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They just cannot be all things to all people. In their first presentation, my eyes glazed over when they started showing the castles and villas in Tuscany…, how many of us can relate to that?
I think the room sharing business has reached a plateau. They feel they have to branch out and be the soup to nuts travel experience. I think ultimately that can’t progress because they are competing against a tried and true, well worn path. There have been luxury accommodations since the beginning of time.
They appeal to the starry eye newcomer who will cheer and do everything to earn the next badge or level. All the while not realizing they will get crunched on ECs, and other controlling parts of being on the platform.
I disagree simply because there are still too many people who haven’t heard of it. About a year ago 59% in a survey said they hadn’t heard of it. I have friends who say the idea of staying in someone’s house doesn’t appeal to them but a place like mine would. The demographic with the most disposable income…airbnb could still make inroads there.
From a guest perspective, I see a major flaw with the Plus program. Yes, the house is “verified” as clean and well maintained, but who’s to say it will stay that way? They come in initially to inspect it and find it clean. But as we all know, you need to clean continually as well as reinvest in new sheets, towels, maintenance, etc. How does ABB know that will continue to happen? What if a host hires a cleaning company and they don’t show up sometime or do a bad job? Just because things are good at the initial inspection doesn’t mean they will always be up to those standards.
If you invested $150 to get in why wouldn’t you invest in keeping the place up to standard. And it might be hard for us, the great unwashed masses to imagine but places like those pictured do exist. I’ve stayed in two whole house places that were gorgeously decorated and updated and which could, in my opinion, qualify. And the reviews will take care of any slackers. One of the problems I see is the expectations of the guests are higher. I say under promise and over deliver. The plus host has to over promise and over deliver. No thanks.
Did you see in the Qand A that one of the reasons a host made Plus is because she offered kombucha to guests, eye roll. I guess a certain level of hip is needed as well.
$150 is, frankly, nothing compared to the upkeep of a property like that. It’s the equivalent of one or two cleaning fees.
It will be interesting to see how this impacts the properties that are not Plus. It’s possible it could backfire - the guests end up thinking the Plus properties will be overpriced and end up booking non-Plus properties.
Eventually, at the guest’s expense! After paying a premium and having high expectations. That’s my point! I’m not saying many Plus places will do this but there may be some. ABB can’t guarantee every Plus place will always be to the highest standards.
Plus… are they forgetting that their core users have always turned to Air as a cheaper alternative. If you are going to be charged $500 a night, why not just check into the Fairmont or 4 Seasons?
Will this appeal to most of their users or will it flop? Will PLUS be a liability in the end?
There’s a market for it but they don’t want it. It’s comparatively low revenue and it’s inconsistent. For example, the lower end exposes them misfits that create potential liability (well documented in certain cases) that an upscale, expensive and–dare I say it–professionally managed property likely wouldn’t.
I think they always viewed the cheap room business as an entry point to connect with younger, tech savvy customer based but one that would be jettisoned once they reached critical mass. Another site may do it sure but they won’t have the tremendous platform Airbnb has created and likely not the customer service either–as sketchy as ABnB’s is.
Exactly! In any business, if things are better than customers expect, then you will have happy customers (who will leave 5 star reviews). But if you tell them everything they will get ahead of time, then they get what they expected and it will just be a satisfactory experience.
As a Superhost, as far as I am concerned, by launching the “Airbnb Plus” category, in one fell swoop Airbnb has essentially downgraded, cheapened and created confusion about the Superhost category, downgrading us, who are their top producers, to second class citizen status. Their thoughtless, amateurish and unfortunate decision to use the word “Plus” implies that any listing not “Plus,” including Superhost homes, is inferior and is somehow lacking. The way this was abruptly sprung on us and Airbnb’s bad choice of the word “Plus” as the category name is extremely disappointing. As a result, I, and I expect/hope many other Superhosts who have not already done so, will be including my listings on several other leading booking sites that are competitive with Airbnb, with the unfortunate effect on Airbnb that this will inevitably diminish the revenue I/we produce for Airbnb. I am not, in principle, opposed to the notion of establishing a “luxury” category, but it should have been named and described differently. I have many more constructive thoughts about this but, since Airbnb will doubtless not care to know them, I won’t offer them.
You might be right, that remains to be seen. But it seems to me that Superhost is mostly about the host and Plus is mostly about the property. Someone can superhost a modest listing that would never make the Plus cut for decor, design, landscaping, etc.
The plus label and speculation about it was posted here in Oct 2016. So just because you (or I, not throwing stones here) didn’t know about it doesn’t mean it was “sprung on us.”
Time will tell if the word Plus is unfortunate. Big companies spend a lot of time doing research before they spend money re-branding. Sometimes it’s a big failure but it doesn’t mean they didn’t put effort into choosing the word.
Consensus on this forum is that Airbnb is the best and doesn’t really have much competition depending on what kind of listing you have. I offer an ensuite room attached to my house. No kitchen, laundry, sitting room. It’s like a mid-tier hotel room with better parking, cleanliness and quieter. I don’t think Plus will hurt me at all and the new criteria for the For Work category might help. So I’m optimistic. But foretelling the future is way out of my pay grade.
Yes, but will it diminish Airbnb’s revenue? They think it will enchance their revenue, they don’t care about you.
Just a reminder, even if you did offer them here they still wouldn’t know. This site is not owned or operated by Airbnb. Thanks for chiming in and moving your post over here.
Plus isn’t available in my city yet, so this is just my two cents…but I look forward to it! Kindof surprised by all the negativity, tbh.
Superhost does not mean A-plus accommodations, because any host can become a Superhost. All SH means is that you never cancel your guests and you get a high percentage of five stars. These days people can throw a mattress on the floor to make an Airbnb listing…and still be a SH. One example I saw had two rooms; each with three mattresses on the floor, one shared bathroom for six people. lol One towel per guest and the guy was a SH! Now I’m not a snob, but I don’t think my place should be in that same category if the only current distinctions are Superhost or not SH.
The Plus category sounds great to me. We spent a pretty penny creating our guest accommodation. Buying expensive mattresses and ensuring that the linens, towels, bedding and pillows are plush. Not to mention all the furniture, art, textiles, electronics, appliances, super fast wifi, and all the consumables, etc.
I have no problem with the Plus label for a listing that goes all out being distinct from others. When looking at the Plus listings so far, they weren’t all as posh as I was expecting, but you could tell they were hosts who went the extra mile, so I don’t think it will degrade my SH status in any way if I am not a Plus listing either, because maybe you’re required to do things I have zero interest in, like early check-ins, snacks or allowing LT guests.
Hopefully we can all get both Plus and SH, but it seems a little too soon to tell. Maybe there will eventually be tiers and even more distinctions made. Who knows. It could wind up being fabulous.
