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Introducing Airbnb Plus

airbnb.com

121–130 of 174 posts

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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?

AirBNB UI really emphasizes this - it's nigh impossible to book again without having left feedback of the previous place.

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#122

This is strange marketing as it almost sounds like the non-Plus listings aren't what people already expect to some degree from an airbnb. > With Airbnb Plus, you can always check in effortlessly. Every home is equipped with a lockbox, keypad, or a host who is on-call to greet you. This is so weird. How would you otherwise check in to a home if it doesn't have self check in or a host? > When you book an Airbnb Plus ho…

I mean, it sounds fairly accurate. Checking in at my last AirBnB required texting the guy who rented it who had to drive out there to give me a key and it had to be between 5 and 7 pm. And don't get me started on tech "innovator" support...

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#123
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 locked my house door... The joys of living in rural New England...

I just moved from Maine to SF. The bigger problem now is that the door locks behind me...

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#124

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…

I don’t leave reviews or rate customer service or take corporate surveys. If some wildly profitable company wants my help with thier employee evaluation process or as secret shopper they can compensate me for my time. I see no reason to volunteer for the likes of Amazon, AirBnB, or Verizon.

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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?

Some sites practically force / really encourage you to leave a review (e.g. spam you with email reminders until you do, have seriously annoying UI that won't go away until you review). Apps will constantly ask you to review it, but this can be circumvented by clicking the link and ignoring it.

But if a review can be tied back to your account (e.g. the review is not private, rather public) this could hurt you long term. A good example of this is airBnB. If you have written less than stellar reviews to some hosts, some superhosts (those that require initial contact, e.g. not the ones with lightning bolts) might potentially ignore you because you are a liability of poor reviews.

This ends up limiting the overall options you have with airBnB when you need to stay at a city. Not only that, some hosts would rather see you left a good review if you only used airBnB a few times.

Another example is writing an honest review about your employer, whether its on reddit, glassdoor etc, and that review happens to be bad. If these things end up being traced back to you publically, you might be burning bridges / not having recommendations down the road.

It is selfish that I write good reviews because it gives me less problems down the road, thereby making ratings not as honest for everyone else. At the same time it can be incredibly selfish writing a poor honest review, because not everyone rates things equally (what is average rating, is it 3 or 4 stars?). What if that was a first time airBnB host with no ratings (having a poor first review is like a death sentence)? What if your stay as poor and it wasn't entirely their fault (e.g. outside noise was bad, washer broke, your sleep was awful, cockroach infestation next door, etc).

My point is, sometimes you need to write a review, and its hard to define what an honest rating is, and how detrimental it can be to you and the other party, especially if its on a personal level. I prefer to leave the honest part on just the text portion of the review, not on the 3 out of 5 stars part.

Sometimes people just need a helping hand and a good review goes a long way even if the service was mediocre. As long as they showed good faith and did their best I give them a 5. I know how hard it is to run a business from personal experience, and I know what its like to be on the consumer getting shafted at the end. I try to be as fair as possible

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

But how do you know if they have been?

I don't need to know, because I automatically benefit from not having my trip ruined by staying there. A lot of people don't seem to get that you can be honest about a booking without sounding like a complete asshole (despite how much I like to complain on HN, I promise that I don't write reviews the same way ^^).

You can say a lot of honest things like "if you expect to cook, be aware that you'll need to provide your own X/Y/Z" or "The wifi didn't work for me" or "I found the bed to be uncomfortably soft" or "It's obvious that nobody has ever lived here because so many basic things are lacking". And if any host would choose to deny you based on those, then I wouldn't want to give them money.

Possible reasons for a host to deny a booking:

1) The apartment is actually unavailable. It happens sometimes. I'm not going to cry about it.

2) The host is scared that I'm going to call them out for lying in their listing. If the listing is a lie, then I don't want to stay there. If the listing isn't a lie, then a good host won't be scared by honest reviews about misleading listings.

3) The host doesn't like my face. It's unlikely but possible. Again, I don't want to give money to a person who makes judgements like that.

I've never had any difficulty finding places while staying honest. Honesty doesn't reduce the number of good hosts available. Dishonesty does increase the number of bad hosts available. I do sometimes suffer because other people were dishonest in their reviews, and it upsets me.

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#127
post #84
post #14

Interesting. I wonder what those "checked for 100+ things that guests told us they love" are. Shouldn't the general quality of the listing already be apparent from the ratings? I'm always looking for apartments with a view. That is why I am starting a startup that will help locate these: https://nothingless.github.io/ I will also list if an apartment has a table. Because I need one to work with my laptop on it. What…

I hope their check includes people listing "whole homes" as actually being an entire house and not just someones basement or granny flat. Also a room with an attached bathroom isn't an "apartment". Seen quite a few of those being listed as whole rooms too. I don't really get it, if they fool me do they expect me to be happy when I show up and find out Im basically sleeping like harry potter?

How is a granny flat with it's own entrance, kitchen, etc not a "whole home"? those are often rented as apartments anyways

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#128
Way to level up! I actually think this combined with the new superhost incentives are a very well-considered, combination to elevate the overall quality of the platform overall.

The down side is: it seems like this may alienate new hosts by creating an (overwhelmingly) high bar for a listing. Not everyone is a semi-professional hotelier. How will that be balanced out?

Be careful not make would-be hosts feel too self-conscious to list their space. It's a fine line between building community and alienating it when curation bias turns into a core pillar of a company's identity.

I think discouraging new hosts by setting the bar (and company identity) so high is a net-negative for long-term community building. It makes total sense short-term, and it makes sense for an OTA like Booking. Long-term: it shoots the notion of home-sharing in the foot and without new hosts feeling welcome, a growing market can't sustain the demand.

Personally (I'm obviously biased lol), I'm obsessed with the notion that everyone is a host. Everyone would host someone, and it's a platforms job to help match those people to public listings, homes privately listed (networked via communities / friends), homes that have professional photos, homes that even have no photos (because if you're booking a friend's home, who cares). I'm not saying lower the standards, I'm saying change the frame; it's as a matching game threaded by community.

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#130
post #5

Airbnb is trying to make more money by offering experiences (events that generally seem very expensive to me) and moving to a more high-end branding. If I open the website I mostly see the more exclusive places first. I think this opens opportunities at the bottom. A website that focusses on functionality and cheaper rooms. The public is now familiar with the concept. Some people do not want to pay above hotel prices…

I agree there’s room for a lower end competitor. I used to rent out a room on Airbnb, it was a great experience. Both renting and staying I met cool people, as they were often keen to chat or hang out. And cheaper than a hotel, usually hostel prices. I never minded that staying in someone’s house would often mean a haphazardly tidied room with no available cupboard space. Fast forwards a few years and I rent out a sp…

You're totally right and this use case is important — friends. Most people would never list publicly. How often do you host friends?

Would love to see your place on Overnight. Our core focus is people who are open to hosting friends/members of their communities.

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