Are we really all this unhappy?

[Robin4]

I have had just one review in the last 50 that wasn't 5 star, I have had a wonderful collection of guests stay in our listing cottage over the past few months. One guest couple even walked up the driveway with a bunch of flowers for Ade, a bottle of wine for me and a packet of Schmako's for Betts, before they even set foot in the cottage!

For me hosting has been the grandest of experiences and I hope that new hosts here can gain some strength from that and not be disillusioned by all the problem posts we see here!

Other things that makes me happy just now, we are in Autumn, a season I love. Each day I go out on the bike to keep the Kgs down and offset the red wine consumption, and I cycle 20-25 Kms a day and doing this makes me realise the beauty of where I live.

This is a bit of the cycle path I do every day......

Some days I have the energy and I cycle up to our local Botanic gardens.....

The other thing is, Ade and I have hit 50 years of marriage (to each other) and this month the whole family are getting together in an Airbnb farmstay (with the owners blessing) to celebrate this milestone. The grandies can ride horses, feed Alpacas and pat chickens, while our girls tell us everything we did wrong in bringing them up.....in jest!

I bring all this up because, life is pretty good.......I bit*h on about a lot of things here that I feel need fixing but the reality is, Airbnb are helping give me a great lifestyle. I think I have learned to use Airbnb to my advantage, I expect nothing and I am prepared to accept what they offer.....and it works!

Are we all really that unhappy......no, I am not, each month I am loving where I am, and I hope other hosts are too. In reality, I do have a bit to thank Airbnb for!  

Cheers........Rob

[Laura2592]

Congrats and I think you have great perspective 🙂

I have to say for me, I am not unhappy per se with being a host. But I do find that the longer I do it, the more of a break I need. My life is full of opportunities for emotional labor and dealing with bad human behavior (the day job, my various businesses, etc) so I do get burnt out. An introvert by nature, I definitely need time to step away and recharge. 

[Ute42]

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@Robin4    

You did it again: You said something positive about airbnb 😎

You ask:

• Are we really all this unhappy?

I personally am not unhappy, I'm fine. I have a great relationship with all of my family members, I don't have any trouble with my neighbours, I hardly have trouble with my husband, I don't have any financial problems and I'm making money with my cottage. So there's not much left to complain about in my life.

• Who started this complaining?

We all have a tool called dashboard. If You take a look at it You'll find a section in wich airbnb tells us what objectives we have to achieve, they show us percentages as to what extend we have reached the goals, and if we do not reach these goals, they are threatening us to remove us from search results. Airbnb is criticizing us 24/7

Also, there is something called „reviews“ on airbnb. Guests are complaining all the time in their reviews about something, in most cases triggered by the fact that they didn't read the listing description.

Us, the hosts, did not start complaining. Airbnb and the guests did.

You said that one guest couple brought flowers for Aide and a bottle of wine for You. That happened to me several times as well, and these were not airbnb-guests. The reason that You have all these positive experiences with airbnb-guests is, that airbnb is almost the only platform You are doing business with.

I started renting my place 19 years ago. Airbnb didn't even exist at that time. I started listing on airbnb in 2018, up untill then I had already hosted thousands of guests, had all kind of positive experiences with said guests and in 2018 I already was in the top 3 out of 700 vacation rentals in my area. I don't have to „thank“ airbnb for anything. I was successful before they existed and I will be successful after they get bought up by Amazon.

Why should we praise airbnb all the time? Because they a refering guests to us and forward the guests money to our bankaccounts? Well, that's their job, that's what they are getting their service fee for.

• Did I ever have a major problem with airbnb? No.

• Did airbnb ever have a major problem with me? No.

Should we really praise each other when business is just „as expected“? Shouldn't we reserve praising the company for situations when things are "better that expected" or "much better than expected?

• Are we all really that unhappy?

Robin, people who complain on this forum are not unhappy people. They complain because there is something to complain about. If there would be nothing to complain about, noone would complain.

Cc: @Laura2592 @Branka-and-Silvia0 @Debra300 @Angela1056 @Emiel1 @Ann72 

[Sandra856]

@Ute42 Should we really praise each other when business is just „as expected“? Shouldn't we reserve praising the company for situations when things are "better that expected" or "much better than expected? 😅😅

[Kath9]

@Robin4your cycle path looks wonderful! Happy, happy 50th anniversary to you and Ade! Have a fabulous family get together (and be sure to thoroughly read the house rules!).

[Robin4]

@Kath9 

Hahahaha.....Yeah I was really conscious about the party aspect Kath, and how that would look to another host.

I had a quite long conversation with the host, sent her pictures of everyone that would be attending and she has been right onboard with this. Mind you at close to $500 per night we are both expecting a bit of each other, but she is turning on some treats for the Grandies and I am sure we are in for a wonderful few days. Being close to the snowfields we might even get in a day of skiing.😀

I have got 11 nights blocked off here with a guest coming in the day before I return but, the woman who helps me with cleaning the cottage is going to do the check-in so I don't see any problems there.

Yes Kath, I will make sure  I follow the house rules to the letter!

Cheers.......Rob 

[Angelica-Y-Jorge0]

@Robin4 Congratulations on your 50th your area of the world looks like a dream come true.

I love your perspective! I agree Airbnb is a great company as long as you do not expect too much. If you change your way of thinking you become much happier with the company. I know they have changed the way they do things over the years and this upsets many people. I hope they can find that happy spot to make everyone feel they belong again.

[Robin4]

@Angelica-Y-Jorge0 

Thanks Jorge, in our part of the world we don't have a lot to complain about!

That's a very true comment of yours....If you change your way of thinking you become much happier with the company. 

In a way expectations are a curse, they lull you into a false sense of security and when reality sets in, the let down is so much harder to take. We look for someone to take it out on. Better if we didn't have those expectations in the first place....ignore the company hype!

Look for nothing out of Airbnb except to receive their guests and hosting payments, and the chances are your hosting career will be a long and happy one.

Cheers........Rob

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Robin4  Happy anniversary to you and Ade ! 🕊🕊 ❤️ ❤️ 🙂 I hope you will enjoy your family reunion

[Robin4]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 

Thanks Branka, it will be a lovely few days, we all get along really well despite the tyranny of distance! It would be lovely if they were just around the corner but......they are 1,400 Kms away and photos of them are not like being able to give them a cuddle.

I did once contemplate moving over to the East Coast but, we love it here. We have done a huge amount of travelling but, although it sounds parochial, nowhere beats the beauty of the Adelaide hills and the great relaxed lifestyle we have.

The hills are dotted with towns like this, our neighbour Stirling's main street.....

We are a community, we all look after each other, each year I stage a street dinner for the street we live in, and we have a lovely blend with nature. Where else on earth can you have a resident Koala every now and then!

We have had guests who have been absolutely enthralled and amazed that this animal will waddle up the path as though he/she owned the property.  It's only on loan to us though, every now and then a fox will roam into the area and the Koala will move on....they do not mix well together!

I just feel so lucky to be a part of this and my hope is that I can still have a good few years here to enjoy it!

Cheers.......Rob 

[Fred13]

Happiness is dependent on one's perspective, which is dependent on one's wisdom, which is ultimately dependent on one's nature.

Be gone for a while, safe journeys in the meantime. 

[Robin4]

@Fred13 

Thanks mate, and what a great quote.....I will put that one in my memory banks!

Cheers.......Rob

[Robin4]

@Fred13 

Fred after a considerable amount of time and research, lots of cross referencing I have managed to come across your early attempt at getting Bird Island listed with Airbnb!

It's nice to look back on where we have come from mate, isn't it!!

Cheers........Rob

[Liv]

@Robin4 Congratulations to you and Ade 😊  I hope you have a great time with your family.

That cycle path looks lovely btw! 🍁

[Suzanne302]

@Robin4  If only more people could adopt your attitude! Great thoughts! Happy 50th to you and Ade!