THE BATTLE TO MAKE IT BETTER

MOST users of Airbnb will probably welcome any move towards assuring higher standards. At the moment one of the main drawbacks of renting through an online platform is that, despite reviews from previous guests, you’re never quite sure whether the accommodation is going to live up to its billing.

To address these doubts, the company has created Airbnb Plus, right, to offer more assurance to potential bookers. These are places, says Airbnb, that promise to be ‘beautiful properties’ with ‘exceptional hosts’, and have been ‘verified for quality’ – they’ve been inspected, in person, against a long checklist, to ensure they are comfy, well-designed and well-maintained, and have specific facilities, such as fast wi-fi, plush towels and at least eight clothes hangers.

There are 2,000 Plus listings in 13 major cities and the number will grow rapidly. ‘Plus’ homes are presented with professional photography, appear at the top of the listings for each city, and are flagged as ‘Plus verified’. Many are affordable, with lead-in rates under £100 a night.

Another improvement, promised this summer, is more clarity about the types of property. The current categories of Entire Home, Private Room and Shared Space don’t cover the range of options that helpfully. New classifications will identify vacation homes (holiday villas etc), unique properties (such as a tree house), B&Bs and hotels.

In some destinations, conventional B&Bs and hotels appear on Airbnb. Selling rooms on the website is enticing for hoteliers and B&B owners, because the commission they pay is three per cent, compared with 15 per cent or more with online agents such as Booking.com. At the moment it’s often not clear with hotels and traditional B&Bs that that is what they are. The new classifications will change that.

Another innovation is the Airbnb Superhost – experienced hosts who provide ‘a shining example for other hosts’.