Luxury lost in translation: The flaws in Airbnb’s badge system

Abstract

The global rise of peer-to-peer accommodation platforms such as Airbnb has reshaped the lodging landscape. The platforms offer everything from budget stays to luxury escapes relying on the ‘Superhost’ badge to indicate hosting excellence. However, in November 2023, Airbnb introduced a new recognition system -  ‘Guest Favourites’- and removed the ‘Superhost’ filter [1]. This shift has raised questions as to how effectively these designations reflect guest satisfaction, particularly in the luxury segment, where service quality and property features are critical. On the one hand, the ‘Superhost’ status is host-centric, based on consistent performance indicators such as high ratings, responsiveness (90%+), low cancellations, and minimum booking counts [2]. In contrast, ‘Guest Favourites’ highlights the appeal of the accommodation itself, emphasising high review scores, frequent bookings, and overall guest popularity [3]. This latter designation shifts the emphasis from the intangibility of host behaviour to the tangible attributes of the property (e.g., décor, cleanliness, amenities or location).