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Please help me with a quirk in my listing, Airbnb does not understand my problem. In a location search my place is shown on the map in a single symbol with another more expensive place - apparently known as a “split-stay”. There is just one icon for both of us and their price is shown at $205. I am not listed in that search at all, only if you click on this odd shaded icon.
I spoke with 2 folks at Airbnb support and they were only willing to send me the search algorithms. They did not understand that I have not had any bookings since October partly because I do not show up on a location search. They then told me they were no longer offering me support over this issue.
My place is only $113 and this place is $421 a night. If you do a search for dates my place comes right up. Do any of you know how to get me unlinked from this other place? I searched my listing thoroughly and I am not linked anywhere in my options. Thank you!
This split stay business was an ill-thought-out and absurd update. Guests are complaining about it all over social media- they don’t want to pack up and move to another listing and it is encumbering their search. Many say they have moved on to booking through other platforms because if it. Airbnb really needs to retract this stupid idea.
I suppose if someone is only booking for 2 people and doesn’t mind the price differential then it could work but, yeah, it’s kind of silly.
So I just did a search on Safari because I’ve never logged into Airbnb on there, so it’s basically anonymous (e.g. it doesn’t know I’ve just looked up your listing on Chrome).
I searched for your city name for 1 guest for Feb 5-7 and your place came up for me on it’s own, not for a split stay. It’s on the first page, 3rd row in my search.
What are the dates for that one in your post. It looks like Feb 1-4? I
So one weird thing is that on the map you show, which is near Birch Place, the Airbnb for 14 is not anywhere near Birch Pl but on the other side of the lake.
I did a flexible search in the area for anytime in March and the two places were distinct.
Yes, my place comes right up if you put in dates in a search. The problem is with the location search where it only comes up as linked to the more expensive place for Feb 1 - 4. Since we are on a beach peninsula with many different attractions many people search for locations only while planning. For example, I have had several guests who booked with me so they had a private place during wedding, family reunions, etc. Or wanted to be close to a certain attractions. I would not be so worried if my reservations had stopped completely at the end of October. This is very unusual and while looking for a possible cause I found this goofy split-stay.
Ok, I understand and I just confirmed that as well. But it’s only if the guest chooses “any week” that your place goes into a split stay. If I choose “any weekend” your place comes up by itself.
They took away the option of searching without putting in any dates. It’s no longer possible to search without dates. You have to put dates, or “any weekend”, “any week” or “any month”. Unfortunately, the default is “any week” and split stays seem come up the most often when searching for a week.
WAITTTTT! I just figured out the problem!! I know how you can fix it. It has to do with your settings.
And it’s not because they are trying to screw you, it’s the opposite. They are trying to get you booked by including you in a split-stay. Because a week is the default search, without dates, and you have a 4-day maximum, you wouldn’t show up on the map at all if they didn’t put you in a split stay. The system is actually trying to help.
So if you increase your maximum to 7 days, you won’t be in a split stay. And I bet you get booked too.
Are you sure you said any week and not any weekend? Because she appears to have a 4-day maximum which is why she only comes up as a split stay when a week is searched for.
She doesn’t have a week available in March, you must’ve done any weekend. Can you please verify? When I look at her calendar I can’t choose more than 4 nights, which explains the issue of guests searching for a week.
It makes sense. I’ve only ever seen my place come up in a split-stay when searching for more than 18 days because 18 days is my maximum. I wouldn’t come up if you search for a 19 day stay but the system wants to give guests the most options possible so it puts me into a split stay.
Thanks for trying to help with this. It shows up with any date search. It does not show up in a location search without dates except as this split stay. Here is the location search: https://www.airbnb.com/ocean-park-wa/stays Then if you look at the map it shows the split stay.
That’s because you can’t search without dates. If you try to search without dates the search defaults automatically to be for exactly one week. So if you don’t have a week available you will only show up in a split stay.
I can’t believe (I mean I guess I can) that Airbnb didn’t figure out it was your settings doing it. Doh.
Then Airbnb needs to make this clear to guests at the outset, front and center. Just because you are an experienced host and guest who knows how to search and get appropriate results, doesn’t mean any of that is clear to the average guest.
This split-stay algorithm is so screwed up that hosts in Europe have found their places split-stayed with listings in a neighboring country. No way is Airbnb “helping” hosts get booked with this feature, nor are they helping guests, the majority of whom have zero interest in a split stay.
So maybe they aren’t helping that much but they are helping guests have the most options. Because a lot of places wouldn’t show up at all if they didn’t show it as a split stay. This is particularly true for those of us who have maximum stays.
I don’t want a 30 day stay but I don’t mind an 18 day stay (my max) and I’ve gotten a few bookings for 15-18 days because of the split stay option that I wouldn’t have even shown on the map for otherwise. It’s an additional chance to get booked that wouldn’t exist otherwise.
The way to fix it is to remove the default “any week” but I know we’ve discussed that to death and they don’t seem to be budging on it. Ugh.
Yay!!! I saw that you had increased your maximum when I refreshed the map a second ago. You popped right up - not connected to any other place or anything.
I hope it’s going to work out for you to have the 7 day max. I wasn’t sure if it the 4-day was just a preference or a non-negotiable.
This thread really pleases me. Two members spent a good bit of time trying to help a fellow host unknown to them to work on this problem and solved the problem.
