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This seems to be a perfect example that guests do not read the listing. Nor do they want to. @Notahost looks at the pictures, searches the amenities, and “assumes” the rest or moves on.
As @JJD points out, many of your questions can be answered simply by reading the rest of the listing. ABB adds amenities on occasion, but I doubt they will be able to account for every unique feature of every listing. Yes, it can be long. Yes, it takes a bit of time on the guests part to be informed. Most of us, as hosts, spend a great deal of time and effort in making sure our listing is as accurate as possible. All the guest has to do is read it.
With over 200 airbnb stays across the world in 35 different countries, being a long term landlord with multiple rentals and a former short term rental host I’m probably the most qualified of anyone here to understand how to make money in this business. What you guys put up with through Aibbnb is ridiculous and then you defend them? LOL silly.
With the current state of the world with Covid, the vast majority of hosts are likely not going to see anything close to what they were getting in 2019 for a minimum of 12-24 months if we are all lucky. I would think hosts would be doing everything they can to leverage their properties advantages instead of going on a ego rant and giving such ridiculous advice as “message the host”. If that’s your rental strategy, you’re screwed.
While you’re waiting for your potential guest to message you with questions, he’s already moved onto hit the instant booking button of one of the 5 other properties that were clear and concise.
So, in a nutshell, you are a former short term rental host (not sure if that includes AirBnB) yet you come here and tell everyone that what they are doing is wrong and you know so much better?
Just because you ate 200 different ice creams, and you once sold ice cream from the front of your house, that doesn’t make you a good ice cream maker, innit?
@Notahost I think you misunderstood my post. What I am saying is that most hosts work within the parameters of ABB (or whatever site you use) while also trying to give guests as much information as possible. I, for one, will try and explain exactly what “free onsite parking” is, or that guests will likely hear the upstairs neighbors on occasion, by making a note of that where ABB allows me to, ie: in the other things to note section or some such.
I, too, own long term rentals, and have been in the hospitality industry for over 30 years. So to say you’re “probably the most qualified here” is just silly. You certainly cannot know the qualifications/experiences of every poster here.
And how you read that I was defending ABB is a mystery.
Right? Personally, it’s the only specific type that I’d be interested in knowing about as a guest.
And I’m predicting a future emotional post from some host that just got dinged in the review for advertising “Egyptian Cotton” when their bed linens are technically “Pima Cotton”. It’s gonna include the guest saying they took a picture of the tag on the sheets. And the host will say, “it’s really the same, it’s just grown in different parts of the world. It’s so unfair”.
March and April in Phoenix are prime season and while my revenue for those months was dramatically affected the demand started up again in May, and my bookings for this summer are 3x what it was in 2019, even with rates I’d normally never charge in 110-115 F temperature summer.
What I’ve seen is that
1.people are avoiding hotels and choosing AirBNB, primarily to avoid having to wear masks, and to avoid people.
2.people are looking for a break; finding a safe respite has increased demand even during the dog days of Arizona summer.
I can’t predict what my full 2020 outlook will be but if it’s consistent with last autumn I will be pretty much on par with 2019, having overcome the shortfall of March/April.
@HH_AZ I am glad that you are reporting this. We are experiencing something similar here. Another thing to bear in mind is how COVID has meant that a lot more people are able to work from home, and therefore are also able to work from anywhere they want as long as they have a stable internet connection. Our last guest and our next guest are both working from our listing.
And yes, we too have seen a significant drop in earnings in April and May however in the year 2020 we might not see much of a difference compared to the previous year due to the increase of popularity in our listing. Very similar to what you are describing and I am glad to see that the trend is noticeable in other parts of the world.
Same here @Suntory. Nothing from 4 Feb for 4 months, and now we are so busy. And that’s with two month-long stays and international guests cancelled.
I don’t see any new amenities listed.
Hosts have said they have been getting some of the worst guests ever since COVID. And I’ve been seeing some of the most arrogant hosts ever, posting on hosting forums. Too much time spend isolating, perhaps? Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the fairest (most qualified, most experienced) of them all?
God forbid you actually READ about the amenities (that airbnb do not make searchable) in the description! Responsible hosts take great pains to describe their properties accurately. Believe me, we like to get it right. Why would we want to risk having unhappy guests @Notahost ? This is a ratings based platform after all.
You act like hosts and Airbnb are purposely deceptive.
Now if AirBNB was closely following this forum they would have created an amenity description for Kettles
A) StoveTop
B) Electric
And because we need a little more Tea in this world and because it seems I can’t come across an article on Kettles without thinking of this Forum.
@HH_AZ This is interesting. I have a lot more options in that section, including some really specific items like “pour over coffee”, “rice maker” etc.; however, I do not have the option to pick between “kitchen” or “kitchenette” nor do I have “warming drawer” nor “breakfast table”. Is this from the app or the website?
Edit to Add: Even stranger, I have different options for each one of my 3 listings. Though none of them give me the option to say “kitchenette”, not even the one that has a kitchenette listed in its “spaces” section. I guess they are doing some experimenting
