I believe it’s been explained that you can’t, which is super frustrating but is there a category that you are hoping to be in? A lot of listings aren’t in a category.
Not really, just trying to understand the changes and how to work with them. Airbnb told me I was listed under farm houses! Not anywhere near what we have 
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I’m with you there! I, too, am hoping Air will get it together and restore the previous level of search ability.
Have you tried FurnishedFindings.com? I’m exploring that right now… not sure how it will go, but worth a try. I wasn’t too thrilled with VRBO, but FF looks like worth trying.
We use VRBO, though it has not been nearly as productive in getting bookings. But we’ve only rarely received bogus kind of inquiries. Maybe it’s different in CA.
BTW, you might want yo look into OwnerRez, not as a vehicle to get business (which I realize is job 1) but because you do have such an upscale property, you might want a contract, the ability to require insurance that you could provide and more control than you could ever have on Airbnb. You might want to connect with @busymumsy and @PitonView on their experience. [I’m not in any way affiliated with them or anyone.]
When I search for places for Napa I get lots of places actually in Napa Valley or Sonoma. I’m wondering if in the last year the number of closer places had increased a lot, so those 30 minutes away are not as popular.
Airbnb also shows amenities that aren’t mentioned in your write up and pictures. Public or Shared Beach access? You might want to show a picture of your beach. Bay View? Definitely add the picture of the view from your house. There is a picture of a large pool, but it doesn’t mention if there is clubhouse/pool access available.
I also read Reddit, and one of the more popular subjects on r/airbnb is misleading listings. It seems people are not all that trusting of listings that look like they may be exaggerating. I don’t know if social media is influencing listings at all, but just in case I again went over my listing to ensure I wasn’t over promising on anything. In the case of your listing I would consider renaming it to highlight where you are, rather where they could be after a 30 minute drive.
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I know Calif. I was an early adopter of VRBO back in the 90’s for our vac homes in Murphys, Arnold, Angels Camp. I also managed a home in AC.
My point was the listing price of $300+ a night changed automatically to $512 a night when I added a day (weekend stay). I didn’t care for that hidden until almost booked rate.
Thank you! I’ll check out OwnerRez, I hadn’t heard of them before.
Hi Everyone,
After 5 weeks of Zero Inquiries, I just received TWO inquiries and reservations today. I think what really helped was doing a Promotion on the listing, and tweaking the pricing. For those of you also experiencing zero reservations, you might give that a try. Or maybe Airbnb has its act back together and we are back on track - or maybe both!
Thank you all for your support and input, I am very grateful to have this community of engaged and responsive hosts who so willingly and honestly share your experiences and insights.
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There is anecdotal evidence that tweaking the listing does help you get booked. It can be changing the pictures, snoozing and then relisting, changing text and of course, changing price.
Airbnb says it’s not the case that tweaking the listing can affect search results and some people also say they tried that and it didn’t help. Back when I cared about these sorts of things it sure seemed to me that working on my listing would happen concurrently with a new booking.
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Yes, it really looks wonderful. One of the features that the Host and I find very appealing is that you can require (as VRBO permits) that the guest buy an insurance policy (they have three with varying coverage amounts) for damages that might occur. Amazingly, you can even mark up the premium. We’ve had excellent experience with VRBO’s insurance carrier (OwnerRez’s carrier is different).
I also find the idea of a written contract very appealing though I have some concern that requiring a contract might be an outlier procedure in our marketplace. But for such an upscale property as yours I would think that would be less of a concern, or none at all. Without a signed contract I wonder how much leverage you’d really have. I think it was @dpfromva who had a short post somewhere on the legal challenges in having your rules/terms of service legally upheld without a signed legal contract.
You could also be the merchant of record on a credit card deposit, which might give you more of a ‘say’ in credit card charges though I don’t fully understand that yet.
Anyway, I know this is all tangential for you right now but I think you’d find OwnerRez valuable and find a few Hosts here who are using it who could give you their thoughts on its benefits. It comes down to how much you want to be in control, how much risk you’re willing to take. As it is many of us don’t really know even the legal names and addresses of those renting our homes.
First booking after 2 months of dead silence
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So my question is the same one that other hosts complaining about this keep ignoring: How many other listings are in your price range in a 10 mile radius? And how many listings are there in your area this year, as compared to previous years, especially in 2019? Many hosts seem to be oblivious that Air has encouraged THOUSANDS of new hosts to list for the first time. They all get the new listing prime placement until they have 5 bookings, and because they are new and clueless, are using Air’s price recommendations to undercut what prices should be.
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There are many hosts who are being willfully oblivious about this, going so far as to aggressively refute it.
I do a 4-mile radius because my city is small and I don’t directly compete with anyone further out than that. The bulk are within a 2-mile radius. As of this morning, there are 128 new listings since first part of May. That number is adjusted for listings that have gone/disappeared and represents an increase of about 1/3 of my current market.
There was only one new one today. Most of them came out before the end of May, but many in June too. Some have already dove down to the bottom of the search and I can tell that some won’t make it. But I know there will be more to take their place.
I made several adjustments to my listings that seemed to have helped but I am grateful to be in a smaller market that’s very busy in the summer. However, I am very concerned about the winter, especially since Furnished Finder has become equally saturated. We may just take a break.
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Just got my first google business booking!
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Starting about 2 months ago our bookings dropped considerably in the Texas Hill Country. We are Superhosts with typically full weekends and some 4 day bookings as well. We’re hoping that cooler weather will make a difference, but the economy is suddenly a big player and may continue for some time. The govt seems intent to devalue the currency.
Yeah - the word is out that there’s BIG BUCKS in hosting. The same is said about real estate which is why thousands of new agents sign up every year in Texas and most go broke in the first 6 months. The economy tanking may shake out some that weren’t all that serious to begin with.
Is the local economy there “tanking”? This is the first i have heard of Texas economic issues…
love this! I also try to use terms like “departure/arrival” instead of check in/checkout. The latter puts guests in a hotel mindset. I haven’t completely stopped using “check out” because it also has the word OUT in it. 
I also write “farmstay” instead of “stay”.
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