Airbnb has changed from what it initially set out to be.

[Katy15]

I have been hosting since 2012 and overall, my experience has been a hugely grateful and positive.  However, I have two concerns regarding Airbnb.

The first one is how I feel airbnb has changed over such a short time period.  As a traveller, my personel preference is low budget, therefore I tend to either camp or stay in Youth Hostels, having the use of a kitchen to cook my own food, is definitely a deal breaker for me.  I attempted to use Airbnb two years ago, as a guest and I found it quite confusing & quickly abandoned the idea.  

Over the four year period I have recieved many tips and suggestions from Airbnb on how I can improve the space for my guests.  I have gone above and beyond these suggestions, in order to welcome my guests with a warm heart and welcoming space.  I've bought a TV and DVD player with a selection of DVD's, a DAB radio (all second hand).  Tea and coffee making facilities in the room, I provide small gifts, sometimes wine, for guests whom stay longer than one night.  I push the boat out for breakfast, providing local fruit & bread from the farmers market and I am now making Quinoa porridge in the slow cooker and have made my own granola for guests.   This means I've had to put my prices up, otherwise I wouldn't be covering my costs.  Meanwhile, in addition to all these added extras, I'm also getting suggestions from Airbnb to reduce my rate, in order to get more people through the door.  I think the pressure to maintain a high level of standard for hosts, can be quite stressful and create the unsettling feeling of 'have I done enough?'.

Having said that, I do get some lovely reviews, which makes it worthwhile.  Not every guest leaves a review, in fact the guests that have created the most amount of work, by asking for a reduced rate or taking advantage of my generosity, were the ones that never left a review.

I now feel the standard of Airbnb is getting close to that of a hotel standard, to the point that one of my guests suggested I get a mini fridge for the room. Are these added extras a true reflection of what guests want, or do we offer guests the option of a cheaper alternantive without all the added frills?

[Ryan27]

Katy, I feel like I could have written this very same message!  I greatly appreciate you already having done so and feel very lucky that you did so such that I could save the time it took!  I 100% echo what you are saying and would like to add that I feel I'm competing against many others who are using the booking platform not as Airbnb originally intended.  I use it as a homeowner letting my place out to a family, group of friends, co-workers, for example, and I have just this listing.  I'm not a managing agent with over 10 listings, nor a huge residential developer just looking for another platform to list some huge complex or all the multiple places I own, or on behalf of owners or developers paying me to rent their places.  I was actually unable to sleep thinking about needing to write Airbnb about this growing issue and concern.  I'm fine with competition, but I don't think it's what Airbnb intended to be as a platform and based on what I see in terms of star-ratings and reviews, some ones like this aren't delivering a great end product which ruins Airbnb for Airbnb corporate and for real hosts like me.  I'm hoping others agree!

[Peter36]

Airbnb is not the only operator that offers this type of service, and as hosts, we are not bound to list with Airbnb. For some hosts, perhaps a different platform will be more suitable.

It may be useful to first establish your objectives in offering your place through Airbnb.

I share my home with guests, and I have set an occupancy goal of between 50% and 60%. This gives me some needed time each month when I can do what I want to do. I block out dates when I have something personal to do, so Airbnb fits around my life, not vice versa.

I have never bothered with Airbnb's suggested pricing. I adjust my pricing to meet my occupancy goal.

I also offer some guest delighters, and I always ensure that my base offering is exactly what I describe on my listing.

My offering is to stay in my home. I would never install a TV or fridge in the bedroom. My home is not an hotel, and if a guest wants a hotel experience, then they should book an hotel.

[Katy15]

Thanks Ryan

I think it's an issue worth raising with Airbnb and hopefully this is the point of this community page and not just a space for hosts to grumble amongst themselves.  

You mention competition and you're bang on the money with that.  Airbnb was initially a way for people, with full/part time jobs to rent out a room as a way of making a bit of extra cash and offer guests a cheaper alternative to hotels.  We're now competeing against professional businesses that operate on a full time basis.

I have definitely noticed a drop in guests over the years, partly because I put my prices up but I also think more and more hotels and B&B's are using Airbnb as a form of advertising.  Airbnb's solution to this is to drop my prices, whilst still laying out a red carpet and chocolates on the pillow! 

I've also had comments like there's no signage, so the property is difficult to find and access to the property is too narrow.  Even though my neighbours get two long wheel base vans in and out on a daily basis. 

[Cor2]

You are right, it happens serveral times already, creating problems between hosts and  customers.

10 thumbs from me.

[Nicky6]

Yesterday afternoon (so many pages back now) someone started a thread on the issue regarding the number of companies that are now listing on Airbnb to the detriment of individual hosts.  The thread garnered a great deal of attention and a large number of comments.  I think it is critical to the future of the Airbnb we all signed up for.

Ryan above explains it perfectly.

I would like to think that Airbnb really are reading these comments with a view to addressing our concerns.

I am disappointed at the way Airbnb is evolving right now.  Had hoped they would stay with their original concept.

[Rudy-And-Bea0]

I also don't like the fact that a lot of professional hostels are advertising on Airbnb now.  It has deviated from it's initial objective.  It is no longer just about the authenticity of staying in someone's home and becoming just another accommodation booking site.

[Irene70]

I think it may be partly also a nod to what guests are expecting, to refer back to the original post about hotel expections. I think guests may have lost view that they are staying in private homes, and that holding luggage and checking in at all hours is not something that is appropriate for private residents. And while it is true that we have some control over choosing guests that understand the "house rules," there still seems to be a disconnect before we even get to the house rules part -- the potential guests are assuming they're going to get an SPG experience and that their SPG status extends to my home, and so of course I will hold your luggage for you and get up at 4 AM, or listen to your wailing child wake up everyone in the house. Perhaps AirBnB can help hosts by communicating to potential guests that they too have responsiblities.  Set the expectations to "HOME." The onus appears to be always on the hosts to DO BETTER DO BETTER DO BETTER, but this is a two-way relationship. When hosts get bad reviews, it affects our lives. Who cares if guests get less-than-stellar reviews? They can always make a new profile and start fresh. 

[Ryan27]

I agree that Airbnb needs to do some education/advertising on their end in terms of How Guests Should Behave, How Airbnb is similar to and different from a hotel experience, those sorts of things that they can do from their end.  In certain ways, I feel Airbnb is supportive and then in other ways, I feel Airbnb isn't so supportive of hosts.  Yes, it's very easy for a guest to just start a new account.  Hosts cannot do that when an unfair review is doled out.  I recently got a not great review even though I bent over backwards for this guest, including letting them check-in over 3.5 hours early!  

[Josipa2]

The initial idea of Airbnb was to find local homes for travellers and find  a way to earn some extra money for those locals who happen to have extra space in their home and don't mind sharing. 

Now  we are competing with hostels and companies that run 5 or more apartments. It's a business like any other.

The idea of "belong anywhere, feel like at home, live there" etc and all those Airbnb videos with locals greeting the travellers and sharing breakfast - that is so gone! 

Because of apartments and hostels , guests think Airbnb home is a hostel or just another cheaper apartment so they behave disrespectful and think you're the cleaning lady... and remain suprised to see you - the host at the door, greeting them in its own home : " Oh, you live here too? I thought this was a whole apartment just for me" - Oh, yes, 140 m2 of gorgeous apartment ( my home ) for the price of 35 euros! 🙂

[Keith30]

@Peter0

Peter I'm with you.  I offer my home as a place for guest to stay.  I don't offer a luxury suite, I'm not a hotel and never want to be.  I have no intrest in competing with them.  My home is a warm friendly quiet place a "home away from home" as some guest have decribed it.  AirBnb's motto is "Book homes from local hosts and experience a place like you live there."  That is what I offer.  Guest can expect a clean, safe, and well kept environment, that represents me. Not an impersonal or a botique hotel.  One enters my home as a guest not a client.