Exactly. I’m perfectly happy where my market is: comfort budget. I’m above the price those looking for cheapest possible place, but I’m definitely in the motel pricing range so those who are needy or expect luxury know they won’t find it here. I get a good quantity of people seeking comfort and affordability with an experienced host, they appreciate what I offer, and my reviews reflect it.
Reading you post I agree. I live in England and have been hosting a holiday let for over 20 years. When I joined the Tourist Board to get a rating, quite a few years ago now, it required a listing of everything in there right down to the number of egg cups.
I don’t participate anymore with them and gradually over the years as the internet has grown I didn’t need it anymore and now have a second holiday cottage. Many of my guests are now returners and my reputation and pictures on the site say it all.
We used to use a company called Simply Travel in the 1980’s and stayed in some amazing places. One in Crete was built exactly as the hosts Grandmothers house. it was fantastic, thick walls and shutters, no freezer, stone floors. Once Simply Travel sold out to Tui they had to comply to a whole lot of rules and took it out of the travel group.It was a lesson to me which I have never forgotten.
The pictures, the reviews and price are what make people chose.
I agree. Now all the listings of similar size and location (say all 1BR within a certain radius) are put in the same basket making it more difficult for a bit pickier guests to find the right one.
I think variety is good.
Yes, I will only stay with super hosts now. Such bad experiences with two non-super hosts, accused of breaking a door and a new host cancelling her whole airbnb account, and my reservation by proxy. Problem is I was already checked in…on the other hand the super host had every amenity imaginable; including free tickets to the local Exploratorium.
I’ve also had a few guests tell me they only choose superhosts. I don’t limit myself to superhosts unless there are just too many choices and I’m desperately trying to narrow it down. There aren’t enough or the right kind of filters.
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Airbnb already does this ,so its not new . They already have Special listings and service for Higher End Properties . They have a Dedicated Team that works on these world wide . I’m sure you have already seen the places that famous people have stayed at during big events like Lady Gaga or Beyonce . So to me this is just an extension of this service on another level . As far as the cleaning team goes , Airbnb wants that to have consistent standards that they can rely on from a professional cleaning team . The rest is all fluff . Many Super Hosts from awhile back that started early with Airbnb had Professional Photos done for their Homes free of charge from Airbnb . I do think that most listings will benefit from better photos regardless of them being SH or not . As for Interior Design , Some Homes really do stand out because the owners invested time and money to create a beautiful home for them selves or they hired some one to do it for them . Again, I have to say a lot of listings lack a good design sense and some of them are just down right poorly planned or have Ikea everything . I don’t want to bash anyone who can’t afford better and there is nothing wrong with having simple furnishings ,it just that its not going to make it attractive to people that want to stay in a Higher End property .
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Well you are missing some good hosts then. There are some of us out here who will never be a SH for whatever reason, and we are great hosts!
Maybe you should warn them on arrival. 
Amen to that. You forgot terrible customer service. And they should take a look at their dreadful extenuating circumstances clause and how it affects hosts. I too think their priorities are out of whack, but that’s sadly not surprising.
(Raises hand.) Depends on your definition of budget. I’m probably not budget locally, but I am by Western standards. Based on what Zandra quoted as her daily rate, I think I’m slightly lower.
If you’re not budget by local standards you’re not budget 
I dpn’t know whether I’m budget by local standards. What is budget defined as, anyway? It’s a safe bet that I’m cheaper than the local hotels, even the low end ones. But there are plenty of Airbnb listings cheaper than me. Of course, i don’t know what they are like, but many of them get good reviews. But I’ve got to wonder how it makes sense to price stuff that lower. Bombay is cheaper than the West, but not that much cheaper.
It’s about your price and amenities in comparison with your direct competitors in your market.
Oh, dear lord, don’t make me choose Airbnb’s cleaning service to be rated Tier 2. There is NO so-called professional cleaning service that has EVER met my standards. The only cleaners who have ever met my standards were people I found, hired, trained, incentivized, inspected after, and based their pay on the quality of their work. The only way I’ve ever guaranteed that they meet my standard is to provide them with a checklist and pay them according to how many checklist items they overlook. I pay $15/hr while in training, $20/hr when they’re completing the checklist on their own with only a couple of omissions, and $25/hr when they’ve completed everything on the checklist to my satisfaction. If they go above and beyond, I add a tip. If I can’t control these parameters, I won’t join. My consistently 5-star reviews are largely based on how clean I keep my home and guest rooms. I won’t risk that by leaving it up to cleaners hired and managed by someone else.
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Lady Gaga requested a stay at my Airbnb. I declined. This was during a big brooha in my city over whether Airbnbs were legal, with the opponents calling them “illegal” and seeking to shut them down. I was worried about media showing up, noise levels, damage, and other impacts. One host near me was the subject of a complaint from a neighbor, and the zoning commission left an order on his door to cease and desist. My city has since adopted regulations, so the conditions under which a host can be shut down are spelled out clearly. It would take three unruly rock star complaints to shut me down, not just one. lol
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Wow!! No way?!! Did she request via an agent??!!
Is she known to be a destructive pop star?
[quote=“konacoconutz, post:96, topic:13540, full:true”]
Wow!! No way?!! Did she request via an agent??!!
Is she known to be a destructive pop star?
[/quote]Haha, Yea, it was through an agent. I don’t know whether she’s known to be destructive. I just couldn’t risk the attention and didn’t have time to research what to expect in a situation like that. So I just ducked. Not sure what I missed out on, as a result, but I’m not a big star chaser, anyway. Well, not a rock star chaser. Now, if it had been, say, Van Jones, or Michelle Obama, or Bernie and Jane Sanders, THEN I would’ve been rolling out the red carpet and fawning. Haha.
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Me too AmyB! Would love to host Bernie and Jane!
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Fwiw, last summer we hosted volunteers for Bernie, and that was almost as good.
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From what I understand of bigger stars, they tend to tip well and keep their rentals/hotels in good shape because they don’t want the bad publicity.
I’ve hosted a few small bands and most have been pretty good. But there was definitely one I would never want to grace my door again.