If you look at the vacation rental landscape today, it’s stiff competition, and the job is not easy. Guests expect more, and staying on top of communications is a 24x7 job. Last night alone, I had to help a guest troubleshoot a Roku in one house while dealing with a chipmunk on the loose in another. Hosts are slashing prices to fill calendars. A single bad review on your listing can deter future guests from booking. It’s to the point where, if a guest damages the house, I must consider whether I want to seek reimbursement or not for fear of a retaliatory review.
But I find myself asking more and more: why are we competing with other hosts for bookings instead of competing with Airbnb for listings? Airbnb is a valued partner of House2Play, and we could not live without them. But because of that, we walk on eggshells. Airbnb is known to favor the guest and will not hesitate to shut down your listing and send you to financial ruin. The offshore help desk is atrocious for both hosts and guests. No one ever wants to call them.
There is very little vetting of hosts or the houses by Airbnb. Hidden cameras, parties, and listings in neighborhoods that do not allow rentals all draw the ire of regulators. We agree with regulators that the end of the cul-de-sac is not the place to turn a house into a mini Great Wolf Lodge. The cleaning fee approach is inconsistent and completely unnecessary. Airbnb then charges the guest another 15% on top of my rent and cleaning fee, leading to sticker shock at checkout.
Airbnb is an incredibly successful company. But it’s also a company with a lot of problems, and their success is driven by no one wanting to stand up to challenge them. Well, there’s VRBO, but we’ll leave VRBO alone today. They have their own set of issues as well.
What would I do if I were to challenge Airbnb?
No cleaning fee ever. Hosts can figure out how to bake that into pricing.
Show the final price upfront like Expedia does.
Have an onshore help desk and empower them to be helpful.
Have hosting standards and vet hosts before allowing them on the platform.
Only allow rentals in appropriate neighborhoods and established vacation markets.
Charge a lower booking fee.
Yes, I think that would work. Why has no one done this? Well, partly because the technical challenge of building a calendar booking system is too daunting for most. But we are not like most. Stay tuned!
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