You Can Add a Private Chef to Your Airbnb Rental but Your Host Might Not Like It

Summary

WSJ Tech News Briefing Summary
Episode: "You Can Add a Private Chef to Your Airbnb Rental but Your Host Might Not Like It"
Release Date: July 22, 2025
Host: Patrick Coffey, The Wall Street Journal

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1. The Evolution of Social Norms: AirPods and Conversations

Patrick Coffey opens the episode by addressing a modern social conundrum: the etiquette of using AirPods during interactions. Traditionally, wearing earbuds while engaging with others was deemed rude, as it signified a lack of attention. However, this perception is shifting.

Lauren Weber, WSJ reporter, discusses her conversation with Julia Carpenter about this trend:

"There was always an assumption that when you were talking to someone or dealing with them in some manner, you had their full attention."
— Julia Carpenter [01:09]

Carpenter explains that the advent of wireless earbuds like AirPods has made it easier for individuals to keep them in continuously, reducing the barriers to their constant use:

"Because there's no wire there, they're more unobtrusive. So it's just easier now to have them in all the time."
— Julia Carpenter [02:12]

This behavioral shift has blurred the lines of social interaction, leading to situations where the presence of earbuds can both hinder meaningful conversations and, paradoxically, become an accepted norm.

A striking incident highlighted by Carpenter involves a man finding an AirPod in his fast food order, illustrating the unforeseen consequences of pervasive AirPod usage:

"He was somewhat disturbed... he did end up returning it to the person it had belonged to."
— Julia Carpenter [02:36]

The discussion segues into the psychological implications of multitasking with earbuds. A psychologist interviewed by Carpenter emphasizes the myth of multitasking:

"There is no such thing really as multitasking."
— Psychologist [03:41]

She elaborates that what we perceive as multitasking is merely rapid task-switching, which diminishes the quality of each activity and increases the likelihood of mistakes.

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2. Airbnb's Expansion into Extra Services: Host Backlash and Concerns

Transitioning from social norms to the sharing economy, Patrick Coffey introduces Airbnb's latest initiative to integrate third-party services—such as private chefs, personal trainers, and professional photographers—into their rental offerings. This move aims to enhance guest experiences and compete more directly with traditional hotels.

Alison Poli, WSJ reporter, provides an in-depth analysis of the host community's reaction:

"A lot of hosts were surprised about services, and what I heard from many of them who spoke to me is that they weren't totally aware that this was coming."
— Alison Poli [05:41]

Key concerns among hosts include:

• Lack of Compensation: Hosts do not receive a commission from the services booked through Airbnb.
• Transparency Issues: Hosts are not notified when a service is booked, leading to a lack of control over their property.
• Liability and Insurance Risks: Introducing third-party services raises potential liability issues, such as damage to property or injuries, which existing homeowner's insurance may not cover.

Poli shares an anecdote of a host who meticulously curates local vendors but remains wary of unvetted service providers entering her property:

"She's not able to individually verify that, and she wants to check it herself and just make sure it's up to date."
— Alison Poli [07:54]

Airbnb's response to these concerns includes allowing hosts to selectively enable or disable specific services and introducing a services liability policy to mitigate potential risks:

"Airbnb did introduce a services liability policy. If they do damage to the property or something happens to guests, that policy exists and could potentially kick in."
— Alison Poli [09:54]

Despite these measures, the rollout has been rocky, with hosts expressing frustration and uncertainty. Social media forums are abuzz with hosts seeking ways to opt out, often resorting to automated responses to communicate their preferences.

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Conclusion

This episode of Tech News Briefing delves into the nuanced changes in social etiquette brought about by ubiquitous AirPods and examines Airbnb's strategic yet contentious expansion into offering additional guest services. Both topics underscore the broader theme of how technology and platform-driven innovations continually reshape personal interactions and business dynamics.

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Note: Advertisements and non-content sections from the transcript have been excluded to focus solely on the episode's primary discussions.

Transcript

[Patrick Coffey]

Welcome to Tech News briefing. It's Tuesday, July 22nd. I'm Patrick Coffey for the Wall Street Journal. Airbnb wants you to add some extra services to your vacation or business trip, like a private chef, a personal trainer, or a professional photographer. One problem. This might come as a surprise to your unwitting host. Plus, everybody knows that it's rude to speak to someone while wearing headphones, right? Apparently, that's no longer the case if they're AirPods. But first, it's hard to have a real conversation with someone when they keep staring at their iPhone. But what if they're wearing AirPods? Julia Carpenter spoke to WSJ reporter Lauren Weber about why this common annoyance is inching closer to becoming an accepted behavior.

[Lauren Weber]

Lauren the old rules say that people should remove earbuds when working a job or checking out at the grocery store or otherwise engaged in conversation. But you report that all of that is changing. Why is it that we used to think of this as rude behavior?

[Julia Carpenter]

There was always an assumption that when you were talking to someone or dealing with them in some manner, you had their full attention. All the conversations I had with people about this once I started reporting was around this question of distraction and attention. That's the piece that's changed.

[Lauren Weber]

And why is it that people now mind that less? They don't mind the perception that they have less than someone's full attention.

[Julia Carpenter]

It's one of those interesting examples about how conventions change and social norms. So at this point, it's not uncommon to see somebody wearing their AirPods all day. I'll just use AirPods as my shorthand for any kind of earbuds. This started to change, I really think, when they became wireless. So it was just really easy to park them in your ear and forget about them. And that way you have them in your ears, you don't have to take them out of the case, put them back in the case constantly, which also raises the possibility of losing something. And again, because there's no wire there, they're more unobtrusive. So it's just easier now to have them in all the time. And what has become confusing for people is when they're in, you don't know if the person you're talking to actually has them on.

[Lauren Weber]

You spoke to one man who said he even found an AirPod in his fast food order. And personally, I would have freaked out. How did he react to that?

[Julia Carpenter]

He was somewhat disturbed. I wouldn't say he was freaking out based on what he told me, but he was disturbed and he had gone through a drive through. He said he had noticed that the person at the drive through who was serving him had AirPods in. I don't think he ever saw it fall out of the ear and into his bag. But when he got home and opened up his bag of food, there it was at the bott said, you know, I sat there thinking, well, what do I do? I don't want to just throw it away because this is an expensive piece of technology. But now, of course, this created a little more work for him. So he called the restaurant, he let them know what had happened, and he did end up returning it to the person it had belonged to. And the person was like, will you just call my boss and tell her you're not mad about this? The server was worried he was going to be fired for like a health code violation.

[Lauren Weber]

Yeah, even if we think we can do everything with AirPods still in science shows we probably can't. What do researchers have to say about our ability to multitask like this?

[Julia Carpenter]

So I spoke to a psychologist who recently wrote a book about attention, and she said the bad news? This is bad news for everyone, even those of us who don't keep our AirPods in all the time. I don't even own AirPods. Frankly, the bad news is there is no such thing really as multitasking, she said. What you're actually doing when you think you're multitasking is shifting your attention back and forth. So if you're listening to a podcast while you're reading a book or sitting on the subway catching up on the news, you're not actually doing either one of those things well. Which she said also raises the chances that you make mistakes when you're doing something like a task.

[Patrick Coffey]

That was WSJ reporter Lauren Weber coming up. Wouldn't that Airbnb getaway be so much more relaxing with a massage? Sure, but maybe your host has already decided against it after having nightmares about all those oils spilling on their couch. That's after the break. Committed to exploring the world in comfort. Journey through the heart of Europe on an elegant Viking longship with thoughtful service, cultural enrichment and all inclusive fairs. Discover [e-mail] Airbnb recently introduced services, which allows third party vendors to complement guests trips with their own, well, services as the company continues its competition with the hotel and hospitality industry. But Airbnb has encountered pushback from hosts, some of whom didn't realize that they'd have to actively choose not to let these vendors into their homes while they're away. WSJ reporter Alison Poli joins me to discuss the rocky rollout for this new expansion. So, Alison, in a way, Airbnb's business runs on the hosts, and it seems like they were taken aback by this announcement, especially since they're automatically signed up for services. What is the sentiment among the host community now?

[Alison Poli]

A lot of hosts were surprised about services, and what I heard from many of them who spoke to me is that they weren't totally aware that this was coming, and they learned about it at the same time that the general public did. And they also learned that they had been opted in automatically. So that meant any short term rental that was listing on Airbnb was automatically allowed to have services provided there. So, as you might imagine, hosts were a little bit taken aback by this. The things that they brought up most when I spoke to them is that when one, they don't get a cut of the commission from services booked for their rentals, they also don't get alerted when that service is booked there. So they don't know if somebody is doing that. So there are varying reactions to this in various points of view.

[Patrick Coffey]

So they don't get paid for it. They don't seem to know when it's happening. Are there any clear benefits to the hosts?

[Alison Poli]

If you think about it, Airbnb's positioning is that this is going to drive more guests to the property because this will make the stay more valuable for guests and also more special. And if you can do these things at an Airbnb, it makes the lodging more competitive with hotels. For example, an analyst who I spoke to also mentioned the same thing. So if you're thinking about it and a traveler is deciding where they should stay, they might choose a short term rental where they can have a private chef come as opposed to staying in a hotel that has a nice restaurant, because they have this experience that they wouldn't be able to get somewhere else. And so some people do see that as a benefit for the guest, even as a host. You know, they think, oh well, if somebody wants that service while they're staying at my short term rental, that's fine. Like I want them to have a nice stay. And there are hosts who are recommending these types of things to their guests in general. But a lot of times they happen off property, not inside the actual short term rental.

[Patrick Coffey]

I guess I could see too how if these are local vendors, then maybe the hosts could have relationships with them.

[Alison Poli]

Exactly. And so there was a host I talked to who said, I go out of my way to leave recommendations for People. She has a property that's near the ocean, and she arranges for surfboard deliveries and all these various things for her guests. But she in particular did not want service providers coming inside of her rentals. And her concern is that even though the platform does check for credentials and requires the service providers to have insurance, she's not able to individually verify that, and she wants to check it herself and just make sure it's up to date. And also, her homeowner's insurance policy only allows registered guests, and so if she's not aware that somebody's coming, they wouldn't be registered. So if there was an incident, it would be in violation of her own homeowner's insurance policy. And on social media, it's not hard to find tons of hosts commenting on threads and various forms saying, hey, how did you opt out of this? There's a chat GPT generated response going around that a bunch of people have sent to Airbnb saying, please do not allow services to be performed at my property.

[Patrick Coffey]

There have been some liability and insurance issues with Airbnb in the past. It seems like this could be an ongoing thing, depending on how popular the services become.

[Alison Poli]

Yeah. So people are concerned about added liability. That's like introducing another variable. There's already a variable when people are staying in your home, and that's an accepted cost of doing business. And here's another one with services, which some people worry, oh, no, if there's a private chef, what happens if they start a kitchen fire? Or if they are doing a personal training session and they drop weights and there's damage done?

[Patrick Coffey]

What has Airbnb said in response to that?

[Alison Poli]

Airbnb's response to that is that you can pick and choose which services are allowed. Airbnb did introduce a services liability policy. If they do damage to the property or something happens to guests, that policy exists and could potentially kick in. There's just a lot of things that go into various liability policies and insurance claims in general.

[Patrick Coffey]

That was WSJ reporter Alison Poley. And that's it for Tech News Briefing. Today's show was produced by Charlotte Gartenberg with supervising producer Melanie Roy. I'm Patrick Coffey for the Wall Street Journal. We'll be back later this morning with your TNB Tech Minute. Thanks for listening.

[Julia Carpenter]

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