Controversial hosting opinions: what's your hot take?

Category: Off-Topic & Lounge

By: Kevin O'Brien

Posted: 2026-02-21T19:50:14.656Z

Let's have some fun and share our unpopular/controversial STR hosting opinions. What's something you believe about hosting that most people disagree with? Mine: Instant Book is overrated. I screen every single booking request manually and my review scores are higher because of it. Yes, I lose some bookings. I also avoid 90% of problem guests.

Reply by Priya Nair:

Oh I have several hot takes: **🔥 Hot take #1: Superhost status is a vanity metric.** I've been Superhost for 3 years and non-Superhost for 1 year (lost it due to a cancellation). Revenue difference? Less than 5%. Guests care about reviews, photos, and price — not your badge. Stop stressing over maintaining Superhost at the cost of your mental health or accepting bad bookings. **🔥 Hot take #2: Professional photos are worth 10x more than any amenity upgrade.** Hosts spend $2,000 on a hot tub thinking it'll transform their listing. It helps, but $300 on professional photography of your EXISTING space would have been a higher ROI play, done in a day. The hot tub doesn't matter if your photos make your listing look dark and uninviting. **🔥 Hot take #3: Reviews under 4.7 are usually the HOST'S fault, not the guests'.** I see hosts in Facebook groups blaming "entitled guests" for bad reviews. In 95% of cases, the host has a cleanliness issue, a misleading listing, or poor communication that they're not acknowledging. If you consistently get 4.6-4.7, look inward before blaming outward. **🔥 Hot take #4: You should RAISE prices if you're at 90%+ occupancy.** If you're booked solid, you're leaving money on the table. Use PriceLabs (https://pricelabs.co) data to find your revenue-maximizing price point — it's usually at 70-80% occupancy, not 95%. **🔥 Hot take #5: Airbnb is NOT the enemy.** Hosts love to hate Airbnb but conveniently forget that Airbnb built a $100B+ marketplace that sends us customers for free. A 3% host fee on billions of dollars of bookings is a bargain compared to paying for Google Ads to fill your property yourself.

Reply by James Wu:

My spiciest take: **most hosts should NOT be doing STR.** The majority of people buying STR courses and starting arbitrage are losing money within 18 months. They underestimate expenses, overestimate revenue, can't handle guest service, and end up burned out with an overpriced lease. STR is a genuine business that requires hospitality skills, financial discipline, operational systems, and emotional resilience. It's NOT passive income, despite what YouTube gurus tell you. If you're succeeding at STR, you're in the top 20-30% of hosts. Give yourself credit — this isn't easy work.