To think the recent changes to Air BnB will mean fewer people will book with them?

[Movinghouseatlast]

Have you looked at Air BnB in the last 2 weeks and noticed the changes they have made to the website?

I ask because I have a glamping business and since the 'summer release' I have had no bookings at all. Absolutely there are issues with the cost of living/ energy crisis but it seems a bit of a coincidence that I was getting plenty of bookings before the changes happened.

I just wondered if from a consumer point of view if the changes are making a difference? I just think it's not user friendly any more!

I do have my own website but I have stuck with Air BnB as I have always had a lot of bookings and to me as a business they work out cheaper than other platforms like Canopy and Stars etc.

Thanks!

This is not my property! I'm sure the owner whoever they are would love your feedback, but it is nothing to do with me.

It's not my hut! My checkout is 11am, 10 is too early!

You're the person who's decided that 5 stars means exceptional. You only give 5 star ratings to guests you find exceptional.

Many guests will give 5 stars as default because they understand the system. They know that having too many reviews under 5 stars can cause problems and they don't think you're bad enough to deserve problems.

That doesn't mean they all think you're above-and-beyond exceptional like you expect them to be to get 5 stars.

Honestly interacting with hosts on this thread makes me less and less likely to book an Airbnb again.

A system with 5 stars as default makes no sense because it gives no room to rate as 'expectations were exceeded'

It makes far more sense for 4 stars to mean 'as expected', no major issues, but far from perfect, because lets face it, there's always a niggle somewhere with a property, eg the bed is too hard/soft, traffic noise etc.

Which means that reviews are generally meaningless if people are giving 5 stars to places that aren't always that great.

Anyway, I won't use AirBnB until they start being more precise about the location of the properties. We like to walk everywhere on holiday so having restaurants, beach, supermarket close by the accommodation is a must.

I don't want to make a booking hoping that the place is close to the supermarket that we're going to be buying drinks from, only to find that it's a 20 minute uphill walk away.

You can see the exact position if you click on the map function ( which I think you need to put exact dates for it to come up) It is brilliant of you are searching for something near a specific place.

And I agree about the review system. It is bonkers.

They write to hosts if they get too many 4 star reviews saying they are not meeting standards.

I think interest in air BnB is declining. Or at least it is among my friendship group. We all thought it was brilliant a few years ago but it's had some bad press over the last few years. When UK holiday prices were skyrocketing so many people were on here complaining about last minute cancellations and seeing the property they booked advertised at twice the price. Air BnB did nothing to discourage that.

Where else do you advertise? Do you have a social media presence? If not, get on Instagram. Have a Google of good hashtags to use in the uk and save a batch on your phone to use every time you post (saves a lot of work). Also start your own hashtag for guests to use so people can see their photos. If you're near beauty spots or attractions occasionally take photos of those too (even just the sign saying "x place, 3 miles"). Show off the food in local restaurants and cafes people could visit while there. Make sure you stage the photos. It feels silly but those sorts of photos always work on me. It looks like the owner cares about the business rather than bought a couple of huts, plonked them in the garden and decided it would be a decent earner.

We've been looking for a place to stay using AirBnB and I've been finding it infuriating!

The search results don't come back consistently and the filters aren't broad enough.

The prices seem to change for the same dates a lot too.

Thanks to this thread, I'll give others a go.

I think you’ve quoted the wrong person here @francesfrankenfurter

I make no mention of cleaners or of saints!

I had the same problem with an airbnb abroad. Spent time writing a fair review only for it never to show.. would be interested to know how many others are wiped and the reasons 😲
I also find the website and app clunky so will usually always use booking.com

I usually use Booking to find options, and then try the hotels themselves directly to check whether the price is better. I've got a Genius discount on Booking which can mean it's cheaper, but not always. I did once arrive at a hotel to find that Booking hadn't passed on the booking, but the hotel was great about it and upgraded us because they said it could be their systems (luckily it was a big corporate hotel with plenty of availability or the story would be different). But it's a useful site to get an idea of where to start if nothing else.

Please book direct where you can. Booking.com is taking huge commissions and treats small businesses really badly. They were very shoddy during the lockdowns. Give your money direct to the provider and you will usually benefit.

The last couple of places I booked through booking.com advised me to book directly next time, which I can, but had it not been for booking.com, I probably wouldn't have found them in the first place. If their own website is good enough, I can do that, but if I have to phone instead of using a Web form, I'll stick with online. I could use booking.com to search, then check their own website.

Haven't used Airbnb, and thus thread isn't inspiring me. I find the filters on booking.com work well.

I look at booking.com and then search for their own website. But various times it has been more expensive on their own website so I book via a booking site.
It should cost the same, or even better a small discount.

This deviates from the thread a bit but while we're cleaning and getting the tent ready for guests to arrive later today (we have a Glamping set up) I've been thinking about all of the things we provide/do that doesn't cost any less than a B&B or hotel to get:

Good linens
Laundry service
Insurance
Cleaning products
Tea lights
Electricity in the kitchen and bathrooms
Water testing
Tea & good ground coffee
Crockery/Glasses/Utensils
Loo roll
Kitchen Roll
Additions like oil, sauces and spices for guests to use
Hand soap
Charcoal for BBQ-ing
Firelighters
And so on.....

In addition to this we spend at least £3 or £4 hundred every summer on redecorating and replacing things that are broken or 'borrowed' by guests. And we do ALL the work.

Nights under canvas give people a chance to switch off, rest, relax, chat to one another and the best bit is seeing people go back to the real world looking ready to face it all again. I'm not saying hotels don't offer that but the peace and quiet here isn't something you'd easily find in a 20 bedroom hotel (e.g.)

So for all the people saying that £100 a night for Glamping is too much and you could get a weeks stay in a 5* hotel for £45 and a bag of chips then 💁

I’ve never used air B&b never will. Have you tried booking.com abs pitchup since your glamping. Also are you on Facebook? I’m on a lot of camping type Facebook groups and peoples pages are always being shared and places recommended.

People are being so weird about shepherds huts on this thread! The issue is clearly app based to go from lots of bookings/views to 0! Clearly not because everyone has collectively decided to agree with the PPs that they don’t like shepherd huts lol.

The changes to Airbnb you describe sound a bit like some designer has tried to pare it back and make it more minimalist and chic with less info, but this has actually backfired and made it more difficult to find what you’re seeking. A failure in UX design in favour of aesthetics.

They dont give the exact position, the location on the map (this is the only way I search for properties) is a rough/vague location, its not exact and they tell you this further down the page, you wont know the exact location until you book and pay. You dont even get it just after the booking, its not supplied until you're closer to the trip.

I don't mean click on the map on the individual listing I mean when you do a search and get a list of properties. This gives you the exact location and you can zoom right in.

No it doesnt, they are very clear that you only get the exact location after booking, there are some that are so close when you zoom in, its more or less the exact location but there others Ive found where its on the opposite side of a park or river or small village. I cross reference everything I view on street view and use satellite images to be sure where something is and I can tell you there is a mixture of some being close to their location and some being quite a few hundred metres out which makes a difference if you have a need to know exactly for walking or cycling purposes.

I think it was very decent of you to decline to review her if it was that bad. One of my best friends is a host and she loves doing it. She too, has some horror stories, but most of them are lovely people. She is very welcoming too.

I was so shocked by the outrageous lies that this host wrote about my friend and I. (We were both renting separate rooms from her.) She also misled me about parking (she told me it was available, and it turned out that it was very popular off street parking, 15 mins walk away). She was such an unpleasant person, she told me she didn't like people, but she loved money which was why she did Airbnb.

It taught me a lot about checking the specifics, the difference between renting a room and a property. I spent a lot of time weighing up if it was worth the hassle to save a little bit of money, or to go with professional accommodation.

Honestly, the whole thing affected me so much, I closed my account and no longer use it. I am too long in the tooth to pander to someone's else's moods or dramatics when all I need is a clean, warm bedroom.

@smileyworld This guest did nothing wrong. The fact that I disliked her is not an excuse to give her a bad review.