
Introducing Airbnb Plus - catercowchris
https://www.airbnb.com/plus
======
grapehut
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 a washer and
drier do not. Most of the time the "drier" is a drying rack or a hair drier.
Other times the host explains that I can visit his house or a laundromat, so
that counts. Or the last place there was a shared washing machine between 30+
places.

And because you can't leave anonymous tips, I just add the problem by leaving
positive reviews even when I'm unhappy with the place. Currently my airbnb
profile shows me an an exceptional guest (I have nothing but positive reviews
for me, and have given nothing but positive reviews) so have never had a
problem getting any place I want. I don't really want to pollute my profile
with candid feedback.

When I'm staying somewhere for 1 or 2 nights, I tend to just get a hotel.
There's too much friction and problems in airbnb for it to be worth it.

~~~
pjungwir
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.

~~~
InitialLastName
I think the worry is retaliatory reviews. I've been in a situation where if I
left my host an honest review, I expected to get a nasty review in return.

It's honestly a problem with all of these bi-directional rating systems. As
long as they make it at all possible for the ratings to leak before both
parties have rated, there's a strong disincentive for any party to leave an
honest rating.

~~~
zephyrnh
Airbnb switched to a "double blind" review system several years go, so you
only see the other person's review after you've written your own. If you don't
leave a review within two weeks, the other review becomes public and you no
longer have the option to leave a review. I did a search to see if there was
any press about this, couldn't find much but there's a bit about it here:
[https://medium.com/airbnb-engineering/building-for-
trust-503...](https://medium.com/airbnb-engineering/building-for-
trust-503e9872bbbb) "The result was a 7% increase in review rates and a 2%
increase in negative reviews."

~~~
splintercell
My reason for not writing a negative review is because before staying at their
place we exchanged phone numbers and other things, and now I don't feel
comfortable writing a negative review and possibly having a confrontation.
YMMV but I avoid writing negative reviews despite the 'double blind' review
system.

~~~
BugsJustFindMe
Always contact them through AirBnB. You should be treating it just like
contacting random strangers for sex on Craigslist, potentially dangerous.
There's no reason to give a random stranger your personal contact details.

------
annexrichmond
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 home, you get the focused attention of our
> Airbnb Plus customer support team–a highly-trained team committed to great
> service and faster responses

Okay, so if there is no self check in and no host to greet me at a non Plus
home, I'm stuck with a poorly trained unresponsive agent.

I realize that they want to differentiate the hotel-like quality airbnbs from
the others, so they can give it a badge and therefore justify a higher price
for it, but the delivery is odd, as other commenters have pointed out.

An alternative approach could be to describe such listings as "Guaranteed X,
Y, Z". I think with that language it wouldn't undermine the quality of the non
Plus listings as much.

~~~
calbear81
Airbnb employee here: Re: the check-in and on-demand requirement, this means
that there is 24 hour check-in available vs. a pre-set check-in time that you
would have to coordinate closely with a host. This would mean that there's a
keypad, lockbox with a key and/or a doorman or local key person who will bring
the key on demand when requested.

~~~
ultraflux
I already do this and this is standard with the local airbnb hosts I know. I
get that this obviously does not happen across the board but I can assure you
anyone serious is already doing this. In some cases I even pickup guests.

------
whymsicalburito
This offering looks nice, but half the bullet items listed as benefits were
things that I already thought were guaranteed by AirBnB... This seems like an
excuse to lower their standards on non-Plus listings.

~~~
mjburgess
It's what you expect, but it costs them money to verify these expectations.

I'd guess this is about saying "we've verified this" .

~~~
JorgeGT
But then again, they don't seem to make any hard commitment as a result of
said inspection, something like "everything is verified in person so if
something is missing/wrong we book you in the nearest five star hotel for
free", only a vague promise about a more trained customer support agent if
something goes wrong. Does not seem very reassuring honestly.

------
pradn
AirBnb sells feelings of authenticity, but it comes across in an uncanny-
valley sort of way. I did an AirBnB cooking class experience in the suburbs of
Mexico City. It was really fun, I got to meet a few great people, and it was
in a lovely house. But how genuine are the host's laughs at my jokes when I'm
paying him for the class? It doesn't feel real.

Staying at an AirBnB is a less homogenous than staying at the Hilton. There's
a bit more risk involved (not necessarily safety, but cleanliness, noise,
etc). Hotels, on the plus side, are run like businesses and feel more
impersonal. It's more honest than an AirBnB experience in a way.

More to the point, I'm surprised the company keeps improving their product
like this. It's not Dropbox or Yelp, which don't feel too different after 10
years.

~~~
ghaff
I semi-regularly stay at Bed & Breakfasts when I travel. I've never booked
through Airbnb but I observe that a fair number now list there. I expect this
also fuels the perception that Airbnb is more expensive than it used to be.
B&Bs (in the small inn sense) aren't typically all that inexpensive.

It really depends what I'm looking for. With a lot of business travel in
particular, I'm looking for a consistent experience with a 24 hour desk in a
convenient location. For a weekend getaway I often look for something that's a
bit more "local."

~~~
pradn
AirBnB has also made it pretty easy to use their service for business travel.
If you're under cap, you could possibly upgrade to a better plane seat.
Personally, I prefer a cheap hotel and a good plane ride. A lot of the old-
school business travel services like fax machines and gyms I don't ever use
anyway.

~~~
kaybe
I haven't been able to opt out of amenities that apparently AirBnB considers
essential for business trips. I'm a scientist - I don't wear a suit and I
don't need a hairdryer. Sadly this limits my choices of places down too much,
so after looking at it once I changed back to the normal view.

------
Gys
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 to stay somewhere for the
night only. They are looking for a simple, clean and cheap bed. I am one of
those.

~~~
volkk
i don't see how a whole new company can exist to fill in the gap of what
airbnb's price slider filter can fix in 2 seconds

~~~
matte_black
It’s not enough to have a slider, you also need to actively market to people
looking for cheap places to stay in the first place, or they will never even
think to use your precious slider.

This splits AirBnBs marketing on two fronts: high end and low end. This either
doubles their marketing cost or halves their marketing budget for each
audience. Take your pick.

A company focused on low cost listings only has to market to one audience,
which results in significantly cheaper marketing cost, which means better
profitability, which means longer staying power, which means eventually they
own a large percentage of the low end market.

Game Over.

~~~
fbdjskajxb
I don’t understand, how would AirBnB segmenting their marketing cause it to
cost twice as much?

Imagine AirBnB and the low cost company both exist as you imagine. Now suppose
AirBnB buys the low cost company and doesn’t change their marketing at all. Of
course marketing ROI for each of the two segments doesn’t change. Compare this
to the case where AirBnB operates in the two segments without buying low cost
company. How are these cases different?

~~~
matte_black
When a marketing budget that once served a uniform segment splits to serve
multiple segments, you must either divide the budget amongst segments or
increase the budget to support the previous standard of marketing activity for
a segment.

~~~
ghaff
Yes but, if you serve multiple segments vs. just one, you presumably can
amortize your marketing dollars over more volume. (And if you're not
increasing volume by going after more segments, those new segments obviously
aren't working out for you.)

~~~
matte_black
In this case the low end market becomes a drain on AirBnB because the ROI is
not nearly as high as their high end market. However the ROI would be
acceptable to a smaller player. Is it worth for AirBnB to dilute their brand
at this critical juncture just to hold on to as wide a market as possible?

No.

------
apetresc
They don't explicitly state this, but I really hope one of the things they
guarantee with Plus is that the host isn't expecting you to cover up the fact
that you're in an AirBNB.

I love the service overall, but I absolutely hate getting the morning-of-
checkin email saying "Hey can't wait to host you, by the way, tell the
receptionist you're my cousin and if any of the neighbors are in the hallway
please just pace around the elevator until they leave." This seems to happen
90% of the time in New York places.

~~~
sf_rob
This happened to me in Toronto (my local coworkers said it was a common thing)
and the doorman threatened to not let me in and to not return my bags that the
airline temporarily lost and delivered there.

~~~
ultraflux
This often only happens in Cities where Airbnb is either illegal or is
fighting with local cities.

~~~
apetresc
Exactly - in which case, I don't understand why AirBNB allows listings in
those places, or at least warn you. It's a _terrible_ user experience to find
out you're an unwitting co-conspirator in someone else's crime.

~~~
CaptainZapp
Because they don't give a shit. They make money on the rental anyway and as
long it doesn't threaten to wind up with terrible PR or cost them tangible
money why would they care?

I used AirBnB twice in Japan and booked a couple experiences (which I thought
were really expensive for what they were) and I always cringed at their email
sig :

 _From AirBnb with Love_

It's not about spreading love. It's about a pretty ruthless business.
Externalities be damned.

------
get
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/](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 are other HNers looking for in an apartment that is not easy to find via
the standard filters?

~~~
dawnerd
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?

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

~~~
dawnerd
Because a lot of the amenities listed are actually in the main house. If Im
renting a "whole home" I dont really want to be in the owners back yard, ya
know?

------
GuiA
_Reliable check-in 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._

Love the implication that the check in process for their regular listings is
unreliable :^)

Otherwise, as others are pointing out, interesting to see where their
priorities lie - certainly these high touch experiences are bringing them more
money than people renting out a spare bedroom.

I do wonder how much of a pain this must all be for hosts - anyone who’s ever
been in a slightly expensive place knows how entitled people spending money
can get, and that must be a huge pain to deal with when it’s someone staying
in your house making a fuss because you didn’t offer them organic orange juice
in the morning. This happened to a friend of mine who hosted someone for a few
nights, on regular Airbnb, with no promise of breakfast whatsoever in the
first place. Again, people can get really entitled when they’re spending
money. She stopped hosting as the result of that experience (they complained
about more than the breakfast, but that’s one thing they were weirdly pushy
about).

~~~
Terretta
To be fair, “BnB” = Bed and Breakfast. It’s in the name, not the fine print.

~~~
GuiA
Should he have also complained because he slept on a real mattress and not an
Air Bed, as advertised in the name?

------
jasonjei
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.

~~~
calbear81
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.

------
m1117
I rented a place with Airbnb. A lot of the reviews said it's 13th floor with a
gorgeous view. The actual place was on the 2nd floor. I called airbnb and the
angry lady said that they are not responsible for the reviews and advised me
not to trust them. She said I'll get no refund.

~~~
get
Can you provide a link to that listing?

I am always looking for apartments with a view so I would like to see how
booking one can go so wrong.

------
w-m
To me the homes, people and their experiences in the video feel artificial.
Thus the whole video makes me strangely uncomfortable, even though I am
probably in the target audience.

~~~
shafyy
Agree. I think a good counterexample is what Lyft did at the end of last year:
[https://blog.lyft.com/posts/thank-you](https://blog.lyft.com/posts/thank-you)

It feels really authentic (and it probably is).

------
jVinc
So they basically just used user feedback to sort their existing catalog into
two catagories letting the upper one increase their prices.

Makes sense. You were able to find some killer deals with extremely nice
places that where waay underpriced because the hosts were decent human beings.
They'll likely get contacted by AirBnB with "You could join airBnB plus... and
you can price it 40% higher than current with us only taking twice our usual
cut" or similar

------
nmeofthestate
Makes sense - a subset that's had a bit more oversight from AirBnB, to filter
out the ghost hotels and places with one fork, no coffee machine, and
furniture that's all basic IKEA stuff.

------
atomical
I use Airbnb a lot. When the location is bad the reviews are often bullshit.
People are afraid to leave a negative review. I would be willing to pay more
to know the history of complaints that Airbnb receives directly through their
support line. In the past I've discovered that Airbnb knew that there was a
problem with a location but gave the owner another chance and did not follow
up.

~~~
dawnerd
They should just show the complaints as a stat like "10 complains last 12
months"

------
ithinkinstereo
How much of AirBnB's current valuation is predicated on the assumption that
they'll eventually capture a hearty share of the business and high-end/luxury
traveller segments (i.e., the high-margin profit drivers)?

I see moves like Plus as AirBnB trying to "professionalize" aspects of their
product, but they'll never be able to provide the "guarantee (or recourse)" of
an established hotel chain.

Outside of those who are cost-conscious, or those with unique accommodation
needs (large groups, etc.), it's hard to imagine why any discerning traveller
would opt for an AirBnB over a traditional hotel, all things being equal.

------
akhunt1002
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.

------
lotsofpulp
Inching closer to a mainstream hotel brand. Can't complain about more
competition, assuming it's zoned properly.

~~~
Consultant32452
I usually check AirBnB but lately the best prices after fees are higher than
mainstream hotel brands. To a certain extent this is controlled by property
owners more than AirBnB itself, they've figured out they can charge more.

The result is that while I used to go to AirBnB for the discounts, it's now
becoming a premium brand with a premium price.

It may be worth noting that I always opt for "whole place." It may be
different if you're willing to get just a room.

~~~
dawnerd
Same, Always search for superhost, whole place, free onsite parking (rules out
a lot of condo highrises), two bedrooms (Filters out basement apartments,
granny flats, rooms being listed as whole houses).

Recently scored a whole house for ~60/day using this and you know what, it
wasn't that bad.

------
jzamora
The main part I like about this is Airbnb actually verifying things in
properties. It's always annoying when a listing has tiny lies in it about wifi
and other small things. I really want that Airbnb rewards program though

~~~
ultraflux
How much of a premium are you willing to pay for this verification? Secondly,
it is going to be even more annoying when you expect it to be verified and
your WIFI and small things are still missing or non-functional.

------
dazc
'with hosts known for great reviews..'

Thus far, for me anyway, not a reliable method of finding great hosts.

------
thisisit
Wow. First I was confused and then on reading closer I can only say - what a
load of bs. So, they take the same experience and re-package it to charge more
money. And here I thought Uber's packaging on some of their ride categories
was bs.

------
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)

------
romaster
This seems like a smart and natural step for AirBnB.

Step 1) enable existing hosts who are great hosts to 'step up' to a prestige
status which creates visibility and pushes more hosts towards wanting to get
there too, thereby improving the overall quality on AirBnB.

Step 2) (I'm skipping a few steps) - eventually fill the void with AirBnB
property/amenity management as a service for hosts.

Hosts who don't want to manage or deal with the pain of trying to get to Plus
status will simply pay AirBnB for the cleaning, the linens, the supplies etc,
no worries, no problems, and let AirBnB manage it all for you. Also gets more
people wanting to host who are aloof to finding or trusting a manager they
don't know.

It will take time but it's well worth it, even if it is only partially
successful.

Good job.

------
dgudkov
It's hard to get a predictable service quality from AirBnb hosts and
locations, so the Plus program could be a step in the right direction.

Maybe, AirBnb should just become a platform on which a branded/franchised
networks should appear that stick to certain standards. Verified by "Philton".
Quality controlled by "Karriott".

Otherwise, AirBnb is always a lottery.

------
yairhaimo
Listen to Masters of Scale episode 1 ([https://mastersofscale.com/brian-
chesky-handcrafted/](https://mastersofscale.com/brian-chesky-handcrafted/)) to
understand what is (seemingly) behind AirBnB's strategy for AirBnB Plus.
Highly recommended!

------
southphillyman
Can't users already grep these type of homes by using price and rating
filters? So the premium is based on a "verified" distinction due to an
official inspection? I guess that's useful but it may make these kinds of gems
harder to book (and more expensive) if they are easier to distinguish.

~~~
ghaff
One would certainly expect that certification or other sorts of
quality/service guarantees would allow properties to set higher prices
relative to those that don't have them. There are reasons why many people
(generally including myself) are more likely to buy used camera gear, for
example, from reputable dealers rather than eBay even though the prices are
usually higher.

------
joelrunyon
Waiting for serviced apartments to show up in the US like they do in Australia
& Asia.

When I travel over there, I always do it. The amenities of the Airbnb, plus a
front desk and a consistency + cleanliness.

AirBnbs are great, but they're still very hit/miss.

------
qxzw
Getting that much needed 4.8 rating, reminds me of certain dark reflective
surface.

------
iooi
Why do they never link to the listings when they advertise these beautiful
homes? It's such a simple thing to do, I wonder if they purposefully leave the
links out. I'm curious how much that LA home is to rent.

------
fpgaminer
My one and only experience with AirBnB was horrible. I booked a place so I
could take some family and friends on a nice little vacation. Fast forward to
three days before check-in. The host messages me asking me to email them a
copy of my photo ID. Obviously, I told them no. 1) You should never let anyone
have a copy of your photo ID (identity theft). 2) You certainly shouldn't
_email_ your ID. 3) Communication outside AirBnB is against their rules. 4) A
copy of your photo ID is not required, again according to AirBnB's rules.

Anyway, I told the host it would be too dangerous to comply with their request
and that I would be happy to _show_ the ID in-person at check-in. They ignored
me and just re-iterated their request. At this point I was already ID verified
by AirBnB, so there's really no reason for the host to personally verify me
except at check-in. So I contact AirBnB support.

Well the host stonewalls me and support for the 3 days leading up to check-in.
AirBnB support is friendly, but their messages are often confusing and contain
broken english making them difficult to understand. Their helpfulness only
extends as much as to say "yes, this is against our rules, but the host won't
budge."

So I had to cancel the trip last minute and break the news to my family and
friends who had already made plans around this vacation. Everything was
ruined.

The best AirBnB offered was to give us extra "credit" to book someplace
different. Oh, great. Let me just go book another AirBnB, who might _also_
break your rules, last minute. No thanks. I was too stressed by having to deal
with all this garbage to work up the energy to try and book someplace last
minute. The thought that I would have to cancel the trip and disappoint my
friends and family who were so excited to go ... that ate away at me the
_whole_ time I was dealing with that horrible host and the limp AirBnB
support.

We were lucky in that our destination was a road-trip away, rather than a
flight. Imagine if we had booked flights depending on this AirBnB booking?

I don't see how anyone could entrust their trips to the whims of AirBnB given
this behavior. They clearly can't enforce their own rules and don't go out of
their way to help their customers.

On top of all this, I had the misfortune of visiting the AirBnB subreddit.
Wow. The AirBnB host culture is rife with self-entitled control freaks who are
ready to throw guests under the bus under the guise of "well this is my
personal home, so you have to obey my rules." No, this is a business. We're
_paying_ to stay at your _business_ property. Not your home. It stopped being
your home when you offered it for sale. Of course I would always treat
people's property with respect, home or not. But the attitude that they
somehow are above the rules of a business because they're renting their "home"
is toxic.

Other commenters frequently point out how the rating system is also completely
broken. Guests won't rate their stays low, even when there are problems. Which
means you can't trust the ratings. And if you can't trust the ratings, how can
you choose a place to stay? And how is AirBnB Plus supposed to work if every
place has 5/5?

Since my stay was cancelled, I had no way to leave a review. I have serious
doubts AirBnB themselves will take any action against the host. So I can only
imagine all those poor naive souls out there just emailing copies of their IDs
to strangers on the internet.

------
megy
Why not? I have not found airbnb to be cheaper than a hotel, and a lot less
convenient. So why not go the full hotel route.

However, there is that rare chance you get someone who is interesting to stay
with.

------
tenryuu
A nice way for people to filter out, or even limit themselves to a more luxury
option on the service.

You could see yourself never using it, or using it a lot, granted your
circumstances or needs

------
aestetix
So they are basically a fancy hotel that skirts regulations?

------
CptJamesCook
How about a guarantee that the guests won't throw a party in my house and
disturb my neighbors? This has been a constant problem for me.

------
wugie
New revenue stream for the company growing its presence in the premium
segment.

~~~
ultraflux
Seems they may have missed the mark here. I would not classify hotel-like
quality as the premium segment. Many of the standard Airbnb's I've stayed at
beat hotel-like quality in every way.

------
markcerqueira
No subtitles on the Shanghai video... 不好！

