If You’re Airbnbing This Summer, Here Are Three Major Changes That You Need To Look Out For

Did Airbnb’s founder Brian Chesky, just pull off a major coup this week possibly changing the way we travel this summer? For context, a couple of days ago, Airbnb dropped a couple of major updates at a media event in Los Angeles (widely Instagrammed by the dozens of Hollywood stars front rowing the event, including the Beckhams, Chance the Rapper, Christina Aguilera, Lucas Bravo of Emily in Paris among others) and these updates will, effectively apply to all of us as we shop for our summer destinations. Elle India got an exclusive ringside seat to the big reveal and we break it down for you. 

Room Service In Your Airbnb? Really? 

Who’d have thought? Perhaps a caterer to prepare a French apéritif for you and your family in your Parisian studio. Or a personal trainer to personalise a workout for you you at your stately Californian vacation villa. As we reported on ELLE Gourmet, recently, the platform has opened up its new Airbnb Services tab in 260 international cities, where you can enjoy the benefits of hyperlocal chefs who can prepare and deliver to your vacation doorstep, anything ranging from breakfast boxes and apéritifs to champagne high teas and multi-course degustation menus. In Paris, for example, you can book Chef Pietro, an alumnus of the Mandarin Oriental, who offers a refined three-course meal at $166 (Rs 14,165) per guest. Or in London, look up Chef Karl, previously with The Connaught, serves up a champagne afternoon tea complete with finger sandwiches, scones and pastries for $79 (Rs 6,741) per guest, or a more traditional British dinner for USD 59 (Rs 5,034). These Services are not limited to chefs and extend to masseurs, personal fitness trainers, make-up artists and hair stylists, and (we love this) local photographers to create an entire vacation moodboard for you if you’re in a particularly photogenic city.

Book-A-Celeb

While Airbnb Experiences need no introduction, this summer, we see the launch of Airbnb Originals, a series of experiences, handpicked and created exclusively by community curators. From an afternoon with Axelle Ponsonnet, the actual restoration specialist of the Notre Dame de Paris to a ramen-making atelier with Japanese Michelin-rated chef Saburo Ishigoka, these are ultra-immersive travel experiences. The news that’s going viral, though, is that some of these Originals are celebrity-led. US rapper Megan Thee Stallion is curating a Los Angeles-based experience where you can transform your anime alter-ego into an otaku hottie, or Sabrina Carpenter who will host a day-long glamour experience in the same city. As a precursor to this, we got access to a private listening party with Chance The Rapper, in an immersive sound and light presentation. While the celeb-led experiences are available on a first come first served basis for a limited time only, the other Originals are part of regular programming. Ultra-curated, unique experiences are clearly the next big travel trend! 

An All-New App

For a tech geek like myself, the Airbnb app has consistently been one of the best designed user interfaces out there. There’s a major design on that front now, which all of us will experience while booking our stays, services and experiences. We see the addition of an explore tab, a Trips tab (long overdue, this one) and a more interactive and immersive profile page. The new app also enables social sharing, connections with fellow travellers and more community-based tweaks

ELLE Verdict

The changes to Airbnb’s app and roster of experiences and services are clearly the big news in the travel world. But, these changes are not merely cosmetic but an attempt to build a sense of community, smartly incorporating technology. 

For now, Originals and Services are not rolled out in the Indian market yet. While an India launch is inevitable, it will be interesting to observe how smartly the platform is able to adapt to and navigate the nuanced Indian market to partner with the right chefs and experience providers.