This forum is dedicated to connecting hosts with other hosts. Sign up to get the latest updates and news just for AirBnb hosts! Note that we are not affiliated with Airbnb - we are just passionate hosts!
Wow, how do you all feel about this? The service, expected to launch as a pilot with a select group of hosts as soon as this week, will send Airbnb inspectors into hosts’ homes to ensure they meet a checklist of quality standards designated by the company, said two of the people.
Even if I would pass, having Airbnb “inspect” my home kind of creeps me out.
I definitely wouldn’t pass, but I would have no problem with Airbnb representatives checking out my house. I think it might help those of us who don’t provide the amenities offered by high end hotels to have that be a particular search feature. However, I wish they would remove the requirement that the hosts provide bottled water. Water bottles are a huge environmental problem. In California, many restaurants have stopped providing bottled water.
If the tap water is safe to drink, bottled water is ridiculous.
This is interesting as to how it affects Air’s “we’re just a platform” and therefore not liable for whatever. I would think this opens them up to claims as Airbnb corporate if the customer believes an inspected listing doesnt meet standards. And, no matter how high end the acccoutrements, an Airbnb has way more risk of sudden closure/involuntary cancellation than a hotel, mitigated if owned and managed by an investor with multiple managed properties.
Just replaced bottled water with a filtered pitcher. Felt awful to be adding to the plastic refuse glut. (Glass bottles of perrier or pellegrino = out of my league!)
Agreed. Bottled water is a really environmentally unsound. People constantly leave water bottles here when they leave. I really don’t enjoy the sight of them. And I keep feeling I should recycle them, but recycling doesn’t really exist in India. 
I agree. Unfortunately, many of my foreign guests won’t drink tap water even though I tell them that in Los Angeles, CA tap water is safe to drink plus we have a whole house filter.
I was part of a trial of something like this last summer, it was called Sonoma Select.
Airbnb booked my house for two months for a set fee, then used their predictive pricing algorithm and instant book to fill the calendar.
They checked the place between bookings and provided guests a goody bag of toiletries, foods etc.
The whole thing worked fine, though I did get a lot of first timers that may have been emboldened to use AirBnB without quite being prepared for what that means. I don’t know if they were emboldened by the “select” system or just the lower than usual pricing (Airbnb’s pricing algoryrhm consistently undervalued my place).
Side note, my program also included a 360 degree “virtual house tour” on the listing page, which was cool, but presumably didn’t make it into ththe final product.
From reading this I think the inspection part comes into play only if you are listing as a luxury rental.
And once again, the news hears about it before hosts. Sigh.
I notice that hosts are also expected to have single use toiletries, as well as bottled water.
I think it’s interesting, but I’m not going to qualify for it and that’s ok. Mostly. (I wanna be special! Wanh!) 
I would be curious what an airbnb interior decorator would say, but my space is so small there’s not much more you can do with it.
I don’t think it will affect my listing, since I can’t accommodate people with high expectations, anyway. If anyone here gets picked, please dish about your experience! 
I dare say NO shared accommodations will be included in “Airbnb Select,” or whatever they call it. This is for very high-end whole house or apartment rentals.
I wish I could like this x1000. The absolute nonsense of bottled water and its environmental impact is one of the most disgraceful corporate heists of modern times.
How do I feel? I think Air is taking on the hotel industry and I don’t blame them. I’ve been fiercely critical of some of their (Air) practices in the past but frankly, they have no choice now. They have to adapt and grow or go down like Uber looks set to do. I’m hopeful that there is still a place for traditional hosts like me to still have a place on the platform. I prefer them going down this path than allowing/colluding with property managers to buy-for-STR and deprive local people of a place to rent long-term.
I’d love to be part of it. Anything that brings more bookings and more money is good for me. :slight_smile
But I doubt that our place would qualify - unless Airbnb is including the ‘quirky’. Although I think that there are many whole places that provide the following that are listed in the article?
an inspector who will determine if the homes meet requirements ranging from new and matching bed linens to plush towels and single-use toiletries typically found in hotel bathrooms, they said. Premium homes would also be vetted for working appliances and a host’s commitment to stock the home’s kitchen with bottled water and a selection of teas and coffee, similar to hotel offerings.
What happened to the original concept of getting to experience how other people live? Everything is moving toward copying Hotels. Host are becoming more and more like small hotels rather than Host. No wonder many cities are putting up restrictions and sometimes totally banning hosting. Residents are protesting that more and more host are operating Hotels in the residential neighborhoods. Guest are behaving more and more entitled and demanding for the same reasons. Hotels will fight back. In our city which has the highest number of host than any city in the state of California, we are already seeing the consequences. Host are behaving like hotel owners, and I am sorry we are not hotels. We are opening our homes and inviting total strangers in to our life’s. Granted we are being compensated by guest but guest will act more and more as guest in a Hotel. Example: bed was to short for a 6 foot 4. shower was not high enough, your home is not exclusive enough, bedding and towels are not of the highest quality and so on. For those host that are lucky and have luxury properties and are able to charge hundreds of dollars per night, that is fine but what about those that are charging $40 and $50 a night. Out of that you have to pay local tax, license fees, inspections and replacing stolen towels and other problems that hotels and luxury homes can absorb due to volume and or high rates that they charge. If I travel on a Safari I expect to sleep in a tent and depending what I pay it will be just a simple tent or one that comes with a butler but unfortunately more and more guest like the price of a simple tent but know they can demand butler and luxury tent or they will leave a negative review that most host dread.
Might qualify if I upgraded my towels to fluffy and added bottled water. But honestly, I’d be stressed trying to meet the expectations of these luxe guests.
Everything you are saying about guests’ expectations is why I think it’s a good idea for Airbnb to segregate the listings that are more like high end hotels. Then, if the guests complain that the towels don’t match the hosts and Airbnb can point out that the guest didn’t chose a listing that matches those expectations.
Do you have fluoride added to water in LA? Some parts of the UK do and I would not want to drink tap in those locations - not even using a filter like Brita can remove added fluoride 
Otheerwise, tap all the way …
Yes, of course we have fluoridated water in Los Angeles. Why wouldn’t we? Who doesn’t want better dental health?
Yeah theres the reason why I personally wouldn’t want to drink it x 200.
It’s questionable whether added fluoride is any good for you or your teeth… personally I avoid it like the plague and don’t even use toothpaste (I’m a salt and bicarbonate of soda user)…
Happy for everyone who loves fluoride in their water though! I wouldn’t try to push my personal preference in this area on anyone else…
I tought that fluordiation of water is pretty much a standard procedure in every civilized country in the world. And fluoride absolutely is good for the teeth, without a doubt. Just that some people claim that disadvantages of its use override these benefits. But there is no clear evidence to that.