Hi everyone,
Thank you for your thoughtful questions and ...
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Hi everyone,
Thank you for your thoughtful questions and comments about the 2024 Winter Release. I enjoyed learning what y...
Latest reply
โDrop in as a guest. Take off as a local.โ Thatโs the motto guests hear when they stay in any of the eight rooms at Surfhouse Boutique Motel, hosted by Superhosts and brothers Nikki and Sander.
โThe way travel is going, I think itโs all kind of pulling away from big hotels and resorts. People want to connect with someone who knows the area and gives an authentic local experience,โ Nikki said.
And the brothers are stoked to do it. Nikki and Sander, who began as a bellhop and Airbnb home host, respectively, are now riding their second wave in hosting. From 2016 to 2017, they converted a former convalescent home in their hometown of Encinitas, California into eight surf-inspired Airbnb rooms, collectively known as the Surfhouse Boutique Motel.
โWe didnโt have the space to cram guests in our own homes, and there werenโt nice places to put people up,โ Nikki said. โItโs such a cool little surf town, but the only accommodation options were lower-end chain hotelsโnot something that represented our area.โ
Nikki and Sander designed the property with Encinitasโs local culture in mind: everyone who worked on it, from the designer to the contractor, live in the area; each room features artwork by local artists and is named after a well-known surf break in San Diego, such as Moonlight, Cardiff Reef, Stone Steps, and Swamis. Also inside every room is a discount card the brothers created by partnering with area businesses, so guests can play and pay like locals.
More, the brothers designed the overall staysโwhich have surf lessons and beach yoga on offerโwith family in mind. โOur mom is originally from Norway, so when we were growing up weโd always have our Norwegian relatives out here. Weโd teach the kids how to surf, take them to Padres baseball games, and teach them to live as we did for a few days,โ Nikki said. โNow, we want people to go into a coffee shop next door, go to the beach all the locals load their kids into a wagon to go to.โ
Despite running a boutique motel for the past two years, Nikki and Sander say they identify more as hosts than hoteliers.
โMy experience hosting guests prior to opening Surfhouse was nothing but positive. I really enjoyed meetings travelers from all over the country, and even the world,โ said Sander, who helped a friend list his condo on Airbnb and then parlayed that experience when they opened Surfhouse.
โWe started pretty low with our rates so that we could get as many reviews and achieve Superhost status as quickly as possible. This helped us get more bookings and show up higher on search results,โ said Sander, who still works full time in residential real estate, on top of handling the boutique motelโs finances.
Nikki handles the day-to-day interactions with guests. โWhen I was a bellhop, I was the first and final touch in welcoming guests โ I enjoyed that.โ To connect with Surfhouse guests, Nikki personally sends emails, talks to guests about any questions and things to do in the area before they arrive, and pops by if guests want surf lessons or want him to show them around town, as he lives a block away.
The brothers say itโs all to focus more on the experience than the rooms themselves: โPeople will book a beautiful room once, but they will come back many times when they are given a memorable experience.โ
