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I noticed this morning and am positive they weren’t there last night that there are new amenity options when editing a listing.
Some of them are kind of cool. You can now add the brand name of your shampoo, put in your internet speed, the size of your TV, etc. You can also denote what kind of AC and heat you have (window, central, etc). Fans, rice cookers and pour-over coffee have been added! There is some cool new stuff.
However, just like last time that they added options, you can choose the options but they are not yet showing in the published listing. I’ve noticed there’s usually a delay of days or even weeks like this when they add options.
The alert is for hosts who have mini-fridges. There are now 3 related amenities to choose from, instead of just “refrigerator”. You can choose refrigerator, freezer and/or mini-fridge. Our little listing has a mini-fridge so I thought this was a fantastic option. I ticked mini-fridge and freezer and unticked refrigerator.
Then I looked at my listing and it appeared that was no sort of refrigeration at all. It’s because they are offering it to hosts before they are showing it to guests. So if you only tick mini-fridge, no refrigeration at all will show up. I finally ticked all 3, so that now it shows refrigerator and later it will also show mini-fridge and freezer.
Seriously, it is kind of bonkers but many of the hotels that try be luxury brand do advertise what line of amenities they provide. This just seems like another of Airbnb’s efforts to be hotel like and with actual home sharing not even being a good idea in the time of covid, it’s only going to accelerate the existing trend.
I’ve also found that many of the very cheap brands (like dollar store level) make me itchy. So I suppose it could be a tie breaker.
I imagine that like many things, it depends on where you host. I find here that people have their favourite shampoo and conditioner brands and so bring aircraft-approved little bottles of the stuff.
Or, even better, they buy their favourite expensive brand once they get here and, because they can’t take it on the plane, leave it for me.
We buy all our shampoos, shower gel and liquid soap from the little Chinese guy a couple of streets away. The brands are all generally unheard of, and mucky cheap, but they all look pretty pleasant and smell nice enough.
They get used all the time and there’s been plenty of occasions when guests compliment us on the toiletries… if only they knew!
So the tech team can’t even manage to fix all their long-standing platform glitches, yet it’s extremely important to spend time adding a place for us to list the shampoo brand we use? Pure insanity.
I wouldn’t do so, because it’s dishonest, but I’m sure you could put some economical shampoo you buy in bulk in a fancy salon shampoo container and guests would never know the difference.
Most of that brand name stuff is total BS anyway- I’m convinced that most of it is basically the same as some regular , inexpensive brand, just in a fancy bottle with some designer name on it.
I once had a friend visiting who only used some shampoo brand she bought in natural food stores, very expensive. We compared the labels of her’s and my “whatever’s on sale” brand and the ingredients were identical.
ohhhh…so mum’s the word that the owners buy Dollar Store stuff, refill larger brand name bottles, and then the housekeeper fills the glued to the wall dispensers. And the owner will not provide bar soap - ok. The lady owner started with Bath and Body Works hand soap at each sink, and then when they would constantly disappear, and I replaced with dollar store bottles, she finally got the hint.
Heck, we are now hiding the extra tp and detergent in the garage. The renter this weekend ran out of washer detergent and I had to tell him the hiding spot. UGH
Thanks for the heads up. I’ve not seen these new options on mine yet (not App, nor desktop version)
I think some of the details are good (TV size, AC, etc) however I’d be reluctant to get to specific with toiletries, should I change product. Similarly, w internet speed, I’ve been asked about that in inquiries and I’m alway sure to caveat the speed is subject to the provider’s availability.
Listing internet speed, unless you live where it is completely reliable, seems like an invitation to get guests demanding refunds because it was a little slower one day than what you stated.
I have 1.5mbps download speed, but I’m not going to advertise. If I have 2 folks streaming movies (in spite of what is says on the password sign on the desk) the third one might get steamed because it’s too slow and give me a bad review? Nah.
I’m happy to tell folks that my scent-free bath products come from Bunny’s Bath in Port Townsend, Washington, and her business cards are on the bulletin board in the kitchen. Folks that care, care about the scent free, not the brand.
Did they actually add things that matter to a guest? Shampoo brand???
How about
Balcony with no view
Balcony with view
Beach front
Beach view
Private reserved parking space at property
Paid parking on the street, search & hunt required, may have to park 2-4 blocks away
Outlet in bathroom
Mirror over sink in bathroom
5th floor NO elevator
Located over a bar or restaurant, expect noise till 11pm
etc…
Many of these ARE covered by the amenities list, and some others are covered in the “Must also acknowledge” section, like ‘potential for noise’, ‘stairs’, etc.
“Mirror over sink in bathroom” also gave me a laugh. I would hope so! This should be “reflected” (Get It?) in the photos of the bathroom. If there is not a photo or two of the bathroom in the listing, I would be worried for that fact alone.
It is often noted on this site that “guests don’t read” . I’ve found this to be true. A host can have photos and description of their stairs and/or cat, for example, only to have a guest check-in and be shocked to see either or both!
Those “inquiry “ pop-up boxes drive me nuts. Does your place have a kitchen? Yes, but I don’t allow cooking. Do you have paid off street parking? No, but I have ample parking for 10 cars even though I only allow 2 people. Guests have indicated you have a stove. Again, no cooking. Why can’t their algorithms figure this out if you’ve ticked all the right boxes? It seems like every time they release a new update it starts them up again.
. I’ve found this to be true. A host can have photos and description of their stairs and/or cat, for example, only to have a guest check-in and be shocked to see either or both!