New to the Community Center? Introduce yourself here (Updated)

[Lizzie]

Hello everyone,

A warm welcome to the Community Center. 

This discussion is for introducing yourself to your fellow Airbnb Community members, as well as welcoming and saying hello to newcomers in return. Thanks to all of you who have already introduced yourself and contributed in our previous thread, here.  

I'm Lizzie and I am the Community Manager here, along with my teammate @Quincy. I have been managing the Airbnb Community Center since it officially opened in November 2015. It is fantastic to speak with amazing community members here. 

To kickstart this topic, I would like to share a few things about myself:

1. I love to travel, hot or cold it doesn't matter - I'm ready with my sun lotion or a raincoat! 
2. I play several instruments, but my main one is the flute. I always enjoy a good conversation about music. 
3. Lastly, over the past year I have become very interested in all things eco/sustainablilty related.

How about you? Any interesting facts or hobbies?

I'm looking forward to hearing from you. 

Lizzie

[Dawnett1]

My husband and I moved from Tulsa, OK to Stillwater, OK - home of the Oklahoma State University (OSU) Cowboys and Cowgirls! in Sept 2015. I had not heard of AirBnb before our move. We purchased a home on 7 acres that includes a 700 square foot one bedroom cottage house with a nice living area and kitchenette. In late April 2016 I listed the cottage on AirBnB and in no time had my first guest. I quickly obtained Superhost status and have maintained that status. We do our own cleaning as well. 

We live in a college town and I work at the university. Many of our guests are visiting due to something going on at OSU but I am often surprised at the guests that we get that have nothing to do with the university. We have had several guests that are in between houses, visiting family or attending events in the area. 

I try to make homemade cookies for all our guests. My husband and I like to go antiquing and junk shopping. We find treasures that need rescuing and use them to decorate the cottage. Because we are in a college town the theme has gotten a bit away from cowboys and indians because people think I need OSU Cowboy stuff in there. I have nice Native American prints on the walls along with wall hangings my husband has made with old barn wood and old horse collar, spurs, barbed wire, etc.. Guests often comment on how well they like the decorations, most of which I spent less than $5 on or already had, and how comfortable the place is.

Occassionally I spend the night in the cottage to make sure the bed is comfy and everything is up to our standards. I can't tell you how many times over the 29 years we've been married that we have stayed at a bed and breakfast and sat and said "if this was ours we would do _____". Now we have that chance and are thoroughly enjoying it. We have not had a truly bad guest but we also aren't in a high tourist area like many on here are. 

We offer a nice, comfortable country setting and it is now rare that we go a week or two with out a weekend booking. Some dates that are high demand like graduation and homecoming are booked a year out or when the football schedule is released and we get many repeat customers. The income isn't something we count on but has allowed us to travel more!

I look forward to reading others stories!

Dawnett 

[Meridith2]

Hi fellow POKES!

I’m a fellow “cowgirl” and I’ve been a Super Host in Oklahoma City for two years now and have found it so rewarding and fun! 

Sounds like you have a wonderful spot to stay and I”m sure you do stay filled up a great deal of the time with all the activities surrounding the University.

Being in Oklahoma City, I didn’t know what to expect when I first began this journey 2 years ago. Would I even have guest! Well, I’ve had the greatest guests and many of them come back monthly or every time they come to Oklahoma City. Such a joy to have them.

Everyone that has stayed with me have something special in their lives going on. For instance, one family was welcoming their surrogate baby into the world and stayed for a week before birth and 2 weeks after the birth of their baby daughter. Other’s have been there for graduations, wedding celebrations and some needed a place to gather with family to mourn the loss of a dear one. The common thread I see in each of my guests is the comment of how my home feels like “home away from home”.

I’m happy to read all the stories of hosts as yourselves and how I can become an even better host!

Meridith/OKC

[Valerie591]

Hello All,

I'm Valerie from California.  I have been hosting about 4 years now and I really LOVE it.  I've had a dream of having a business like this for over 20 years, but I had no idea of where or how to start and build on it.  Thanks to ABNB I now have a fully functioning Victorian in the Bay Area with a small staff!!  Plus I was able to retire a bit earlywith the extra income.

I'm now starting an online store specifically related to our business  where Hosts like ourselves can shop for items we need all in one place.  .

Stay tuned ❤️

[Meridith2]

Valerie, when you get that online store going....be sure to let everyone know so we can support you in your new business and be helped at the same time! Meridith

[Cal14]

Hi, I am Cal, from Mauritius. I love travelling and reading. I have beautiful flats in one of the best ares of Mauritius, in the North, between pristine beaches and nice eating places and the  best French bakery of the island. I wish these exchanges can improve the way lessors and hosts can find beneficial advice and other tips. THANK YOU

[Angela1330]

Hi Everyone

My name is Angela. I started as an Airbnb host in February 2016. I started with one and now have four properties listed on Airbnb. They are all in the quirky northern English town of Holmfirth 

Since launching on Airbnb I have been fortunate to receive a Superhost award every quarter. It always gives me a massive boost every time I am given the award, this has been especially important to me, as I have had a challenging time personally over the last few years.

I started as a host so that I could spend time with my Mum, as my Dad had just died and my Mum wasn’t coping very well. So I gave up my full time job as CEO of a charity, found a part-time local job with another charity and bought four small properties using all my savings with the intention of supplementing my income.  

I launched the first one on Airbnb and was blown away with how busy we were straight away. I had to ditch the part time job and hosting became more than a full time job for both me and my Mum and I have been flat out ever since.

It has been a very steep learning curve as I had no hospitality, cleaning nor ironing experience at all when I started. Mum trained me how to clean and iron on the job.  Initially it took both of us six hours to turn one cottage around (two of them are three storeys and they all have quirky period features which make them tough to clean) and we would be frantically trying to finish in time for the guests arriving.

Sadly Mum was taken seriously ill in March 2018.  This presented a massive challenge, as not only did I loose a key worker, I also had to become a full time carer for her, so we were effectively down two people and we still had guests booked in to stay with us.

Initially I continued on my own, getting virtually no sleep and just bought more bedding and towels etc to save time, taking on lots of debt to do so.

Once Mum was out of the critical period I found local people to clean the properties for us. We had some real ups and downs with this.  I have used four different local people all of whom don’t drive and walk to the properties and all of whom were unemployed and desperately needed the money.  

Quality control then became a real issue as they weren’t initially able to deliver to our high standards. Several times two of them completely let us down, not turning up at all, or arriving late. So I had to step in and turn the property around with Mum sitting in the car for hours (she was no longer able to get into any of the properties due to her mobility issues.)

But we now have one really reliable cleaner who is a single parent and she has welcomed guests for us as well on occasion. We also have all the washing and drying of the bedding, towels and robes carried out by a wonderful lady in our local laundrette.

Sadly Mum was taken suddenly critically ill again at the end of last year and she died in January. Once again we still had guests booked in and their holiday couldn’t be impacted... Having reliable support meant we were able to struggle along.

In summary, it’s been tough, and we have had lots of challenges along the way.

I cannot tell you about my interests etc as I haven’t had any time to do anything other than host guests and care for my Mum since we started hosting.

We are still using the cleaner full time and the laundrette, as it didn’t seem fair for them to loose their jobs.  Losing Mum’s income (she lives with us, so there is no house to sell) has meant we are struggling financially. So for the first time yesterday we opened part of our own home to our Airbnb guests. My Husband has been really against this, but needs must...

Going forward once I have sorted all Mum’s things out I should have more time to get involved with the Airbnb community and have a life again.

It would be really great to meet up with other Airbnb hosts locally, to share ideas and support each other.  I have met a few over the last three years, just by bumping into them in the  street (or when they have stayed with us) and have been able to help out and take a booking when one of them had a surprise holiday booked for them and couldn’t host and I have been able to refer guests when we have been fully booked.

I live in Penistone and the properties are in Holmfirth and would love to hear from any local hosts who are interested in meeting up in person. I am always envious when I read that other hosts have been invited to local Airbnb events. I have only been invited to the Airbnb conference in the US in 2017, I would have loved to have gone, but we already had guests booked in and I couldn’t leave them or Mum.

Must dash now or I won’t be ready for today’s guests! Looking forward to becoming an active member of this community.

Cheers

Angela 

[Brenda425]

Hi my name is Brenda and I am a potter who just moved to Nova Scotia Canada and  set up a duplex for 2 Air BnBs, they are Airbnb's during the summer and student rentals from Sept til end of April. I am now opening a full Bed and Breakfast 30min outside of Halifax so life has been busy as I only moved here in June 2018. I am hoping things will settle into a rhythm and am excited to see what comes next. I traveled from British Columbia to Nova Scotia in a 13 foot Boler Trailer with my 140 pound Great Dane, Ellie Mae and my large Shih Tzu, Koko aka The Boss.

[Jacques343]

Hi everyone

I'm Jacques.

I host an architectural walking tour in Melbourne, Australia.

I've had a great time introducing both locals and interstate/overseas visitors to the city I grew up in.

Sucess to all!

[Gail262]

hi all! I live in Phoenix,  AZ and i am a Laundry Provider for Laundry Care. we provide affordable 48 hour laundry turn around! I am introducing myself here to offer my services to any hosts or guests that may need my service! please specifically request Gail Marks on www.laundrycare.biz  Thanks you! 

gailmarks18@gmail.com

[Lara276]

Hello! I am in the Northern California wine country. I am brand new to Airbnb hosting (have literally had one guest so far) but have stayed at several Airbnb's over the past few years and have loved my Airbnb stays. I can see that this community forum is a wonderful way to learn about hosting. I am happy to have this resource - it's clear there are very intelligent, insightful people here. I look forward to learning from the Community. I am not yet sure if hosting is right for me mainly because I do not have a private entrance scenario and for myself as a guest I would personally never stay any place without that feature. I am a private person so having strangers in my home is a bit daunting. So the jury's out on whether this will really work for me in my current home, but in the meantime I feel honored to be part of this community of hosts. 

All the best! - Lara

[Shelley181]

Hello from Bradenton, Florida. I started travelling with Airbnb in Ireland 2016 and fell in love instantly. Became a host within 6 months afterwards. Still travel a lot with the site - Canada, Europe, US - makes it affordable and I meet so many interesting people!!

Work from home on a computer, which makes my Airbnb perfect most days. Love to provide guests with their perfect, clean vacation spot. I see many people from all parts of the globe - really cool!! Best part of Airbnb.

I am an empty nester. Live alone unless my kids decide to visit aside their busy lives. Airbnb fills that void to be honest. 

Nice to meet all of you, Shelley 

[Melanie540]

My name is Melanie or Rev Melanie. I use air bnb when traveling for weddings. Most properties have been lovely and most hosts very friendly. I always leave their place better than I found it and appreciate all their kind recommendations 

[Emerson26]

Hi,
I would like to express my frustration about the cancelling of my reservation almost a 30days previous to my check in date and being denied by the host my pay,ent back even dough the apartment is already booked to somebody else.
In this case I am the only one loosing money, in the other hand the host gets paid twice and feel the right to keep money that they do not deserve as my cancelation did cause any lost to him.
How Airbnb can support hosts robbery, it is not fare and this must be changed, hosts have to stop of hiding under the strict they are hosts they are there to make money, which I understand, I just really how would you feel if a thief get to your house and and rob you? And you go to the police and the police officer tells you , well they are thief’s they just want to make money, it is nothing that we can do.

Seriously, that is ridiculous, please let’s change this and make the Airbnb experience pleasant and trustable for both host and guests.

Kind regards

[Ana1136]

@Emerson26 what kind of cancelation policy did the host have? 

[Emerson26]

Hi. Ana, it is. Not about the policy even fough it was strict, i just think it is not fare when a guest cancells 30 days in advance, and the guest already. Have rented the apartment to somebody else and does not return the deposit, as the host have not lost anything, and for not having principles and moral, get paid twice when they didn t have any lost,  but guest in who lost.

the policies have to change, any money should be returned to the guest if the listing have been rented and did not incurr anylost for the host