Post by High Priestess on May 31, 2016 1:48:05 GMT
Rebecca shared in Airbnb Products UPdates and improvements
www.airbnb.com/groups/content/content-170118
New - Review Highlights
Just noticed this today - listings now have a section called 'Review Highlights' which shows selected comments from guests. What do you think? Not sure how I feel about it yet. One of the selections on one of my listings is "She let me drop off my luggage early in the morning, so I could tour the city without the burden of luggage."Not too happy with that because, although I don't mind allowing early check-ins if it fits with my schedule, I don't really want to advertise it.
14 comments•2 likes
Following
Like
Till & Jutta
Judy
Till & Jutta
Till & Jutta9 months ago
Seems to be a beta. We don't see this feature yet.
Reply Like 7 replies
Rebecca
Rebecca9 months ago
Well, I can see these review highlights on your listing, Till & Jutta! You don't see them? Would you like to know what they are?
Till & Jutta
Till & Jutta9 months ago
Oh yes, that would be great!
Till & Jutta
Till & Jutta9 months ago
Oh, with incognito window we can see the highlight!
Juliet and Ed
Juliet and Ed9 months ago
Til & Jutta: Your first one says "They were very nice and accommodating and she said she would recommend the place to anyone." by Lucy, April 2013. This is a rather ambiguous "review highlight", because who is "she"?
Cathy & Ed
Cathy & Ed9 months ago
Not happy with the review from last year that was selected. "Offers a level of privacy not available anywhere else in the city". I don't want that kind of attraction! Don't mind being private, but this sounds like a hideout for 'Bonnie & Clyde'! I have great reviews like this recent review "I have traveled all over the world using Airbnb, and this is my best find".
Florencia
Florencia9 months ago
@cathy Mine is "The location is quite good although we didn´t love the immediate areas". I haven´t received any inquiry since the new "review highlights" feature is running. I have amazing reviews (168) and I'm quite sure that this one belongs to the worst 5 I have. I'm so mad about this new release
Cathy & Ed
Cathy & Ed9 months ago
Just got off the phone with CX, and it is a test. I noted that the sentence they picked was not only old, but was not a good choice of the many reviews that I have. She noted that if enough people that call in, they might discontinue it so CALL IN! Also, told her that they should reinstate the 'keyword' search.
Juliet and Ed
Juliet and Ed9 months ago
Yes! I just found them! Thanks for pointing this out, Rebecca. There are actually 5 of them, you can scroll sideways to see them. Fortunately all the "highlights" in mine are very nice. Do you suppose they have someone who is specifically dedicated to reading the reviews, and then choosing which part of a review to use?
Reply Like 1 reply
Cathy & Ed
Cathy & Ed9 months ago
Juliet, probably a computer doing a keyword search, but they are not doing a good service to the Host or Airbnb. They should have left the keyword search for the guest to use:) Florencia, You have over 300 reviews, and all that I read were great reviews! I have had only one Inquiry of late, and they had no profile, and said they did not need a tour. I told them that I must give a tour because our property is large, and it was for their safety. Never heard back. which is fine with me, (my house...my rules)!
Deborah
Deborah9 months ago
I couldn't see review highlights on any of your listings, so perhaps only those who are in the beta testing can view them anywhere.
My general view on it -- I don't like it. I think it should be up to hosts what they want to highlight about their listing.
Reply Like 1 reply•2 likes
Andrew
Andrew9 months ago
I agree. It would be nice to have a feature that let us select handpicked quotes from our reviews to bump up to the Highlights section.
Julia
Julia9 months ago
I can't see this on either your listing or mine Rebecca - whereabouts does it show?
Reply Like 2 replies
Cathy & Ed
Cathy & Ed9 months ago
Julia, it is in a gray box above your last most recent review.
Cathy & Ed
Cathy & Ed9 months ago
Correction! the gray box is gone, leaving the (old) review. Just noticed you can look at 3 more highlighted reviews. The last two have the same sentence....from two different guest! Also, noticed that the total number of listings was dropped by 700, and a lot of new listings. Searched thru all without any filters and mine was no where to be found. I guess one of the many new listings took my place. Sooo... dissapointed!
Dionne
Dionne9 months ago
I couldn't find any at first either under my listing, but then I opened up an incognito window in chrome and they came up, although there were only four highlights!
Reply Like 1 reply
Juliet and Ed
Juliet and Ed9 months ago
The number of highlights varies, it seems, depending on how many total reviews a host has. I have looked at several places, and there are three, four or five highlights. I mentioned it to my friend who hosts in Spain, and she couldn't find it either.
Florencia
Florencia9 months ago
Horrible feature. Not for the highlights itself but for the automatic process that select each other. One of mine says that "the location is quiet good but they didn´t love the immediate areas", which is the only guest that refers on that way for my place´s location. I have 168 reviews on this apartment and I'm sure more than 160 are better than this one. Moreover I don´t like the fact that Airbnb is bumping up reviews that are not longer representative of the place. My place has changed a lot in the last years and I don´t know how a 2012´s review can help my guests to decided on staying or not with me. I agree with Andrew that Airbnb should let us do the job of selecting our best reviews, not just a dumb robot.
Reply Like 1 reply•3 likes
Till & Jutta
Till & Jutta9 months ago
You could easily select the top 5 reviews of your choice and put them into a text picture. Compare www.airbnb.com/rooms/2227353 last photo, which shows the top features (for those who don't read the description), but also could be used to show reviews.
Carrie
Carrie9 months ago
Huh. Just checked out my listing & saw them. They're all very nice highlights, BUT they're all from (phone number hidden). They couldn't find anything from 2015 worth highlighting?
Reply Like 3 replies
Florencia
Florencia9 months ago
Your highlights are OK however your reviews are WONDERFUL. That is the difference. With this new feature Airbnb wants to wipe out all the love that a guest has put on writing the review and instead build a short inexpressive sentence from it. Besides the chronological arrangement of the reviews is quite important. If one of your past guests mentioned that the WiFi signal was too weak in 2011 but you have fixed that already then what is to point to bring it back again on the highlights. On my opinion, the best highlights are your last reviews that shows your real process as a host in the way on doing things better every day (or maybe not).
Florencia
Florencia9 months ago
A typo there: I meant to write "progress" not "process"
Rebecca
Rebecca9 months ago
Yes that sums it up very well Florencia. It's sad to see this obsession with making everything quick and short. It seems to go against the original ethos, to me anyway. According to the marketing we are not just sharing our homes but an 'experience'. So why cheapen it in this way? If guests can't be bothered to read the listing or the full reviews then I really can't be bothered hosting them!
Ed & Hugh
Ed & Hugh9 months ago
I wish they would dedicate their resources to fixing things that are broken, such as the keyword search feature, before using them to add questionable features.
Reply Like 3 replies•6 likes
Juliet and Ed
Juliet and Ed9 months ago
That is such a good point, Ed & Hugh. Hopefully someone will think to suggest this at the Paris Open!
Susan
Susan9 months ago
Absolutely agree, Ed and Hugh. It's ludicrous that the extremely useful keyword function when searching for listings is now redundant, yet they're now using 'keywords' to generate these cold, distant, disjointed, emotionless 'review highlights'
Peter
Peter9 months ago
Or let us make Group comments on the broken App perhaps. Have been telling them to fix this for 6 months.
Drew
Drew9 months ago
it's interesting as it's based on keywords. right now, i like the highlights for mine, but like you, am leery of something showing up that I'd rather not set as an expectation. it would be great if we had full control over our product....sigh.
out of curiousity...what are the keywords (bolded) for the early drop off highlight?
Reply Like 2 replies•1 like
Rebecca
Rebecca9 months ago
'Tour the city', which is a pretty neutral phrase and could end up being 'don't stay here if you want to tour the city', for example. There's another thread on this in New Hosts where people have found some quite interesting results (sometimes due to typos). Your point about having control over our listings/product strikes a strong chord with me. I wrote this last night but didn't know what to do with it, so I guess I'll just post it here: To Airbnb: Why is basic communication with hosts completely absent from your core thinking? Why don't you recognise that hosts are stakeholders? We are not just your customers – we are the ones that generate your income, essentially. Without us you have nothing. An example of your disregard is the recent feature of 'Revew Highlights', introduced randomly and with no warning. Hello? Don't play with my listing as if it's your own toy to do what you want with. It's not. It's MY listing, not yours. I am happy to pay your service fee but you are still the middle-man at the end of the day, please remember that. And have some respect for the people that have built the “community” that you are so ready to market as your own invention.
Juliet and Ed
Juliet and Ed9 months ago
wow - you guys are smart; I hadn't figured out that it was based on keywords, but now I totally see it. The highlighted parts of the sentence.
Drew
Drew9 months ago
Here here....please forward to Chip@ He needs to hear this...if for no other reason than to reinforce this very mantra I've been exclaiming the past 2+ years. Cheers.
Reply Like 2 likes
Carrie
Carrie9 months ago
Unfortunately, white our "physical* listing is ours, the Online listing, on Airbnb's website, in all probability, is legally owned by Airbnb.
Reply Like 6 replies•1 like
Drew
Drew9 months ago
Um...you've missed the point. Legality notwithstanding, the comment was made to punctuate airbnb's revenue model...and the subsequent poor execution of airbnb in relation to the most significant variable (Hosts) in said model. This string of recent autocratic treatment of hosts certainly demonstrates 'legal ownership' but does it demonstrate good business execution? Let alone...'community?' Me thinks not.
Carrie
Carrie9 months ago
No, I got, and agree with "the point." But if the contact is factually incorrect....
Rebecca
Rebecca9 months ago
I get that and it's fair enough. And I can understand how difficult it must be to deal with so many issues from both sides (guests and hosts), judging by some of the posts on these groups where hosts go running to Airbnb at the drop of a hat when really they should just be dealing with it themselves. My main issue is with the bewildering lack of communication with hosts. To me it seems like a gaping hole in the whole system. All this hype about 'the community' is rendered meaningless when they themselves don't actually TALK to the people in it. Send out your fluffy-wuffy newsletters with pretty pictures two months after things have already been implemented if you really have to, fine. But what is most important is to be treated as a grown-up and informed about basic changes to the system, current legal situations, information about what's going on in other countries, stuff like that - you know, the sort of things a community shares. Said it before, will say it again - if Airbnb was a prospective guest I'd hit that decline button so fast. Only guests with good communication get to stay with me.
Rebecca
Rebecca9 months ago
Was posting while you replied, Carrie.
Rebecca
Rebecca9 months ago
I agree with you Drew that it is astoundingly poor business practice to disregard hosts the way that they do. The only conclusion is that they really don't care much because the model seems to work and there will always be new hosts to come along. There's a big recruitment drive for new hosts going on right now. It's just all about the money, really, end of day.
Carrie
Carrie9 months ago
I meant "content," not "contact." And apologies if I seemed abrupt & rude.
Drew
Drew9 months ago
unsustainable....esp given the growing number of cities looking to boot them out. having said (email hidden)rhaps they see the writing on the wall and we're in full cash grab mode.
Reply Like 2 replies
Rebecca
Rebecca9 months ago
Has it ever been anything else really? I've appreciated the cash, for sure! Maybe there's a natural shelf-life for hosts and they're recognising that.... I know I've almost had enough now. I've signed up to the RefugeesWelcome initiative. It will be interesting to see if any mention of that is made at the Paris Open. I suspect not. It's far too real.
Drew
Drew9 months ago
Hmm...interesting notion. I feel exactly the same as you. Perhaps you've hit the proverbial nail here. But, even if nerds.airbnb have come up with a theorem which 'proves' a Host shelf life, would you think it more prudent business practice to figure out ways to bring Hosts back into the fold rather than accept high attrition and the constant cycle of new/unproven Hosts (especially those that are top-rated/high revenue earners). Does that not have an adverse impact on the brand?! Most successful companies take a long view towards revenue and strive towards attainment of (arguably) the most important stat in business - customer retention. This high turnover is on both sides - Guests & Hosts. It would be interesting to see the results of a study showing how many Guests register and never use the service/use it once/use it more than once. I bet you that's a steep downward sloping graph.
Julia
Julia9 months ago
Agree with much of the above Rebecca and Drew. Drew I wonder if you're on to something with the full on cash grab theory? I too have welcomed the income and really wish there was a real alternative out there, but also wonder, why isn't there? I originally started with Crashpadder which was a small operation based here in London but they sold off to Airbnb. I wonder if any new guys on the block are being eaten up by the Airbnb machine before they even get off the ground. I would dearly love to have some eggs in another basket! Back to topic. I hate these highlights! It seems to me that because the site chooses not to educate guests into reading the full listing, house rules etc etc, "let's just cut to the chase for the guests to not read anything at all unless in tiny bite sized chunks". Watch out for more unhappy guests and hosts alike. And, you're right. I do not trust Airbnb to get this right anyway!
Reply Like 1 reply•1 like
Juliet and Ed
Juliet and Ed9 months ago
Ah Crashpadder! That's how I first started, as a guest. About 6 years ago. I read about it in the New York Times, and signed up. Stayed in someone's flat in Chelsea for 25 pounds/night! There's nothing that cheap anymore. And it was really nice, too.
Julia
Julia9 months ago
Juliet and Ed, I really loved Crashpadder and was so disappointed when the founder sold out! He used to have small gatherings in his flat in Clapham Junction and was a really nice bloke. Those were the days!
www.airbnb.com/groups/content/content-170118
New - Review Highlights
Just noticed this today - listings now have a section called 'Review Highlights' which shows selected comments from guests. What do you think? Not sure how I feel about it yet. One of the selections on one of my listings is "She let me drop off my luggage early in the morning, so I could tour the city without the burden of luggage."Not too happy with that because, although I don't mind allowing early check-ins if it fits with my schedule, I don't really want to advertise it.
14 comments•2 likes
Following
Like
Till & Jutta
Judy
Till & Jutta
Till & Jutta9 months ago
Seems to be a beta. We don't see this feature yet.
Reply Like 7 replies
Rebecca
Rebecca9 months ago
Well, I can see these review highlights on your listing, Till & Jutta! You don't see them? Would you like to know what they are?
Till & Jutta
Till & Jutta9 months ago
Oh yes, that would be great!
Till & Jutta
Till & Jutta9 months ago
Oh, with incognito window we can see the highlight!
Juliet and Ed
Juliet and Ed9 months ago
Til & Jutta: Your first one says "They were very nice and accommodating and she said she would recommend the place to anyone." by Lucy, April 2013. This is a rather ambiguous "review highlight", because who is "she"?
Cathy & Ed
Cathy & Ed9 months ago
Not happy with the review from last year that was selected. "Offers a level of privacy not available anywhere else in the city". I don't want that kind of attraction! Don't mind being private, but this sounds like a hideout for 'Bonnie & Clyde'! I have great reviews like this recent review "I have traveled all over the world using Airbnb, and this is my best find".
Florencia
Florencia9 months ago
@cathy Mine is "The location is quite good although we didn´t love the immediate areas". I haven´t received any inquiry since the new "review highlights" feature is running. I have amazing reviews (168) and I'm quite sure that this one belongs to the worst 5 I have. I'm so mad about this new release
Cathy & Ed
Cathy & Ed9 months ago
Just got off the phone with CX, and it is a test. I noted that the sentence they picked was not only old, but was not a good choice of the many reviews that I have. She noted that if enough people that call in, they might discontinue it so CALL IN! Also, told her that they should reinstate the 'keyword' search.
Juliet and Ed
Juliet and Ed9 months ago
Yes! I just found them! Thanks for pointing this out, Rebecca. There are actually 5 of them, you can scroll sideways to see them. Fortunately all the "highlights" in mine are very nice. Do you suppose they have someone who is specifically dedicated to reading the reviews, and then choosing which part of a review to use?
Reply Like 1 reply
Cathy & Ed
Cathy & Ed9 months ago
Juliet, probably a computer doing a keyword search, but they are not doing a good service to the Host or Airbnb. They should have left the keyword search for the guest to use:) Florencia, You have over 300 reviews, and all that I read were great reviews! I have had only one Inquiry of late, and they had no profile, and said they did not need a tour. I told them that I must give a tour because our property is large, and it was for their safety. Never heard back. which is fine with me, (my house...my rules)!
Deborah
Deborah9 months ago
I couldn't see review highlights on any of your listings, so perhaps only those who are in the beta testing can view them anywhere.
My general view on it -- I don't like it. I think it should be up to hosts what they want to highlight about their listing.
Reply Like 1 reply•2 likes
Andrew
Andrew9 months ago
I agree. It would be nice to have a feature that let us select handpicked quotes from our reviews to bump up to the Highlights section.
Julia
Julia9 months ago
I can't see this on either your listing or mine Rebecca - whereabouts does it show?
Reply Like 2 replies
Cathy & Ed
Cathy & Ed9 months ago
Julia, it is in a gray box above your last most recent review.
Cathy & Ed
Cathy & Ed9 months ago
Correction! the gray box is gone, leaving the (old) review. Just noticed you can look at 3 more highlighted reviews. The last two have the same sentence....from two different guest! Also, noticed that the total number of listings was dropped by 700, and a lot of new listings. Searched thru all without any filters and mine was no where to be found. I guess one of the many new listings took my place. Sooo... dissapointed!
Dionne
Dionne9 months ago
I couldn't find any at first either under my listing, but then I opened up an incognito window in chrome and they came up, although there were only four highlights!
Reply Like 1 reply
Juliet and Ed
Juliet and Ed9 months ago
The number of highlights varies, it seems, depending on how many total reviews a host has. I have looked at several places, and there are three, four or five highlights. I mentioned it to my friend who hosts in Spain, and she couldn't find it either.
Florencia
Florencia9 months ago
Horrible feature. Not for the highlights itself but for the automatic process that select each other. One of mine says that "the location is quiet good but they didn´t love the immediate areas", which is the only guest that refers on that way for my place´s location. I have 168 reviews on this apartment and I'm sure more than 160 are better than this one. Moreover I don´t like the fact that Airbnb is bumping up reviews that are not longer representative of the place. My place has changed a lot in the last years and I don´t know how a 2012´s review can help my guests to decided on staying or not with me. I agree with Andrew that Airbnb should let us do the job of selecting our best reviews, not just a dumb robot.
Reply Like 1 reply•3 likes
Till & Jutta
Till & Jutta9 months ago
You could easily select the top 5 reviews of your choice and put them into a text picture. Compare www.airbnb.com/rooms/2227353 last photo, which shows the top features (for those who don't read the description), but also could be used to show reviews.
Carrie
Carrie9 months ago
Huh. Just checked out my listing & saw them. They're all very nice highlights, BUT they're all from (phone number hidden). They couldn't find anything from 2015 worth highlighting?
Reply Like 3 replies
Florencia
Florencia9 months ago
Your highlights are OK however your reviews are WONDERFUL. That is the difference. With this new feature Airbnb wants to wipe out all the love that a guest has put on writing the review and instead build a short inexpressive sentence from it. Besides the chronological arrangement of the reviews is quite important. If one of your past guests mentioned that the WiFi signal was too weak in 2011 but you have fixed that already then what is to point to bring it back again on the highlights. On my opinion, the best highlights are your last reviews that shows your real process as a host in the way on doing things better every day (or maybe not).
Florencia
Florencia9 months ago
A typo there: I meant to write "progress" not "process"
Rebecca
Rebecca9 months ago
Yes that sums it up very well Florencia. It's sad to see this obsession with making everything quick and short. It seems to go against the original ethos, to me anyway. According to the marketing we are not just sharing our homes but an 'experience'. So why cheapen it in this way? If guests can't be bothered to read the listing or the full reviews then I really can't be bothered hosting them!
Ed & Hugh
Ed & Hugh9 months ago
I wish they would dedicate their resources to fixing things that are broken, such as the keyword search feature, before using them to add questionable features.
Reply Like 3 replies•6 likes
Juliet and Ed
Juliet and Ed9 months ago
That is such a good point, Ed & Hugh. Hopefully someone will think to suggest this at the Paris Open!
Susan
Susan9 months ago
Absolutely agree, Ed and Hugh. It's ludicrous that the extremely useful keyword function when searching for listings is now redundant, yet they're now using 'keywords' to generate these cold, distant, disjointed, emotionless 'review highlights'
Peter
Peter9 months ago
Or let us make Group comments on the broken App perhaps. Have been telling them to fix this for 6 months.
Drew
Drew9 months ago
it's interesting as it's based on keywords. right now, i like the highlights for mine, but like you, am leery of something showing up that I'd rather not set as an expectation. it would be great if we had full control over our product....sigh.
out of curiousity...what are the keywords (bolded) for the early drop off highlight?
Reply Like 2 replies•1 like
Rebecca
Rebecca9 months ago
'Tour the city', which is a pretty neutral phrase and could end up being 'don't stay here if you want to tour the city', for example. There's another thread on this in New Hosts where people have found some quite interesting results (sometimes due to typos). Your point about having control over our listings/product strikes a strong chord with me. I wrote this last night but didn't know what to do with it, so I guess I'll just post it here: To Airbnb: Why is basic communication with hosts completely absent from your core thinking? Why don't you recognise that hosts are stakeholders? We are not just your customers – we are the ones that generate your income, essentially. Without us you have nothing. An example of your disregard is the recent feature of 'Revew Highlights', introduced randomly and with no warning. Hello? Don't play with my listing as if it's your own toy to do what you want with. It's not. It's MY listing, not yours. I am happy to pay your service fee but you are still the middle-man at the end of the day, please remember that. And have some respect for the people that have built the “community” that you are so ready to market as your own invention.
Juliet and Ed
Juliet and Ed9 months ago
wow - you guys are smart; I hadn't figured out that it was based on keywords, but now I totally see it. The highlighted parts of the sentence.
Drew
Drew9 months ago
Here here....please forward to Chip@ He needs to hear this...if for no other reason than to reinforce this very mantra I've been exclaiming the past 2+ years. Cheers.
Reply Like 2 likes
Carrie
Carrie9 months ago
Unfortunately, white our "physical* listing is ours, the Online listing, on Airbnb's website, in all probability, is legally owned by Airbnb.
Reply Like 6 replies•1 like
Drew
Drew9 months ago
Um...you've missed the point. Legality notwithstanding, the comment was made to punctuate airbnb's revenue model...and the subsequent poor execution of airbnb in relation to the most significant variable (Hosts) in said model. This string of recent autocratic treatment of hosts certainly demonstrates 'legal ownership' but does it demonstrate good business execution? Let alone...'community?' Me thinks not.
Carrie
Carrie9 months ago
No, I got, and agree with "the point." But if the contact is factually incorrect....
Rebecca
Rebecca9 months ago
I get that and it's fair enough. And I can understand how difficult it must be to deal with so many issues from both sides (guests and hosts), judging by some of the posts on these groups where hosts go running to Airbnb at the drop of a hat when really they should just be dealing with it themselves. My main issue is with the bewildering lack of communication with hosts. To me it seems like a gaping hole in the whole system. All this hype about 'the community' is rendered meaningless when they themselves don't actually TALK to the people in it. Send out your fluffy-wuffy newsletters with pretty pictures two months after things have already been implemented if you really have to, fine. But what is most important is to be treated as a grown-up and informed about basic changes to the system, current legal situations, information about what's going on in other countries, stuff like that - you know, the sort of things a community shares. Said it before, will say it again - if Airbnb was a prospective guest I'd hit that decline button so fast. Only guests with good communication get to stay with me.
Rebecca
Rebecca9 months ago
Was posting while you replied, Carrie.
Rebecca
Rebecca9 months ago
I agree with you Drew that it is astoundingly poor business practice to disregard hosts the way that they do. The only conclusion is that they really don't care much because the model seems to work and there will always be new hosts to come along. There's a big recruitment drive for new hosts going on right now. It's just all about the money, really, end of day.
Carrie
Carrie9 months ago
I meant "content," not "contact." And apologies if I seemed abrupt & rude.
Drew
Drew9 months ago
unsustainable....esp given the growing number of cities looking to boot them out. having said (email hidden)rhaps they see the writing on the wall and we're in full cash grab mode.
Reply Like 2 replies
Rebecca
Rebecca9 months ago
Has it ever been anything else really? I've appreciated the cash, for sure! Maybe there's a natural shelf-life for hosts and they're recognising that.... I know I've almost had enough now. I've signed up to the RefugeesWelcome initiative. It will be interesting to see if any mention of that is made at the Paris Open. I suspect not. It's far too real.
Drew
Drew9 months ago
Hmm...interesting notion. I feel exactly the same as you. Perhaps you've hit the proverbial nail here. But, even if nerds.airbnb have come up with a theorem which 'proves' a Host shelf life, would you think it more prudent business practice to figure out ways to bring Hosts back into the fold rather than accept high attrition and the constant cycle of new/unproven Hosts (especially those that are top-rated/high revenue earners). Does that not have an adverse impact on the brand?! Most successful companies take a long view towards revenue and strive towards attainment of (arguably) the most important stat in business - customer retention. This high turnover is on both sides - Guests & Hosts. It would be interesting to see the results of a study showing how many Guests register and never use the service/use it once/use it more than once. I bet you that's a steep downward sloping graph.
Julia
Julia9 months ago
Agree with much of the above Rebecca and Drew. Drew I wonder if you're on to something with the full on cash grab theory? I too have welcomed the income and really wish there was a real alternative out there, but also wonder, why isn't there? I originally started with Crashpadder which was a small operation based here in London but they sold off to Airbnb. I wonder if any new guys on the block are being eaten up by the Airbnb machine before they even get off the ground. I would dearly love to have some eggs in another basket! Back to topic. I hate these highlights! It seems to me that because the site chooses not to educate guests into reading the full listing, house rules etc etc, "let's just cut to the chase for the guests to not read anything at all unless in tiny bite sized chunks". Watch out for more unhappy guests and hosts alike. And, you're right. I do not trust Airbnb to get this right anyway!
Reply Like 1 reply•1 like
Juliet and Ed
Juliet and Ed9 months ago
Ah Crashpadder! That's how I first started, as a guest. About 6 years ago. I read about it in the New York Times, and signed up. Stayed in someone's flat in Chelsea for 25 pounds/night! There's nothing that cheap anymore. And it was really nice, too.
Julia
Julia9 months ago
Juliet and Ed, I really loved Crashpadder and was so disappointed when the founder sold out! He used to have small gatherings in his flat in Clapham Junction and was a really nice bloke. Those were the days!