Best Practices and up to the minute news on Customer Experience Management and Service Excellence
Best Practices and up to the minute news on Customer Experience Management and Service Excellence
When my brother got engaged, he asked if I’d be his best man. I was honored to fill the role and determined to make his bachelor party a weekend he’d never forget. Safe to say I nailed making it memorable – just in a really bad way.
For days, I sifted through online ads for hotels and Airbnbs trying to find the best bang for my buck. That’s when I found the perfect beach-view apartment in Fort Lauderdale. This place was beautiful in the photographs and the price was more than affordable. It’s one of the hardest lessons I’ve learned in my lifetime about a situation that is too good to be true.
The day we arrived, it was obvious the photos were intentionally staged to look more flattering than it was in person. I’m not going to sugar coat it, this place was a dump and the owner was cleaning and having beds delivered on the night we checked in.
But, hey, we’re a group of guys in town to celebrate my brother. We were there to party and didn’t need the fancy accommodations of concierge, room service, or even nice furniture. Over the course of a few hours, this dream vacation turned into an epic nightmare. The place was dirty; furniture was broken; and the worst of all: Someone flushed a toilet and the bathroom sink spewed water from the faucet.
We called the owner and threatened a lawsuit unless he returned our money, which got us nowhere. After arguing for 45 minutes, he had no choice but to come and fix the plumbing and grant us a small refund. At that moment I vowed to never use Airbnb again and haven’t since.
Here’s the funny thing to me: Everyone I know raves about the service. The website even touts “2 million people stay in an Airbnb every night.” A poll of more than 1,000 Americans found that 60 percent of respondents prefer the home-share service to hotels.
Below I breakdown of why I think those people are nuts – and how it’s just a matter of a time before they book a stay in an Airbnb nightmare like I have.
The best way for me to describe the original listing for this place is like the “catfishing” of weekend getaways. There were pictures on Airbnb’s website of a beautiful tropical paradise, with a poolside bar, and a view of the Atlantic Ocean. All these amenities were there but our view was of a dumpster in the parking lot.
I’m sure there are plenty of rental units in this condominium – but this particular renter was a swindler. The photos of the actual condo were deceiving. There wasn’t a close-up of the broken drawers and worn-down countertops and kitchen appliances.
Any hotel I’ve stayed in during my lifetime – whether a Marriot or a Motel 6 – what the website advertised is the exact property when I arrived. Airbnb as a company doesn’t technically represent the clients who rent through the service. And there are refund policies, with a system for customer complaints. But it’s not big business the way hotels are. Back in 2019, Vice published a first-person telling of an Airbnb scam. I read the story in detail, yet still made the mistake of not reviewing the tell-tale signs before forking over my credit card information.
Hotels are more careful not to burn their own business and public image. If they make you put a card on file for incidentals, then the same can be used against them when they don’t deliver on what’s advertised.
Check-in at a hotel is typically a simple experience. You book for a specific date and time, meet the clerk at the front desk with proof of identification and get your room key. The conversation is usually light and friendly, often ending with “feel free to call or stop by for recommendations or services during your stay.”
Back at the Airbnb I stayed in, the wonderful renter asked if he could beer from me to drink while his wife finished cleaning the unit. His persona and mannerisms came off as a slumlord renting out a beachside condo. that has definitely seen better days. Looking back in hindsight, there’s no doubt this guy purchased the place for way under value to turn a profit on gullible young men looking to party for cheap in Fort Lauderdale.
Now, years later, I see age understands youth and youth learns the hard way. I’ve never walked into a hotel where room service was still tidying up and I’ve certainly never been asked if a hotel staffer could buy a beer from me.
A hotel will never cancel your stay. Are the rooms available? Do you have a credit card? Then it’s reserved until the day you arrive. Researching for this piece, I came across stories of Airbnb guests finding out their stay was canceled on dangerously short notice. The web-based rental platform will penalize and charge the renter – but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.
There’s a website literally titled “Airbnb Hell” with a mission to allow both guests and hosts to publicly air out their Airbnb nightmare stories (Maybe this column should be on there). It’s just a terrible experience that I’ve yet to encounter or hear about happening at a hotel. This is passed a preference and just dangerous. There’s one story on Consumer Affairs where a man says the renter canceled on him while stuck overseas and he was stranded in another country.
Many popular hotel brands offer concierges. It’s great when you’re coming from out of town or from another state and you want to plan a memorable experience. A concierge can help you find and book dining reservations or concert tickets, get a babysitter for the night, and help you plan a dream vacation.
To be fair, some Airbnb hosts try to at least put together a binder with local restaurant menus and public transportation. But this isn’t a guarantee. Even a smaller hotel will have someone working the front desk who can help you find a decent restaurant while away on business. To bring it back to my favorite Airbnb comparison, that wasn’t even a thought. Thankfully Google’s on the internet nowadays because we were able to track down a great pizzeria for my brother (the guy’s a “pizzaholic”).
I don’t need white-glove service for every trip, but a simple recommendation from the front desk makes for a much better guest experience.
Most Marriots and even Disney hotels I’ve stayed in over years have offered a gym and pool. Some go further with onsite bars and restaurants – and they’re usually clean places. I’ve stayed in more than one Airbnb than the awful bachelor party weekend. Most haven’t offered these amenities and services – and if they did, they were run down and dirty.
I can also confirm I’ve never had a room service option in an Airbnb. It’s not something you need to do, but the option is wonderful. Most people I’ve spoken to and the consumer research I’ve combed through show most people feel it’s a cheaper service than a hotel. Airbnb charges both a guest service fee and now an occupancy tax in many cities. Is it that much a price difference when you weigh out all of the costs?
My goal isn’t to sway readers away from using Airbnb during travel. A lot of hard work from many hospitality heroes goes into running a hotel. It may be an unpopular opinion but I feel hotels just do it better. Many of those on team Airbnb may feel I’m wrong. In that case, I challenge the Airbnb industry to improve the guest experience as a whole. They can always reference GEM Journal’s resources to make their guests’ stay a memorable experience – in a really wonderful way.
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