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!

But surely where ever you stay it is still depriving a local of a home and the cottage could be on Airbnb as well.

I thought the same?

infact I'd imagine the holiday let's through sykes/cottages etc are probably full time holiday rentals whereas some people use air bubbles to rent out the house they live in when they're not there.

I've used both and had mixed experiences. For last minute bookings or if I only want to go for a few days air bnb seems more flexible.

I'm unsure what I think the solution is to second homes and towns where holiday let's outnumber the residential homes? It is obviously a growing problem, especially in places like Cornwall. But people still want to go on holiday. (Even people living in holiday towns might go on holiday themselves) For almost any type of holiday accommodation, the land or building could be repurposed to make an affordable home. And if you go abroad you could potentially be contributing to the same kind of situation

Air bubbles?? Air bnbs

I wouldn't go near AirbNb after multiple experiences of family and friends during the past couple of years.

Multiple early bookings, cancelled last minute, undoubtedly because of price increases.

Simply wouldn't trust them for a booking again.

Agree with every word of this.

They don't care if guests wreck the property, so long as they get their money (bitter experience speaking).

booking.com are a nightmare for owners, too... VRBO is the best of them.

i dislike being charged a cleaning fee, but expected to strip sheets and clean everything to a very high standard before you leave sort of negates the need for said fee. (Which along with other fees, add a significant proportion to the price above the base rate)

There’s one extreme of trashing the place, but the other is having to leave it polished and immaculate.

I also strongly dislike the demand for ID and profile pictures and mutual reviews as it feels unnecessary, judgemental and intrusive.

It’s not a social media site; it’s a holiday booking site.

'I wouldn't go Glamping if you paid me' So don't go Glamping then! I wouldn't stay in an all inclusive 3* resort in Marbella but I wouldn't come on here to dismiss the whole idea as it works for some people.

OP I also have a glampsite & holiday cottage (not a second home so not depriving anyone of housing stock. And we didn't hike our prices AT ALL over the last few years despite increased costs to us for laundry services, heat and light and so on) and the bookings for this year are coming in much later than they normally would. We're top spec with all 5* reviews too - we've done it for about 10 years - so I have my fingers crossed it picks up as it is our only income.

This is what I mean about the review! I would be wracking my brains over the 4 star. If you want sheets stripping and rubbish taking out, then say so and I’ll do it. Your approach is a bit passive aggressive. Some hosts might actually not want the beds stripping (I had one in a holiday house years ago who asked us not to as people often piled them up in a room furthest from her machine) or the rubbish taking out (eg if it were put in the wrong place).

I agree four stars for doing what you want is rubbish.
I hate the air bnb rating of guests as it can be so misused. And I have only had good ratings so this is not personal,

I dont really know how its set up that the description is written. But it seems that some owners dont do themselves justice. For example Im looking for a stop off on our way to Scotland and back again

So Ive put in the location of North Yorkshire, I want options either side of the A1M

So looking around sort of Ripon I see some options and one in particular, self contained little place. In the description which is the first thing I read, it makes no mention of a couple of local pubs. It doesnt mention whether there is any bike storage so Im going to need to contact them for that but one might say thats not a standard thing although more and more families now have bikes for them and the kids.

Also the listing lists it as Guesthouse North Yorkshire rather than the village that its in. I wondered if there were restrictions to only mentioning geographical area but there are a couple in Ripon, one says private room Ripon and one right next to it says private room North Yorkshire. If I were an owner I would want to make sure its a precise as possible.

And as we have said on the thread, it wont confirm where it is exactly until booking so Ive had to use google maps to look at the satellite images to see where it is, easy in the countryside when theres only a few properties but that would be harder in the city.

Isn't there a lot more competition though? the stamp duty pause caused a surge in 2nd home sales. More people let out accommodation & anyone with some space can pop up a bell tent or a pod or hut.

Why don’t owners get together and create their own booking platform, then reduce their prices undercutting the agents? It must be pretty cheap to run a booking website.

My DH has a similar online cooperative in his industry. It could be done on a local basis.

I include cleaning charges in the cost. I do not ask guests to strip beds or take rubbish out - I wear a mask and gloves and do that myself. However, the one in about a hundred who does this unasked get five stars, everyone else get four.

This doesn't make any sense. Just tell people to strip stuff if that's what you want!

I agree. I know people who have bought a shepherds hut during the last year and are renting it out. Anyone with land can get one and they aren't that expensive.

yes & so many farms, NT, zoos etc are also diversifying into glamping

yes & so many farms, NT, zoos etc are also diversifying into glamping

OP you also said some shepherds huts charge double what you charge. But some of them have no electricity and a gas stove you cook outside on, while others have proper bathrooms, electricity and full size cookers inside.
Are you comparing against your actual competition with prices?

Four stars is not a criticism it just means that the room and bathroom was left as I would expect

Yet AirBnB takes a four star rating of the owners as a critisism and indication that things were not as described.

If staying at your place means that my rating gets ruined for having the audacity not to do your cleaning for you, after going through the faff of verified ID, then you can keep it, I'm sure I'll find somewhere else.

Speaking of verified ID, I've been using AirBnB for years without it and I've tried a few times but it's failed to recognise my passport scans, I don't really see why I should spend ages faffing about because their software is sub-par.
I'm unlikely to use it again in future. Far prefer Bookings.com in general now.

I have had four star ratings. Most of the time I’ve not been given a clue why.

I think guests can only see their aggregate ratings on by looking on the website not an app. Hosts can see them when they request to book. I’ve never refused four star guests, and many people are. It just means everything was okay but not outstanding - it’s nothing to be upset or worried about.

Anything less and I’d be careful. Having said, that I just had a young woman with two stars. She had stayed with a host who had given her a malicious rating for complaining about a spring coming out of a mattress, bare wiring and general filth. She went to a hotel and asked for her money back.

She was clean, polite and no problem at all so I was happy to rate her accordingly.

I imagine bookings are down as they have resumed normal levels now it's easier to go overseas again. We're off to Italy, stuff overpriced houses on the Isle of Wight and doing a load of cooking and cleaning.

You can search for shepherds hut by a beach, you pick shepherds hut and filter beach

I’ve never refused four star guests, and many people are. It just means everything was okay but not outstanding - it’s nothing to be upset or worried about

Four stars is a mark-down, which you are giving to people for absolutely no reason. It's not on.

I gave up on Airbnb because of hidden charges and most places were extortionate. Cottages.com so much easier.

There are dozens of them - all suffer from the same problem. It's a catch 22. They need properties to advertise but no owner is going to pay ££ to advertise on an unproven new site. Many start ups get around this by offering the first year free. Fine - a few owners sign up.

The problem then is that the new sites don't appear high enough on search engines to be found so - no guests. To get around this they need to spend £millions to compete with the likes of Airbnb, booking.com, Sykes etc to even get on to the first couple of pages of google. They don't have the money so they fold.

There is one exception to this - Simply Owners. It had sufficient backing to get past the initial launch and has a decent selection of properties now. It's a book direct site with the owner so no guest fees. I get a reasonable number of bookings from it so it is delivering from my point of view and I'll pay the listing charge but they had to give me a substantial first year discount to get me to sign up with them.

@locok I don’t want them to strip the beds that’s my job. If a guest does it for me, that makes them an exceptional five star guest.

i agrees Scianel, Airbnb are very hard taskmasters. I’m a super host but too many four star ratings mean that could go. I lost it during the pandemic but found it made no difference to bookings. I don’t stress myself about anymore.