Thank you Brian Chesky & Airbnb

[Michele511]

I see a lot of criticism on this community forum and I wanted to say something positive. I really appreciate Mr. Chesky’s talk today. I am not sure if I can stay a host with the minimal bookings and the lower rates, but I hope I can. I enjoy hosting even more than I thought I would

Airbnb has been a Godsend to me in my retirement. It has given me extra money, more space on my property, allowed me to meet so many wonderful people, many who have I keep in contact with and have come multiple time. I would miss this terribly.

So, @brianchesky, thank you for the updates. I look forward to hearing the cleaning solutions. And am praying I can hang in there financially until it gets going again!

@Lizzie

[Yuan100]

Hi @Lizzie ! 

I am very hopeful too. I believe traveling would resume, it's just a matter of when. I was very touched when I had a guest who is supposed to come in June decided to postponed his trip to next year Jan instead of cancelling his trip. So as a host, we have to hold on for now! 

As I mentioned to you before, I decided to take this quarantine period to put the book- My Airbnb, Our Stories together. Since I am a homebased nail artist, I am not able to have any customers at the moment till the restriction is being relaxed. So, I am now baking a lot from home and selling some homemade bakes! 

Hope you guys are keeping well!

Yuan

[Yadira22]

Hi Yuan 

might not be my place but have seen nail techs create customs nails (stick ons)and send them out to their clients during this time. You can promote these with a very limited budget on TikTok, Instagram etc and sell them via Etsy or shopify. Also create tutorials on YouTube etc 

Might be a way to practice your art and get some money in until things stabilise a bit and also helps in building your brand.
Good luck and stay safe.
Yadira 🙂 

[Yuan100]

Hi @Yadira22 

Thank you for your suggestions ! 🙂 Appreciate it much. 

Right now, I want to focus on putting the book together first. I will consider of your suggestions after this!

Hope you're keeping safe there too.

Yuan

[Sharon1014]

Seems the market in Aus is beginning to pick up already now that restrictions are being relaxed.  We have a booking just in for weekend after next (first one in 2 months), and host friend has one for this weekend (also a first in a good while).  Think this is going to be the way of it going forward, domestic bookings.  Helps when you are located in a more holiday / getaway geared type of place too.  City based locals wanting a weekend escape somewhere nice.  Bonus.  Lowered our rate just a little (only $20) not the end of the world.  Sorry to hear other hosts have problems with some of their locals, ours are 95% fantastic (but then we are not city based, that may be a whole other ball game).

[Michele511]

@Sharon1014 Thank you for telling me this. You gave me hope! I live in a tourist destination and never had trouble. But the virus stats are still not good. There’s not a nationwide coordinated effort which doesn’t help. However, California is pretty good in terms of handling it. Slowly getting better.  It may be a few months though. 

[Sharon1014]

@Michele511  In my home state of South Australia, we have had no new cases for 3 weeks.  No-one in hospital either.  We seem to be coronavirus-free at present.  State and international borders will remain closed.  We've been lucky and fast on the draw to quash this thing.  Think Aus and NZ will recover quite quickly, the Americas, Asia and Europe are likely to take some time.  Shame for you guys to have this hit coming into your summer peak season.  We Down Under were kind of bracing ourselves for no business until Sept/Oct given it's our winter approaching anyway (which is always quiet), so will have to rev ourselves up to un-mothball our bnb next week.  Rather strange thought actually but hopefully this will be the beginning of a surge of latent "let me out of here!!" lockdown euphoria.

[Michele511]

@Sharon1014  

Yes you guys have been smart! Us? Not so smart. I think we have a long haul. That said, if I were traveling I would want an Airbnb so I wasn’t worried about sharing air conditioned air. I’ll be interested to see what Airbnb unveils for the cleaning protocols. 

Good luck with your reopening. I’ll miss people coming from that part of the world! 

[Sharon1014]

@Michele511  That's a very good point re not wanting to share air conditioning with other people, as in hotels or other large central air-con premises !  And a great reason to use stand-alone bnb's over condo's or apartment towers.  Gosh the hotel industry may be flat for some time to come.  Yayyyy!  🙂 Some serious marketing potential in that.

[Cathie19]

Maybe they are your quieter months @Sharon1014 , but for all of us “northerners”, this should be our short and very busy high season, so sadly, we can essentially kiss the year for STR and income goodbye.

However, the locals are out in force enjoying the sights, sounds and scenery without fighting for a spot amongst the tourists.

With our NT borders still closed, life is returning to the new normal...... Maybe direct flights from ACT and SA into NT should start up as we are all doing well with Covid19. A second wave however, needs to be taken seriously as part of that new normal. Lol.

[Sharon1014]

@Cathie19  I think a nice line down the middle of Oz would do the trick. 😄   Our 2/3 and the eastern seaboard 1/3 can re-infect each other. See they've got another 30 or so new cases today, while we have none. And wouldn't trust the ACT for a second, too many high disposable income latte set people there who love nothing better than blowing their bucks on travel and fine dining, especially to Sydney and Melbourne and further far flung places if they can manage to get out of (and back into) the country.

So yeah, line down the middle. They can have their 1/3 and we'll have our 2/3 coronavirus free.

And yes of course, north of the tropic of Capricorn would be your peak season, that sucks. But perhaps you will still see some good bookings come in from SA and WA.

[Michele511]

We have similar geo-political situations here. They may learn the hard way. Let’s hope they don’t. 

Meanwhile, I got a last minute 3 day booking for tonight. And they didn’t even ask for another discount, as opposed to the 6 inquiries in the last 5 days. Gave me hope!

[Ephraim0]

Forget superhost relief I've received a miniscule percentage of the 25 percent assistance. NoINo explanation provided. If its merely an Airbnb private relief program i suppose they can do with their $250 million assuming it's paid out to hosts as they wish even if unethical considering the company pledge.  If ithe funding is the result of government assistance to airbnb meant to support hosts well I m not receiving anything near the promise, paltry.  

I have questions, and there's no one to ask.  Hopefully my situation is an isolated error otherwise I'm guessing im not alone. Promise so far broken and no one to  to address  too at Airbnb. For me anyway the promise was hope and the delivery tragic and shameful. Hopefully it's an error. Bothered that the goodwill PR message is Airbnb is here for hosts. I've hosted well over 500 guests as a superhost consistently. For now Airbnb isn't here for me and further so far the pledge far from honored. 

PR or sincerity? What is going on? Any answer from Airbnb sincerely appreciated. Please contact me.

[Cathie19]

I hear you @Ephraim0 ,  and seriously hope the light at the end of the tunnel comes sooner rather than later. But something is better than having received nothing, which is the case for many hosts like myself. 🙂

[Michele511]

We’ve got to stay positive and bring this thing back people! Like everything, it’s not perfect. Overall, It’s a good thing for all. I’m going to try and think good thoughts. 

@Lizzie Any update on when we will get the cleanliness quidelines? The sooner we can put people at ease the better!

[Sharon1014]

@Michele511  Here's the Airbnb list so far.... a few things on this I hadn't thought of before but will now...

General:
• Doorknobs
• Surfaces
• Light switches
• Remote controls
• Tables
• Fan and lamp chains
• Window sills and window handles
• Thermostats
• Keys
• Hairdryers
• Railings
• Ironing boards and irons
• Garbage and recycling bins
Kitchen:
• Sinks
• Cabinet handles and pulls
• Appliances: oven, toaster, pressure cooker, coffee maker, etc.
• Condiments: oil, salt and pepper shakers, commonly used spices and containers, etc.
• Kitchenware that isn’t dishwasher safe: ceramic bowls, kids’ plasticware, etc.
• Hard-backed chairs
Bathroom:
• Sinks
• Toilets
• Faucet handles
• Showers and tubs
• Shower curtains and doors
• Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and soap dispensers
Bedroom
• Hangers and luggage racks
• Nightstands
Cleaning appliances:
• Dishwashers
• Vacuum cleaners
• Washer/dryer units

We also routinely use these, the Glen20 disinfect fabric spray is super handy for lots of things...