Airbnb hosts have two options when renting out their property: an entire home, or a private room.
In an entire home, hosts can rent out their entire property for the duration of a stay, so that the guests will be the only ones occupying the property. For private rooms, hosts are residing onsite at the same time as the guest.
Hosts list their property on Airbnb’s website with an in-depth description, along with multiple photos, pricing and location details, and a description of themselves. After each stay, reviews and ratings from previous guests of both the host and the home are displayed on each listing page. Ratings and reviews on Airbnb are double-blind, which means that both the host and guest cannot see what the other party has written until they have both submitted their feedback.
While it’s more common for enterprise companies to limit Airbnb stays to entire homes, many travel managers at small and mid-sized companies allow travelers to stay in either hosted or private Airbnb listings for their business trips.
Sean Flynn, Controller and manager of the travel program at Gusto, an online payroll service for small businesses, illustrates the point. “We have no specific guidelines or restrictions around which Airbnb listings employees can use,” Flynn said. “Right now, whatever is flowing through is fine, and we’ve had no issues at all.”
Airbnb’s priority is an issue-free experience that protects the safety and security of its hosts and guests.
At the foundation of that commitment is Airbnb’s robust Trust and Safety team, which is comprised of 24/7 response agents, engineers, data scientists, product managers, designers, law-enforcement liaisons, crisis managers, and victim-advocacy specialists.
That’s in addition to the company’s deep bench of experts in policy, privacy, cyber security, insurance, and fraud issues. Specifically, Airbnb works with hosts to prioritize the safety of all listings in a number of ways.
“All hosts must follow all local safety laws and regulations, plus the majority of our hosts live in that same home when they are not renting it out,” said Nick Shapiro, Global Head of Trust and Risk Management at Airbnb. Airbnb routinely runs home safety workshops with local fire services in order to equip hosts with the best practices and the latest safety information.
“Plus, we never release payment to a host until the guest is safely checked in,” Shapiro added. “If there is ever an issue, if a home is not as advertised or if something just doesn’t feel right, all the guest has to do is reach out and let us know. We will happily rebook them elsewhere, even in a hotel if need be.”
