A peek behind the curtain at Airbnb

IT’S the vibe: we take a look behind the scenes of the world’s most divisive hospitality company, in an office to rival the most opulent of Airbnb listings.

A fashion designer’s Brooklyn loft makes an inspiring setting for a chat.

PULL back the gauzy curtains concealing the entrance to an opulent Bedouin tent and feast your eyes upon sumptuous velvet couches, deep-pile rugs and ... an office meeting between a group of young people in shirts and jeans.

This is the headquarters of the world’s most popular — yet divisive — home rental website, Airbnb. Rivalling Google and Facebook’s famous HQs, this whimsical building recreates the most magical of the company’s 1.5 million listings: from a chic Parisian apartment, to a mushroom dome cabin in the Santa Cruz hills, to a Danish houseboat reception area.

A trendy Brooklyn loft acts as a meeting hub, complete with squishy tan leather couch, and employees can leave their dogs at kennels dotted around the building while they travel around on scooters and skateboards.

But what makes this company so unique is its concern with culture and people. Speak to anyone here about what makes Airbnb special, and they’ll mention the “culture” word. Co-founder Brian Chesky famously published a letter to his team telling them not to “f*** up the culture”, which he understood that most companies inevitably do after reaching a certain size.

Write a report in a deckchair.

Each room is based on an Airbnb property.

Every employee here knows the values by heart, values that include “simplicity” and “be a cereal entrepreneur” — a reference to the three co-founders’ eBay sale of election-themed cereal boxes to raise cash for their fledging start-up.

The walls are covered with photos of Airbnb hosts and guests, and the founders try different ways to connect with their 1000-plus employees in San Francisco alone — most recently, taking selfies with the latest round of new hires.

The firm’s motto, “Belong Anywhere”, was brought in during last year’s rebranding, along with the “belo” logo, which is meant to represent a person with hands joined above their head. Unfortunately, some observers thought it looked more like part of the anatomy, causing a flurry of amusement on social media when it was released. But the staff here, many of whom interviewed around 10 times before they joined the company, are evangelical about its meaning. “We really believe in it,” head chef Anisha Jagtap told news.com.au.

Not only have these employees been rigorously assessed for culture fit, they are given personality tests when they join the firm, to help them better understand themselves and how to work with others in their team.

Meet in a cabin, at a grand dining table or simply in a ball pit.

It’s clear that not just anyone would belong here. But Airbnb has built its empire on the concept of being part of a movement, sponsoring the New York Marathon with a #gotheextramile campaign and launching the Big Gay Stay with a hot-pink house float at Sydney Mardi Gras.

Australia has become a testing ground for Airbnb’s smart and inclusive marketing campaigns, in part because Aussies have been such eager users of the service. “Australians travel in a really adventurous way,” said chief marketing officer Jonathan Mildenhall. “Australians are so worldly and so local in how they travel. They don’t like to be kept in a bubble of five-star service, even wealthy Australians want an authentic experience.”

What Airbnb is selling is simply a home rental service, but it feels like a lifestyle.

A recent campaign was mocked on social media for being “creepy” after it advised guests to “look through their windows” and “sleep in their beds”. But Jonathan is comfortable with pushing through the awkwardness.

Morocco, Bali and Brazil are all represented in this highly diverse space.

“Sometimes we have to have uncomfortable truths in marketing. We have to talk about strangers and we have to talk about the awkwardness of embracing somebody you’ve just met.”

That’s lucky, because Airbnb is no stranger to controversy. Its homesharing model has ruffled feathers in the hotel industry, with some big chains and small bed ‘n’ breakfasts claiming the service is damaging their business. Landlords have complained about tenants subletting through the website, and about other landlords using it for long-term rentals and avoiding tax.

But Airbnb has played the game more cleverly than other ‘sharing economy’ businesses, dodging much of the vitriol directed at car-sharing service Uber, which has endured furious protests from taxi drivers and angered governments across the world.

Airbnb insists it welcomes legislation, and has actively sought out politicians and policymakers to nail down “clear, fair and progressive” regulations in different countries. It says the average income of an Airbnb host is just $7000, with most renting out their primary residence rather than operating as small businesses or threatening the very different proposition of hotels, whose sector continues to grow.

Seventy per cent of its properties are outside areas that are traditionally popular with tourists — for example, in western Sydney’s Parramatta and Blacktown. Airbnb insists it is growing the tourism economy and diversifying where the tourist dollar goes, to different cafes and businesses.

Book your chat in Cairo on an iPad.

There are maximum lengths for stays, usually between 60 and 90 days depending on the location. And Airbnb has had plenty of success in creating new laws. The fact that it skipped a step in the beginning doesn’t seem to matter any more, in a marketplace that is changing rapidly thanks to technology.

As a final defence, the company emphasises that it encourages hosts to find out local regulations from their states and councils — so any misbehaviour isn’t officially Airbnb’s fault.

In one recent scandal, Airbnb guests held a “drug-induced orgy” at the home of a Canadian couple who put their house on the site. The damage was covered by the Airbnb $1 million guarantee, and the guests were banned from the site. But the Calgary couple said they felt “violated”.

The company says almost all of its 40 million users have had positive experiences, and insists that most disasters happen when people go “off platform” — for example, when squatters refuse to leave a home.

The peer-review system is something of a safeguard. Guests need to have stayed somewhere to leave a review and receive one (which is done ‘blind’) and hosts can mandate that their guests have a real-time photo and verified ID.

The ambience in the San Francisco head office is unconventional but deliberately homely. At the cafeteria, chef and “experience guru” Anisha oversees the preparation of four free meals a day, all of which are sustainable, locally sourced and inspired by a listing.

Staff travel by scooter.

We lunched on a Mexican feast of carnitas, avocado, beans and rice one day; and a Mediterranean spread the next, featuring beef tagine, lentils, couscous and salads. Healthy pick-me-ups are available from the kitchens in the mornings and afternoons: cacao-nib coconut cookies and chia balls, along with lo-cal energy-boosting soft drinks from a tap, since plastic bottles are banned.

Leftovers become snacks and muesli bars for the next day, or are donated to shelters. Non-profits can use the cafeteria for free or at a low cost, mingling with staff. Even the espresso machines are “intentional” — workers are taught to use them, and are obliged to assist if they see someone who hasn’t been trained.

Walking from Amsterdam to Rio de Janeiro to a retro Aussie camper van within seconds makes you feel like Alice in Wonderland, an impression that the Alice-themed bathroom does little to dispel. Other bathrooms are decorated to look like submarines, planes and forests (decked out with ‘glamping’ essentials including dry shampoo and hair straighteners), while chill-out spaces offer hammocks, beanbags, inviting-looking beds and even a ball pit in a room with padded walls, where staff can hold seriously relaxed meetings, booked on an iPad, of course.

If they want some exercise, on the other hand, there are stand-up desks where they can hook a laptop up to a monitor.

Airbnb is now focused on making its travellers and hosts feel part of this family. It’s trying to focus on leisure destinations as well as cities, where their service is currently most likely to be used, by primarily millennial travellers.

“This model is working so well in cities, it’s delivering a completely different travel experience in cities, but that hasn’t spread as much into more sun and snow destinations,” said head of global vacation rentals Shaun Stewart, who is originally from Melbourne. “It starts in New York, but not the Hamptons. People will book Sydney but perhaps not so much the Blue Mountains, they’ll do Melbourne but maybe not the Great Ocean Road. It’s about finding out how to deliver that incredible experience in destinations that are more leisure-based.”

Another aim is making the whole experience seamless, so groups can book properties and split bills through the app, arriving to find the house just as they want it, their fridge already stocked with their preferred foods.

“That’s the second generation of the trip we see: making it easier to organise tools, to split payment, split groceries,” said Shaun. “In this day and age, none of us should be sending deposit cheques to strangers, or recouping money from others, there are ways to do this. That’s an experience that hasn’t modernised enough.”

Airbnb is determined to make sure that we all broaden our horizons to new kinds of accommodation, that we start sharing our experiences and that we radically change how we travel.

The Top 10 destinations for Aussies on Airbnb

1 New York

2 London

3 Paris

4 Los Angeles

5 Tokyo

6 Bali

7 Rome

8 San Francisco

9 Barcelona

10 Amsterdam

This reporter travelled to San Francisco courtesy of Airbnb.