I’m in Los Angeles for Airbnb’s 2025 Summer Release, where the company just announced a major expansion to its offerings, paired with an entirely redesigned app. It’s an ambitious update that I’ll be trying and covering more soon, but for now, let’s dig into an overview of what’s been announced.
In addition to its bread-and-butter home booking business, the company is adding Airbnb Services and a reimagined Airbnb Experiences product. Services, which can be booked whether or not you’ve booked an Airbnb stay, include the kinds of things that make staying in a home more like a hotel or resort. The feature is launching with 10 categories in 260 cities worldwide:
- Chefs
- Photography
- Massage
- Spa treatments
- Personal training
- Hair
- Makeup
- Nails
- Prepared meals
- Catering
In its press release, Airbnb says that Services hosts have an average of 10 years of experience in their fields and are fully vetted by the company to ensure quality, proper licensing, certifications, insurance, and more. Regarding Services, Airbnb’s co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky said:
People choose hotels for their services. People choose Airbnbs for the space. Now, we’re giving you the best of both worlds—amazing homes with services that make them even more special.
I love the idea of staying in a unique home but not having to worry about grocery shopping and preparing my own meals while I’m on vacation. I’d love to hire a photographer who I knew had been vetted for occasions, too.
Airbnb has also reimagined Experiences, pairing users with locals who can be their guides in 650 cities around the world. The company’s nineteen different categories of Experiences offer a wide variety of activities, including:
- Tours of landmarks and museums
- Culinary tours
- Classes and dining events
- Outdoor activities
- Gallery visits and art workshops
- Workout, wellness, and beauty experiences
Like Services, Experiences are vetted by Airbnb for quality.
Several years ago, I visited Rome with my family. We hired a travel agent who specialized in Italian trips to arrange food tours and other small group experiences. It was wonderful, but we were lucky to find someone with a lot of experience who could do that for us. What’s exciting about Airbnb Experiences is that it makes that sort of expertise readily available directly from the app, thanks to the company’s vetting process.
Select cities are now offering Airbnb Originals, too, which are designed exclusively for Airbnb. For example, you can:
Learn pastry-making at the renowned French Bastards bakery with chef Raphaelle Elbaz, or play beach volleyball with Olympian Carol Solberg on Rio’s iconic Leblon Beach. Some Originals are even hosted by global celebrities. Transform into your anime alter-ego with Megan Thee Stallion in her Otaku Hottie Quest, step inside the Short n’ Sweet set with Sabrina Carpenter for a day of glam, dancing, and espresso, or spend a Sunday with Patrick Mahomes, learning how to throw the perfect spiral and enjoying Kansas City barbecue.
Experiences will also include a social component that is coming later this year to allow users to see who is attending Experiences before they book, message other guests during activities, and stay in touch with them afterwards.
That’s a lot of functionality to add to an app that, until today, simply handled stays in homes. As a result, Airbnb has rebuilt its app from the ground up. I’ll be spending more time with it in the coming days, but I’ve seen a demo, and it’s impressive.
From finding a place to stay to booking Services and Experiences, each feature is fully integrated, allowing you to arrange everything based on your destination and schedule. Once you start assembling your trip, Airbnb’s app keeps track of it all in a simple, consistent interface that helps you stay organized. Instead of a jumble of confirmation emails, everything is just a couple of taps away.
When I first saw what Airbnb has done with Services, Experiences, and its new app, it immediately struck me as a natural extension of everything that came before it. So many of the homes it offers worldwide are already unique experiences in their own right. With Services and Experiences, the company promises to bring the same sort of focus to even more aspects of travel. I love the idea of what Airbnb has shown off today and can’t wait to experience it myself.
