Tip of the week 2: Welcoming guests

[Jenny]

As we continue with theTip of the Week series, I'm delighted to share this week’s tip on welcoming guests! The first impression can be very important, therefore, the tip shared today, will give you some insights to boost that experience ✨

The following tip was shared by Superhost @Lenore22  in Welcoming guests with gift baskets and kits

"We work to establish ourselves in a higher bracket of hospitality. With this in mind, we offer a pretty good gift basket that gets a lot of compliments in reviews ". 

On this thread, we invite you to share your valuable tips on which actions you take to provide a lovely experience for your guests upon welcoming them to your home 🏡 

Tell us how you make welcoming guests special. Do you, as Lenore suggested, also make an effort to learn whether any of the visitors are celebrating an anniversary or a birthday to add an extra special touch to the welcome?

We’re excited to hear and learn from you all. Let's gather the best practices for ensuring a great guest experience, and don’t forget to give a thumbs up👍 to the best tips shared. 😊

👉 TOTW series

[Wende2]

If they let me know they've arrived, or are close I always introduce myself, let them know where to find the key and such.  I used to bake vegan chocolate chip cookies, but I stopped when covid came to town.  Now it's been snack size bags, of 3 choices of Skinny Pop popcorn instead.  Bottled water in the fridge, several select favored teas to make and 2 options for coffee.  If they mention a special occasion, I'll leave some locally handmade Belgium chocolates, with a card.  Over summer I also leave fresh flowers from my garden.  And if this counts, the tv is always set to the weather channel. Being in nature is what my guests come here for, shame Nature Lovers still is not a category. 

WHY is that.?!!

[Anne12176]

I think these are all really great ideas! Like that you leave the tv set to weather - that would be useful for our Yosemite area where being caught off guard could ruin your outing.

[Claudia3014]

Vino 

y snacks ❣️

[Anne12176]

We’ll, we try to pamper our guests!  When a guest reveals a stay is for a special occasion I leave a bottle of Sparkling Apple juice & card.  I also leave every guest a nice welcome basket including a large U bake bread, mini jams, pancake mix and maple syrup so they don’t need to rush out to get groceries.  There’s beverages, dairy, mayo etc in the fridge for same reason and all bathrooms include sets of mini necessary personal care products just like hotels.  Most guests have had a long drive and are very tired so eliminating any ‘I forgot or need to buy item seem to help out’.  Our front entry light turns on automatically for late arrivals and we have a Sensi AP that allows us to heat or cool the home remotely in advance from any location. I always include gas or charging locations, suggestions for local area attractions with directions, and our home has my Bay Area artwork hanging on every wall to personalize the home and make them feel ‘at home like any friend or guests would be’. There’s also a big screen TV/Alexa, and a swing seat on the deck to watch the deer or evening shooting stars in our dark sky near Yosemite.

[Jenny]

Amazing, @Anne12176! Your guests must be really grateful to be able to relax after a long trip, even if they've forgotten something.

[Anne12176]

Thanks Jenny, yes guests tell me they like all the extras and like my small short notes left to help answer key questions like where to locate extra pillows, towels, USB charger, etc. 

[Hilario--Benedito-Honora0]

Hey All👋 

Nice to get here.

Firstly, I always like to know time of arrival & mode of transportation to our Villa.

Secondly, check whether they have any celebrations 🍾 🎂 

Thirdly, if they like any Homely Goan Delicatessen, which is prepared to perfection🥰, off course meals are at extra cost!

These additional always makes my Guests feel Good 👍 

[Jenny]

These are really thoughtful gestures @Hilario--Benedito-Honora0! 

What kind of Goan meals do you provide?

[Jozi6]

We prepare a basket of fruits of the season and give  our guests at check in . We realized they really appreciate this gesture 

[Jenny]

That's a wonderful way to welcome your guests @Jozi6! What fruits are in season for you at the moment?

[Becky452]

I message the guest on the day of arrival and ask eta. Because I'm long distance, I call the guest and provide a tour of the home over the phone. 

[Jenny]

That's a great way to get around not being physically at the listing!  Do you have a video call @Becky452, or do you do a voice only walk through?

[Becky452]

Hi Jenny, I do a regular phone call, no video 🙂 I tour them through the interior (living area, kitchen laundry), and exterior (parking, backyard, trash bin) of the home.

[Richard2356]

We own a little 850 SF cottage, totally renovated a few years back, and it only sleeps 2. We get a lot of anniversaries, birthdays and honeymooners and if they mention when they book, we leave an appropriate card for the occasion. I do calligraphy so the envelop will say the appropriate occasion in a  nice script in calligraphy. We also leave fresh flowers for every guest and I let my housekeeper take the old ones, which are usually still fresh, and she takes them to her mom. 

Link to listing: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/44572372

We always handmake a special Christmas ornament for close family members so when we started this property in AirBnB, we decided to do a special ornament for our guests. We make Christmas themed ornaments out of wine corks and they are dressed up "snowman" and "snowwoman" and since we live in Blue Ridge GA and Fannin county, we call the guy snowman "Blue" and the girl one "Fannie."  They go into a special white 4"x4" white box with tissue paper stuffing and on top of the box is the story about Blue and Fannie and how they look forward to traveling home with the guests.  Soooooooo many comments we get on Blue and Fannie. They get one or the other, not one of each. 

I am an Ambassador and a few years ago AirBnB sent the Ambassadors a SOMA Double Wall Glass Tea and Coffee Cold Brew Bottle. Pretty cool gift and we started using it to make cold brewed coffee. We liked it so much, I called the company and ordered 100 of them and we live one for every guest as a gift. Can't remember when we started giving those away but we have about 50 remaining. Guests love it. And I wrote it all off as marketing expense. 

[Anne12176]

I love your cottage set up and the colors and style you choose - has a very upscale and clean inviting look! Nice.