Other hosts are less comfortable with the added layers and new tools. “The Airbnb guys started the business as a way to make money to pay rent, with airbeds and cereal,” said John Garber, a host in Denver who has rented out an apartment on Airbnb since August 2016. “Now they do a lot of nudging to get you to do what they might call best practices. It’s a little nanny state.”

Chip Conley, Airbnb’s former global head of hospitality and strategy, who remains an adviser, said the company continued “to keep a good relationship with hosts, and they’re consistently happy.” On behalf of Airbnb, he cited data showing that over half of all hosts today are willing to recommend being a host, about the same as in 2014.

Airbnb has acknowledged that hosting can be a great deal of work, as it did this month when it made its website easier for hosts to use. The company also said it would include hosts in one board meeting a year, giving them more say in the company.

Standard Amenities

The consistency of a guest’s experience is a major issue that Airbnb wants to solve. That is because it bothers even some of the company’s big fans.

Consider Alex Tibbetts, 46, a marketer who lives in San Francisco and who began regularly using Airbnb in 2013 for work travel. While she likes the service and is trying to book an Airbnb for her family of four in Sydney, Australia, later this year, Ms. Tibbetts doesn’t fully trust that Airbnb’s hosts will behave reliably. As a result, she prefers listings where she does not have to interact with hosts once she arrives.

“The big downside of using Airbnb instead of a hotel is the risk, because of the potential lack of consistency,” she said. “When an Airbnb is bad, it’s really bad.”

Airbnb began tackling the predictability of its guest experience early on by providing a rating system, so people could read about Airbnbs from other travelers. In 2009, the company created a special designation called superhosts for those who could be depended upon to provide a strong guest experience. The program today includes hosts who average nearly one booking a month, do not cancel reservations, respond quickly to inquiries and have high ratings.