Steps to follow to a successful hosting experience for prior booked guests?

[Pulak0]

Due to leave town on upcoming long international trip. Steps to follow to a successful hosting experience for prior booked guests?

[Sarah977]

@Pulak0  You need to have someone who can take over for you while you are gone. 

[Pulak0]

Hello Sarah,

Thank you for your response! But I live here all by myself. Have no one to take care in absence?

What if keys are placed in lock-box to retrieve? Also cleaning crew comes by  regularly and clean the place. Refrigerator would be loaded with food. 

Are you saying that once you start hosting, you can't leave town without backup? Thanks again.

Pulak Das

[Sarah977]

  Correct. If it's one or two days, that's totally doable. But the idea that you can just go on a long trip and rent out your house while you're away without any oversight is foolish ad isn't really what hosting is about.I would say it's very difficult and fraught with all sorts of possible problems not to have a co-host who can look after the place and guest needs beyond cleaning. 

What happens if the plumbing springs a leak? If the hot water heater goes on the blink and needs to be repaired or replaced? What happens when the guest invites 5 more people to stay or throws a party with 50 people and trashes your house? Or runs the heater full blast day and night and you end up with a enormous electricity bill?

Guests are not your friends or family. They are total strangers you have given the key to your house to. Please don't be naive.

@Pulak0

[Pulak0]

Thanks Sarah for putting it so succinctly. I like 'guests are not your friends or family?' Much appreciated.

[Sarah977]

@Pulak0 As a home share host myself, guests can become friends- I've had several guests I keep in touch with. But before you have a chance to get to know them, while you of course want to be friendly, you do need to keep in mind that you don't know them at all. Having strangers in your home when you are there is quite different from them being there o their own when you are thousands of miles away.

I've had great guests who have been totally respectful. There's a couple of them I wouldn't have any qualms about staying here if I went on a long trip, but I got to know them pretty well because they stayed with me for 2 weeks and we keep in touch. But unknown guests, even if they aren't purposefully destructive, can break things by not using using them properly, trying to force a key that's not turning easily,  spilling things on the carpet or sofa and not bothering to wipe it up, using your best knife to pry open a lid, and so on. 

Everything could go totally smooth, but it would be awful to come back from a lovely, long trip and find your home in damaged disarray. I've read plenty of posts from hosts that happened to.