New to hosting. Please critique our new listing.

[Kendall12]

Hello! We are excited to be joining the hosting community. We have been traveling with the airbnb community for several years now and have decided to become hosts. An interior designer by trade but a treveler at heart we wanted to mesh the two worlds so we could travel more. 

We started this conversation in order to introduce ourselves as well as getting the experienced communitie's opinions on our listing. We understand that experienced hosts have alot more insight than guests and we care alot about your opinions. 

To look at our listing click HERE!

Also we have a website we created for the listing. Click HERE!

We live in Nashville, TN and have been married for 10 years. We have been all over the globe and stay at an airbnb everytime. We really do see the value of staying with hosts and won't ever stay in a hotel again. My wife has her own interior design business that I recently joined, full time, in order to manage the rapid growth that she has had. We feel like we are adding value to the hosting community with Kendall's design asthetic, my business background, and the understanding that you have to bring something to the table if you want to eat at it. 

If you have any questions about home interiors then we have you covered. 

That about sums it up and we look forward to hearing your opinions about our listing and will be very active in the community. 

Thanks,

Kane and Kendall

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

Welcome @Kendall12 🙂 I love your place, colors, art pieces, decorations and unique furniture. It looks so cheerfull and comfortable 🙂 

The only thing i would change is to to hang tv higher on the wall so it is easier to watch it from the bed. I noticed it because my tv in my bedroom is to low and it gives me a neck pain 🙂

Happy hosting!

[Kendall12]

 Hi @Branka-and-Silvia0 😉 Thank you so much!! I really do appreciate your kind words. 

You really do pay attention to detail. That is a great suggestion about the tv. That is something that my husband and I complain about at other places. We just never thought about it at ours. We will probably put some books underneath for the time being before we wall mount it. 

We have not been to croatia but it is definantely on our list. We will reach out to you when we travel there. 

Cheers,

Kendall

[Linda108]

Your listing serves a dual purpose as it showcases your design aesthetic beautifully, @Kendall12!  Very nice and should attract many guests.  I did notice that your security deposit  is very low for an entire home.  I suggest you increase it to at least $1000 as even the best guests can have and accident and given the very lovely decor you could be out of pocket at lot of money.  With up to 10 people in the house, there is a high potential for accidents.

Do you have a way to confirm that the guests that come are the guests you are expecting?  You place will be attractive to partying even though your rules do not allow.  Because you are a good guest I would think you would expect good guests, but the general public is very different.  

Now that I have been a Debbie Downer :P, I wish you the most success in your new business.

[Kendall12]

Thanks so much @Linda108. We hope it will attract a certain type of guest that appreciates where they stay. I agree with you about the general public. We have anticipated that and are glad you feel the same way. In regards to the security deposit. We agree the secuirty deposit is on the low end. We were coming at it with the perspective the high $$ amount would scare away potential bookings. In your experience has this happened? We are still in the learning phase of course. 

Thanks again for you taking the time to respond!

P.S. La Quinta is beautiful. My husband, Kane, loves to golf and was living in Long Beach a few years back. We love the west coast.

Cheers,

Kendall 

[Linda108]

@Kendall12  Because Air BNB does not collect the Security Deposit, only reserving access in case of a claim, higher Security Deposit helps to put guests on notice that you mean business.  

@Willow3 has given you some great information about how guests can impact your listing.  Maybe you were never a drunk young woman in your early 20's but I was...50 years ago and I did vomit...a lot.  Not a pretty picture, but a realistic one.  After a time you will be able to assess potential guests, but if you are a party house, expect rough treatment.

I think we all want to warn you because you have such a great looking place.  If it was plain and functional, maybe all these hosts wouldn't feel protective.  So you have a booking tomorrow.  I suggest you greet the guests upon check out if possible.  Bring them something to celebrate your first guests and take time to get feedback.  If they are good guests and experienced, they will be happy to give you feedback.  Best teachers about this business are the guests.

Keep us posted.

[Kendall12]

Hey @Linda108. Don't get us wrong we for sure were those 20 somethings at one point too and understand. We do feel the love looking out for our place. Great idea meeting the guest after the stay to bring them something as well as checking in on the place while they are there and get that great feedback. 

We could not agree with you more that our guests are the best teachers in this new business venture. 

Kane and Kendall

[Willow3]

Your place definitely has a particular style and will attract a particular type of guest. Unfortunately - my experience is that it isn’t the guest you actually want. My experience with the instagram obsessed, is they are obsessed with THEIR Instagram, not your house. Not knocking the whippersnappers - I’m one of the few old folks here who actually love millennials! But As a former wedding photographer - I’ve seen too many groups of young women who’ve been drinking - to entice them into my home, lol. 

Your photos give a fun, vibrant PARTY vibe, and one party and all those wonderful details are going to be trashed. You give conflicting info too, great for bachelorette and then state no parties. Second photo is a bar with If my very poor memory serves “wild” neon sign over it - but state no parties. I’d loose both the bar (check your state liquor laws about providing alcohol) and the neon sign. Keep that at home where you can supervise guests. 

[Kendall12]

Thanks for your comments @Willow3. My husband and I have had several discussions about the young crowd. We are trying to attract the bachelorette groups. It sounds like we might to reopen the discussion about who we are trying to attract. While we do love the neon sign you are right about the bar. We have no intention of providing alcohol but yet it is pictured. I feel like this will be an ongoing process of chaging my design mindset into a airbnb hosting mindset. The picture does suggest liquour will be provided. We'll have to adjust that image. Great tip!!

I'm sure you have many cautionary tales being in the wedding industry. We will change the status of "No parties." You're right about the conflicting message part. We do love all of the great items in the house and I guess our nievete that guests would treat our home like we would might hurt us. This seems to be  common topic I have been reading about in the forums so far. Maybe @Linda108 suggestion to increase the deposit will offset this. 

Thanks for your time and honest suggestions. They are much appreciated. 

Cheers,

Kendall

[Willow3]

@Kendall12 - There is absolutely a different mindset of hosting. I think your space could be an amazing bachelorette party venue, IF someone were on site during the parties. But unattended, I fear the worst. 

Another thing I noticed as a former housekeeper, and now an old woman who has been cleaning her own home for many many many years, your housekeeper is going to hate you.  And if you clean yourself, you will quickly hate yourself, lol. 

[Kendall12]

Hi @Willow3. We will be doing the cleaining ourselves and then transition to someone else so we know what to expect from the third party cleaner. I guess that we have underestimated the cleaning time commitment but I guess we will see. Our first booking is tomorrow. 

Thanks again for sharing your experiences. 

Kendall

[Josie-and-Paul0]

I have to agree with Willow about the cleaning. Whilst you have a beautiful house which was my first thought, my next thought was “too much stuff”. Maybe scale back some of the decor? I would leave the photos as is but pack away certain things that you could use later as spare/back up. 

Beautiful interiors though cannot be left unsaid! 🙂

[Kendall12]

Hey @Josie-and-Paul0 we have seen quite a few people comment so far to scale back the decor a bit. Having over 10 years of design experience and really wanting to showcase that with this place it is hard to scale back. You all have valid points and once the guest leaves after tomorrow we will assess and then move forward with "my version" of scaling back ;). 

Thanks for your kind comment about our place. We have put alot of love and time into it. 

K&K

[Gordon0]

First and foremost, Kane and @Kendall12, it's an amazing place you've got there, a real 'lifestyle' offering. But on Googling what a 'Bachelorette' is, I'm scared for you (and your beautiful home). Unless that is you're going for a very hi-end version of the said groups.

There's just so much that can be broken, mislaid or even pocketed. I'm imagining Prosecco fizzing over your books, jute mat and worse!

Personally, I think it's too 'accessorised' for the market you are going for. 

Weirdly, the one thing that stuck out from a design perspective was that your 'main' couch doesn't face the TV and will make for crooked necks. 

I love the dining chairs; we had them in the 80s (when I was a teen) and I though they were the epitome of cool!

Good luck.

[Kendall12]

Hi @Gordon0! That's so funny that you googled 'bachelorette.' What would be your version of 'bachelorette' in the UK? We are going for the higher end group. Everything is great in theory but we'll have to wait and see. We are glad that you like it.

That's so cool you had the same chairs when your were a teen. We still believe they are the epitome of cool 😉 You have a valid point about the couch and when you turn the tv it is not so bad. We have tested it ourselves but you never know. We could get a comment from a guest about it. 

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to take a look. 

On a side note....Kendall and I visit France quite often but have not made it to the UK. We will visit sooner than later. 

Cheers,

Kane and Kendall