What have you learned from your multicultural Guests?

[Sybe]

Hey all,

As a Host, you open your doors to a lot of different people from all over the world. Even by just being here on the community I’ve already learned so much from different cultures, like @Clara116's pies or how to say Happy New Year in Korean (@Jessica-and-Henry0  가르쳐 주셔서 감사합니다!). 

It can be a lot of fun to find differences between your own and your guest’s culture, and sometimes they’re even things that seem completely normal to us. For example the separate cold and hot water taps in English sinks! Some of the things you discover might even become part of your daily life!.

What are some of the things you learned from your Guests, or perhaps what your Guests learned from you?

I’d love to hear some of your stories and perhaps we could learn a thing or two from each other.  It doesn’t have to be from guests you hosted that came from the other side of the world. You can learn a lot from your neighbours as well! 😃

-Sybe

[Karen3167]

This is a wonderful conversation!  As a cross cultural consultant- I look forward to the responses!  I have just started hosting.  

This week, I welcome an Indian family to my house- two brothers, their wives and kids and their parents!  Our house hosts 8, but they wanted me to try to find a second house for 7 other family members.  What did I learn?  I was reminded that in some cultures going on vacation with your extended family is very typical and if you can have “back up houses” close to you that you are aware of, if can help get the booking.  

Also, I was reminded that in multigenerational bookings, first floor bedrooms (luckily I have one) are important for elderly guests.  

I am excited for their arrival!

[Sybe]

That sounds very exciting @Karen3167 , and welcome to hosting and Airbnb! 😃  In my family it's rare that we would travel all together, and it would usually be just parents with their children. What about you?

[J-Renato0]

@Sybe 

I have learned that, from every culture, country, city or region there are the friendly and easy-going one, the grumpy and boring one, and the one who plays the bad guest.
Fortunatelly the ones who are friendly and easy to deal with are the majority being them from any culture.

You can never predict who will play the bad guest or even the guest from hell.

However to me it is safe to say that, most of the people from any part of the world are friendly.

[Sudsrung0]

We are in Phuket Thailand one of the most popular tourist destinations I think over the many years we have been on airbnb we must have had every nationality possible,

We think in our properties we have everything they need, 

Europeans dont use a Rice cooker but Asians do so thats important to some

Asians dont use a kettle but English do they like a big mug of tea in the morning so we have Beakers or Mugs for English, some guest are particular about their coffee so we have a couple of different coffee machines,

Washing machines are always important out here more than a dishwasher.

We have had lots of Russian guest they like a proper holiday they come for at least 2 weeks or more and they always like a full kitchen they do lots of cooking at home they make use of the kitchen,

Chinese dont stay long they move from place to place,

We always say This is Thailand just relax, You smile they smile, enjoy your holiday 

[Sybe]

I have a rice cooker at home but I do use my kettle every day! Thanks for sharing @Sudsrung0 😃

[Debra300]

@Sybe,

I've learned that

1. Europeans and Caribbean guests often travel with their own towels (and sometimes, bed sheets).  This is not usual of North Americans, because it's customary for an accommodation to provide clean linen that's in good condition. 
2. We provide a Nespresso machine for Europeans, a Keurig coffee maker for NAs, and the tea kettle is used by everyone.
3. Non-NAs are used to air drying their clothes, and will use the clothes washer and spin that's in their room, but NAs will take their dirty clothes home to launder, because they want to use a heat dryer.
4. No one misses cable TV.  We offer only streaming services (Roku channels, Samsung TV Plus, Disney+, Netflix, and Prime Video), and the guests like seeing the regional differences, or the the services they've not used before.
5. It's very difficult for NAs to grasp driving in the opposite side of the vehicle on the opposite side of the street even in a country that for the mostly has narrow two lane roads.
6. Most NAs and Caribbean guests cannot drive a manual transmission vehicle.
7. Europeans and NAs ask important questions, but often in an insensitive manner AFTER they have arrived.  "Is the water safe to drink?" (You should have researched that before you arrived.  What if you need Cipro tablet?), "Is it safe here?" (Uh, do you realize that you're asking me if I live in an unsafe area?), "So, what is there to do around here?" (Sorry, we provide self-catering suites.  Travel agent or concierge services are not included.  Try looking up TripAdvisor's Top 100 Activities List for our island.)
8. Caribbean guests are not accustomed to using drinks coasters, and have often put their wet drinks directly on wood furniture.
9. Generally, NAs are more likely than others to report any damages they've caused.
10. NAs who are not seasoned travelers tend to struggle more than others with things "not being the same as home" (e.g., very few sidewalks, most roads are narrow and have no name, large pot holes in the road, unfamiliar grocery items).

[Annie1372]

Thank @Sybe @for your question.

And @Debra300 thank you so much for such interresting information about your Travelers and your experience with them.

[Sybe]

Thanks for sharing @Debra300 , I never realised the coffee machine difference! I can imagine the streaming services being enough, there are lots of regional differences on there too. Very interesting! 😃

[Debra300]

@Sybe,

The popularity and usage of the different coffee makers is very apparent.  Although Nestle has spent a significant advertising budget with commercials that featured George Clooney, most NAs still are unfamiliar with Nespresso since filtered coffee in larger cups is traditionally consumed versus an espresso.

I was never a coffee drinker before my very close German friend introduced me to Nespresso a couple of years ago.  Now, I have at least one beverage daily, and it must have frothed nut milk.  I even have a manual Staresso and rechargeable frothing wand that I bring with me when traveling.

[Sudsrung0]

We had an American guest who within 2 hours complained to airbnb about zillions of motorbike and being no sidewalks and wanted to cancel his booking and move out, we do live on an island and this area less than 10 years ago was a jungle had he have done some research before he arrived, most of the island there is no sidewalks, Anyway we like it has it is

[Huma0]

@Sybe 

A bit late to this conversation. I thought I had replied as I remember finding your comment about separate hot and cold water taps funny. While this is still a thing in som UK homes, I wouldn't say it is common anymore and anywhere with recently renovated bathrooms is more likely to have a mixer tap. I have five sinks/basins in my home and all, bar one, has mixer taps. The only reason one of them has separate hot and cold taps was because I was looking for a really specific type of basin and this was the only option of it that I could find within my budget .

As for your question about cultural differences, well, where does one start? Before I started hosting, I never thought I would encounter so many. I couldn't possibly list them all, but here are a few:

- A rice cooker is a pretty basic requirement for most Asian guests. I have even had guests (tourists on a short stay) travel with a full size electric rice cooker in their suitcase. 

- Asian guests usually like to shower at night, often right before going to bed, rather than in the morning. @Jessica-and-Henry0 explained to me the reasons for this and also why Asians often prefer to use hand, rather than bath, towels after showering. You also have to watch out for flooding in the bathrooms as in many parts of Asia, the whole bathroom is waterproof (like a wet room), not just the shower cubicle.

- Walk in showers are rare in the USA. Who knew?

- Americans are pretty much the only guests to use the bath tub. They love it and often say it was the reason they booked the listing.

- Asian guests are less likely to eat out. They seem to not trust the restaurants here and assume they cannot get Asian food, or at least good Asian food, in the UK, so most of them cook a lot and are good at it.

- Americans eat out more than other guests.

- Guests of various nationalities think that the British live on fish and chips.

- American guests over 30 are the most likely to expect things to be the same as at home, whereas the ones under 30 are often the most excited to experience and embrace European culture. Not sure why.

- Older American guests are the most likely to break things. On the other hand, men of all nationalities tend to break things more than women.

- Americans, Germans and British are the most likely to complain about/mark you down for things clearly stated on the listing.

- French guests are the most likely to leave low ratings, especially for random things, but again this tends to be the older, not the younger ones. It has been explained to me by French hosts that in France, it's just not normal to give 5* for anything.

- Canadians, the Dutch, Australians and New Zealanders are the most chilled and least demanding guests. 

- Germans are generally the best at following house rules (although of course not always).

Obviously, a lot of this reads like a list of stereotypes and of course there are exceptions to all of the above. I have hosted Asian guests who cannot cook AT ALL, Germans who broke numerous house rules and Americans who cooked a lot. I certainly don't mean any offence to any nationality and one of the biggest pleasures of hosting for me has been to meet people from so many different cultures and learn about those differences. These are just some observations I've made from hosting hundreds of guests.