So, one thing I realized from my various attempts at couchsurfing during the trip is, the couchsurfing.com site and app do not work well and/or efficiently, and this for various reasons:
- Many hosts frequently haven’t been using the system for months, sometimes years
- Many others (frequently the same) don’t even take the time to answer a request, even though they say they accept last minute ones
- Some hosts have requirements that are more demanding that the most demanding of hotels
- Some surfers just copy/paste request templates to different hosts, not trying to either read about the hosts’ expectations or profile, or provide clear and detailled information about themselves – and their profile is not telling much more
- From what I heard and read, many couchsurfers just want the money-saving opportunity (free hotel!) without the hassle (why do I have to bother with that host wanting to chat?) or sometimes they even expect the host to be a guide and dedicate time to show them everything (still for free)
- It’s not always clear what features may be available from a host (parking, access to washer/dryer) since couchsurfing.com mostly expect the hosts to detail everything they offer
- Similarly, it’s not obvious what features exactly a surfer needs or expects from the host
- Identity validation on couchsurfing.com is just a way for the site to finance themselves, there’s no real control done. Verified or not, you’ll still get the same answers, or rather lack thereof…
- forums on couchsurfing.com don’t really work, most posts often getting no replies at all
- …
I’m pretty sure the list could be much longer, and I’m only listing things I heard or read from hosts or from my own short experience with the existing site. This situation as a whole could be summarized as not offering a professional and trustable service.
So, since I am in the right timeframe to start something else before going back on the road (and possibly keep working on it remotely) I decided to begin the development of a new couchsurfing site, based on a formula between the current one and airbnb; it will be open-sourced, so the community can help improve it, and will also provide open APIs so that whichever commercial site (expedia, booking.com, etc…) can connect to it to offer more options to travelers.
More news and info to come as soon as available, or contact me through the form below.
