Festival of Hospitality 2023🏡 Fellow Hosts, Your Attitude does impact and influence your Altitude!

[Clara116]

Hosting can be as exciting as an auction sometimes with the fast paced moves of everything, especially other people that you don’t know anything about. With the uncertainty of the outcomes, unknown expectations, how others will react and I’m pretty convinced all of it depends on the Host's attitude that will help determine the altitude and outcomes with our guests.   

As a community leader in Florida I am honored to read the feedback, questions, concerns, also words from hosts with struggles and also words of connections and great joys. 

I am fairly certain most guests want the same thing - they want to feel secure/safe, welcomed in a place that is really clean. (If you immediately thought, what about the scammers? Then, I am certainly talking to you about attitudes. Because I believe how we react and respond to our guests is critical in hosting. 

And it happens to the best of us, hahaha! So with an awesome record and on a happy trip of my over 200 + 5* successes here’s what I encountered with my last guests just this past weekend. 

Stuff happens: Here’s a perfect example for this idea about attitude. We have a cottage in our side backyard, totally private and fenced and also separate from our home. 

Guests arrive at 6pm and I meet them - all are well and good, lovely people - they check in -  coming from the extreme heat of Texas to extreme heat of Florida. Everything was terrific and THEN 2 ½ hrs later I received a message from my guest with a photo of a palmetto bug  - it’s a flying roach-like bug -  from the picture it looks alive on the floor near the window next to the bed in the cottage. Mother and daughter came here to move the daughter in for her first ever college life very far from home.

I am writing exactly what transpired. 

The guest sends a photo and writes: my daughter’s biggest fear is having a roach crawl in her ear. We just killed this one and I flushed it but she’s freaking out now! 

OK - First as her host, what do you think?? What do you do? Because the next 10-20 mins are critical and will certainly impact the outcome of everything. Did you first think of a scam when dealing with a photo and a bug? Be honest with yourself here. 

NO NO, it's no scam, so be careful as that attitude could cost you dearly. 

Here’s what I thought and what I did:

I was immediately shook, upset and could imagine a lot of things. First I was the HOST thinking, dang how’d that happen? ...the luggage carried /rolled inside and how those bugs love to get into the cool, they jump on pant legs, luggage, bags. I personally clean my cottage out back, so I know how sparkling clean it is, I am always on the lookout for bugs and check baseboards and everything. BUT I also know that 2 weeks ago after a new roof was put on I did have some superbug pest control done and there were dead little critters after the treatment. But no live bugs. So I thought long and hard before writing a response - Was this going to be a big stressful deal…? WHAT’S my goal here I thought.  I’ve never in over 6 yrs had such a thing happen - I labored almost 10 mins typing…deleting…typing and and then thought as a GUEST - they are clearly upset, I would be also, and a young teenager with fears is what is critical and her Mother trying to take care of her- that’s what’s most important. So here’s how I responded. 

I wrote:

Oh no…a palmetto bug. They will sneak in when they can but it’s so rare. There was pest control treatment last week. I have some spray but it is very strong. If you want I will come with that spray. What can I do to assure her? This hasn’t happened before.

 Seriously exactly ONE minute later 

Guests writes:

She just was frazzled and worried but she’s settled now. No worries!

I wrote:

I’m so glad to hear that. I too hate bugs and feel for her. Thanks for letting me know. So sorry…hot humid Florida 

I am convinced this could have turned out very differently - if my attitude had been defensive and doubtful and not thinking carefully about the guests and willing to do whatever I needed to do for my guests' comfort and peace. No matter what, I took responsibility and learned from this experience also.  

Checking our attitudes with our guests, with our cleaning people, with our vetting of guests, our responses and interactions and also noticing what is our starting / vantage point will determine our altitude. I mean to say: do we allow a situation to take us to low, stressful places and create worry, fretting and stealing our joy? Or do we begin with an attitude that’s open, flexible and even vulnerable sometimes in order to move through our hosting journeys with more ease and gracefulness? 

I believe hosting is a service and that means SERVE. We must put others first when we serve. That can be huge and a challenging task. However, when we serve with a caring heart we will be rewarded in many small ways, often not apparent or instantly recognized. Hosting continually teaches me about myself, and how best to treat people fairly. 

Surely many of you have moments and some treasured stories to share right here where you also learned or noticed about your attitude and how it impacted a hosting outcome. We can all learn from other stories, ideas and cool hacks. I hope you will share!  

Happy Hosting and High flying, Clara in Florida

Superhost and Community leader/moderator —  Pensacola & Destin area Airbnb Community 

[Bhumika]

Hi @Clara116, Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us! As you said, Hosting truly seems like an adventure with the unknown expectations that may come with it. It is so inspiring to see how you handled the bug situation with such grace, putting your guest's comfort and peace of mind first. 

It is always a joy to read what you have to say and I would like to thank you again for being such a wonderful Host to your guests!

Happy Hosting 🌟🌻🎉 🎊 !!

[Clara116]

@Bhumika 

Thanks so much for your comments and lovely support. 

I love the community center team of managers....all of you are so special and I'm grateful to know each of you!❤️❤️❤️

Many blessings,

Clara

[Bhumika]

The feelings are absolutely mutual @Clara116 😍 ❤️!!!! We are super-grateful to have known a member like you!! ❤️❤️

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Clara116 I couldn't agree more. The attitude of hosts and how they react is critical to how situations develop. I am totally convinced that we always hear about the 0.001% of bad experiences and rarely hear of the 99.999% of great experiences. If hosts are spring loaded to think 'it's a scam' then they will be more likely to escalate a situation than defuse it.

[Clara116]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

Thanks for your comment...glad to know what I was working to say was related.

Happy hosting,

Clara

[Laurelle3]

@Clara116 thank you for sharing how you addressed your bug story. Your positive attitude has won again.  Great to hear from you again.

[Clara116]

@Laurelle3 

Thanks dear for your continued support - means so much. 

hugs, Clara

[Manish100]

Great to hear that how a positive attitude can resolve things quickly with provide satisfaction to guest and host both.

[Manish100]

Thank you for sharing this story. It's great to hear, how a positive attitude can resolve things quickly and provide satisfaction to guest and host both.