Airbnb's recent policy changes have left some hosts confused. In today's episode, Simon Seroussi attempts to clarify the update – and his advice to hosts and property managers is to be very careful when asking guests to book direct.

Simon also assesses Airbnb's future direction and outlines the potential pitfalls for hosts if their rentals are only listed on a single platform.

There are shout-outs for Red Cottage and Rentjoy on the show, plus sponsor mentions for Hosthub and Search and Stay.

Key takeaways:

• Airbnb hosts need to be very careful over the links and messages they share with guests.

• Property managers should be listed on multiple platforms and build a direct booking website.

• Operators looking to consolidate their operations should try SuiteOp.

1:05 Airbnb’s policy changes

8:53 Fees and links

11:40 Be careful when asking guests to book direct!

16:41 Airbnb’s future direction

19:14 The danger of only being listed on Airbnb

23:04 The story of SuiteOp

29:14 Operators looking to consolidate operations should try SuiteOp

33:39 Trends in 2025

36:41 Favourite brand: Red Cottage

38:47 Individual shout-out: Rentjoy

40:22 No. 1 lesson learned: Stay focussed 

Sponsors:

Hosthub: https://www.hosthub.com/?utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=HCH

Search and Stay: https://www.searchandstay.com/

Host Planet: https://www.hostplanet.club/

James Varley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jdsvarley/

Simon Seroussi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonseroussi/

SuiteOp: https://suiteop.com/

One of the biggest challenges with Airbnb’s new policies is using the Resolution Center, which can be difficult to manage at scale across multiple OTAs. SuiteOp has built a flow that allows guests to easily complete payments through the Resolution Center, while also enabling hosts to offer upsells through a guest portal and track everything in a more scalable, streamlined way.

Episode to check next:

Why Donald Trump Might Be Influencing Your Airbnb Bookings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNFDJCG9Ytw

The Host Planet Podcast is presented by James Varley, a holiday let investor and property manager who is also the Founder of Host Planet. Before founding Host Planet, James spent 20 years in the media, including a decade leading corporate communications for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

Contact the show: [email protected]

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