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

[Anna491]

It's so refreshing seeing Airbnb experiencing their "own" product - and see some good practical learnings come of it! Good job! And enjoy your journey 

[Helen427]

@Laura_R & @everyone-else who have contributed to this topic, a great read all around

Looking fwd to been involved and contributing to any pending changes re Guests booking a Private Room in a Home.

All the best everyone 

Central To All Home & Location

[Andrea1063]

As a host we have 3 ratings.  Guests have a lot more and I feel as though they are being asked to critique, which means be more critical in their assessment of the property and you if you're a 'room' renter.  

Human nature is such that when posed with many questions to rate something,  people seem to get more critical over minutea.  I also think that is someone complains via rating, there should be an option that asks the guest if they tried to resolve it with the host.  

Why should we have to suffer because people can't communicate.   You have right to leave fewer stars over something if you didn't first give the host a chance to fix whatever you thought was wrong or off-target.  

Guests should have responsibilities in using the services we provide, and not just to don't damage stuf. 

[Betsy16]

Hi Laura,

I am a Superhost, and have also been a guest, is there any way the reservation system can be changed, I would like to see an entire calendar instead of just the dates I insert.  I like the way VRBO handles their calendars, you can click on a listings calendar and see the open dates.  It would make it easier, if I wanted to book a place on Siesta Key, I would have to keep inserting dates until I finally hit on an open date, but if I could see the listings calendar, I could see the available dates and reserve them.

[Stephanie1169]

What is the non-profit sector of Airbnb?

[Will258]

I am an empty nester who started renting my extra rooms on Airbnb a few years back.

I turned the home into a hotel. Got rid of all personal stuff in the home. Turned living room into a lobby. Put air conditioners and heaters in all rooms so guests can control the temp, just like a hotel.

So far I've had no problems with tenants. I cater to long term. Those traveling for work and can stay 1 to 4 months.

I get to meet and interact with new people all the time. Very nice since I live alone after kids moved out.

Because of my earnings on Airbnb I was able to fire my boss who I really hated and now stay home working as a "hotelier", another word for gardener, maid, handyman, and pool boy.

Thank you Airbnb!

[Diane200]

⭐️Thank-you, Laura!⭐️

[Susan17]

@Laura_C 

You wrote.. "I've also been strongly advocating internally for ensuring that homes hosts are clearly delineated from hotels"

It's beyond astounding that you should still be "strongly advocating internally" for homes hosts to be clearly delineated from hotels, a full year after an investigation by the CPC (Consumer Protection Cooperation Network) into Airbnb's unfair commercial practices and illegal terms, concluded with the EU Commission ordering Airbnb to clearly identify whether a listing is offered by a private, individual host  or a commercial operator. 

The company was expected to proceed with the implementation of the changes in all EU/EEA language versions of the site by December 31 2018, under threat of enforcement action for non-compliance. 

Please clarify Airbnb's current position on this issue, and explain to us why, at the end of July 2019, Airbnb is still unfairly, unethically and underhandedly forcing small individual hosts to battle for survival in the very same searches as huge commercial and corporate operators, who Airbnb greatly favours and advantages with a raft of preferential policies and practices that are denied to its "core host" community (as we're apparently labelled now) 

Also, please inform us as to why the company has repeatedly failed to clearly identify countless thousands of commercial and corporate "hosts" on the platform, or delineate between the mega-rich VC-funded players and small individual hosts, in offerings returned to searching guests. By so far refusing to do so, it very much gives the impression that Airbnb is wilfully and deliberately pushing its own  "core host community" off the platform - and out of business - altogether.  

A full, comprehensive and timely official  response from Airbnb to the questions raised above, would be very much appreciated. Thank you. 

[Laura_C]

Hi @Susan17 ,

Thanks for your feedback and great questions!

We've been working on ways to ensure different types of listings are easily searchable and defined with the addition of filters for guests. A guest will start their search for private rooms, entire places, shared rooms, and hotel rooms - it is often the first step. I think there are ways we can be even more creative - is it a 'social stay'? Is the host super hospitable? Is there some special history or heritage about the property? Our core hosts (and their listings) are truly unique and we definitely need to do more to highlight this. This is going to be one of my main focus areas for next year.

I'd love to hear ideas from you (and anyone else on this thread) on the type of attributes you'd love us to highlight to guests.

~Laura

[Susan17]

@Laura_C 

EU Consumer Rules - The European Commission and EU Consumer Authorities push Airbnb to comply. 

Brussels July 16, 2018. 

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-18-4453_en.htm

EU Consumer Rules - Airbnb commits to complying with EU Commission and EU Consumer Authorities demands.

Brussels, September 20, 2018. 

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-18-5809_en.htm

[Susan17]

@Laura_C 

Common Position of national authorities within the CPC Network on the Commercial Practices and Terms of Service of Airbnb. 

https://ec.europa.eu/info/files/common-position-national-authorities-within-cpc-network-commercial-p...

2. Identification of traders and commercial content

It is understood, from Airbnb’s Hosting Standards, that certain professional providers are allowed to use Airbnb’s platform to offer their accommodation services. However, when searching for accommodation on Airbnb’s website, the search result shows accommodation provided by both private individuals and professional providers with no distinction between the two. It should be noted that under Articles 6(1)(f) and 7(1) ,(2), (4)(b) of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive CPD6, a commercial practice is misleading if it is likely to deceive consumers on the nature and identity of the trader or if it omits such type of characterisations.

To comply with the UCPD, collaborative economy platforms should therefore prevent third party traders from offering accommodation/properties on the platform without clearly disclosing their professional motives. In particular, with a view to avoid omitting material information, the collaborative economy platform should, as a minimum, enable relevant third party traders to indicate to users that they are traders, and the platform should inform consumers whether and, if so, what criteria it applies to select the suppliers operating through it and whether and, if so, what checks it performs in relation to their reliability7.

With a platform like Airbnb, which enables accommodation sharing, the distinction between professional providers and private host peers may influence the decisions of consumers using the platform to book accommodation. In fact, on the one hand the distinction has implications for the question of whether the transaction is protected by consumer protection rules and, on the other, many consumers using Airbnb are looking for private homes with personal involvement and not necessarily for professional property owners.

CPC authorities find that the lack of distinction between private host peers and professional providers on Airbnb’s website is likely to deceive consumers in relation to the nature of the trader, as set out in art 6 (1) (f) and 7(1) and (2), and is likely to cause a transactional decision that would not have been taken otherwise

In order to comply with the Directive 2005/29/EC, Airbnb would need to change the manner in which listings are presented in accordance with the legal requirements described above. CPC authorities would also like to draw Airbnb’s attention to the UCPD’s requirements to clearly distinguish editorial content from advertising content. Consumers expect search engines to display 'natural' or 'organic' results relevant for their search query based on sufficiently impartial criteria.

[Margaret253]

I have now said this numerous times.  If you do not know why your listing is not accurate then you can never correct it .  If people disapprove of your linens and they are not good enough for them then they should book the Ritz.  By the way there was nothing wrong with my linens.  So many little gripes when you are paying peanuts to share someone's home.  These people should not be booking Airbnb and should stay in a Hotel.  I cannot be bothered with them and if I want to air dry my towels on a garden line and they are not supersoft and if they complain then don't book with me again.  Just had a girl wanting air conditioning in September in England!!!! and didn't like the fact that there may be another guest sharing a bathroom.  Airbnb do not do enough to make people understand they are sharing someone's home. 

[Maria568]

Thank you Laura I will appreciate the fact that you are trying to help hosts and support them . We really need more tools to get rid of bad malicious guests ..and the untrue , distorted bad reviews based on stupidity and facts that don't not make any impact on their stay and makes a great impact in our star rating. For God sake is having one tea towel or two will change the outcome of my holiday ? Be real.

[Thomas192]

I'm a Shared Home Host for past 4 yrs. When started 2015, STR's (short term rentals) in were majority of my guests, many 2 and 3 night bookings all with 5 Star Reviews.  In 2016 City of Anaheim (Disneyland) Restricted STR's and we've had to do 28 nights or longer stays since. 

Obviously that reduces the Number of Reviews a host can receive in a calendar year to 12  Max. STR Hosts can do 12 in 1 month easy!  

There's a huge disparity between hosts forced into Long term Only Bookings and Short Term Stay Hosts with regard to SuperHost Qualifying.

Just One 4 Star Review often tanks the Host not able to do STR's And takes Another Month at soonest for a chance at new 5 Star.

I propose that Airbnb Needs to Consider Adjusting the Percentage on Metric for Reviews they use to qualify hosts as a SuperHost.

Maybe loosen the percentage from 4.8 needed, to say, 4.2 for hosts restricted to long term only stays.  

Lets face it, if your home is dirty or smells bad, etc.  getting a 4 Star review ain't the worry, 1 or 2 Stars IS.

IMO the millennials (my listing and location seems to attract the 20 something internship after college bookings), can be horribly ruthless when nitpicking you and home in their reviews.

Just had another one, never followed the house rules, hated that i had to remind her to clean up after herself and her fellow 420 friends nightly on my backyard patio. She was just out of college dorm life, and in her words; never stayed with an "older" guy before. Still no clue if that was age biased or not, but sorta felt like it, otherwise why even mention something like that if you didn't have any issues with it?

So, each time she left my kitchen or other common area dirty with used dishes, empty cans, bottles, bags of chips, containers of dip, etc etc etc, the guest would need reminding of the House Rules to clean up after herself and her guests, Not leave all this out on my kitchen counter and island for me to walk into at 12:30am when i go to get a midnight snack in my kitchen and see this bug attraction splayed out across every inch of available counter space.

I could go on about this last guest, like the oil dripping sieve for a beater car she parked in driveway, or broken sprinkler pipes from stepping on them getting out of her car in my driveway, as just one more highlight.  Or how, immediately after I requested funds to re-imburse me for the handyman i paid to pressure wash the driveway and repair my lawn irrigation sprinklers, she writes her 2 Stars Review in Retaliation, Not wanting to pay for the Damages she caused to my property.

That's the other part of the Long Term (28+ nights) Stay that gets overlooked vs STR's; a Guest who stays in your home for 1 or 2 nights, doesn't have time to find fault near as often as they do when they're under your roof for 1 to 3 months!

I just think the SuperHost Metric Needs to Take All of the vast differences in guest and host dynamic between the 2 scenarios and Adjust this Metric Fairly for All.