Airbnb Luxe and Plus

[Matt Ayoub]

Hi everyone. I have a successful 4 bed single family home STR with pool, hot tub, and meditation gardens in los cabos Mexico. I've been fortunate to achieve 50+ reviews on Airbnb averaging 4.96 with similar stats on VRBO. Over the past 4 years I've raised my average rate from about $450 to almost $700 / night, almost fully booked in the prime Nov - May months. We go far to exceed guest expectations and offer many amenities. I am wondering whether it would be beneficial to apply for a luxe or plus "certification" in terms of attracting more guests or raising my rates / profitability further? Does the forum have experience taking a unit in this direction from a marketing / branding experience? Any thoughts?

[Scott K.]

I can't see why it would be a negative. Just like how superhost raises your status and shows you higher in the rankings. It may make people expect a higher level of service? But it sounds like you already provide that!

Id be interested to know how you ended up owning a property in Mexico. I travel there for my jacket business and I'm fluent in spanish so I've considered owning property as well. I imagine it's dirt cheap to purchase a nice place but I imagine finding good help is very difficult. Any advice? 

[Mark Futalan]

@Matt Ayoub

I have an STR on the Airbnb plus program. If you are already crushing it with you normal listing, it might not be as advantageous to do the plus program. You might get increased views and a nice listing page but the requirements to join plus have changed where they may only allow you to list exclusively with Airbnb and there is a higher % fee you pay to Airbnb (I think like 8% if I remember). Also you lose a lot of control with pictures and they require you to work with interior designers etc which may mean more money out of pocket. I was fortunate enough to list with them before all these changes happened.

[John Underwood]

I wouldn't want to agree to list my property exclusively on one site. 

I wouldn't change anything if your already doing well with what you have.

[Matt Ayoub]

Thanks everyone for their responses. @Scott K. there can be great values but not necessarily dirt cheap. Really depends what you are looking for and whether you are willing to live in different types of cities or neighborhoods. My place with its views and ocean proximity would have been 10x the price in a town like San Diego. But It wasn’t cheap and financing is hard to come by.

Lots of articles on how to buy in Mexico including use of an agent or notary. I found it very easy and straightforward once I had done my research and found some trustworthy local contacts.

[Andrew Geller]

Hey @Matt Ayoub, curious if you ended up going to "pro" or "luxe"? What was the outcome of this inquiry?