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!

Ive only ever had nice reviews as a guest on airbnb but I couldnt tell you how many stars, how do I know? Other than an email I cant seem to find it on my account

I approve of them stopping owners using luxury in the title. It was a joke what was being described as luxury.

@Frannyhy but why give them 4 stars if they don't do it?

I booked on Airbnb a couple of days ago. I did notice the website changes, but it didn't put me off. I use map search anyway as we want to be near certain attractions.

I expect a lot of people are booking to go abroad this year, after a couple of years of it being difficult to travel. If most of your guests are British, that could be an explanation.

I agree with PP that Airbnb's glory days are over. A few years ago, I'd have booked with no hesitation. Now I was definitely comparing against aparthotels and similar, which seem less risky (H&S, easy check-in, chain-wide standards) and are no longer much more expensive.

i used to use Airbnb for every holiday we went on. Now I search for local sites in the areas we want to go to. Airbnb hike the prices up so much.

Its ridiculous isnt it. If I leave a place exactly as I found it (including sheets on bed) then I expect 5 stars (not that I can seem to find my stars on airbnb reviews)

If you are not asked to do something and therefore dont do it, how can it only be 4 stars. This is why this system is awful. I dont get a review by sainsburys when I come in, nor do I get one from premier inn or such like

So you see 4 star ratings as something bad when given to you, but you give 4 stars to guests who don't do 'your job' for you (in your words)?

If only exceptional guests get 5 stars, are you an exceptional host?

Bellac I think you can see your rating if you go on the website. Don’t use an app. I use Airbnb as a guest too, and I don’t know what mine is.

So you see 4 star ratings as something bad when given to you, but you give 4 stars to guests who don't do 'your job' for you (in your words)?

I noticed that too! 😆

Yes, me too. Our prices are £10 per night more than in 2019. In fact no-one in my village put their prices up very much.

It's interesting reading what people's ( very wrong in many cases!) perceptions are though isn't . Lots of people must think you can clean a holiday cottage in an hour and that 3 hours is 'excessive'! People seem to have no idea of changeover costs or timings so think we are 'cashing in'!

Lots of people must think you can clean a holiday cottage in an hour and that 3 hours is 'excessive'!

Surely it fluctuates though & depends on size of the cottage & length of stay? And the cleaning fee?

I'm another who gave up trying to book through Airbnb. I couldn't even register as they wanted to verify my phone, but the verification code didn't work. It will only let you try that 3 times and each time the code didn't work.
I gave up at that point. I think they are useless.

If your holiday cottage is not available to locals for tenancy rentals then of course you're depriving someone of housing stock. Unless of course its not possible to rent it as a full time rental.

I only ever use a laptop, dont understand apps at all, how people do all this on phones I have no idea!

It's not 'typical' of shepherds huts. It is A shepherds hut.

Here is a different one for you ( not mine)
abnb.me/K3WOwCzsqqb

They really aren't all the same as you can see. Mine has a proper flushing toilet, walk in shower, heating, hot tub, cooker, fridge- freezer huge 200 foot private garden with a stream and pond.

You don't like shepherds huts, that's fine, but lots of people do. And you can go off grid and wild or you can have all mod cons. What they tend to have in common is beautiful back to nature surroundings.

Could just be that domestic holidays/tourism is down.

I hired a boat at a boatyard today in a popular tourist area, admittedly at the edge of the tourist area…..there are other boatyards in more popular places. I was the only person who’d rented a boat when I returned it at lunchtime and they were talking about locking up and going home. The woman who owns it said last year people were queuing out the boatyard and it was chaos. Now dead.

No, it gets cleaned until it is clean. A larger property would take much longer of course. I can't do a one bed in less than 3 hours. I used to do a 3 bed in 6 woman hours ( two of us)

If you did one hour of cleaning it wouldn't be the standard required for a holiday cottage, which has to be pristine.

Also (Im on a roll now as I love researching my holiday trips), Im looking at my pet hate right now. An option has come up for my trip and , 4 - FOUR!!!, of the photos are of bloody ornaments on the shelves, this is not information I need for gods sake.

I thought I would also compare booking.com, they seem better if you want a hotel stay or bnb but I want a whole self contained property and theres nothing for my trip

It was me who said it would have taken that particular host an hour, for which I paid a £80 cleaning fee.
I didn’t even go into the living room or kitchen so it was just 1 bedroom and a bathroom.
hotels allow 45 mins to do those 2 rooms which is what I was basing that on.

i appreciate that a 2 bed cottage after a week of a family living in it would take much longer

@Movinghouseatlast yes that is much nicer. And it is booked up for months.

I only use it as advertising then book direct

A normal change over in my small 3 bed (sleeps 5) cottage takes 3 hours on a normal changeover. Much much longer if the place has been trashed.

We clean to a much higher standard than you would typically at home - how often does the average person remove every crumb from the toaster or wash out the cutlery drawer? Clean the oven and the oven racks? These are routine changeover tasks.

I really dislike Airbnb now. The 'cleaning fee' is utterly ludicrous. I do always clean places but I really resent being forced to when I'm paying £60 in cleaning fees for a week's stay! How is that justifiable in any way? I stopped using it after I got a snippy email for not having stripped the bed...I'd done literally everything else...towels in wash, everything washed up, all surfaces cleaned, bathroom all wiped down...why should I strip the bed in a holiday let I'm paying a fortune for?

I now use Booking.com for self catering apartments. More chance they've been professionally cleaned rather than relying on the previous guest to do it.

A 3 bed holiday cottage yes. A shepherds hut, no.

I used to use air bnb all the time but got fed with how inflexible it can be. I stopped feeling like the good value option a while ago. I generally use booking.com now