[Celebration] The Gift of Giving

[Laurelle3]

The gift of giving to me is caring and sharing and making a connection with our Airbnb guests. It is my way of communicating my feelings that we appreciate them staying with us.

Maybe I am different in that I like to give and not always take. Maybe it was my upbringing in that my parents had shown and influenced us of their values, beliefs, and behaviours.

Generosity has always been part of my lifestyle and my approach to Airbnb hosting. By opening my home to others gives me joy, happiness, and a sense of wellbeing.

When I first started hosting, I decided to give a hamper of breakfast foods to get the guests started. This idea was taken from our experience of being Airbnb guests in 2014 in the UK and we shared hosts homes breakfast was supplied.

This is our Welcome Hamper that we give to our guests after introductions I give them the hamper and explain that it is a gift to get them started as most of our guests have a travelled for a minimum 2 hours. My rationale it is a gift, an Ice Breaker and that we are prepared to go above and beyond their expectations and we hope they have a memorable stay.

However, I am sure they have read it past reviews, but they are surprised with the quantity and presentation.

Hamper contents for 2 Guests:

The approximate cost of the Hamper food comes out to be approximately $28.00 for 2 Guests. We add extra for each extra Guests but we do charge $25.00 per extra person per night with a minimum of 2 nights. Sometimes food is left because our guests eat out or they are Vegetarians and they have packed their own food.

We consider this token of the Hamper Gift is our extension of friendship and welcome to our Guests.

The Gift of Giving is extended to children staying in our Airbnb.

To me children are an important part of the family as they represent a shared connection of love and togetherness. Children are the future of our Airbnb business, and we share or show our values of family traditions and their well-being.

When I hear their laughter or tears it tells me we are all in this together. I love seeing their inquisitive faces around the garden enjoying nature and discovering items in the garden. We have set aside a small area with Shaun the Sheep, shells, metal insects, a bird house with a small Blue Wren, mosaiced balls amongst the plants.

The private garden where Shaun the Sheep lives:

We try to cater for families by providing the extras for example, a Porta cot, highchair, baby bath. These are on request, but I offer these if I think the child’s age is indicated.

Other items that I provide I consider as a gift are; cot linen and disposable cot mattress protector, nappy bin, baby wash for bath, baby wipes, children’s crockery children’s eating utensil and a night light. I provide these items to make life easier for the parents as often something is left behind.

Hosting to me is Caring and Sharing.

What I enjoy is creating a memorable experience that goes beyond accommodation and I try to make the child or children feel welcomed and special during their stay.

This is where my other love of crafting and sewing comes into play. A colouring book is made with their name on and a small gift that may be bought or made by us. I consider it a small gesture that can leave a lasting impression and contribute to an experience to remember.

A collection of items we have made are below.

Lastly, We try to make the parents stay hassel free because the saying is

Happy Child Happy Parent in the end the review is what is passed on to the next Guest.

These are my garden friends that come to visit.

[Warren246]

@Laurelle3 Yes, it's a great idea to give your guests a lovely gift for Christmas. It's difficult for me to do something similar, as I'm in Australia and my Airbnb is in Phuket Thailand. So I contacted my Guests who check out on Christmas Day, and asked them what time was their flight, they said 8pm. As my next Guests were not arriving until the 27th, I gave my cleaner Christmas Day off and gave my Guests a check out at 5pm, which is the time they had to leave for the Airport. They were very happy and grateful and appreciative of my Christmas Gift.

[Laurelle3]

@Warren246 thinking of you as an Airbnb Host it is great that you found a way of the Gift of Giving even as you are managing your property from Downunder.

I am sure your guest appreciated it. 

Warren there's no one example that is set in concrete of the Gift of Giving. Each Airbnb Host will or should find a small way to do this. It should costs nothing or any amount you decide that you can afford and you found a way which was your style.

One of my sayings that I learnt in life is Sharing is Caring whether it is a family member, neighbour or our Airbnb Guest. Take care.

Laurelle from Downunder.

[Ed419]

Yeah @Laurelle3 , we give a little gift souvenir for all of our guests. Everyone seems to really enjoy them. Say a little basket with some souvenirs to remember their stay.

[Marie8425]

@Laurelle3  @Quincy 

I thought your post great  and informative.  I even suggest to a newbie in the Business Listing Forum to read for  a good perspective of how to create an environment not  just a rental.   Maybe @Quincy can promote your advice for newbies.

[Bhumika]

That's a great tip @Marie8425 ! We'll surely try to share this amazing and informative post to the new members visiting our Community 😍🌻.

[Marie8425]

@Bhumika @Laurelle3 

I shared again today.  A newbie with a beautiful home for rent.  Her pictures focused on displaying cleanliness which isn't bad but no display of warm and welcoming.  I told her this post was great advice, I am using to revigorated my rentals

[Bhumika]

Thank you @Marie8425 ! 🌻🤗

[Marie8425]

@Bhumika 

I  don't know how, but I am sure you could like copy this post and post on the Listings and Business Support pages.  I  think verry  valuable advice.

[Bhumika]

@Marie8425 , That's a really thoughtful suggestion🤩 ! Thank you for sharing🌻

Unfortunately, keeping the content aspect in mind, we usually avoid duplicate content for our community's overall user experience. Therefore, we won't be able to replicate this particular post. However, our team is excited to encourage new hosts to visit and benefit from this wonderful post, as you suggested earlier 😍

[Laurelle3]

@Marie8425 you too have the sharing and caring to fellow Newbie Hosts. Spreading the word of Airbnbing is not just one side of the street. Take care and thank you for your thoughts.

Laurelle  

[Marie8425]

@Laurelle3 Just bumping you to the top again,  I love your advice

[Laurelle3]

@Marie8425  I am now a Moderator/ Co-Odinator of our South Coast (NSW) Airbnb Group. So I am now taking advice, ideas from Airbnb Hosts who share an issue that may affect our Hosts in our FB group. 

I always promote our host to look at the World Community Forum and add the address/link to topics for them to read for themselves. As they say you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink.

[Alexandro111]

Yes I do this as well but some basic items, chip, instant Mac and cheese, coffee. Something small for a quick snack when people are hangry goes a long way! Under 5 dollars a stay is worth it.