Let’s play “Classy Laurels: Who wore it best?”
4 Likes
Except they don’t. Even though Superhost is based on the previous year’s stats, they give it to new hosts who have only been hosting for one quarter, which I have never understood. Guess Airbnb doesn’t want to lose any time getting hosts stressed out about that dangling carrot. Just in case they got any ideas about not bending over backwards to accommodate entitled guests’ every demand in terror of a bad review.
I got a “Congratulations, you’re a Superhost!” email after 3 months of hosting, back in 2017. I didn’t even know what it was.
1 Like
2020202020202020202020
I wonder if there are too many super hosts and the $100 reward and this is a way to reduce them……
I think a lot of those Superhost vouchers get wasted- I know mine did- I just didn’t have the opportunity or interest to get away for a holiday.
I’ll bet they were a bit choked when a whole bunch of hosts booked in Ukraine, using the $100 vouchers to help the Ukranian hosts out, with no intention of actually staying there.
But yeah, I wonder if they are trying to shave costs and will phase out Superhost.
1 Like
@Spark I didn’t mean they give it to all new hosts, but it seems they give it to those who meet the criteria, even though it isn’t based on a full year’s hosting.
Got it – I thought you had to wait a year for first time… but the year wait is for annual voucher… we actually grt renewed every three months.
Yes, but the renewal is supposed to be based on the previous 365 days’ stats, so not sure why they bestow it on hosts who haven’t completed a year. They certainly waited a year after stripping my Superhost status because I closed my homeshare to bookings during the height of Covid before giving it to me again.
It’s funny how some new hosts think it’s some huge honor. Everytime a new assessment date rolls around, the Airbnb CC is full of new hosts who are positively gushing about how thrilled they are that Airbnb recognized their hard work. One host said she started screaming when she got the Superhost email, she was so excited. Just wait til she gets her first guest from hell who leaves a 1*rating Airbnb refuses to remove, telling her it’s “a reflection of the guest’s experience”. 
4 Likes
Very cool. So this is where the love of racing originated?
It is. Inbred, I think. My dad was born on wheels (a gypsy caravan) and died on wheels (sort of - the wheelchair he was in collapsed and he hit his head, fatally.)
1 Like
This is entirely possible but it seems to me that the percentage has dropped. As a guest I always use (or used if they are dropping it) the SH filter but I’d often search first without it and then turn it on and look again. I also use the map and turning it on would only remove about 20% of listings. Now if feels like it’s 40%. Of course that’s with my parameters. As a solo traveler I used a lot of rooms in a home. And post pandemic that’s changed a lot. I recently looked at most of the 25+ rentals I’ve stayed in over the last 10 years. Most are still open but the 3 I saw that are listed but apparently closed are in someone’s home and they stopped during covid and didn’t resume. They were superhosts.
1 Like
It sounds like life well lived.
1 Like
I noticed the other day when searching for my listing, that of the other “similar” listings that came up, very few were Superhosts. I think that these hosting forums are heavily weighted with Superhosts, giving the impression there are more than there really are, because the hosts who have ratings under 4.8 tend not to have any interest in engaging with other hosts- only posting if they have some issue, then disappearing again when they don’t like the answers they get.
2 Likes
I had similar issue… they (AIRBNB) wanted to split a stay with another AIRBNB even though mine was available the whole time.
Chiming in late, I’m annoyed that neither of my places are guest favorites. I’m seeing places a full point below mine that are. Time to rewrite and update the listings again.
1 Like
Chiming in with something that doesn’t have to do with guest favorite. I was just trying to book an Airbnb and see that Air is now pushing insurance to guests. I almost thought I couldn’t get out of the $39 (I think that’s what it was). After all, who trusts them to pay out anything?
3 Likes
I don’t think it’s a bad idea for them to push insurance- at least it puts the concept in guests’ minds. But I agree, I wouldn’t trust Airbnb’s insurance- I’d go with a known, reputable insurer.
1 Like
^ This part! I’ve always thought they needed to do more to distinguish listing quality from host quality- honestly, I think most guests don’t care as much about the latter.
I strongly disagree- guests are able to take a lot of things in stride if the host is friendly, polite and appropriately responsive, and able to adapt their approach to the guest’s personality, like not being overly chatty with a guest who seems to be introverted, or engaging with those who are sociable.
Obviously issues sometimes come up, many of which are initially beyond a host’s control, like the water heater packing it in just before a guest arrives or during their stay, or that the guest arrived with more people than they booked for, or had unreasonable expectations- how the host handles it can make all the difference in how the guest feels and responds and what kind of review they leave.
As a homeshare host, many guests have shared with me stories about other stays they have had. Their stories always center on the host, rather than the accommodation itself. Either how great the host was, or how uncomfortable they made them feel or how poorly they handled an issue. Rarely do they mention anything about the property.
1 Like