Plus over 50 new features and upgrades based on feedback from our community, including total price display, transparent checkout instructions, improved maps, redesigned wishlists, and more
As the pandemic comes to an end, the travel industry is gearing up for a significant resurgence, and Airbnb is prepared to accommodate the anticipated 300 million travelers and hosts this year. In anticipation of this surge, Airbnb is introducing Airbnb Rooms, a fresh and innovative approach to the traditional Airbnb experience. This is just the beginning of a comprehensive set of enhancements and updates that aim to elevate the entire Airbnb journey, with over 50 new features and improvements specifically designed to address the valuable feedback received from guests and hosts.
Introducing Airbnb Rooms
Airbnb has always been rooted in the concept of sharing, originally offering guests the opportunity to stay in a room within someone else’s home. This unique idea brings two distinct advantages to travelers. Firstly, it provides a more affordable accommodation option, with over 80% of private rooms priced under $100 per night, and an average rate of $67 per night. Secondly, staying with a host offers the chance to meet new people and immerse oneself in the local culture, providing an authentic experience of the city.
In today’s economic climate, affordable travel is especially sought after, and after the prolonged isolation caused by the pandemic, people are yearning for connections and genuine experiences. This makes now the ideal time to consider staying in a room within someone else’s home. However, for more people to embrace this concept, they need to feel comfortable and secure when staying with a host.
To address this, Airbnb is proud to introduce Airbnb Rooms, an innovative reinvention of the original Airbnb concept. Recognizing that guests desire more information about their hosts, every Airbnb Room now features a Host Passport, allowing guests to familiarize themselves with their prospective host before making a booking. Furthermore, the introduction of the Rooms category expands the selection with over 1 million listings, accompanied by redesigned filters and enhanced privacy features.
Brian Chesky, co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, emphasizes the significance of this new development, stating, “With Airbnb Rooms, we are returning to the fundamental idea that sparked it all – the core principle of sharing. Airbnb Rooms not only often offer greater affordability than hotels but also provide the most genuine and immersive way to experience a city. This truly embodies the essence of Airbnb.”
- Host Passport – We want every guest to feel comfortable staying with a Host. Exclusive to Airbnb Rooms, the Host Passport helps you get to know your Host before booking your stay. Simply tap the Host Passport to view a larger photo and details Hosts have shared about themselves, including where they went to school, what they do for work, a fun fact about themselves, and much more.
- Airbnb Rooms category – Airbnb Rooms are easy to discover, with a new category featuring a curated set of 1 million private bedrooms. Listings include access to shared spaces, like the kitchen, living room, or backyard.
- Redesigned filters – We’ve redesigned the “type of place” filter to make it easy to switch between Airbnb Rooms, entire homes, or all types of places. It’s simple to view the average price for each type of place with an enhanced price filter that updates based on your choice.
- New privacy features – We know that when you’re sharing a home, privacy is important. All Airbnb Rooms will clearly indicate if the bedroom door has a lock. The listing page also shows whether the bathrooms are shared or private, and whether people other than the Host will be in the home during your stay.
50+ new features and upgrades based on your feedback
With a record-setting travel season on the horizon, Airbnb is committed to enhancing every aspect of its service, driven by valuable feedback from the Airbnb community.
To achieve these improvements, a design-driven approach was adopted. The journey of guests and hosts, spanning from sign-up to check-out, was carefully storyboarded. This comprehensive blueprint captured every screen, policy, and interaction with customer support. Millions of customer service tickets were analyzed and aligned with different stages of the journey. Additionally, thousands of social media posts were reviewed, and extensive conversations were held with hundreds of thousands of guests and hosts to gather insights on how to enhance the Airbnb experience.
Brian Chesky, the visionary behind Airbnb, acknowledged the significance of user feedback, stating, “Millions of people have shared their suggestions on how to improve Airbnb, and we have listened attentively.” He further announced the introduction of the most extensive set of updates in Airbnb’s history. With over 50 new features and upgrades, this release signifies just the beginning of Airbnb’s commitment to continuous improvement. The dedication to enhancing the platform will remain unwavering as Airbnb strives to provide the best possible experience for its users.
Starting today, we are proud to announce the launch of over 50 new features and upgrades for our guests. Here is a sneak peek at just a few of them:
- Total price display – Guests can view the total price with fees, before taxes, across the entire app including in search results, price filter, maps, and listing pages.
- Transparent checkout instructions – Guests can now view checkout instructions on the listing page before booking, and they’ll receive a reminder before they leave the home. During the review process, guests can tell us about any excessive requests. And listings with repeated low ratings from unreasonable chores will be removed from Airbnb.
- Improved maps – Used by more than 80 percent of guests, we’ve updated maps with faster performance, persistent pins when zooming and panning, and more results when searching.
- Redesigned wishlists – Wishlists now include a redesigned interface, one-tap saving, and an improved calendar that shows availability of wishlisted homes. Guests can also add notes to any wishlisted listing – making it easier to remember why they loved it.
- Simpler and more affordable monthly stays – For stays over three months, we’re significantly reducing the guest service fee after the third month. Guests in the US can also save for stays over one month when paying with their linked bank account. And when searching, the new Months tab features an all-new interface that makes it easy to dial in a range from 1-12 months.
- Priority customer service on a trip – We created a dedicated 24/7 support team for priority access when you’re on a trip, with a goal of answering 90% of calls in English in two minutes or less.
- Pay over time – Through a new partnership with Klarna, guests in the US and Canada can apply to pay for stays in four interest-free installments over six weeks. For bookings over $500, guests can apply to pay monthly (US only). More countries will be added throughout the year.
- Instant rebooking credit – If a Host cancels within 30 days of arrival, most guests will receive an instant credit that can be used to rebook another stay immediately.
As part of our extensive update with over 50 new features and upgrades, we’re excited to announce 25 improvements specifically designed for Hosts. These upgrades include new pricing tools that will allow Hosts to set competitive prices, add weekly and monthly discounts effortlessly, and compare their listing with similar ones in their area. We’ve also added a yearly view in the calendar, an easy way to enter checkout instructions, read receipts, new quick replies in messaging, and more.
Worldwide rollout starting today
Starting this week, Airbnb will begin rolling out its all-new Airbnb Rooms and more than 50 additional features and upgrades for guests and Hosts. If Hosts want to try out the new features, they can enroll in Airbnb Early Access starting today.
