Couple questions

[Patricia-Joyce0]

Do y’all have your guest strip beds at check out?

How bout a generator in the event of a power outage?

Thanks, Patty

[Patricia2526]

Hi @Patricia-Joyce0 

We don’t ask our guests to strip the beds or gather all the used towels when they check out. We simply ask them to switch off the lights and air-conditioning and leave the rest to our cleaning team. I prefer to keep checkout instructions simple and reasonable it makes the process easier for guests and still gives our cleaners a proper opportunity to inspect and prepare the property for the next guest.

For any special instructions that guests may need during their stay, especially something important like how to operate your genset during a power outage, I highly recommend having the instructions printed and placed somewhere easy to find. A simple, step-by-step guide with clear labels or photos can be very helpful, especially when guests are dealing with an unexpected power interruption.

[Quincy]

Great question @Patricia-Joyce0! When I was still hosting, I did not specifically request guests to strip the beds or anything. Personally, I prefer to take care of it myself. 

I could see that Patricia left an excellent comment to your questions!

Please do share what you decide to do in the end 😊 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Patricia-Joyce0 It used to annoy us when guests did strip the beds. The easiest way to spot stains that might need pre-treating prior to laundering is when the bedding is on the bed.

[Elaine701]

@Patricia-Joyce0 

I agree with @Patricia2526 and @Mike-And-Jane0 . We would never ask guests to strip beds or do anything with towels, or clean or anything else. We are in the hospitality business. It's a bit inhospitable to ask your guests to do your work for you. And as @Mike-And-Jane0  points out, we need to identify stains, rips or anything else before sending the bedding and towels off to the cleaners. That's easiest to achieve while everything is still in place. This is one of the first tasks of our cleaning crew. And of course, guests never complain about not having to do anything.

Regarding power:

We are solar powered, with a significantly large (60Kw) solar and battery array. It powers everything - House, pool, appliances, air conditioning... everything. And we don't pay one cent to the power company. But we have 300+ days of full sun here per year, so that helps a lot.

Still, this equipment is becoming more and more affordable (today it's half the price of what it was 10 years ago, and tomorrow it will be even less), and even if you have grid power, it can significantly reduce your electricity bills and ... yes, provide power even when the electric company fails to do so.

It's worth looking into.

Hope that helps!  Saludos!

[Patricia-Joyce0]

Hi,

I only have one Airbnb. It is my basement apartment. I do all the cleaning and maintenance myself. Was just curious as to what others did.

[Lorina14]

@Patricia-Joyce0 

We don’t ask guests to strip the bed or gather used towels. This makes it feel like chores. Leaving the bedding on the beds is easiest for identifying and treating stains. When guests strip the beds inevitably it’s because the bedding is stained. Consider Folex stain remover your new best friend for stains 😉 We ask guests to place trash in the bins in their suites, turn down the heat/turn off the AC, place dishes in the dishwasher (we will run it or wash dishes when they leave) and lock the door. 

For power outages we don’t have a generator, but we provide flashlights and battery lanterns in our suites. We live on site so it is different for hosts that don’t live onsite. If power outages are common in your area you any want to invest in a generator. We recently had a random power outage from 10pm-10am and we apologized, checked in with guests, offered additional lights/candles if needed and proactively provided a discount for the inconvenience. They both appreciated it, said it wasn’t necessary but if I wanted to take a shower and couldn’t at night or in the morning or wanted to make coffee/tea in the AM and couldn’t, it is an inconvenience so we tried to be mindful of that.

When I was a guest and a power outage happened, they came over with flashlights but we were not offered a discount. We did have a 1.5 year old then so it was inconvenient but understandable as these things are unpredictable.