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Introducing Airbnb Plus

airbnb.com

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Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#101

Post by calbear81 »

jasonjei wrote: post #66

I’m just writing with respect to personal experience, but I would rather book a hotel even over an Airbnb Plus. The reasons? Rewards are harmonized, reliable rooms, cleaning, 24-hour person on site should there be a problem. With an Airbnb, I might get a few of the qualities listed above, but never all of them. And Airbnb pricing often is the same as comparable (if not better) hotels.

Airbnb employee here: That's a perfectly fine personal preference especially if those are the attributes you care about the most. There are tons of B&B's and boutique hotels that also satisfy those requirements that list on Airbnb. If you're looking for places with kitchens, a backyard, more interaction with a local host, larger space for a family gathering or a group event etc. then an Airbnb could do the trick. I personally also sometimes find that we have listings in places that hotels are not present in. For example, in San Francisco, all the hotels are pretty much concentrated either in downtown near the super commercial Union Square area or along Lombard St. in the Marina district. If you want to stay in the other 95% of the city, you're going to have very limited options.

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#102

Post by 013a »

kelnos wrote: post #75
EdJiang wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No key at all, just “it’s a safe neighborhood so we always leave the door unlocked”

I've never understood that. I grew up in seemingly safe neighborhoods in suburban New Jersey and semi-rural Maryland, but leaving our door unlocked (even while we're at home) was unthinkable.

In our exceedingly rural area, doors are left unlocked very often. Not everyone, of course, and not all the time (most of the people I know do lock their doors at night or when they're on vacation, but otherwise leave them open). You're not crazy for doing it.

If someone wants to get in to steal something, they're going to get it done. That could mean a broken window, a broken door, or it could mean nothing broken at all. There's no-one within listening distance to hear a window break, so they're not going to get caught that way. But, your neighbors know your cars, and the sense of community commonly leads to a quick "hey there's a brown Buick outside your house, is that you guys?" call/text. There aren't very many "drive-by" robberies; houses are so far apart and all it takes is one person who sees a suspiciously slow driving car, or a car visiting multiple driveways, to call the police. Oh, and if you thought no one was home and you're wrong, there's a great chance they're armed, and they saw the car you used to get there. And the police are never busy, so they'll be there in minutes.

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#103

Post by swaggyBoatswain »

grapehut wrote: post #62

I travel a lot and have stayed at 50+ airbnb places all around the world -- but the biggest problem is that the reviews are always so artificial you honestly have zero idea of what you're getting into. Worst of all is the amenities, which are more often incorrect than not. I generally filter for places with washer + drier, as I'd rather not be looking for laundromats. Probably over 80% of listings that say they have…

"I don't really want to pollute my profile with candid feedback."

This is how I feel about most things. A lot of times I give everyone 5 stars (things on fiverr, reviews for customer support, airBnB reviews, etc) even if the service is mediocre, partially because I don't want to deal with the potential problems of giving poor reviews.

Potential problems include being unable to get files after a project (fiverr → giving someone a bad review), staying at a previous airBnB (giving them anything less than 5 stars), potential harassment (giving anything in general a low review), someone getting fired for anything less than 5 stars (Customer support), potential tampered food (not tipping even if poor service or leaving a bad yelp/google review).

Its kind of silly that the public standard (for 5 star reviews) is 3 stars is bad, 4 stars is ok, and 5 stars is good in general. 1 star is just biased, 2 stars are worse than 1 stars in my opinion just because it shows you put enough consideration to give them a 2.

This applies to reviews on airBnB, uber, amazon, ebay, etc.

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#104

Post by BugsJustFindMe »

MechanicalTim wrote: post #98
pjungwir wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hosts (or anyone) can look at your profile to see the reviews about you, but not the reviews you've written. They would have to know the places you've stayed and then search through those reviews to find yours. So I don't think you should be worried about leaving honest reviews.

As a host I use a chrome plug-in that shows me every review a guest has written for their stays

As a guest, though, if a host is actively weeding out people because they speak out about being scammed by shitty not-as-described slumlord empty-ikea-box listings, then I probably don't want to give that host money anyway.

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#105

Post by ghaff »

013a wrote: post #102
kelnos wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never understood that. I grew up in seemingly safe neighborhoods in suburban New Jersey and semi-rural Maryland, but leaving our door unlocked (even while we're at home) was unthinkable.

In our exceedingly rural area, doors are left unlocked very often. Not everyone, of course, and not all the time (most of the people I know do lock their doors at night or when they're on vacation, but otherwise leave them open). You're not crazy for doing it. If someone wants to get in to steal something, they're going to get it done. That could mean a broken window, a broken door, or it could mean nothing broken at…

That seems a pretty common pattern for the semi-rural New England area I live in as well. I lock the house at night or if I'm headed out for an extended period but I don't really worry about it. If the house is all opened up on a summer day I'm not going to shut everything up if I'm going out for a bit and certainly not if I'm around my property somewhere.

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#106

Post by branchless »

grapehut wrote: post #62

I travel a lot and have stayed at 50+ airbnb places all around the world -- but the biggest problem is that the reviews are always so artificial you honestly have zero idea of what you're getting into. Worst of all is the amenities, which are more often incorrect than not. I generally filter for places with washer + drier, as I'd rather not be looking for laundromats. Probably over 80% of listings that say they have…

Wait, I'm confused. Airbnb is part of the "sharing" economy, right? So mostly people renting out their home whilst briefly away.

And they don't have a drying rack? Something doesn't fit.

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#107

Post by organsnyder »

swaggyBoatswain wrote: post #103
grapehut wrote: post #62

I travel a lot and have stayed at 50+ airbnb places all around the world -- but the biggest problem is that the reviews are always so artificial you honestly have zero idea of what you're getting into. Worst of all is the amenities, which are more often incorrect than not. I generally filter for places with washer + drier, as I'd rather not be looking for laundromats. Probably over 80% of listings that say they have…

"I don't really want to pollute my profile with candid feedback." This is how I feel about most things. A lot of times I give everyone 5 stars (things on fiverr, reviews for customer support, airBnB reviews, etc) even if the service is mediocre, partially because I don't want to deal with the potential problems of giving poor reviews. Potential problems include being unable to get files after a project (fiverr → givi…

Why leave a review at all if you're not going to be honest?

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#108

Post by plopz »

kelnos wrote: post #75
EdJiang wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No key at all, just “it’s a safe neighborhood so we always leave the door unlocked”

I've never understood that. I grew up in seemingly safe neighborhoods in suburban New Jersey and semi-rural Maryland, but leaving our door unlocked (even while we're at home) was unthinkable.

I grew up in a town in Morris County, NJ and our house was never locked. In fact, I'm not sure I ever actually saw the key to our house.

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#109

Post by philfrasty »

Honestly a little disappointed. Thought the „Plus“ would be more like an offering like Amazon Prime in the sense that you wouldn't have to pay these „AirBnB fees“ every single time you make a booking and instead pay a membership fee. (hate these fees displayed separately - why not display a single price to the customer - I don't care what it consists of - edit: and while we are at it, please get rid of these absurd „cleaning fees“ that get misused by dozens of hosts)

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#110

Post by BugsJustFindMe »

branchless wrote: post #106
grapehut wrote: post #62

I travel a lot and have stayed at 50+ airbnb places all around the world -- but the biggest problem is that the reviews are always so artificial you honestly have zero idea of what you're getting into. Worst of all is the amenities, which are more often incorrect than not. I generally filter for places with washer + drier, as I'd rather not be looking for laundromats. Probably over 80% of listings that say they have…

Wait, I'm confused. Airbnb is part of the "sharing" economy, right? So mostly people renting out their home whilst briefly away. And they don't have a drying rack? Something doesn't fit.

Anecdotally, having stayed at dozens of AirBnBs, a large percentage of listings are not people renting out their homes while briefly away. Many listings are from large-scale property owners who take several apartments off the rental market, put the least possible investment in them, and then list them on AirBnB, often using multiple host accounts to make it look like they aren't doing this, while living somewhere else.

Forget about drying racks. Many listings don't have a trash bin or toilet paper or soap or a knife suitable for chopping vegetables or a cutting board or pans that aren't half-rusted mangled garbage or blankets. Many listings are for private rooms but don't tell you that the "private" room is in a crumbling 10 bedroom house occupied entirely by other transient AirBnB guests and that there are no locks on any of the doors.

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