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https://www.airbnb.com/s/luxury?refinement_paths[]=%2Fluxury
Airbnb moves farther away from the original concept…to no one’s surprise.
When will they introduce Airbnb Minus? Rooms down the hall with shared bathroom, no kitchen use and smoking allowed all for under $25 USD per night are the standard.
Introducing Airbnb Minus
Ordinary homes with three-star everything
But if you don’t give them five stars, we will de-list them
Because we don’t understand our own star rating any better than you do
I happened to be looking at Airbnb Employment vacancies a couple of months ago (as you do …) and they had dozens of ads looking for managers of this type of property (which won’t be run by anything so common as Hosts, obvs …)
I guess it was the obvious next step to World Domination, and also, with so many locations bringing in strong regulation about the spread of “ordinary” STRs, is probably a smart move on their part. I do wonder, though, whether owners of such luxury properties may feel that ABB is not quite upmarket enough for their customers.
Wasn’t Plus supposed to be Luxe?
I wrote an article about Luxe last week. I see it as a step away from the cheap and cheerful. But presumably they have done their market research and have decided that this is what people want - and are prepared to pay handsomely for.
Love the ideal of Airbnb Minus 
According to what I’ve heard, Plus was supposed to be a way for Airbnb to upgrade/control the lower end listings to make them more competitive with what was already doing well. They are losing a lot of inventory due to cities implementing heavy restrictions and outright bans. This was a way to boost inventory.
Additionally, from what I have gathered, Luxe is mostly an arm of the Luxury Retreats brand they had purchased awhile back: https://techcrunch.com/2017/02/09/airbnb-is-buying-luxury-retreats-for-around-200m/
Your listing would only be considered for Luxe if you were contracting the management company of Luxury Retreats to handle your bookings. A double dip, if you will.
They offer extras such as a full staff, a ‘trip director’, a personal chef, childminding, airport pickup and so on… they are catering to what people want. If people want it and they are prepared to pay for it…
To me, it takes a lot of the fun out of travel when everything is arranged for you but it seems that’s the way things are going.
This reminds me of the ads in Vogue for Cartier diamonds. Nice to look at, but not a high unit mover.
I haven’t looked at many but some are cheaper or equivalent to some ‘regular’ listings. Mind you, those are all higher occupancy - I’ve seen very few that are suitable for couples or single people. They seem to be more suitable for groups.
Our home rents for $1,000+ average per night. While we have occasionally provided private chefs or at home spa services, the majority of guests find pool heating or early check-in as where they draw the line on paying for extras.
I guess all those techie zillionaires need a place to stay, too!
We could have Airbnb Meh if you want to upgrade slightly from Minus.
I would take Airbnb minus the hazzle … anytime. 
Airbnb minus because we have wild animals… grrrr
There are four “Luxe” properties in my “market” of the island of St Lucia. They are all hotel “villas” that sleep 6-8 people. Lowest price is $2170 US/night, highest is $8400 US/night - and then the taxes are 20% on top of that.
It’s a know fact with the newly introduced pricing in certain regions is being done to align themselves more with the likes of BDC and the larger OTA’s, guests in some areas will no longer pay the lion’s share of the commission but the hosts will the guest will pay nothing, it’s happening in the UK and other locations already with any new listings from the 4th June I think it was, we’ve aligned all of our partner properties so that we pay a flat 14% commission and the gust pays none, we believe that out of several comparable properties the guest will choose the one with no commission for them.
Read the full article below.
https://skift.com/2019/05/27/airbnb-eliminates-most-guest-fees-to-take-on-booking-holdings/
As discussed here previously, if the hosts pay the fees they will simply have to raise prices. Some hosts may just eat it and drop out over time because they are too impatient or ignorant. I’ve already started adjusting in January of 2019 by raising my prices 20%. I’m still getting fully booked in my market. When the shift is implemented universally there will be a lot of pain and suffering but after everyone adjusts the guest will be paying the same amount, the line item of “guest fee” will just be rolled into the price per night set by the host.
Plus the hosts in locations where applicable will pay taxes on what was previously untaxed Airbnb fee.
… in the end … the guest will alway pay the fees. It is either included in the price or added on.
On a different note: I happened to click on a Luxe Listing in the Bight, Turks and Caicos Islands which goes for $1880 upwards. Here are the Houserules for this property:
Short and painless! I wonder where the additional fine print is hiding.
I booked a home in CR at $750 a night and $1000 deposit. It wasn’t Airbnb, it was VRBO. There were zero rules. The contract I signed only regarded payment. I think rules have a lot to do with the mindset of the host and very little to do with the rates on the property, fwiw.
