tell me about reviews that I need to write.

2. Very little space is used for things I actually care about: just the horizontal strip of information about upcoming reservations.

3. The upcoming reservations is presented as a horizontally-scrolling strip that can only display 4 items. Horizontal scrolling is never a great idea, but it's even worse in this case, because the UI is displaying upcoming events, and there is a canonical way for displaying those: a calendar. The card display forces me to go look at an actual calendar or do math to figure out what's happening. This is my thought process: "Okay, I have a check out on Nov 7. What day of the week is that...? It's Nov 3 today, and it's Wednesday, so plus 4 days... okay, it's Sunday. When's then next check in? Looks like Nov 8. That means I have to clean Sunday afternoon or evening." (I care about what day of the week it is because I can't clean in the afternoon on weekdays.)

4. For some reason the dashboard has highlighted a single incoming inquiry and nothing else. Last night I opened 3 months for booking and had four new reservations. But nothing about that on the dashboard except for the badge on Inbox telling me that I have 6 new messages.

5. The suggestions in "Next Steps for You" are inappropriate. A BBQ or fire pit? These are apartments on the 2nd and 3rd floor of a building; where am I going to put a fire pit? If you want to offer suggestions, fine, put them on some other page and link from the dashboard. Using lots of space for suggestions while making me go to the Inbox to find out if I have any new bookings doesn't make sense.

6. Similarly "Hosting Tips & Updates" is only occasionally useful and shouldn't be given so much space.

My advice: start with a calendar view of current and upcoming reservations across all properties plus a to-do list of things that need to be done immediately, like responding to inquiries and writing reviews, and go from there. Push back on the machine learning and content writing folks who want to showcase their work on the dashboard.

[Willis8]

Before someone mentions it: Yes, I know there's a calendar page. But it only displays one property at a time and doesn't call my attention to new bookings or reviews I need to write. But it is generally a good calendar and uses the screen real estate well. Just give me that, only with reservations for all properties, and use the space on the right for alerts and notifications instead of for useless suggestions. Apple's Calendar app provides a pretty good view if I import my Airbnb calendars: one property is blue and the other is green.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Willis8 Doyou not have the multi property calendar? If not switch on Pro tools from your account and try it out.