This Airbnb Feature Will Make the Worst Part of Group Trips So Much Better

My bachelorette weekend last summer in southern Vermont was such a fun and successful trip that I lost my voice for three days afterwards. I had a ton of my friends make it, we had a great weekend together playing fishbowl, hiking, and hot-tubbing. But as with any big group trip, there were some aspects that were harder to plan than others, especially since we were visiting in the “off season” for the area. 

That’s why I was so excited when Airbnb announced it was launching its own “services” and “experiences” tabs, which can help eliminate one of the most annoying parts of big travel experiences like that: all of the hours of research it takes to find the right activities and services that are reviewed well and within your budget.

Airbnb’s “Services” is a brand-new offering from the platform that launched on May 13 which lets you book personal trainers, manicurists, massage therapists, and more to come to where you’re staying. It’s great if you’re doing a trip with a lot of people, like a family trip or a bachelor or bachelorette party weekend. But you can also have these “services” come to your home you live in — so if you’re hosting a big dinner party in your home and don’t consider yourself a chef at heart, you could look at Airbnb to book your a private chef. 

It dramatically cuts down on research time — there are reviews for service providers in-app, as well — and generally just makes it easier to see who would even be available for what you need right away.

If I had Airbnb Services for my bachelorette party, I would have been able to avoid the most annoying part of planning my weekend. There was one aspect of the trip that was more challenging to plan, pull off, and figure out — we wanted to have a private chef come to our Airbnb to make us dinner.

Summer in Vermont is a truly gorgeous time to visit, but it’s not considered “peak” season. When we booked the Airbnb, my sister-in-law and I asked the host if she knew of any chefs who did private dinners. A number of them were closed for the season. For those that weren’t, it was a little nerve-racking reaching out on forms on websites that I wasn’t sure how often were monitored. 

After we did get in contact with a chef, which took a few weeks, we had to figure out availability, budget, and menu, all while setting up Google Forms to get responses from all my friends on budget, dietary restrictions, and preferred dishes.

While we ended up working it out, managing communication for the chef through email, paying on a different online payment platform than Airbnb, and then managing all of our friends preferences plus Splitwise and Venmo, was all a lot of work. The chef ended up being great; I would recommend him to anyone. But it was a bit of a hassle to pull off. 

It would have been great to have back then because all of the sticky points of booking it — communicating price points, menus, payment and more through multiple different apps — would immediately disappear. I’ll definitely use it for my next big group trip.

In addition to these Services, Airbnb also recently launched “Experiences” and “Originals” on their platform to enhance your travels.

Airbnb also revamped its “Experiences” on May 13. With it, you can book museum tours, cooking classes, guided walks, wine tastings, and more in your own city or a city you’re traveling in, whether or not you’re staying in an Airbnb. You can book your “experience” in-app, with your same payment method, as easily as you book an Airbnb. Though Airbnb first launched Experiences in 2016, they’re now even easier to find and book than before. 

While the Airbnb Experiences seem like the most useful for my day-to-day life, one extra-cool offering from Airbnb that also launched in mid-May is their “Originals,” which are special, celebrity-hosted events. They’re not cheap, but they could be a great splurge as a birthday present or an anniversary gift. I got a preview of this experience in Los Angeles — Chance the Rapper hosted a sound and light bath followed by a private listening session to unreleased tracks.

But there are other extremely cool “Originals” I could experience right now or the next time I’m traveling. For instance, if I were in Japan right now, I could create seasonal ikebana (the Japanese art of flower arranging) with Watarai Toru, a world-famous modern ikebana practitioner for $99 a person, or if I were in Italy I could hike in the alps with an Olympian for $30 a person. I’m looking forward to checking out Airbnb Experiences and Services for my next few vacations. I think it’ll transform the way I travel!