爱彼迎推新服务，欲成旅游业巨头

为了改变短租服务公司的形象，爱彼迎（Airbnb）CEO布莱恩·切斯基又要放大招了。

随着用户的不断增长，切斯基希望确保爱彼迎上的短租房能达到酒店的标准，比较有干净的床铺和Wi-Fi等等，免得用户失望而归。

在不久前于旧金山举办的爱彼迎媒体发布会上，切斯基抛出了一系列新规划，以吸引更多商旅出差者和家庭游客。他在发布会上表示，现在很多人认为，“爱彼迎并不适合每个人。”

其中一个较大的变化是，爱彼迎将对现有的房型分类进行调整，添加更多的房源类型。爱彼迎官网上原先有合住房间、独立房间、整个房源三个类型。现在人们将能够选择另外四个类型：度假房源、独特空间（即穹顶、圆顶、树屋等特色房型）、床型与早餐、精品房源。

切斯基表示，爱彼迎的最终目标是“添加几千个新类型”，其中甚至可能包括酿酒厂、农场等等。

该公司还将推出所谓的“精选”房源，也就是那些受到网友好评的房源，并注明商务旅客和家庭游客为什么经常选择这些房源。比方说，家庭游客往往喜欢房子里有给小孩玩的空间，而商务旅客可能只希望房子干净简单就好，所以“精选”房源就是让人们根据自己的需求选择最匹配的房源。

另外切斯基还表示，公司还将推出新的“爱彼迎Plus”服务，这项服务主要针对“优秀房东的美丽房源”。这些房源将在搜索结果中优先显示。将房子挂在“爱彼迎Plus”上的房东可以获得爱彼迎在设计和摄影上的建议，从而将更好地视觉效果呈现给用户，同时他们也能获得公司的“高级客户服务”，更快地解决他们遇到的问题。

“爱彼迎Plus”主要是为了将精品房源与普通房源做以区分。挂在“爱彼迎Plus”上的房源都有“标准化的生活设施”，如互联网服务，以及配备有淋浴和干净的马桶、水槽的洗手间，因而感觉更像酒店的房间。

切斯基表示：“我们真的测试了每个‘爱彼迎Plus’房源的Wi-Fi。”目前“爱彼迎Plus”的房源大概有2000多个，切斯基称，公司还会对这些房源进行彻底检查以确保质量。

要想把房源挂在“爱彼迎Plus”上，房东必须缴纳149美元的申请费，并且接受爱彼迎员工的上门检查。不过切斯基并未提及如果房东申请不成功，公司是否会返还这笔费用。

切斯基还提到了一年前爱彼迎以3亿美元收购Luxury Rentals公司一事，并表示公司很快将推出豪华旅游产品，比如在意大利托斯卡纳的圣路易吉别墅、在哥斯达黎加的阿瓦隆别墅的房源等等，这些都是你只有在电视上才能看到的豪宅。除此之外，爱彼迎还将在这些热门旅行地提供定制游服务，比如向当地大厨学习烹饪等。（财富中文网）

译者：朴成奎

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky is taking big steps to change his home rental company’s image as a service for booking temporary lodgings of varying quality.

He wants Airbnb to guarantee to its growing number of users that their rentals meet hotel standards like clean beds and Wi-Fi so that customers avoid any surprises.

Too many people believe that “Airbnb is not for everyone,” Chesky said on Thursday in San Francisco at an Airbnb media event, where he outlined a number of new initiatives aimed at making Airbnb more attractive to business travelers and families.

One of the biggest changes is that Airbnb will better categorize rentals from the current options of shared rooms, private rooms, and entire homes. Now, people will get to choose from another four categories: vacation homes, unique spaces (or unconventional homes like domes, igloos, and tree-houses), bed and breakfasts, and boutique homes.

Eventually, Chesky said, Airbnb would “add thousands of new categories” that may include options like wineries and ranches.

The company is also debuting what it’s calling “collections,” in which some homes that have good reviews are grouped by why customers often rent them like family events or work travel. Whereas a family may want to rent a home that has a playground for children, for example, a business traveler may just want something clean and simple, and “collections” is intended to show people they kind of accommodation they would most likely prefer.

Additionally, Chesky unveiled a new Airbnb Plus tier for “beautiful homes from exceptional hosts” that he said would be come up higher in search results. Homeowners who list homes in the Airbnb Plus tier will get design and photography advice from Airbnb to make their homes look better to users as well as “premium customer support” that troubleshoots their problems more quickly.

This new Airbnb Plus feature is intended to weed out more hum-drum homes from the kinds of homes Airbnb would more like to stand out. Homes listed in this tier will have “standardized amenities” like Internet service and bathrooms with amenities like showers, clean toilets, and working sinks that make them more like hotel rooms.

“We literally test the Wi-Fi in every single Airbnb Plus home,” Chesky said, implying that the company will do a thorough check of homes in the program, of which there are currently 2,000.

In order to be part of Airbnb Plus, homeowners must pay Airbnb a $149 application fee and then have their homes inspected by the company’s staff. Chesky did not say whether the company would reimburse the fee to people whose homes fail to make the cut.

Chesky also talked about Airbnb’s nearly $300 million acquisition of Luxury Rentals a year ago, and said that the company would soon debut luxury travel packages. These could include expensive stays in exotic locations like the Villa San Luigi in Tuscany or the Villa Avalon in Costa Rica, both of which are like the kinds of sumptuous mansions you see on TV. Besides offering guests stays in breathtaking mansions, Airbnb will also offer custom excursions in each location, like cooking lessons with local chefs, Chesky said.