New "Top Places Nearby" feature under Location

[Kat162]

Hello everyone! Hope your summer/winter is going smoothly!

Noticed Air BnB recently added a new feature under "Location" which automatically features "Top Places Nearby" with their corresponding distance.

The 'top places nearby' Air BnB chose for my listing have very inaccurate distances to my listing and on top of this, not all the choices are necessarily places I would or can recommend a guest visit.

Fearing this will lead to a guest being upset with the location or accuracy of the listing in the near future and am feeling quite powerless that we have no control over what is featured here. How can one reach out to AIr BnB to be heard and explain the case? Does anyone else with this new feature feel the same?

The intention of this "Top Places Nearby" feature is very lovely, yet unless we can give our guests local & personal recommendations as a Host, I do not feel the new feature has the guests' best interest at heart!

What are everyone else's thoughts?

[Lawrene0]

Good grief, you're right, @Kat162 ! Just checked and the local funeral home's memorial forest is one of my top places (that I cannot really recommend myself -- the area is known locally as "Skunk's Misery"...). The other is an oil museum. Okay, I guess. 

Why on earth are we making guidebooks only to have them usurped by "top places" chosen by a bot who has never been to Skunk's Misery? Ugh. 

[Kat162]

Oh my goodness 😮 @Lawrene0 !! And here I was thinking that it was strange our nearest hospital & pharmacy were appearing! Skunk's Misery - wow. =D

It should also be mentioned that there is no longer an option for a potential guest to view our Guidebooks! (Perhaps this is now only available to guest's who have confirmed reservations??)  

How do we hosts ask Air BnB to put these Top Places into our hands where we can provide guests with accurate distances to TRUE Top Places in our local areas? After all, Air BnB was founded on being about 'experiencing life like a local' and being 'in the know' as a local would. Let's keep our guests out of our local Skunk's Miseries!!!  ... @Lizzie 

[Huma0 · Accepted solution]

@Kat162 

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. I wasn't aware of it either (too busy focusing on all the numerous changes to the amenities list I guess).

Though not necessarily what I would have chosen (a couple of places I wasn't even aware of), the ones on my listing are not too bad, but none on the doorstep. Seems a bit odd that Little Portugal is not mentioned when my house is actually located within it!

I also noticed that the attractions are not the same on each of my listings, which are all in the same house. I wonder if these lists will be constantly changing like the highlights section does. What is consistent is on all three listings, all of the suggestions are 1.3 or 1.4 km away. I wonder why that is. Seems a bit of a coincidence...

[Michelle53]

@Kat162  Yep, I have it, too. I didn't verify all the distances, since my location on the map isn't exact.

I am getting quite an odd mix of "top places", and probably a few I wouldn't have put there. But it's just like the Amenities list - I wish I could customize it to present the amenities I prefer, not the ones the bot prefers. 

I provide guests a "walking map" of places they can go. The closest park, local restaurants, the train station etc etc. Not one of those made the "top places" list, so I'm not sure what incentive people would have to visit any of them (apart from the two breweries) since there's no link, and no description, other than the place name. 

[Ann72]

@Kat162  Wow, thanks, I had not noticed this, either!

I'll tell you what I notice about the 4 top locations chosen for my listing:  they're all related to hiking and Acadia National Park, which are the things most often mentioned by guests.  

The only thing wrong with the list is that the mileage is as-the-crow-flies and doesn't give an accurate indication of how long it might actually take to get there from the house.

Overall, though, I think it's an okay addition that will be of use mainly during searches but not during the stay, when this info will be replaced by the listing guidebook.

[Emiel1]

@Kat162 

I think the items are added by Google Maps and not by Airbnb (allthough they have activated the option to display such information)

[Debra300]

My listings in Atlanta are for two different configurations of the exact same space.  The nearby attractions are the same for each listing, but the distance is 0.1km different on each item.  I like the list of attractions that are displayed.

[Michelle53]

I just took another look at my locations, and now they are all different. 

But the map is basically empty, in the walkable area around my place, except for a handful of items. It looks to be a crowd sourced map where you can add locations. 

Wth. I have to go and add every one of dozens of local items - bank, grocery, restaurants, coffee shops, train station manually ? 

[Judy735]

Does anyone know the source of "Top Places Nearby' list? Is it a pay to play service?

[Kimberly548]

I would mention under your description that you have not personally chosen these nearby recommendations, and that it came directly from Airbnb. And then proceeded to tell them what you would recommend.