That’s a photograph of a beautiful property listed at Airbnb India. I love the design and have already fallen for the bold chandelier.
I will most likely pick it up for an impending trip to Nainital. Much better than a hotel. Besides, community travel is far more authentic.
Will I enjoy it? Of course. But will I be safe? Well, that’s a separate story.
Over cautionary? I wouldn’t have been until I spoke to Premankur Biswas, who listed his property in Kolkata six months back.
The apartment doesn’t even belong to him – it belongs to Biswas’ sister. Nonetheless, he tells me that in the six months his property has been listed, Airbnb hasn’t conducted checks on whether the property has maintained its standards, as it had once promised.
Although, Biswas does say that when he listed his property, a representative from the company came down to visit his place to verify the pictures he had posted.
When raised the question of safety, the Airbnb lister says that the most an aggrieved customer can do is post a negative testimonial. There is no redressal mechanism – at least not in India.
Staying in an Airbnb property is just like staying in a house owned by a stranger.Premankur Biswas, Airbnb Lister
But when we spoke to another lister, who prefers not to be named, and who listed his property last year February in Nainital, he told us that no one from Airbnb ever came to conduct a check on his property – not at the time of screening, and not once afterwards.
Airbnb does, though, at the time of listing, ask to fill out a detailed questionnaire, that poses several questions like the size of the property, its connectivity, and proximity to the metro and supermarkets, etc. It also stresses on attaching the social media profiles of listers to check whether they are genuine or not.
The brand also places a lot of reliance on testimonials. Even on its website, it cautions guests to check for verified phone numbers, connected social networks, and references, and to “be sure to read any reviews left by other Airbnb guests”.
It also advises guests to look for hosts who already have a strong reputation on Airbnb.
One thing is for sure, Airbnb is big, $25 billion big.
It’s an extension of the shared community economy, one that looks for local, social, beautiful, curated experiences. A community that started from Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia’s loft in San Francisco has grown to about 6,00,000 properties across 192 countries today.
In India alone, Airbnb has more than 4500 listings across the country, as Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Airbnb, Joe Gebbia had said in an interview to Mint earlier.
As the company rakes up some even crazier valuations and numbers in the times ahead, it should perhaps also invest its energies in developing a fool proof safety net, an issue that has been haunting sharing-economy superstars like Uber and Airbnb for a while now.
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