Do you offer onsite parking to guests?

[Liv]

Hey everyone,

Some Hosts say that offering a sought after amenity can help increase the number of bookings. On the other hand, I'm guessing that some amenities may not be worth the effort for everyone. After all every listing is unique and what works for one Host, won't necessarily work for the other. 

With this in mind, I'm curious to hear your take on one particular amenity: parking. 

Do you offer parking to guests? Do you think that has had any positive impact in the number of bookings? 

It would also be great to hear about any tips or insights from when you hosted guests that drove their car to the property 🙂

Thanks,

Liv

[Chris158]

My town house home is located in a gated residential community within a master planned suburb on Queensland's Gold Coast. Free on street parking is available to all guests in clearly designated visitor car parking bays, in my case directly out front of my home. While approx 50% of guests arrive by car, the remainder by public transport or Uber, I believe the free parking facility is a definite plus for my listing.

[Huma0]

@Liv 

Parking where I live is a complete nightmare. My road is a red route. My house would originally have had space for a driveway out front, but at some point (decades ago), the owner sold half of that space to the next door neighbours. You can see that the wall between their driveway and my skinny garden, cuts significantly in front of the house, making my space just slightly too narrow to fit even a very small car.

There is not much I can do about it. I tried asking previous neighbours if they would sell me back the land, but they didn't want to. My new neighbours don't even own a car and rent out their driveway instead. However, the property prices have shot up around here since I bought the house, so even if they were willing to sell it to me, I wouldn't be able to afford it!

Luckily, very, very few of my guests come with a car. In fact, I can only think of one and he was local so had a parking permit for relatively nearby and mostly used his bicycle anyway. What is more of a problem is guests arriving by taxi and needing to unload the luggage. There used to be a loading bay right outside, but TfL got rid of that and all the other bays nearby. The nearest parking is around the corner and is metered/residents only most of the week. I usually offer to go round and help bring the luggage to the house.

If guests did need to park at mine, I could offer two options. One would be to rent my neighbour's driveway, but this would work out very expensive for a long term guest and the driveway is usually fully booked (people are desperate for parking around here). Or, I could order a huge stack of day permits for the guests to park around the corner. This would also be expensive for long stays, but about half the cost of parking next door. Other than that, there's really nothing I could suggest.

[Donata12]

I believe that parking has to be a part of the space listed, depending on where the listing is. My listings all have parking and one in particular, costs me money out of my pocket because i do not own one and my property does not offer any space to build one (it is in a pedestrian only area). Of course this is the listing that most guests reach by car, so i have made arrangements to rent a piece of land from a neighbouring property. 

My other listing has underground parking available and of course it is the one less used! I really think parking depends on your location. In big cities most guests do not expect to have it.

[Inna22]

My houses are downtown Chicago where parking is a nightmare. I offer a space in a covered garage on the property. It definitely gets me more reservations however what happens when the guests arrive is a whole other story. By Chicago standards it is the biggest luxury. I do not think anyone in my area offers a parking space. It is a standard size spot and a city family would have fit a car, a stroller, 4 bikes, a few storage shelves and still had room to load and unload (so what if you just cleaned all the winter dirt off the car with your own coat while trying to get to the door- even easier, no need to go to car wash).

I get two types of guests: those who understand city living and think this parking space is the most amazing thing that ever happened to them or those who just do not get it. They complain that their 10 seater van does not fit, that it is down the alley. Some are truly shocked that there is no driveway. I list one parking space in my listing, they arrive with three cars because they assume there must be a drive way for the rest. The first type leaves glowing reviews and the second type thinks it is my fault and I should have moved the neighbors house so they could park. The second type has the hardest time finding it too. They truly do not understand a concept of a house in front, garage right behind it off an alley so if you go left or right enough times you end up behind the house. I provide an areal map and turn by turn directions too.

[Elaine701]

@Inna22 

We have similar problems with guests who come from a different environment, specifically cities (rather the opposite of your guests). 

The countryside is a very different kettle of fish than a townhouse in city centre. Lots of space, nearest anything is minutes away ...by car... half hour walking... Various (harmless) critters, etc. 

I always get a bit of a chuckle when someone is terrified by a gecko (perhaps the most harmless, timid creatures on earth). Or discovers that there's no supermarket or pub next door and you need a car for that (despite this being clearly stated and implied throughout our listing). 

I find that it's not necessarily those who come from one place or another, but those who just haven't travelled extensively, haven't yet shed their fears of the unfamiliar, and aren't quite aware that everything in the world isn't just like home. 

C'mon 007, live a little 🙃

[John5097]

@Elaine701 Some of my guest who are just in town for the weekend think I'm in the city and look at other listings thinking they could have rented a ten million dollar mansion and its going to have their own private nature reserve in the back yard for under $100 a night.

I mean what part of this looks like its in a city? 




I'm very clear about parking. That could be an issue where a citation or complaint is issued in our Livability Court. 

Its all fun and games until someone's car alarm goes off 20 times in one night while they are out bar hopping. 

[Helen427]

 @John5097 Now that looks like old Auckland City when we had lakes in it.

There's many an old city that also used to have lakes and ponds in them until some not so bright spark decided they should be drained.

Do you have a Building Restriction preventing any building within 200 metres of any pre-existing Waterway/ Pond/ Marshland/ Swampland/ Wetland in your location?

They have tweaked our laws in New Zealand to protect what are now referred to as Wetlands..

I like your carpad, great to see it incorporate drainage which most places have lost why Carpads and Driveways were created in a similar fashion - that of water absorption to nourish the land and soil as part of the natural environment.

[John5097]

@Helen427 Thanks glad you like it. The grass has covered it pretty well but also wanted it to be noticeable so that other cars wouldn't block it. 

The city and county does have restrictions or requirements in place for residential neighborhoods for water run off or absorption. Only a certain amount of a lot can be covered or built on, say 30%. On salt water wetlands state and federal restrictions also apply to limit fresh water running in to salt water. The set back is about 30 feet from critical line. 

What if very strict is filling any wetlands. Our state will impose fines of $1000 a day or higher until its unfilled and returned back to natural condition, the offenders are published on the state DNR website and could face additional reproductions depending on their occupation, as this would be an illegal activity and may violate ethical standards. 

There are other issues and problems with developments that create retenion ponds, but overall the salt water estuaries are very vibrant with lots of wildlife. There is a lot of marsh grass dieing off up and down the coast which is concerning but research is showing it has more to do with fishing and crabbing. So protecting the environment has more do with individual choices, as over fishing isn't sustainable, and disrupts the natural cycle more so than fresh water run off. Even locally if the larger salt water bass and crabs are caught, what they normally eat, these little snails on the marsh grass explode and the snails kill the marsh grass as it becomes more stressed from droughts and such. There are also massinve pig farms, for example, the largest in the nations up stream, that have waste ponds that often overflow or break and dump massive amounts of pollution. Which is true all over and waste from massive industrial meat industriy is one of the leading polluters that rivals industrial pollution.  

So overall would say the strict building codes regarding wetlands is effective and has been in place for very long time, the environment is being hammered by day to day consumption and the health of the environment and people and animals are declining and more susceptible to viruses, bacteria and and super bugs. 

But for my Airbnb my guest are parked safe and sound in their designated spot and not disrupting neighbors and not the root of all evil that would require any additional regulation or taxes, although I'm so happy you asked. 🙂 

[Beth80]

@Liv  My house is downtown and very very few of my guests have cars. They choose my home because they can walk to most stores and if they need a ride share it's usually fast to arrive and cheap. I do not offer parking besides what they can find on the street, rarely is there a problem.  I don't think not offering off street parking effects my listing.

I get tired of the pop up asking me to review my listing and add parking. If I had it, it would already be listed.

[Liv]

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to share the partial results of the survey with you:

As you can see, the vast majority of Hosts who participated offer onsite parking to their guests.