What have you learned from your first post-lockdown guest?

[Quincy]

Hello everyone, 

Many countries have now opened up for hosting again after varying levels of lockdown, and lots of you are getting back to receiving guests.

Some of you noticed recently that guests are not worried about cleaning, whilst others have had guests who were indeed concerned with this aspect of their stay. 

What are the top things you’re learning after hosting your first few guests since lockdown restrictions eased?

As @Emilia42 mentioned recently, it’s still ‘early in the game’ and things are still changing day by day, but it would be great to share and learn from what others’ experiences are.

Quincy

[Quincy]

Hi there @Ann783, it's a great time to make some changes in and around the house. 

Bicycles have been very popular over here as well! If I'm correct, there was even a time when bicycles and parts were out of stock due to everyone rushing to buy one. 

Glad to hear that your guests had a great time at your home 😃. 

Are you expecting any new guests soon?

[Ann783]

@Quincy we are booked through September. Mostly, families from NY, NJ, CT who are looking for a nice retreat within a 2-3 hour drive.

Yes, bikes are "hot"  here. Most shops have long lines in the afternoons for folks who need repairs.

[Ann72]

@Quincy  Like @Fred13 and @Ann783, all of my post-lockdown guests have been desperate to be out in nature, unplug, unwind, relax, and restore.  Before this year hardly anybody came for more than a week; this year I've had well over a dozen guests coming for one to three weeks or a month.  They REALLY need to get away!

[Fred13]

@Ann72 It is plausible, guest/hosts may be a lot more appreciative after this whole scene passes. 

[Quincy]

Wow, that's great to hear @Ann72!!! There is a big need of people wanting to go on holidays. Personally, I haven't been travelling around despite taking some time off. 

How are you holding out over there in NY? 🙂

[Lawrene0]

Seeing the same as @Fred13 and @Ann72 , @Quincy , on my small scale. People are desperate for nature, and desperate for a break. I'm nearly solidly booked (48 hr prep time set) until December, with everyone claiming cabin fever and dealing with it by coming to the tiniest cabin possible... 

The big thing I have learned since re-opening is that breakfast wasn't really necessary after all. I thought it was the waffles getting the five stars.

I have to say I was a bit stunned coming out of my own shutdown. It took me awhile to feel like I knew what I was doing again. 

[Cathie19]

That’s great news @Lawrene0 , regarding your bookings.  Yay.

I still offer breakfast as not so many do, and if it’s in the filters, it makes me more visible in the search. Just works for me in this town! 

[Christine615]

I learned more about Airbnb's problems from my first guest after lockdown.

New user with no reviews and recently became an Airbnb member wanted a same-day check-in. I don't allow those but Airbnb allowed her to contact me for an exception.

However - Airbnb blocked EVERY attempt for her to fulfill my rules. I ask for the names of each person who will be staying and the purpose of the stay. She wrote her name, her husband's and her son's name. Airbnb deleted the son's name and inserted "(Website deleted by Airbnb).

Are you kidding me? My daughter who cohosts and lives on the property was scared it was a scam and told me to decline.

It also erased her telephone number using the same message. It erased mine. So I had no way to talk to her about why the last minute contact.

But I had a hunch on that booking. Eventually we found a way to 'work-around' the AI bots so we could talk by phone. We talked for about 30 minutes and ended up laughing about the odd way Airbnb thought it was a good idea to block not only her identifying information but also mine. She booked for 6 weeks because she was self-isolating on a farm and was going stir crazy. Being at our place allowed her to self isolate without the in-laws but also be close to more things to do with her son even if it was just a walk in the nearby park.

We are now friends. We went on an adventure towards the end of her stay to look for appliances and good thrift stores to furnish her new house. Her husband helped us move out the couch we were replacing.

I almost missed a really good 6-week booking and a friendship with a really nice family because Airbnb inserted itself in the process when it shouldn't have. You're a booking service. Your job is not to screen and edit my guest communications. And if it were the job, why the heck is Airbnb not able to screen out the fake "Maxim" who is sending the same scam requests to all my fellow hosts (you know - wants to communicate on What's app, talk outside of the platform, wants to book multiple weeks but wants to talk first).  "Maxim" uses conventions to prevent your bots from seeing the telephone number of the name of the app. Some new hosts are falling for it.

I've had two of those, maybe three. Airbnb doesn't seem to be able to block those even after we report them as a scam. It clearly doesn't verify the person's identity, match the name to the communication, nor verify the credit card is legit.

But Airbnb does hide the legitimate users, including those who want to book a long term.

What landlord books a stranger long term without knowing who they are? Especially those with no history?

So I learned I love being a host. I have loved my guests (the most recent one did a favor while I was out of town and I had my daughter deliver a surprise in response).

But what I learned is that Airbnb is putting host safety at risk with policies that assume that Airbnb has more control over my guest relationships than I granted.

Airbnb needs to assume the hosts are grown-ups and get out of the way once contact is made. Airbnb has no right to censor our communications if they appear within the platform.

We're all exhausted with the nonsensical policies and wonder - can't we come to some common ground post-pandemic?

[Debra300]

@Christine615,

Airbnb's goal is to protect their financial interest when they block telephone numbers in messages between a host and a potential guest.  Since the reservation hadn't yet been confirmed, Airbnb wants to prevent the booking from occurring outside of its platform.

Booking offline wouldn't be such a potential issue if Airbnb provided the host services as advertised: a true damages deposit were collected, claims processing not dependent upon guest agreement, enforcement of the chosen cancellation policy, and refunds for non-paidout bookings deducted from hosts upcoming payout, because these protections are an incentive for hosts to use Airbnb.

[Laura2592]

My guests post lockdown have been about the same as the guests pre-lockdown. Many will ask if my area requires anything special for precautions (masks, yes.) Some are annoyed that restaurants may not be fully open or that they have to sit outdoors due to capacity restrictions. But as far as hosting, they are pretty much the same as ever. 

I do find that people seem to think that others aren't traveling. I just posted about that in a different thread.  I am sure there is a perception that everyone is still staying home and that there will be lots of places available to book, even at discounted rates. That is certainly not true for us. 

[Emilia42]

I'm with @Laura2592. I really see no difference in guests pre and post lockdown. But I do think there is a change in traveling trends. Like others have said I'm seeing the need to travel rather than just the desire to explore a new area. Guests aren't running around non-stop like tourists anymore but are relaxing, sitting outside, and appreciate being in a safe area. 

[Mark116]

I wonder if there isn't a divide between urban/suburban/rural properties. 

I complained last year that overall quality of our guests had declined, but the few requests and inquiries we've gotten this year, holy hell, terrible. 

I'm pretty sure we will have just gotten our first revenge review from a guest who should have thrown out of the house as soon as she arrived with an extra, unregistered guest and then continued to create mayhem for the next two days.  Our first 1 star review will pretty much end the Airbnb experiment for us. 

[Cathie19]

Sorry to hear that @Mark116. Fingers crossed it doesn’t happen, but if it does, maybe you can argue it as an outlier review for removal.

[Helen350]

I'm currently hosting guest 13 post lockdown .... 10 of them happy wanderers/cyclists/sight-seers. Only the first was Covid/sanitizing conscious, the following 12 have had a similar demeanor to those in the good old days.... Not one has asked if I'm doing extra cleaning..... current chap is a pharmacist.... I mentioned only letting one room at a time now, to comply with government guidelines (law?); he chuckled...! I remarked how unworried my doctor regular had been.... he chuckled knowingly again! -....  Adding to my hypothesis  that those with a strong professional interest in health are the LEAST worried.... The doc & pharmacist are both BAME too... supposedly a risk factor.... but both extremely mellow & unconcerned!

[Emilia42]

@Helen350 I never buy disinfecting wipes, like ever. But last winter we had a really bad flu season (probably all COVID cases but in Jan and Feb.) So I thought it would "look good" if I bought some wipes to put on the kitchen counter in all 3 of my listings. I had a mini freak out in March when they disappeared from the shelves and I realized I should have bought more. Surprisingly, the same container is still sitting on the counter from last winter! There are only 25 wipes per pack and I've had plenty of guests since then!