New to the Community Center? Introduce yourself here ‌👇

[Bhumika]

Hello everyone! 😊

Welcome to the Community Center! 👋  I'm @Bhumika , one of the Community Managers for our English Community Center along with my lovely team members @Quincy @Paula @Rebecca  and @Sophia and we are thrilled to have you join us.

Let's kickstart this thread with a little about us Community Managers:

@Quincy : I'm from the Netherlands 🇳🇱 I have been on the Community Center for 6+ years, and have been an Airbnb Host myself. I love cycling🚲, playing football⚽, and travelling🌏 . I love how dynamic and diverse the Community Center is as we meet Hosts from all around the globe. 

@Bhumika :  🌍 I was born in Gujarat, India 🇮🇳 , and shifted to Toronto, Canada 🇨🇦 last year! 📷 I recently realized my love for photography and aesthetics. I love to capture mundane life and candid pictures. 🌆 When I'm not working, you'll find me binge-watching thriller movies or exploring history.

@Paula : I am from Colombia 🇨🇴 and currently living in British Columbia, Canada 🇨🇦. I have a passion for Latin American culture (I love to dance 💃) . I've had the opportunity to visit around 20 countries 🌎 and plan to visit many more. In my free time, I enjoy outdoor activities, especially mountain biking 🚲 and hiking 🏔.

@Sophia : Born and bred in the UK 🇬🇧 but my roots are Bangladeshi 🇧🇩. I love cats 🐱, enjoy eating crisps (also known as chips) and enjoy baking 🍪. I also love travelling ✈️  I have worked in Community ever since I graduated and to put it lightly, people are my passion! 💖

@Rebecca : I'm from Cardiff in Wales originally but being a military child and a veterans spouse, I've travelled and lived in a lot of different places in the UK and Europe. I'm an environmentalist 🌿 and like to minimise my impact on the planet 🌎 as well as volunteering in my local community.  I love sea swimming 🌊 yoga on the beach 🧘‍ and I'm a children's yoga instructor too! 🙌 

Now it's your turn! Tell us a bit about yourself. Where are you from? And is there something special about the location of your accommodation that you'd like to share?

Looking forward to getting to know you all!

Warm regards,

Bhumika

[Paula]

Hello @Mijael0, it's wonderful to have you in our community!

How has your experience with Airbnb been so far? I also wanted to share that we have a Spanish Community Center where you can connect with Hosts in Bolivia and other Hispanic countries.

👉Click here to join the Spanish Community Center.

Best regards,

[Abdull237]

Hello, my name is Abdull, and I'm from Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Though I am a non-practicing nurse, I build homes and work as a real estate agent here in Windsor. I own a few rental properties in the area, and last October, I converted one of them to an Airbnb. I loved the experience so much that I added another unit shortly after. Currently, I am renovating a third unit and converting a newly built property into another Airbnb.

I've been focusing a lot on Airbnb because I discovered its potential and wish I had started earlier. However, they say it's never too late, and I'm thrilled to be part of this community.

[Bhumika]

Hi @Abdull237 , a very warm welcome to the Community Center 🌻 

It's exciting to hear that you enjoy the concept of being a host and look forward to publish your third listing on Airbnb 😍 . Given your vast experience with rental properties, do you have any specific tips or strategies for successfully converting properties into Airbnbs? 

Which aspect of hosting you enjoy the most? 😉

[Rangit1]

Hi Bhumika,

                          I am from Sri Lanka, We are new to Airbnb, and we (My son Kusal and myself) are having guests for the first time in July. 6 of them who are attending an event or religious gathering. We have had many bookings during the same period from people attending the same gathering that cannot be accommodated but would like to suggest other places in the vicinity using this platform.

We would like to be in touch with other listings in Sri Lanka and learn through their own experiences and make our listing successful and a place that guests would like to come to. 

Regards and best wishes

Rangit

[Bhumika]

Hi @Rangit1 , Many congratulations on your first booking!  😍  Are you excited to welcome your first guests in July? Seems like the area is going to be quite busy because of the gathering. Is it related to any festival? Would you like to share something about it?

Connecting with other experienced Hosts sounds like a great idea! If you're looking for any tips to welcome your first guests, I'd recommend to start a new conversation with other Hosts. 

We look forward to your discussion with other Hosts 😉 

[Rangit1]

The gathering is being held in the heart of Colombo, https://www.ft.lk/travel-tourism/Sri-Lanka-expects-tourism-boom-with-Dawoodi-Bohra-international-con...  which is about 8 KM from our homestay, but as all accommodations in that area are full, the homestays out of Colombo are being booked as well. the link is to an article about the Dawoodi-Bohra gathering. I guess the rates which we have offered have brought in many queries.

We hope to link up with others in the vicinity so that we can recommend other places for any inquiries and vice versa.  

[Heather1967]

Hello! My name is Heather I am an Airbnb Host and Airbnb interior designer and data analyst. I have joined the community center to see if I can add value by sharing my expertise with other hosts, investors and property managers. I am based in North Carolina, USA but serve clients all over the US and analyze Airbnb data to help guide hosts on making more confident decisions about the setup of their property to make them stand out in their markets and get fully booked. I will try to comment where I think I can add value to others, and if you have questions please connect. 

[Bhumika]

Hi @Heather1967 ,   It's amazing to have someone like you with so much expertise joining us here 😃 Would you like to share a bit more information on what areas you help other Hosts to improve based on your expertise? Do you guide them with listing setup on the platform or designing their Airbnbs?

How has being an interior designer shaped up for you in terms of decorating your listing? Do you provide any quirky amenities that attract guests such as games, pool area etc? 

We look forward to your valuable hosting tips. Please feel free to share them with us by starting a new conversation with other Hosts.🌻

[Heather1967]

Hi @Bhumika ! We guide hosts, investors and property managers to create Airbnbs that are stand out with scroll stopping design backed by analysis for each unique market that we work in. Here is a bit of a breakdown of my expertise: 

• Listing Setup & Review: We’ll take a good look at your photos, descriptions, and amenities and give you some honest feedback.
• Design Services & Refreshes: My team will create a design for your Airbnb or will review your current setup and make suggestions to help you increase your nightly rate and occupancy.  We really focus on putting ourselves in your guest shoes when in your home to ensure we anticipate their needs, leading to lots of happy guests and 5-star reviews. 
• Market Insights: We'll use the latest trends, technology and analysis on guest preferences, your specific location and market to help your place stand out.

I will be sure to start a new conversation and share more with this amazing community! Thanks!

[Bhumika]

Thank you @Heather1967 ! Market insights have been a hot topic in the Community Center as well, we look forward to seeing you share valuable hosting tips with other Hosts 😊😍

[Reden3]

Hi @Bhumika , 

I'm Reden, the Tour Distribution Officer at Mad Monkey Hostels. We have various experiences that we would like to list on Airbnb Experiences. Could you help us understand how we can start listing our tours and what the standard commission rate is for a successful booking on Airbnb?

I also came across this requirement in Airbnb Experiences standards:

"Hosts must list their Experience as an individual, not a business. The Host’s profile photo should be a clear picture of the Host and not a company logo. The Host’s profile name must be the Host’s personal name and not a business name. Hosts should describe themselves in the “About Me” section of the Experience page."

Could you please elaborate on this for us?

[Bhumika]

Hi @Reden3 , Welcome to the Community and thanks so much for sharing your interest in creating Experiences for your guests. I wanted to share that new submissions for Airbnb Experiences are currently on hold. You can find more information about it here : Creating new Experiences .

Are you also looking into setting up a regular listing (private room, entire home)? If you are looking for more information on how to set up a regular listing, I'd recommend you to start a new conversation with other experienced Hosts in the Community , so that they can help you with more insights on the listing set up process. 🌻

Please keep us posted, and feel free to nudge us if you need any support 😊

[Georgina293]

Hi @Bhumika  & @everyone! I'm Gina Ceballos from Mexico City (rised and born here). I've been an Airb&b host for 4 years now. My main interest is to provide a safe, cute and familiar space to my guests - working constantly to build and nourish this community. I like painting, photo and city walks preferably with good coffee on hand. I also work on the freight logistics environment (business to business). Hope we can support each other!

[Paula]

Hello @Georgina293  welcome to the Airbnb Community Center! Thank you so much for your lovely introduction 🌻

Where in Mexico is your accommodation located? Mexico is one of my favourite countries in Latin America. I absolutely love the landscapes, the warmth of the people, and the delicious food.

We also have a Spanish Community where many Mexican Hosts exchange ideas and advice. 👉Here is the link in case you'd like to join us there.

Regards,

[Michael9031]

Hi there, I am Michael. I've been an Airbnb host for over 10 years, hosting out one room or another in my large house in Luton, a great - and underrated - town in England. Relax among the trees on the Brasilian hammock in our lovely long garden. Well, the rest of my family call it 'the jungle' - I just like to leave it a little bit wild!  I live here with my 2 offspring: one 14-year-old girl and a 20-year-old lad.  We often host dogs, as well as humans, have been for the last 5 years. One friendly mutt at a time. My day-job is as a Producer of films, over 200 documentaries and now onto feature films. 

Do come visit!

Michael