Been host for six years now. Pinpointed our location on Google Maps and send it to guests. Had Airbnb support put he location exactly right on the site. Yes, people sometimes get lost but it’s usually their mistake.
This summer a guest got lost and sent a message saying “the app sent me there.” So I contacted Airbnb and said there must be some glitch or something in the app. Did not get a reply until another guest had the same problem, “the app sent them there” and a very similar location the other guest went to. I contact Airbnb and say there is something wrong in the app. I get an answer where the problem is all mine, my location must be wrong. No, my location is right, it has been right for six years. Still we go through it. The third person gets lost, says “the app sent me there.” I contact Airbnb, there is something happening in the app. Get answered that they will help me correct my location. My location is not wrong! Still we go through it.
I asked this guest to contact Airbnb and tell them the app sent them the wrong way. She does. I get a message: “A guest has complained, your location is wrong, we have made a note of this.” My location is not wrong! I answer and tell them my location is not and never was wrong. A few days later I get an answer. “We can help you correcting your location.” Sweet Lord.
How frustrating for you! Air should be more on the ball, but until then I’d let guests know that they should follow your instructions or a GPS with the correct address because the app will get them to the wrong place.
Send airbnb your exact gps coordinates so they can be added to your listing (on the airbnb side).
As long as you know the Airbnb system is having problems, you should send your location to confirmed guests with a link to a Google Maps pin or something similar via either the Airbnb messaging system, or an SMS message, or both, to ensure they don’t get lost.
I’m sure Airbnb does this to try to keep shady hosts from operating at a location where it’s not legal and to prevent bait-and-switch tactics, etc., but if their location app is broken, it only makes legitimate hosts look bad.
Now that they are taking it seriously - because of a guest complaint - let them know that you’ve tried to resolve this BEFORE the guests finally complained to Airbnb and they wouldn’t help resolve the issue. Ask what can be done so that doesn’t happen again.
I’ve had the same problem, It’s not an issue with the app its an issue with the map. @We2
My location was showing fine on their map for six years and changed to three roads away a few months ago. I had to go in and get the geolocation and share with Airbnb so they could reset my location on the map.
And I looked again a few weeks ago and they have changed it back to the wrong location (you couldn’t make it up) so I have to go through the whole process with them again 
If there is this problem with the guest finding you, the easiest way to fix it is to send the guest a link to Google maps with the right location when you send them their welcome/check in message.
I checked the location every time and it was always right. I always send the Google Maps link but t seems like some guests just don’t read the messages 
Ah so in what way is Airbnb misrepresenting where you live if the map and address on your listing are correct @We2
I have started to think these guests just got lost and the fact they ended up at a similar location is a coincident. At first I thought it was a glitch in the app but now I wonder… But the location on my site was always right, I checked every time.
I email my hand drawn map to my place to guests, as it is very hard to find. I ask them to confirm that they received it and advise them to print it out in hard copy and have it with them. My most recent guest would have been hooped if she hadn’t done that, as she accidently left her phone in her friend’s car who drove her to the airport, so not only would she not have been able to refer to the directions, she wouldn’t have been able to call me for the info.
Also, although it is recommended to communicate via Airbnb messaging with guests, there are situations where it is fine to phone or text. So I would recommend that you ask guests to confirm that they received the map link, and if they don’t respond, text or call them to tell them to please check your message re the location. And since it seems that the app is giving the wrong location, until and unless you can get CS to correct that, alert guests to use your Google map rather than the app directions.
You might want to use the advance notice setting, so you don’t get last minute bookings, which can be problematic in many ways. Unless a host’s location is such that their bread and butter is last minute bookings, such as those who live near an airport or highway where road trippers might book last minute, you can avoid a lot of issues by making sure you and your guests are on the same page with everything a few days before check-in.
This is true. A friend of mine who runs a local business has been going to battle with Google Maps for years.
Her place is shown in entirely the wrong location.
Also Google maps can send people on poor routes to get to their destination. I had a friend who was supposed to meet me at a motel on the US/Mexico border so we could caravan down together to the town we were going to. Instead of following the route I had told her to take from Seattle (I had made the drive many times), she decided to follow Google maps advice, which sent her through mountainous, twisty turny terrain, her cat projectile vomitting in its carrier the whole way. And she arrived about 7 hours later than she had thought she would.
Unless the listing address is a straightforward place to find in a city or suburb, written directions from the host, in addition to a map and the address, is always a good idea. Hosts also know the best route to take, depending on when the guest plans to arrive, rush hour traffic, local road closures, etc.
Of course, none of this helps if guests fail to read their messages, or don’t know how to read the complete message.
Yes on reflection you’re right. I live in a city and Google Maps works for my listing but can be unreliable in others . @muddy
I send a screenshot map of my location when I send my welcome information about two days before a guest stays
Why are you having Airbnb send the guest this info? I always send special instructions because I can’t get every GPS company to fix my location. Just send a check in message with the correct info and state that this overrides any Airbnb directions sent.
The level of incompetence is staggering.
If hosts put together a book of the circular, convoluted, Kafkaesque conversations had with Airbnb CS reps, everyone would think it was satire, not real.
THIS! There are 2 main routes to our place to get over the mountains coming from the east. I 70 has been closed countless times in the past year+ due to flash flooding due to a burn scar from a fire2 years ago. Huge impact on travel! The other way is Hwy 50, which unfortunately has had a construction project going on w/ road closures periodically. The detour adds an additional hour+ to the trip. Depending on the daily changes in these circumstances, I contact my guests via Air & texting/calls to be sure they are aware of the best route.
My guests are generally unaware of these issues, & all have been thankful for the heads up. Just another way to be sure they are happy campers! 