Tools you can use for hosting longer stays

[Emilie]

Longer stays are one of travel’s latest trends, and we’re here for it. We’re also here to support you with welcoming guests for 28 nights or more.

As part of the 2022 Airbnb Summer Release, we’re rolling out more ways that guests can discover your space in their searches for great stays. The new features include nearly two dozen new Airbnb Categories of listings for guests to browse, and Split Stays, which lets guests divide their time between two comparable spaces on one trip.

We’ve also put together some tools—and a checklist—to help prep your listing, your calendar and booking settings, and your space for longer stays. You can find details in the Resource Center. 

What tools do you use for hosting longer stays?

[Helen744]

@744 The assumption here is that those workers who stay are somehow office workers. This is simply not the case. Most of those types of workers will bring their own laptops or computers anyway. The nitty gritty is they are all people and the info they need is about where to put muddy boots or if they can acess shopping supplies easily or if they can store food in a refrigerator or if the oven is adequate or if the host supplies linen changes or housekeeping or where the nearest hospital is . Pretty pictures often sell things short term and are a very effective marketing tool in these days of 'front' but at the end of the day , can I have a nice relaxing safe and comfortable stay H

[Mark116]

Is Airbnb providing any information on the legals issues related to stays over 28 days?  Or any kind of enhanced support for guests who will claim to be tenants? 

[Emilie]

@Mark116 Long stays on the platform are subject to a specific cancellation policy, payouts work in a different way, and it is recommended that everyone looks into local laws and regulations that might apply as well.

This article has more info on those points - what do you think would be useful in terms of additional support and guidance for long-term stays? 

[Mark116]

@Emilie   I see that 'know your local laws and regulations' is listed dead last in that article.  When I click on the link it does include some advice about knowing the local rent laws and mentions landlords having the ability to evict tenants.  Maybe it is only a thing in the United States where it is very costly and takes many months to evict a tenant, but I would want to see some language up front that alerts hosts to the idea that in many jurisdictions a 'guest' would be considered a tenant after 29 days. I would also want to see Airbnb recommend more forcefully the idea that long term guests sign an additional agreement, where presumably they acknowledge they are not 'legal tenants' and forefit their rights as such.

What it feels like to me is that Airbnb simply wants to push hosts to allow long term stays based on the idea that most people will not turn into squatters, without putting the very real legal issues front and center so that a host can do a realistic assessment of the risks.  

[Huma0]

@Mark116 

It's not just in the US. In the UK it is also very costly and takes months to evict a tenant. My mother has awful tenants who are causing a lot of serious damage to her property but she just can't face going through that eviction process. It's really painful.

[Kristina46]

I will never host anyone for longer than 27 days without using the standard protections--background check, deposit, credit check, and most importantly, signed lease. So that means I couldn't offer long stays to Airbnb guests.  If something goes wrong and the person decides to overstay, Airbnb cannot do much to help you evict. With the current housing shortage, it's likely that you'll have a certain percentage who know how to game the system  that once they are in your home past 30 days without a lease, it's game over for the host. Not worth it. 

[Sharon683]

Wow!

[Susan1188]

@Emilie 

There are so many issues, in almost every market, concerning long term stays. 

I truly believe more attention needs to be paid to this, I understand Airbnb wants to capture this market but it is more heavily regulated in most areas than the short term market.

You shouldn't be proposing to hosts, that they should rent long term on this platform, without having in place a separate long term contract vetted by a local lawyer or real estate agent.  You just shouldn't.

[Huma0]

@Emilie 

Thanks for posting this but the video doesn't say anything new about hosting longer stays, it's just basic stuff like setting trip length, long term discounts etc. Perhaps useful to hosts who have never tried it before.

The only new thing I can see (not mentioned in the video, but in the article) is the split stays feature (I can't see how the new categories search feature is particularly relevant to long term stays).

It seems like the split stay suggestion would be automatically applied based on the guest's search. I wonder though how effective the AI will be at pairing 'similar' listings. I hope it's not going to be like the price suggestions, where I have always been told to lower my prices to compete with listings that are supposedly similar to mine, but I know in reality are NOTHING like mine, because I have checked out the local competition and anything similar is priced higher, not lower!

Will it pair listings based on location and price or also on amenities? I'm interested to know what criteria the system will use to make the comparison.

I agree with @Helen744 that people bring their own laptops and devices. I have hosted many, many long term guests and no one has ever required these, just WiFi. It's not just pointless to provide computers and monitors etc. but counterproductive because you would have to move them out of the guest's way and store them. Also, you don't need a TV in a workspace. Again, none of my guests have ever asked for this.

[Huma0]

@Emilie 

I also had a look at the check list for longer stays. It is entirely focused on off site hosts renting out entire units and most of it I think is relevant to any stay, not long stays in particular.

For homeshare hosts who want to do long term stays, I would say one important thing which isn't mentioned is to make sure there is dedicated fridge and kitchen cupboard space for guests' food. As I host more than one long term guest at a time, I have found it useful to not only allocate a shelf in the fridge to each guest, but also a clearly defined space in the cupboard because, otherwise, some guests will completely take over the space of other guests. 

I'm pretty relaxed about guests keeping some of their stuff in shared bathrooms, as long as it's tidy and not strewn all over the place, but I know that some hosts do have a problem with this, especially when there's only one shared bathroom. One solution is to provide some sort of caddy for each guest so that they can easily carry toiletries to and from the bathroom.

Hosts should also definitely think about cleaning routines. Are you going to clean the guest's room during their stay? Are you going to wash their linens and towels? How often will you do this? Will you charge for it or include it in the nightly price? If you charge, will this be a one off cleaning fee regardless of the length or stay or a fee for each time you do it? Will this be optional or mandatory?

Or, will the guest be responsible for cleaning their own room/washing linens? What equipment and materials do you need to provide? How often do you expect the guest to do this? Will you include this in your house rules? What happens if they don't clean?

[Laurelle3]

@Huma0 you mentioned the space in the fridge or spare fridge for guests and kitchen cupboard allocated is a good idea. It takes me back when we used Youth Hostels and we marked our food and were given a cubicle with a number on. The linen my suggestion is to supply linen and towels weekly and tell the change over day is??? If you had more staying longer you can spread the days. Also cleaning rooms eg. Vacuuming allows to check on the state of the room along with,bathroom being cleaned on set day if the room has an on-site to prevent germs and mould.

[Huma0]

@Laurelle3 

Guests have been pretty good overall about not taking other guests' food (although I have one right now who helps herself to some of my stuff!) so we've not had to resort to labelling the food yet. Having a shelf each in the fridge means everyone knows what is and isn't theirs. There is a wine fridge that is never full of wine so there is extra space if they can't manage with one shelf.

The cupboard space became an issue because some of my guests buy a crazy amount of food (those are the ones that end up throwing a lot away or leaving a lot behind when they check out). I have a very large, deep drawer in the larder cupboard allocated to them. It should be enough for them to share, but some guests would completely take it over leaving no room for anyone else. So, I have now divided it up with boxes (lined with paper in case of spills) and each guest has an equal space and they have to stick to it. This has worked perfectly from day one. I guess it's literally about setting boundaries! So now, I am on the look out for plastic containers the same size as the cardboard boxes to make it a more permanent set up and easier to clean.

RE the cleaning, my cleaners do the communal areas, including bathrooms, weekly, and I am able to clean those in between as needed. It's only the bedrooms where the guests have an option of cleaning them themselves. I do prefer it when they opt to let me clean them/change the linens because some guests just don't do it, even if they say they are going to. Hence, I don't charge much for this, but still a lot of guests don't want to pay the extra. Perhaps I should make it mandatory, but I'm not a fan of added cleaning fees. Or, I could incorporate it into the room rate, but that's not ideal either.

So, I do like your suggestion of setting an agreed day for guests to do this. It just might be tricky to manage with three separate guests. They would have to do it on different days so the laundry facilities and cleaning equipment are available and not on the day the cleaner comes. At some point I need to do my laundry too. I do think it's a good idea though. I wonder if guests would stick to the schedule.

[Laurelle3]

@Huma0 I was just throwing in a few suggestions but in the long run we have to adapt and adopt an arrangement that suits oneself can manage. I am sure you will work out a way,  Huma0. 

[Sharon683]

Good information to know.  Thanks