Missed our Airbnb Power-Up Workshop with Julia from Airbnb and Andrew from Hospitable? Here’s your quick-hit recap of what we covered - plus why you’ll want to catch the full replay.

Airbnb Host Fee Update

Airbnb is moving to a single host-only service fee of 15.5%, shifting away from the split-fee model. While it may look like a host cost increase, in reality it’s a change in how the fee is collected—guests see a clearer total price, and you can maintain your earnings by adjusting nightly rates. At Hospitable, we recommend three approaches depending on your setup:

Hands-on hosts (few listings): Update your markup rates in Hospitable and switch your Airbnb account to the host-only fee now.

Portfolio managers: Use Hospitable’s upcoming transition tools to adjust multiple listings at once (more details coming soon).

Co-hosts / hands-off hosts: Do nothing - Hospitable will neutralize the impact automatically to protect your revenue (more details coming soon).

We did not spend a lot of time on the Airbnb host fee update announced earlier in the week, as that was not the topic we had set and promoted ahead of time. Andrew did provide a brief summary (provided above) and ​@PC Hamana  has also shared video updates on LinkedIn going into more detail.

Onto the other subjects…

Quality & Guest Favorites

• 5 stays matter: Listings with 80%+ 5-star reviews received 69% of bookings last year.
• Each new 5-star review can boost bookings by 4.4% the following year.
• Guest Favorite badge is a powerful trust signal—these listings drive higher occupancy and conversion.

🧹 Quality Drivers

• Accuracy: photos + amenities must reflect reality.
• Check-in/check-out: smooth = 5 stars, friction = fewer bookings.
• Cleanliness: most common reason for 4-star reviews; guests hold listings with cleaning fees to an even higher standard.
• Value: pricing must match perceived quality.

Booking Settings That Drive Results

• Minimum stays: Listings that lower their minimum stay see +13.4% in booking value.
• Unblock gap nights: Open up “sandwich nights” to fill calendars and capture last-minute bookings.
• Instant Book: Improves visibility and attracts last-minute travelers (with guest verification filters for peace of mind).
• Cancellation policies: Flexible/Moderate options increase appeal; non-refundable discounts give guests choice while protecting your revenue.

Pricing & Promotions

• Price competitiveness is a top ranking factor. A 5% decrease = +22% more bookings over the next year.
• Early bird discounts: Drive 2.5x longer booking lead times.
• New listing promotion: 20% off your first 3 bookings helps listings build reviews faster.
• Cleaning fees: keep transparent, aligned with quality, and well-justified in your listing copy.

️ Hospitable Tools & Coming Soon

• Sentiment analysis (mobile): Flags guest issues that may hurt review quality.
• Dynamic minimum stays: Now resolves orphan nights automatically.
• Dynamic pricing: Hospitable users saw +14.5% in RevPAN with competitive pricing adjustments.
• Property Quality Dashboard (coming): Centralized insights on listing issues + upgrades with ROI estimates.
• Cross-channel non-refundable policy support (soon): Bring Airbnb’s best booking lever to all platforms.

Want all the strategies, examples, and Q&A?

Watch the full Airbnb Power-Up Workshop replay on YouTube »