Renters noticed prices and guest demands on Airbnb rentals have become too much effort and became fed-up. CEO Chesky responds.
Airbnb CEO Says He Hears You
Vacationers are fed up with spending their last vacation day doing laundry, dishes, and other chores before they leave the Airbnb rental, and recently posted their dismay on social media.
Airbnb‘s CEO Brian Chesky said he hears you “loud and clear” and addressed the biggest complaints: hidden fees and chores.
The Wall Street Journal reported, “You don’t want to wake up at 6 a.m. to do chores when you’re on vacation,” said Ms. Marie, a Sacramento school teacher. “This kind of changes the whole vibe. It’s stressful.”
Because of Airbnb’s high demand in recent years, hosts have gotten away with charging higher than standard rates and charging additional cleaning fees.
CEO Brian Chesky took to Twitter to reassure Airbnb users that they would soon be able to see the total prices they pay upfront.
Here are Chesky’s additional comments on the future of Airbnb rules:
Chesky emphasized the need to help hosts provide great value to guests, adding that “affordability is especially important today during this difficult economic time”.
What Are The Changes?
To set more competitive prices, Airbnb is also launching new pricing and discount tools based on feedback from hosts who said that they wanted more help to understand the final prices that guests pay and what rates they should be charging to stay competitive.
Airbnb vowed to show a “total price display” when looking at a potential property, which means “cleaning fees” won’t be so hard to figure out and factor into your budget anymore.
“Starting in December, we will begin rolling out the option to display total price in countries without existing price display requirements,” the company said in a press release. “Total price will include all fees before taxes and be shown in search results and on the map, filter, and listing page. Before confirming their booking, guests can still view a full price breakdown that shows Airbnb’s service fee, discounts, and taxes.”
The total price of a stay will now take priority over nightly prices in search results, too, so you can see the highest quality and best total price deals instead of wading through irrelevant listings.
For the hosts, there are changes too.
At the beginning of next year, hosts will have new pricing and discounting tools to help them understand the final price guests will pay and how to set the best reasonable, competitive prices. They will also be expected to make their checkout requests easier for guests to see before they book, which will prevent any checkout mishaps.
Renters Went Through A Lot
Airbnb hosts recently went viral for complaining about low bookings over the last few months.
In response, many online users came ready to share many reasons why some hosts struggle to find guests, which primarily included issues they’ve encountered with hidden fees and long lists of chores required by various hosts on the site.
Buzzfeed shared some examples in this article. Here’s one example of why renters didn’t fill up the bookings earlier this year.
“At the last Airbnb we went to with [my husband’s] family, [the host] wanted an additional $5 per person for hot tub use and they had cameras in the back.”
“No one used the hot tub while we were there, AT ALL, and a $40 hot tub usage charge showed up on the tab. Oh, my uncle was pissed and he fought it and won. They claimed someone ‘sat on the stairs for 3+ hours’ and that justified the charge. WHAT?”
After CEO Chesky posted the new rules last week, renters sounded off on Twitter with their complaints:
Here’s an example of some of the pain renters went through while staying at an Airbnb.
Most recently, this renter never got a reply from their host.
Airbnb may have competition – they just announced a new product, apartment-style accommodations called Apartments by Marriott Bonvoy.
President of Marriott International, Stephanie Linnartz, said: “Travelers planning vacations and long business trips today are seeking more choice in accommodations, and the introduction of Apartments by Marriott Bonvoy responds to those trends while offering developers a premium product backed by our trusted name and distribution platform.”
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