What adaptations should you make for welcoming guests back?

[Stephanie]

Hiya everyone,

I hope that the recovery is going well for those of you who can accommodate travellers again, and that those who cannot yet are keeping safe.

After the last few months, many guests are considering how best to adapt their accommodation habits to this ever-changing environment. Arriving and welcoming travellers is one of the crucial stages of a stay, and I'd love to hear more about how you approach it now or plan to.

I have read in various comments on the Community Center in recent weeks several personal tips and tricks related to this stage, such as the following:

• Suggest Hydro-alcoholic gel at the entrance of the house
• Encouraging autonomous arrivals to limit human to human exposure, where possible
• Increased communication with travellers in advance of their stay to better understand their concerns and expectations they may also have (this one applied both to hosts and guests being proactive in open communications).

Do you plan to make any changes to your reception and welcoming routine?

I think this is a tough one to address for those hosts that list a private room in their property or are live-in on-sight hosts so any and all advice those hosts can share are going to be hugely beneficial to your peers.

Thank you for all your advice and ideas 💡

Stephanie

[Sarah977]

@Suzanne302  My listing set-up is similar to yours in that the guests have a private entrance and their own bathroom. But I do share the kitchen with them, and it wouldn't be practical, for several reasons, to eliminate kitchen access, therefore I haven't opened back up to bookings yet.

I've been extremely on it personally with the virus precautions- mask wearing when I have to go out, hand sterilizing, distancing, sterilizing whatever I bring home from the store. But I don't see why you couldn't still enjoy some social interaction with your guests- if you are sitting outside on the porch, or in the yard, and there is enough space to maintain distance, it seems like you could share some conversation and a bottle of wine. (Clorox wipes handy to wipe down whatever you each touch, a pail of beach water to put the empty glasses in)

Just a thought, anyway.  

My neighbors and I had a little get together the other night- all outside, chairs well spaced, drinks, snacks and conversation. No one was coughing or sneezing and we've all been taking precautions when out.  It didn't seem risky to me. Seems much riskier every time I have to go out shopping.

[Brenda-and-Gary0]

Thanks so much for this thread.  We are still waiting for the B.C. government to officially open travel within our province.  International travel to BC won’t open until there is a vaccine. 

Wondering what people are doing about all the nice to have cooking utensils.  We are foodies and had tools, serving bowls, special pots and pans available.  

As part of our preparations, we have removed everything that can’t fit into the dishwasher in two runs.   After basic dishes, there isn’t much room left for extras.  

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

[Debra300]

We have spaces in two locations.  The Atlanta apartment already had self-checkin, but we removed:

 - decorative pillows and blankets from the beds and couch;

- under the room darkening curtains, replaced the blinds with sheer curtains to diffuse light;

- blocked and sealed the floor vents;

- kitchen items, such as pizza cutter, garlic press, the waffle iron, food processor, extra pot-holders, extra cutting boards, and the coffee maker (there's a Keurig);

- we committed to the enhanced cleaning protocol, because our cleaning process already incorporated many of the guidelines;

- raised the cleaning fee by a few dollars;

- added a 24 hour buffer before and after reservations;

- we put up laminated documents for general household instructions;

- we created e-documents that can be viewed on the TV for more detailed items such as the house rules, full appliance instructions. and information about local sights and activities;

- we plan to resume hosting again in the next couple of months.

For our guesthouse in St. Lucia, we will:

- change the lock to enable the guests to self-checkin;

- close the shared guest kitchen;

- renovate the guest suites, and install kitchenettes with sink, two-burner cooktop, toasters, Keurig, microwave, and mini-fridge;

- stop room cleanings during the guest's stay;

- install compact washing machines in the bathrooms;

- raise the cleaning fee by a few dollars;

- add a 24 hour buffer before and after reservations;

- we will put up laminated documents for general household instructions;

- we will create e-documents that can be viewed on the TV for more detailed items such as the house rules, full appliance instructions. and information about local sights and activities;

- we plan to resume hosting guests again in the fall.

[Mark116]

I'm on the fence about self check in.  The few times that we have allowed guest to self check in and then never gone into the unit to meet them face to face have generally been worse stays, worse guests, worse communication than normal.  I am a firm believer that if someone meets the owner+is actively prompted for questions+directly given key information=better stay/better reviews.

I also don't want to remove the things that I believe enhance the unit, like throw pillows, throws, books and games.  

@Debra300 Good idea on the lamination, I think we will do that as well with some of our instructions. 

[Debra300]

@Mark116,

Keep Cool (my husband's nickname) and I were in a similar quandary about changing the locks to allow self-checkin at our guesthouse, but decided that it may be appreciated by those guests who want to maintain some level of automony.  Since most guests usually have to call us to find the place, we will be waiting for them to arrive, and greet them from our front porch as they are going up the outdoor stairs to the guest entrance. We'll gladly answer questions after check-in while we are all wearing masks and adequate distance is maintained between hosts and guests.

We are only removing the decorative pillows on the beds. The sofa throw pillows have zippered covers that can be laundered, and will remain for our guests' comfort. 

Like @Brenda-and-Gary0 we have pared down to just enough kitchen items that can be cleaned in 1-2 dishwasher cycles. We will advise our guests that they can bring ,or purchase inexpensive, additional culinary items at the Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, and Walmart stores

We do not share space with our guests, and although the cleaning handbook recommends providing guests hand sanitizer, we will not do so, because it is only a backup, and not a replacement for proper hand-washing. We will continue to encourage our guests to wash their hands every time they have entered the space, and provide hand soap and household cleaner for use during their stay.

I am curious, besides @Melodie-And-John0, have any of you made any updates to your listing details to highlight your cleaning practices? If so, would you share here what you've written?  I am going to update our listing, and since so many people only look at pictures, I will also include a picture of cleaning supplies with the cleaning details in the tag. 

@Stephanie, @Nick, @Sharon1014, @Sarah977, 

@Stephanie, @Martina714 @Maia29,

@Laura2484 

[Sarah977]

@Debra300  Since my only listing is a home-share, and it wouldn't be practical not to offer kitchen usage, I'm unfortunately not able to host right now. Even a lot of entire place hosts in my town are not taking bookings yet- they don't want to to encourage anyone to travel here from elsewhere nor spend so much time having to sterilize the houses.

I haven't actually blocked my calendar, as I'd still like my listing visible, and in the past, I've noticed when I block a month off for my own holiday, my search ranking plummets. But it's not usual that I get bookings from mid-May to Oct. anyway. It's definitely off-season here.

When I do open back up, I'll find some kind of wording to indicate my cleaning practices. I've never had extraneous stuff in the Airbnb bedroom/bathroom, and I've always disinfected everything that anyone would touch, so I won't be doing things much differently. One thing I have thought about is that I would provide hand sanitizer at the bottom of the outdoor staircase the guests use to access their room. Because they'd be putting their hands on the stair railing, as well as touching their keys and their door knob to enter their room. And I use that staircase to access my bedroom as well.

[Huma0]

@Debra300 

I agree about the hand sanitizer. I do have some available if guests request it, but I'm not leaving a bottle of it by the door. There is a downstairs cloakroom two steps from the front door where guests can easily wash their hands whenever they enter the house and that is what I encourage them to do.

[Debra300]

@Huma0,

Well, I am going to have to take back my words regarding hand sanitizer disbursement.  I am currently completing the St. Lucia Government's requirement for a COVID-19 Action Plan for Alternate Accommodations.  A prerequisite for non-hotel accommodations to become eligible for accepting international travelers.  The government guideline is that hand sanitizer must be placed at the entrance.  I think it's over the top, because from there it's literally a 20 second walk to the guestroom door.  I can't really argue, because the country has had only 27 confirmed COVID-19 cases with no deaths.  So, their OTT stuff seems to be working for them.

[Huma0]

@Debra300 

Yes, I understand the need for hand sanitizer in many situations. I am glad to find it when I have to go into a shop or similar. BUT, there is a sink and soap two steps from my front door. I don't want to encourage guests to use sanitizer instead of washing their hands properly, which I am sure many would do if there was a bottle of the stuff  by the door. So, I will continue to resist it for now!

[Too41]

Hi! I’m a host in Washington DC.  My check-in has been self-service all the time. However, in the last month 2 issues with guest lying about check-in. I’m adding a step as I live on property, the guest must show ID when arriving to make sure the person who booked it is present.  Awful experience with guest lying and then Airbnb not knowing as they continue to lie behind this virtual world we are living. 

[Maia29]

@Mark116 I've always had self check-ins and haven't had issues except for maybe 5 guest out of over 250 or so. I prefer self check-ins because I work full time away from home and I prefer my privacy and to allow guests to have privacy as well. I've actually met less than 30 of my guests in person.

@Debra300 I have laminated signs and instructions as well. Easy to wipe off, clean, and disinfect. I offer paper plates and bowls and disposable cups. I've also used saranwrap to wrap all of my other dishes, cups/glasses, spices, etc. so I know what has been touched or used whether a guest cleans it or not.

[Debra300]

@Maia29,

You've shared a great tip about cling-wrapping your kitchenware is very helpful for hosts who home-share or provide a large amount/assortment of kitchen items.

[Helen427]

@Debra300 @Maia29 

Be mindful of what type of disposable items you may supply or @Debra300  what clingwrap you use as there's always the environment that guests will think about to - think where those items end up!

It may be more environmentlally friendly to reconsider those ways - just saying!

All the best

[Debra300]

@Helen427,

I think the suggestion made by @Maia29 is more applicable for large spaces or generously stocked kitchens. It is not something that we will be following, because we rent out small spaces which have  just 2-4 place settings that are washed between guest stays. 

[Candee0]

I really like the idea of wrapping in saran wrap! Thank you!!