How far are your guests willing to walk?

[Laura2592]

Talking with a friend who hosts in a major urban area in the US. She said that she sometimes gets so so "location" scores because guests aren't willing to walk more than a block or two.  Her space is close to some pretty major attractions but not close to the true city center which is about a mile round trip (1.6 kilometer) or 5 blocks each way. Of course this is all clearly stated in the listing.  Her space is in a great area and she has high rating overall but some guests are upset at what they say is "driving distance." And parking is a bear where she's at.

Personally I love walking as long as I'm not caught in a blizzard or wearing uncomfortable shoes.  Do you find that guests are reluctant to walk? How far is "walking distance" for you?  

[Laura2592]

@Anonymous my friend often tells the story of the baby boomer couple who showed up in a bright red Porsche (she doesn't have dedicated parking and it's the luck of the draw on the street.  All explained in the listing and in her check in email. ) They pouted and parked illegally,  the car was booted, they refused to pay and then demanded free nights because they had to go to thr city to argue how unfair it was and the office they needed wasn't open until after their check out day. They asked that she provide transportation for them during their stay as well.  She did offer an Uber to the nearest hotel  🙂

[Anonymous]

@Laura2592  New sitcom concept:  "Porsche Karen" starring Lisa Kudrow. I think you just wrote the pilot!

[Angelica-Y-Jorge0]

@Laura2592 We have our place in Mazatlan, Mexico we are a 3-minute walk to the Malecon or 3 minutes to Central Park. I see our guests out and about everywhere sometimes walking hours away from our place. We have never had a complaint. I think it all depends on the weather, air quality and scenery. 

We are in the middle of an expansion and when we are done we will include bicycles for our guests to use.

[Emiel1]

Some of my guest were already exhausted after walking up the stairs to their room...🤔

[Susan653]

I'm enjoying this discussion because I sometimes wonder how this comes across to my guests. We're a little over a mile from downtown Mystic, where the shops, restaurants (Mystic Pizza), bascule bridge, etc. are. This is no biggie for me; as a matter of fact, I get cranky if I don't have time to walk to downtown and have to bring my car and try to park. I understand, however, that plenty of guests aren't necessarily willing or able to walk into town, so I give the approximate distance and label it "walkable," since it IS walkable for some people, but not for others. There aren't sidewalks for about a third of the route, but it's a spectacular ramble along the river and through the historic district and many guests who are runners, walkers and/or nature lovers have enjoyed it. I think I had a couple of reviews that said it was "too far" to walk and one who complained about the lack of sidewalks, but that's about it.

Nothing to do with walking, but I'm always surprised that I don't get more kayakers. The boat launch is just down the road and people who travel with their 'yaks could drive there in a minute flat.