@Catherine-Powell
Hi Catherine,
Thanks for the response, in what, I am sure, must be busy times. Responses to hosts are so important, and in somewhat short supply.
I'm sure hosts all want to hear about tools and support. I'll post some of my thoughts on my top host issues, although I'm sure others will have more.
1. Better ability to screen prospective guests, especially new guests with no prior reviews.
Happy guests are guests that are a good fit for the listing (and, as home hosts, we are all different, and offer different amenities). Guests need to have up-front access to house rules, not because we want to be proscriptive, but because expectations set up front prevent misunderstandings later.
2. Better ability for guests, particularly first-time guests, to understand how to book, and communicate via Airbnb messaging.
This may seem simplistic, but, time after time, folks lob in a "request-to-book", and fail to realize they ought to be looking out for host messages via the messaging system. Possibly, they do not have app notifications turned on.
Unconfirmed guests provide no/limited profile info, no photo, and no contact information. We often have follow-up questions for a prospective guest, particularly in these times of Covid-19, that we need answers to, in order to decide whether or not a guest will be a good fit.
"Instant Book" is not a good fit for every host, and we shouldn't be pushed into having it switched on.
3. Revisit the programmatic AI responses.
Insistence on instant book, price discounting, increasing length of stay, reducing length of stay, chiding for declining poor-fit guests, or guests with prior bad reviews, and general manipulative behavior by AI, while dramatically slowing hosts' ability to speak to an actual person in support. In many cases, a machine cannot substitute for a person.
4. The review system in general
Much has been said about the review system, but little ever changes. Hosts are measured to a very high standard. Ok, that is fine by itself, but the fact that one single outlier bad review (often from a disgruntled guest) can totally sink one's overall rating, requiring many, many great reviews to overcome, is substantially unfair, and needs to be properly addressed, if one is going to measure host experience.
I could, of course, go on for many pages, but if these items could be remedied, it would be a great start. Of course, I also realize that wholesale hosts with many cookie-cutter hotel-type listings care more about standardization and throughput. It's essentially a quantity vs quality discussion. My belief is that smaller home hosts care about quality over quantity.
Thank you
Michelle