Laura’s Letter: What I learned staying with private-room hosts

[Laura_C]

May 20, 2019

Hi everyone,

Congratulations to all of you who achieved or maintained your Superhost status in the April assessment! The longer I’ve worked at Airbnb, the more I realize what an incredible accomplishment being a Superhost is. Thanks to all of you for providing wonderful experiences for guests around the world, and for setting the standard for hospitality for Airbnb.

As many of you know, my role at Airbnb is to look after the team that builds products, community, and resources for home hosts like you. When I joined Airbnb last July, one of my top priorities was to quickly immerse myself in the world of hosts and hosting—in particular, to learn more from some of our amazing hosts (and Superhosts!), gather some great tips from them, and bring those back to our host community (and our teams here at Airbnb). There’s nothing quite like firsthand experience, so as part of my journey, I decided to stay in a private room once a week. I have three small children at home, so it was a pretty big commitment, but it ended up being such a delightful experience in some fun and unexpected ways. I’m excited to tell you about what I’ve learned over the past few months.

Getting to meet Superhosts like you was one of the highlights of my recent adventures staying in private rooms. There are more than 161,000 Superhosts who share private rooms on Airbnb— that’s 29% of all Superhosts. And private-room listings are popular with guests, too. In 2018, tens of millions of bookings were in private rooms, which was a significant share of all bookings on Airbnb. Private-room hosts and listings are a really important part of our community.

I had 3 goals for my private-room stays

1. Experience variety (staying at listings with different price points, and different types of hosts: new, Plus, Superhosts, etc.)
2. Have personal interactions (I reached out to hosts ahead of time and invited them to chat with me more about their experiences, and share thoughts on how we can help them more)
3. Gather learnings (What was my experience as a guest? How can we support hosts more? What is the host doing brilliantly that other hosts can learn from?)

So, what did I learn? Well, the first big takeaway was that we need to do more to help you better set guest expectations (which can help with better reviews). This is something that’s really important for all hosts but absolutely crucial for private-room hosts, many of whom share a bathroom or kitchen with their guests. On our end, I think that starts with categorization. How can we better differentiate different types of listings on Airbnb (need a room in a castle, anyone?), especially as we begin to welcome more bed-and-breakfasts and boutique hotels alongside homes and rooms? How can we help you make it clear to guests that there are cats in the listing? (I am much more of a dog person than a cat person, but I have to admit that I made friends with many cats during my stays!)

Next, I learned many things about what can make a stay great from a guest’s perspective. I appreciated a lot of different things—clarity on where I could go and what I could use (shampoo? fridge space? through that random unmarked door?) was a big deal. Having some information from the host on who else was going to be in the house was also hugely reassuring. Knowing the hours of the other people in the household was also great so that I could be a respectful guest (I get up early, and always wanted to be thoughtful of not waking up everyone else in the house!).

In fact, many of you have already shared some wonderful tips for hosting a private-room listing here in the Community Center. (This thread really impressed me, and I enjoyed the comments on this article, too). I’d love to continue to hear from you on this subject, and I’d love to learn more about what we can do to help you as private-room hosts succeed. Please tell me your suggestions in the comments, below.

And finally, and perhaps most importantly, I was reminded again of what an incredible community of hosts we have. I met one host who started hosting so that she could have more flexibility to support her children with special needs, and another who took a big pay cut to follow their heart and work in the non-profit sector … hosting helped them have the financial flexibility they needed to make that move. I met one host who has developed extraordinary relationships with her guests (many of whom come back often to visit) and another who started hosting so that she could afford to keep her family’s home while her children went to college. I love that Airbnb is helping people around the world build wonderful connections and support their goals and passions in life.

Congratulations again to those of you who are Superhosts, whether you’re sharing the spare wing of a castle, an entire home, or an extra bedroom in your apartment. I hope to meet you on my next outing. Until then…

… Happy hosting!
Laura

[Laura_C]

@Camila171 you can always send me a direct message 🙂

[Shaine2]

Hi Laura your article was very informative. Hopefully you can visit us in Maryland. 

See you soon 

shaine 

[Lauren62]

Hi Laura,

Thank you for taking the time out of your very demanding role a a mother to stay in Airbnb rooms to have a first-hand guest experience. Your feedback is valuable to us. 

I would like to suggest additional categories besides "entire house" and "private room in a house". 

The "private room" suggests that the host is living in his or her house as usual, and there is one room available in which the guest stays. The "entire house" suggests that the host is not in the house, but the guests have the entire place to themselves. 

Our situation is the reverse of the "private room" in which the guests have the entire space (including 3 bedrooms) but the host is in a private room, stays out of the way as much as possible, but shares one of the bathrooms and the kitchen when necessary and not inconvenient to the guests. 

Perhaps there should be a way of differentiating between "entire house (private)" or "entire house (with shared spaces)"?  An additonal category would be helpful, as many guests depend on those two categories for booking, and they ignore the listing description which provides an explanation. 

Thanks again for being open to suggestions.

Lauren 

[Laura_C]

That's a super interesting situation Lauren - thanks for sharing. Great idea!

[Sarah977]

@Lauren62  I'm not sure I understand why you feel that your situation doesn't accurately fall into the "private room" category? How is it "the reverse"? You say you live there, share the bathroom and kitchen with guests. That's exactly what many private room hosts do. Some don't allow use of the kitchen, and in my case, I don't share a bathroom with guests- they have their own private bathroom. Anything that included the words "Entire home" if the host also lived there and shared the bathroom and kitchen would lead to many confused and irate guests.

[Karma8]

I've been a superhost of a private room for nearly 2 1/2 yrs and a Plus host for almost a year ... my only suggestion to Airbnb for "Plus" hosts... don't strip all of our detailed & pertinent info away!  Prior to going Plus my lisitng was full of so many details & specifics that would help guests determine if my place was a good fit for them ... including the fact that my home and the property has a lot of stairs and that I have a cat.  Once I went Plus, Airbnb removed all of that info to adhere to the Plus guidelines of how things are worded.  I took it upon myself to change the tagline of my room to include that it has stairs and a cat (and even still, people miss that).   I also know that these details are still on my listing, however, one would have to scroll all the way down to the bottom of my listing, then click on "rules and guidelines" before they see all this info, and let's be honest, a lot of guests don't read the details!  Help us fix this!!! Please and thank you 🙂

[Don33]

Hi Laura,

Glad to hear of you taking time and making the commitment to visit some of the rental spaces. The value of personal interaction as a guest with hosts cannot be underestimated. Great choice! We have chosen to always meet our guests and be available to them. This is now our 14th year and we have now met and hosted more than 11,000 guests from 60 countries of the world. It has been an awesome journey.

Don & Krista Robertson, West Coast Villa 

[Tammy220]

Wonderful! I love the idea of this! Maybe I’ll meet you in the future. I love this journey! Hug your kids! ♥️

[Gracie-And-David0]

We don't use a duvet. Take the **bleep** thing off. Use a nice bedspread instead. 

[Jocelyn118]

Hello Laura,

Dr. J here...I thank you for taking the time out and acknowledge our work...I host to supplement my income and offer my large home to others that can't afford luxury living...I offer food and comfort that many of my guest are unable to afford in a hotel chain.  It feels good to get direct feedback...loving Airbnb experience. 

Dr. J

[Mary631]

Thank you very much for your insight. The Airbnb platform can and should be a creative venture that one may share with the world- what a super  audience!!  My 8 years with Airbnb have taught me a great deal- sharing and extending to others a space  that is a break from the ‘madding world.”  Thanks again.

Mary Bhim- Rao

[Maria1515]

Hi Laura! Thanks for honoring us superhosts. I go above and beyond of  my Airbnb guests expectations. Getting to know them while having them enjoy my Filipino egg roll. Driving them to the nearest store (no charge) . I May not have things to offer, but they enjoy their stay in my small house. Btw, they loved my 3 small rescue dogs. 

[LaVerne6]

Thanks for the insights Laura.  I'm new to Air BnB so I'm taking in all of the good advise.  I have a stand alone casita with a private entrance, kitchenette, private bath, and access to the private 44foot pool.  I call my place the Purple Oasis  and I'm I. Arizona City AZ,  I would love for you to visit me in AZ.  You are welcome any time.

Blessings 

LaVerne 

[Sefla0]

Thanks for a helpful article, Laura. Please say more about the cats! How can we make it more clear that we have a cat and a dog, besides just saying it? I ask because we had a recent experience with a guest who knew she had a cat allergy but didn't read our listing carefully, then on finding that we do have a cat decided to try staying with us anyway, and had to cut her visit short when she developed a reaction. Thanks for any help you can give. Cheers, Fred

[Kaye40]

Re cats - I have put up a photo of our cat and in the caption said "we have a cat". I also use this stategy to remind guests that there is no smoking - a photo of an attractive handpainted "no smoking" sign. It seems if guests don't read the description, they will nearly always look at the photos.