Airbnb’s website and app has a new look, featuring not just homes—the short-term vacation rentals that made the company famous—but also two new offerings with equal billing: Experiences and Services. Come for the apartment rental in Paris, stay for a croissant workshop. Add on a personal chef and spa treatment to your stay. Or skip the rental and just sign up for a Harlem walking tour or surf lessons in Costa Rica.
Suddenly, Airbnb.com looks like a mash-up of VRBO, a tour operator like Viator, and a resort website.
Airbnb Services, Experiences, and a redesigned app were unveiled in the company’s recent Summer Release on May 13. And no, you’re not having déjà vu: Airbnb did technically launch Experiences in 2017, and even offered online classes via Zoom during the pandemic before quietly killing the program. The Experiences relaunch addresses some key learnings—namely, that these outings needed to be more affordable (the average cost of an Experience is $66) and more unique to Airbnb. This time, it has partnered with artists, historians, athletes, and other local experts who’ve been vetted. Meanwhile, locals provide Services, which could include photography, personal training, and chefs at the home.
Enhancing the vacation (rental) experience
Airbnb says these additions to its portfolio aren’t meant to be luxurious, or in any way resort-like—just natural enhancements to any vacation experience
“Seventeen years ago, we changed the way people travel. Rather than having to opt for the modern hotel chain, we designed a way for people to book a home as easily as they could book a hotel. Over 2 billion guest arrivals later, Airbnb is synonymous with a place to stay,” an Airbnb spokesperson told Afar. “But a great trip is about more than the home you stay in, which is why we have introduced Airbnb Services and Experiences. And this is just the beginning. With the launch of services and experiences, we’re changing travel again. So now, you can Airbnb more than an Airbnb.”
Among the new Airbnb Experiences is a horseback riding excursion along Inka temples in Cusco, Peru.
Photo by Paz Olivares Droguett/Courtesy of Airbnb
But is the leader in the vacation rental category late to the game? The past few years have seen an explosion in the vacation rental market, as people look beyond Airbnb (and VRBO, its main competitor), with many seeking to avoid the host-customer model and its lack of consistent standards. The global vacation rentals market is projected to grow from roughly $90.20 billion in 2024 to an estimated $129.49 billion by 2034, according to a report by research and consulting firm Expert Market Research released prior to Airbnb’s announcement. “Travelers seeking premium experiences are opting for luxury vacation homes that offer bespoke services, privacy, and exclusive amenities,” reads the report.
In 2023, according to AirDNA Research, which provides Airbnb and VRBO analytic data, demand for stays over $1,000 a night increased 7.7 percent year over year, while demand for stays over $1,500 a night increased by 12.5 percent year over year. The numbers indicate that people are willing to pay more for a luxury short-term rental experience—but presumably they want more out of the experience, too.
Dennis Schaal, a founding editor of travel industry publication Skift , has been covering the short-term vacation rental market for more than 20 years. He isn’t convinced this new launch will make a large impact. “I’m not sure Airbnb is setting any kind of standard. Maybe the convenience of booking [the new Experiences and Services] easily at the property will be a plus. The jury is out on whether the Experiences relaunch will work for Airbnb this time around. It’s really a question of whether it will work financially for Airbnb,” says Schaal.
He adds, “Experiences are not a big-ticket item like stays. That’s why other big players haven’t made them an overriding priority. The difference this time around is Airbnb is investing more in Experiences, will market them differently, and is making it easier from a tech standpoint for operators to sign up. This will make a difference, but it is a highly competitive market and Airbnb is still only going after a piece of it.”
Doug Kennedy, the owner of Kennedy Training Network, a training program for hotels and other lodgings, including vacation rentals, sees another potential issue. “It’s yet another hard-to-control variable for the overall experience. What will happen when a guest books a $5,000 stay that is ruined by a bad experience with a $150 add-on that fails miserably? It will be a bad reflection on the whole stay,” says Kennedy. “Worse yet, imagine the bad publicity if a personal chef leading a cooking experience causes food poisoning? Or a wellness trainer touches guests in an inappropriate manner? Or a local guide gets someone lost?”
These experiences could be another avenue for guests’ frustration, similar to the backlash against Airbnb for things like high cleaning costs, hidden cameras, or other things that a host—not Airbnb—controls.
A big draw are the homes themselves, like this stunning Airbnb property in Greece, but the overall service and experience has become equally important.
Courtesy of Airbnb
The evolution of the vacation rental
Airbnb’s announcement is one of the latest markers of the evolution of the vacation rental industry. What was once ambiguous—with little-to-no “industry standard” of expectations like hotel brands—is now shaping into a baseline that competes with full-service resorts. Even if Airbnb isn’t trying to be more luxurious with this launch, its Experiences do offer something that many travel experts consider to be a modern luxury: memorable local encounters.
“Five years ago, much of the market was fragmented, with inconsistent service standards. Today, we see stronger brand-building, professionalization, and guest expectations rising,” says Simon Lehmann, founder of AJL Atelier, a short-term rental consulting firm. “Consolidation has brought more structure, and luxury travelers are no longer satisfied with just a beautiful home—they expect hotel-level service, curated local access, and digital convenience. The line between hospitality and vacation rentals is blurring fast.”
What role will Airbnb play? It’s adamant about offering many price points, including lavish estates and celebrity experiences alongside shared homes and pub crawls. And to truly play in the luxury market, whether it wants to or not, requires more than expensive goods.
“Airbnb has global reach and a strong brand, but luxury is about consistency, trust, and high-touch service—things Airbnb doesn’t own, since it’s a marketplace,” says Lehmann. “True luxury operators control the full guest journey and maintain rigorous quality standards. Unless Airbnb directly manages inventory or builds a brand within the brand, as Marriott is trying with Homes & Villas, competing at the very top end will remain difficult.”
The need for quality and consistency
Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy, which launched in 2019, has grown steadily and today has a curated collection of 183,000 rental properties around the world. From 2023 to 2024, Marriott Bonvoy grew its portfolio of luxury homes and villas by more than 25 percent. What differentiates it from Airbnb and VRBO is that it works exclusively with trusted, vetted professional property management companies—there’s no relying on an unseen host to deliver. And it has the Marriott name and reputation behind it.
“Premium and luxury home rentals included on Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy platform must follow our standards against safety, design, quality, guest experience, and amenities that a guest would expect from a Marriott property,” says Chris Stephenson, vice president of Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy.
My family and I experienced that standard firsthand at a Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy property in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, last December. It was a luxury four-bedroom home with a pool in a gated community, one block from the beach, stocked with basic groceries and essentials and made up with premium linens. We had cleaning services every other day and a dedicated concierge who responded immediately by text and came over to introduce herself; she was around whenever we needed something.
Your Barcelona Airbnb may not have a chic restaurant like a buzz-worthy hotel does—but now you can book a private chef to come cook you and your crew a world-class meal.
Photo by Carlos Chavarria/Courtesy of Airbnb
Personalized experiences are a cornerstone of ultra-luxe hospitality—as much as the house itself. Richstone Collection, which has luxury homes in the United Kingdom, France, and Mauritius, offers vineyard tours of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and fragrance-making workshops in Grasse to guests of its Provence property, and it promises guests access to parties and films during the Cannes Film Festival. Iconic House, which has houses across France, focuses on families, making sure each site has a playroom with trunks filled with games and toys gifted to kids, plus nannies, teachers, and sports instructors available.
While Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy might bridge the gap between Airbnb and ultra-exclusive brands with various homes around the world, Key West’s new Lunara Bay—slated to open July 1 with 26 estates designed by Brightwild—is part of another home rental category: a purpose-built resort in one location, composed solely of luxury estates, but with the touch of hotel service.
To that end, Lunara Bay has GEMs (Guest Experience Managers) as local experts and personal concierges who arrange everything from private sandbar charters and stocked kitchens to custom fishing trips and tailor-made events.
Of course, these types of experience are much more expensive than most Airbnbs and certainly more expensive than the company’s current Experiences and Services offerings. So for now, they aren’t competing for the same guest. But that’s what makes today’s breadth of vacation rental companies so exciting: There really is something for everyone. And it seems like experiences need to be a part of that, no matter the level.
“Hopefully, [Airbnb’s launch] will nudge the overall vacation rental industry into selling experiences, not renting properties,” says Kennedy. “No one is better positioned to help out-of-town visitors experience the unique offerings of any destination than a local, on-site expert.”
