The problem is that AirBnB tries to pigeonhole parking in an overgeneralized way under amenities. It needs to be its own section entirely and on the same level of importance as "type of property".
I am unable to accurately express the parking situation for my listing using the available options under amenities. The nearest available option that represents my case is "free on-street parking", however, when guests see this on a listing in a major city, certain limitations and challenges are automatically assumed about lack of space, worrying about parking signs, and being too far from the property. None of these apply in my case, as the street parking is so abundant that availability is guaranteed without having to drive in circles, there are no rules, and the street parking at my doorstep is just as close and offers all the same benefits as driveway parking (except the extra security that comes with a private parking spot).
Furthermore, guests don't even have a search filter for "on-street parking". The only way I can show them that I have parking is by selecting "free parking on premises", even though this is not accurate. So my choices become:
1. Lose a huge chunk of prospective guests because they will not see my property when using the parking filter, since AirBnB provides a filter ONLY for "on premises". This is ridiculous, since the vast majority of guests just want free, guaranteed, close parking and don't care whether whether it's actually on land owned by the host or not.
OR
2. Be a deceptive host ( @Ed121 ) by selecting "on premises", knowing that this will anger a very small minority of people who are more concerned with legal accuracy than practical matters.
As someone who's used AirBnB for travelling more than 100 times, I can say that I always hate trying to find a place with parking, due to the spike in the prices that results when enabling the "free parking on premises" filter. Since this filter usually eliminates most of the cheaper options, I always end up having to search without any parking filters, build a short list, and then manually figure out the parking situation for each. It's a very annoying and tiring process.
I recognize that on premises means on the property that you own/rent. However, because AirBnB fails to provide the tools needed to effectively express parking options on listings, the choice becomes to either understate the listing and lose lots of business, or overstate it and still satisfy 99% of people, while pissing off the 1% who want to pin it on the host for being deceptive (which is definitely sometimes the case), rather than looking at the bigger picture, which is that we are all trying to fit vastly dissimilar places into a poorly designed framework.
My listing is airbnb.com/h/mckenziepiping and I have the "parking on premises" inaccurately enabled, then I specify the following details under the "More about this location" (in hosting mode, it's called "Neighbourhood Overview") and also in the House Manual:
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"There are 3 types of parking for this listing.
a) ALWAYS FREE: All-day and overnight parking abounds on the streets (1-minute walk) listed below.
i. Judith Dr, between Northridge Ave and Lankin Blvd.
ii. Coxwell Blvd (NOT Coxwell Ave), between Barbara Crescent and Taylor Dr.
iii. Durant Ave, between Judith Dr and Plains Rd.
b) SOMETIMES FREE: Ideal for overnight parking, the diagonal parking spots directly in front of the building are free from Monday - Saturday between 6:00pm - 9:00am and all day Sunday.
c) PAID: My private parking spot is behind the building and this is where I park my car. Guests can have this spot for a surcharge of $10/night, payable via AirBnB. You must request this option at least 24 hours in advance, since I would need to make sure I’m available to guide you to the spot either physically or by video chat. It cannot be explained through photos and written instructions because many other people park in that area and all the spots look the same."
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