In 2018, there was a 60% increase in bookings for Airbnb listings worth at least $1,000 per night. And while that's a startling number, it's just one of many statistics that show the lifestyle of homesharing⁠—once reserved for couch surfers and budget travelers⁠—is just as at home in the luxury world. Here are a few questions many travelers and homeowners alike have regarding luxury vacation rentals and Airbnb Luxe:

How is Airbnb Luxe different than Airbnb?
Airbnb was founded in 2008, and at its core is still the same company: a broker that connects homeowners hoping to rent their home out for short-term stays to travelers looking for accommodation. It has a remarkable record of safety and satisfaction, and guests and hosts alike must be verified by Airbnb. In recent years, the company has added new offerings, such as Experiences, which help travelers find and book local guides, tours, and more. Airbnb Luxe takes this standardization and evaluation to a new level, as discussed above. When you book a home through Airbnb Luxe (or on the InvitedHome website), you know it's been inspected to provide an unforgettable luxury travel experience. 

What is Airbnb Verified Plus?
In 2018, Airbnb began its foray into offering higher-tier accommodation in the form of Airbnb Verified Plus. In its most basic definition, Airbnb Plus offers amenities and quality you'd expect from any hotel. These homes are visited in-person to inspect comfort, consistency, and design, and include an inspection of about 100 criteria. Hosts must also maintain a rating of 4.8 or higher to be included in this collection. Think of Airbnb Plus as a middle ground between standard Airbnb and Airbnb Luxe. 

So what is Beyond by Airbnb?
When Airbnb acquired Luxury Retreats in 2017, the collection of stellar homes it immediately made available on the site was called Beyond by Airbnb. Now that Airbnb Luxe has rolled out, the homes that were apart of Beyond (as well as some new additions, such as ours) are now a part of Luxe. Airbnb scrapped the Beyond brand to preserve the brand Luxury Retreats had done so well to create. So your options are Airbnb, Airbnb Verified Plus, and Airbnb Luxe. 

Did Airbnb buy Luxury Retreats?
Yes. In 2017, Airbnb bought Luxury Retreats for around $300M in cash and stock, beating out global travel industry giants Expedia (owners of Travelocity, Orbitz, hotels.com, Trivago, CheapTickets, and eBookers) and Accor Hotels (owners of several hotel brands including Fairmont, Sofitel, and onefinestay). 

What is an alternative to Airbnb? 
Very good question. You can look through 13 Sites Like Airbnb here, or you can simply book luxury vacation rentals in Colorado, Utah, and California right here through InvitedHome. While only some of our homes are listed on Airbnb Luxe, we have more than 100 homes throughout these states that receive the same inspection process by our own team, and when you book direct, you won't pay any fees to Airbnb.

How we ended up here, in a place where wealthy travelers accustomed to the Ritz-Carlton, Auberge, and St. Regis are comfortable staying in strangers' homes, is a long and winding road. VRBO had been offering a way for homeowners to rent out their place since 1995, and then Airbnb came along in 2008 and brought a Silicon Valley allure to the business. However, what was still lacking was consistency, trust, and accountability. By 2010, local vacation rental management companies started to understand this, and were the first to offer property and vacation rental management services to extremely luxurious homes. Still, a problem remained: Finding guests who were as comfortable with the sharing economy as the homeowners were, or had the means to rent homes priced at $1,000 per night and higher. 

Luxurious Airbnbs can be the perfect way for large groups to get together in areas and homes they may otherwise never experience. But how do you trust the sites offering these high-end rentals? A good place to start is the recognized brands that have the inventory, such as Airbnb Luxe, Luxury Retreats, onefinestay, and others. But remember, when you're booking through a site like this, rather than directly with an owner or property manager, you'll pay the marked up amount. 

If you find a home on an owner or property manager's website, do your due diligence. Call them, look through reviews on their site, check on external reviews, and ask around. If you speak with someone from the company, ask them about their Net Promotor Score, an internationally recognized benchmarking system of customer loyalty. This should give a good indication of their overall service. For example, InvitedHome has an NPS of around 60-70 throughout the year. Above 50 is typically seen as an exceptional score. 

You can't return a bad vacation, so it's critical to get it right the first time. Here are a few more articles that will help you find a trustworthy vacation rental site:

What are the Best Vacation Rental Listing Sites?
13 Sites Like Airbnb
VRBO vs Airbnb

As our portfolio of luxury homes increases, we'll look to have more of them included on the Airbnb Luxe platform. We consider it a distinction and an honor to be a part of this collection, and believe it showcases the level of care we put into serving our homes, homeowners, and guests.