Airbnb launches new budget-friendly listing category, Airbnb Rooms

While travel deals may be harder to find ahead of the busy summer travel season, Airbnb is leaning into room rentals as a budget-friendly option.

The vacation rental platform is launching Airbnb Rooms, a new category for private rooms in someone else’s home, the company announced Wednesday.

“With Airbnb Rooms, we’re getting back to the idea that started it all – back to our founding ethos of sharing,” Brian Chesky, the company’s co-founder and CEO, said in a news release. “Airbnb Rooms are often more affordable than hotels, and they’re the most authentic way to experience a city. This is the soul of Airbnb.”

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Over 80% of private rooms listed on the platform worldwide cost less than $100 per night in 2022, with an average nightly rate of $67. The company also revealed upgraded “type of place” and price filters on Wednesday, aimed at making it easier to see the average price of various kinds of accommodations and swap between options.

What can guests expect from Airbnb Rooms?

While room rentals in homes are not a new offering for the platform, listings in the Airbnb Rooms category feature a Host Passport, which can give guests some added intel on who they’ll be staying with. Users can see details hosts opt to share about themselves like what the hosts do for work, where they went to school and other information.

Each listing will also “clearly indicate” whether bedroom doors have a lock and show if there are private or shared bathrooms, according to the release. Prospective guests can also see whether people aside from the host will be there at the same time.

The listings in the category all include access to shared common areas like living rooms and backyards, as well.

How can I book an Airbnb Room?

Travelers can book Airbnb Rooms via the company’s website and mobile app, by clicking on “Rooms” while exploring accommodations.

Other Airbnb changes

In addition to Airbnb Rooms, the company introduced over 50 other features and upgrades to price transparency, user interface and more, based on guest feedback.

All users can now see the full price with any fees - before taxes - throughout the process, including in search results, on listing pages and in maps. Airbnb began rolling that feature out last year for some guests in countries without existing price display requirements, following complaints of hidden fees.

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Users can also see checkout instructions prior to booking and will receive a reminder before the end of their stay. They can provide feedback on those instructions, and listings with “repeated low ratings from unreasonable chores” – another pain point for guests – will be taken off the platform, Airbnb said in Wednesday’s release.

Other new features include improved maps, a pay-over-time option in partnership with Klarna for guests in the U.S. and Canada, and an instant rebooking credit for the majority of guests if a host cancels within 30 days of arrival.

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Airbnb launches Airbnb Rooms listing category for budget travel