Garages

[Sharon2158]

Are hosts giving access to their attached garage to guests? I have gotten a few inquiries about use of the garage. I have always made it inaccessible, so I am interested to see what the trends are right now. 

[Joelle43]

Hello @Sharon2158 

Having a private spot to park your car is a definite plus for guests Sharon and much sought after. There aren't many filters on Airbnb but free parking is one of them  so if you have one to offer, I would not hesitate in ticking that box and also include that in my description and even in the title.

All the best
Joëlle

[Lorna170]

@Sharon2158  Most of the single-family, unattached homes that I have stayed at have had driveways that will allow 1 or 2 cars to be parked on the drive and the garages have been locked as owner only areas.

When the property has been part of a condo or apartment type complex where overnight street and driveway parking is "forbidden" due to HOA rules, the garage has been made available to the guest.

If your driveway will accommodate guest vehicles and overnight parking is permitted, then I see no reason for allowing garage access.

[Lorene17]

@Lorna170 Sorry I don't have a garage on the farm, I can park your tractor trailer or any size U-Haul in the area, near the house.  Only time I housed a vehicle was when it was a motorcycle and the poor couple had ridden all day in the rain, and everything was soaked.  They were heading out early the next morning in anticipated rain, so I suggested that they pull it into the barn for the night so it could dry out before they leave in the AM.  They were most grateful for the offering.

Sometimes it is best to just be a nice person and treat the folks the way you would want to be treated.  I have stayed in a couple of other Airbnb's and frankly on one, it was actually scary and if that was my first experience I would have said never again for the service. 

My Son had a bad experience in Florida, where the Host did not tell him which door of a duplex to use, nor where to park.  There were 3 cars in the drive and nowhere for his vehicle, the whole building was dark, and the description did not clarify that it is was not owner/Host occupied. No exterior lights on at 11 PM, although he told the host his plane's arrival time would be after dark.  He felt unsure of what to do; so rather than rattling a locked door in the dark and not knowing what would be on the other side, he opted for his own safety to go to a hotel for the night. 

He found out all hosts are not as attentive as his Mom is to Guest concerns about personal safety in a strange area.

[Elisa]

Hi @Sharon2158 😊, 

Thank you for asking this interesting question here!

What did you decide to do after reading Joelle's and Lorna's comments?

Do you still need help on this?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

[Sharon2158]

As I have property items stored in the garage. I am sticking with the no garage access policy, rather than move/store those items to incur additional costs. I may reconsider if, it becomes a consistent request. 

[Greystone0]

Hi @Sharon2158  - we are a 4 bedroom, single family home, with an attached 2 car garage. We have offered use of the garage since we began as a short term rental.  Our local weather makes offering a garage a really nice options for guests (in winter especially) plus we have an EV charger that lives in the garage along with our guest activity items (beach chairs, tennis rackets, ski hang spot and so on).

We ALSO have owner storage cabinets that are locked in our garage. 

This whole set up has worked just fine for us and offering a garage is sort of a bonus for our guests.

We'd recommend!

good luck!

[Heather2271]

Hi! For those who rent my lower level, they do have access to one stall in my garage. If I don't have anybody renting the lower level at the time, somebody renting the space on the main level is allowed to park in the garage. I do have some people (no matter which space they are renting) who won't fit in the garage so they just park in the driveway (I have extra space).