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

[Lynnette3]

I also had a guest who stayed in one of my units, raved about how great it was, but when she checked out I found that she had moved nearly everything in the apartment, to her own likes and purposes, except for the bed and a huge desk that serves as a multi use table....after she was gone, she texted that she would prefer at her NEXT VISIT that I would have the huge desk relocated to an area that she prefers and other items for better yoga set up, etc....

Months later, she stayed at my other unit, with her daughter and every time I saw them, she again raved about how wonderful the apt. is, and then made false complaints in her review... I was simply exasperated, as I know there is almost no way to prove lies, and that AIRBNB can often only take our word about things..although it isn’t foolproof, I now have a note for all guests telling them to please let me know immediately if there is anything out of sorts, or if they need anything, and I try to see them soon after they have been in for awhile and again confirm that all is well....

It almost seems that we might create a document with a checklist for guests as to cleanliness, etc. within an hour of their arrival, that they can initial, and have our own photos time dated of the units between guests! Sad but maybe it will become necessary.. this is ever evolving, I believe AIRBNB is doing their best. 

lynnette

[Helen427]

@Lynette3

You may like to use the reply on public feedback in a tactful manner when you feel the need arises with reviews, it helps to balance it out for potential & future Guests.

All the Best

Central To All Home & Location, New Zealand

[Jim-And-Laurie0]

I am trying very hard to do everything the airbnb way. I don't know if I'm doing it right or wrong. Don't know if I'm making headway or not. Hard to tell.

[Helen427]

@Jim-And-Laurie0

There's no right or wrong way in life, we are all perfect in our own little way even if we agree or disagree with what & who we encounter.

All the Best

Central To All Home & Location, New Zealand

[Maggie-and-Ric0]

Laura, I love that you are experiencing this side of the hosting. We find new Airbnbers to be surprised at times that it is a shared/private room setting (even by other Hosts which we find odd LOL). Notheless, we have found that all our guests arrive as strangers and leave as friends. Our goal is to be 1) the best Airbnb stay for our guests (in our price range) and 2) to turn them and all other guests into permanent Airbnb travelers and explain that we don't care if we stay in a private room setting or an entire space. We explain how it all works over breakfast when we serve them breakfast in the a.m.  So knowing you are on it and wanting to help us all make it a comfortable great experience is HUGE and lets my husband and I feel the support for us Private Room SuperHosts. Love how you guys are always evolving and looking out for both sides. Thanks for being so proactive and genuine in your job. Hope you come stay with us sometime. Would be pretty kewl to hear more and get any tips.

[Danny133]

Thank you for your report.  It always feels so good to know that Airbnb is taking the extra steps to support us hosts.  We are on several other vacation home sites and can speak with experience that this effort is not industry wide.

That said and speaking of Experiences, we submitted an heirloom wood toy making proposal that could be offered to any of our guests.  It was turned down by Airbnb because the plan would require 2 partial days to complete, tied in with local excursions and/or lunch from our large year-round garden.  Several of the individuals we talked to at Airbnb about this experience encouraged us to keep offering suggestions to encourage higher-ups to reconsider there decision.

[Mark-and-Hope0]

Laura,

Thank you for taking the time to really try to understand hosting and being a guest. 

My wife and I have a 2 room guest suite in the Santa Cruz Mts. that we share with the world through AirBnB. We’ve been superhosts for many years now and have really enjoyed hosting. Our outdoor bar area “The Shark Bite” is open to guests and presents a great venue for getting to know each other. Sitting under the Refwood canopy enjoying an adult beverage is a great icebreaker. We’ve made many friends along the way with our guests from all over the world.

One thing that I believe needs to be implemented is complete profile for anyone that wishes to be a guest. As a host I can provide better more personalized services if I know a little about the person. If this is a “community” then the requirements for being a member should be elevated a bit. My profile and listing are very definitive but guests can get away with merely “verified” email and ID, the bar needs to be raised so we are playing on a more level field.

Anyways, thanks for listening.

Mark & Hope

Ridgetop Retreat

[Marcia23]

Thank-you Laura for the wonderful work that you are doing on our behalf!

Marcia

[Jenni-and-Chris0]

Hi Laura, 

Great read and fantastic that you are supporting super hosts. We would love you to come to Melbourne and stay in our guest room. We love to welcome guests from all over the world and learn so much from them.  We work hard to maintain our superhosts status and about 8 months ago joined the Plus listings. 

We travelled to Europe last year and stayed with superhosts in five different Cities. We learnt a lot that has helped us to continue to improve the guest experience and make a special connection with our guests.

We would love to have the opportunity to share some time with you too.

Best regards Jenni & Chris

[Laura2391]

Hi Laura,

I'm quite new to hosting and now a little worried that after having nothing but good reviews if one guest whom for no valid reason gives a bad review I've no redress or support from Airbnb.  I'd  like to think that providing I'm offering what is in the listing if a review is totally out of sync with all my other reviews it would not affect my hosting.  Airbnb needs to protect the hosts as well as the guests.

If you are ever in the Cariboo BC come and visit ACER LODGE B&B we look forward to seeing you 🙂

[Nicholas-and-Celeste0]

Hi everyone! 🙂 So interesting to read the comments of others, thank you! Here at Burro Flats High Desert Lodge in Kanab, Utah, we rent out 5 of the rooms in our home to travelers. 

We have a chalkboard which we change daily, with the names of all of the guests for that night. People really seem to enjoy this. 

Airbnb: It would help us if we could SEE the first names of all of the guests in the reservation information (I believe that you collect that information internally, but it isn’t shared with hosts until the stay is over). That way we can fill out the board more easily. 

On a related note, it would help us tremendously if:

Airbnb did more confirming and checkpoints with guests who book for a single person, in order to confirm that it’s ACTUALLY 1 individual coming. Booking for a single person when more than one are coming is a common guest error.

And when it does happen, it’s difficult to fix (for example, the “Change Reservation”  doesn’t work properly, it usually “forgets” any discount that was applied during initial booking). 

Thanks!

[Sylvia38]

Thanks for the great thoughts and highlighting our private room hosting.   We love our guests and value the opportunity to meet people from all over the world.   Our returning guest are especially dear to us.

[Robin60]

It's because of Airbnb that I'm still able to live in SF. Thank you. 

[Bev68]

Laura,

I would like a site that advertises choices.  For example, I'd like to be listed like a hotel or bed and breakfast.  I have one room and bathroom suite that I rent out with access to a laundry room.  I have another room with a bathroom and livingroom space that has a petit kitchen, tv, table, chairs, etc.
I provide breakfast for both suites -also with laundry room access.

I would like potential guests to have the option of renting both rooms at the same time.  This would allow families and friends to book rooms in the same house.

Right now they are listed as separate bookings.

Can you do this?  -Bev

[Julie1603]

Thank you, Laura, and I appreciate the tips you've shared in this article. I have had 99.9% wonderful experiences with renting out my private room, yet I have to concur with other hosts/superhosts regarding the difficulty of reporting a poorly-behaved guest (whether it be in the form of leaving the space a mess, leaving a very bad review after many positive reviews, etc.) 

I have had only one negative guest experience, and the customer servive team at Airbnb was quick to help me remedy the situation. Although the guest was cancelled without penalty, he quickly made a pseudonym profile and tried to rebook. I contacted Airbnb immediately and they allowed to me to cancel his "instant book" without penalizing my superhost status. 

Although all turned up roses for me, I would be scared to have a person like this leave me a terrible review, and thus jeopordize the otherwise amazing supplemental income I have come to depend on from my Airbnb listing (I have a wonderfullly fulfilling job as a teacher, though the paycheck is not quite enough to make ends meet). 

I absolutely intend to continue hosting, but am led to wonder "What if a sub-par guest leaves a detrimental review?" Do I have any remedial support from Airbnb?

Thank you for your time and input!