Skip to main content

Airbnb reveals new hotel-like service called Airbnb Plus

Airbnb reveals new hotel-like service called Airbnb Plus

/

The company is also recognizing boutique hotels, bed-and-breakfasts, and vacation homes on its platform

Share this story

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

Airbnb has announced a new hotel-like tier of service on its platform that the company is calling Airbnb Plus. The news went live today on Airbnb’s website in conjunction with a story in The New York Times ahead of a big reveal event in San Francisco this morning. It confirms rumors that Airbnb has been working on a higher-end accommodations offering that would let it more easily compete with hotels. Airbnb Plus is being marketed as a more standardized style of service that is “verified for quality” and includes a set of amenities one might typically find in a hotel.

“Every Airbnb Plus home is one-of-a-kind, thoughtfully designed, and equipped with a standard set of amenities — whether you’re in a private room or have the entire place to yourself,” reads the company’s website for Airbnb Plus. “All Airbnb Plus homes are visited in person to ensure comfort, consistency, and design. They are checked for 100-plus things that guests told us they love, from must-have amenities to the art on the walls.” Airbnb says hosts of the properties must have a 4.8 out of 5-star rating or higher.

Airbnb Plus requires hosts to meet a quality checklist that includes standard amenities

The service is launching today to mark Airbnb’s 10th anniversary. It will be live with more than 2,000 listings across 13 cities, including Austin, Barcelona, Cape Town, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Melbourne, Milan, Rome, San Francisco, Shanghai, Sydney, and Toronto. According to The New York Times, the average nightly rate for an Airbnb Plus listing will be $200, instead of $100 for standard listings. Airbnb Plus listings will be editorially curated by the company into lists, and listings will also get Plus badges next to them on the website and mobile app to make it easier to see.

Airbnb hosts must apply to be part of the program and pay a $149 application. A Airbnb-hired photographer and inspector are then sent to the home to capture professional-quality photographs and inspect the property to see if it meets Airbnb’s new 100-point quality checklist. The checklist includes a clean refrigerator, full cooking equipment, and stocked toiletries, among many other small and subtle details. The goal, Airbnb says, is to increase the number of people who use its platform, which has had 300 million guests in the past decade. Airbnb Plus listings will receive higher placement in Airbnb’s internal search rankings, as well as premium customer support options, to incentivize high-rated hosts to strive to be a part of the service.

In addition to Airbnb Plus, the company is announcing that it’s officially recognizing hotels on its platform, a notable shift in policy for a platform-owning tech company that has long considered the hotel industry its bitter rival. Of course, boutique hotels and bed-and-breakfasts have long been allowed to exist on Airbnb. But the company is now giving these properties official classification, which Airbnb hopes will make it easier for customers to find those listings through traditional travel sites like Expedia and Priceline.

As Bloomberg notes, the move could be a big win for Airbnb if it can court boutique hotels with lower fees than standard listing sites. The new categories — which are being labeled as vacation homes and B&Bs and join the existing shared room, private room, and full house categories — launch this summer. Part of that new category expansion also includes a new “unique” category for mobile homes, tree houses, and other strange, offbeat accommodations Airbnb invites to its platform. Airbnb is also adding what it calls Collections, which are more situational categories to help refine searches even further by specifying the occasion, whether it be a honeymoon, wedding getaway, or dinner party.

As part of the overall push to higher-end accommodations, Airbnb plans to introduce a luxury tier that is more expensive than Airbnb Plus, called Airbnb Beyond. The company plans to launch the tier in the spring, using the expertise and resources gained by its acquisition of Luxury Retreats last year. Airbnb Beyond will include “custom-designed trips of a lifetime” at the “world’s finest homes, custom experiences, and world-class hospitality.”