What made you become a host?

[Quincy]

 

Hello, everybody,

No matter what type of accommodation or room we have to share, accommodating guests with Airbnb is a decision we make for many different reasons.

Some are obvious, economic reasons, but I want to go further, because we may need money, but being a host requires commitment, willingness, empathy, professionalism and love. Surely each one of you has a curious story that led you to become hosts.

What led you to become a host?

I look forward to reading your story.

Quincy

[Rubén16]

@Quincy  Just about every job that I had from youth to my retirement involved working and interacting with the public. Before I retired I was employed at a boutique hotel I must say that it was one of the positions I loved the most, with the hotel experienced I acquired  I then decided that Airbnb in  my retirement would be an excellent match. 

So I must say, what led me to become a host was my life experience working with people from all walks of life and the proffesionalism I gained in hospitality while I worked at the hotel.

[Quincy]

Hi @Rubén16, 

Nice to meet you!

This sounds like 1+1 = 2. 

I'm glad to hear that this is such a good fit for you! 

[Daniel1598]

@Quincy when I was graduate student traveling across several states for internships or leisure, I needed to find trusted places to stay. I was fortunate to have had wonderful experiences through Airbnb. I promised myself that I would offer the same type of stays when I was in a position to host, offering transparency and thoughtfulness with each guest reservation. The rest is history and I've been having a blast!

[Emilia42]

My family renovated an apartment that had been sitting vacant for a decade because of frozen pipes. After the renovation we thought it was too nice to rent to a traditional tenant so we decided to try Airbnb. Although much more work to prepare for each guest, we are making a lot more money and have much fewer damages than a long-term tenant.

[Thomas1033]

@Emilia42 Ditto for us except for the frozen pipes.  We inherited tenants with the house purchase on our third floor.  In just 6 months time they soaked our ceiling under their bath 3 separate times.  Each time it “ was not their fault” lol.  Apparently they let “their friends” use the bath tub.  We decided to let them go and do a total remodel of the apartment.  We like being able to more closely monitor who stays up there and don’t want to be stuck with the wrong tenant for any length of time.  Yvonna, cohost

[Emilia42]

@Thomas, So true. My family owns a few apartments. Even some of our best tenants do not own vacuums. Living in a place for a year without really doing a thorough clean can cause a lot of damage. Also, moving future and loads of stuff in and out causes so much ware and tare. With Airbnb, I am able to get into the apartment every 1-4 days to clean top to bottom and no one is dinging up walls or staining countertops. The apartment basically looks the same as it did when we finished it 1.5 years ago. If we has two tenants in there during that time it would already need a fresh coat of paint. Good luck to you!

[Quincy]

Wow, that's a long time @Emilia42! I'm glad to hear you were able to put your apartment back to use again. How are things going for you at the moment? 

[Emilia42]

@Quincy, things are going great! Thanks for asking. It's a little slow this time of year but it's nice to have some nights off. 🙂 Looking forward to the summer!

[Miloud0]

Salute, 

So many thanks @Quincy for this topic. 

It is the opportunity to share good moments with people from all over the world. To meet in your house with guests from different cultures and to share with them your culture, custom, tradition....and experiences. 

Thanks, 

Miloud

[Quincy]

Hi @Miloud0, I totally agree with you! I've met loads of people through hosting! From which country were your last guests? 

[Donna240]

Former basement storage area.The Guest Suite from same view as above.Bathroom before plumber arrived.Bathroom after pipes were installed.

My plumber made me do it....funny but no joke. We decided to renovate our storage space on the ground floor and make a spare room and bath for family and friends. During the renovation our plumber asked if we had intended to rent it, so I reminded him that since it was legally a part of our home, we were not allowed to have another kitchen and absolutely no stove. His response was "I don't mean for permanent tenants". I had actually never considered short term rentals, so I inquired as to why he asked. His ex wife from Ireland was coming over to visit their son and he only lived 3 blocks away.

My husband and I discussed it and decided to do this as a favor for our plumber and asked that she pay what she thought was a reasonable price in pounds sterling, since we had our next trip planned with a few days in London. We ended up in a much better hotel in London because of this trade and decided then and there that we wanted to start renting our guest quarters to travelers. After taking a look at hotel prices we knew we could be of great value to guests, and since it was a part of our home we could easily have a more personalized feel than much of our competition, since we designed it for ourselves and not specifically for travelers. Our guests notice the difference. 

After our 1st year we were able to afford a 2nd vacation in Europe each year since. With the additional guests from Airbnb during our 3rd year, we now do not pay for our vacations, our guests do, and we are forever grateful to them. As a life long "people person" I love working to make our guests trips memorable. Not every guest needs help or attention, but my favorite guests do.

[Quincy]

Hi @Donna240, you've made yourself a good deal there! I've stayed at a couple of Airbnb's and I always like the homey feeling places sometimes have. It's great to hear that you've made something beautiful out of this! (love the pics!) 

When is your next trip? 🙂 

[Donna240]

@Quincy Our guests  are sending us to Barcelona next month...this year we get 3 vacations. We have permanent tenants who look after things for us when we're away and we allow them to invite their own friends and family for free, so they love taking care of the place and do a tremendous job. We never rent while we're away because we cannot be available to guests and frankly, since reviews are based on interaction with hosts, we  want to be here to see that it's a great experience for our guests.

If you ever want to visit San Francisco, let me know and I'll give you a discount. I love hosting Europeans (dare I say that with Brexit so close?) because they appreciate good local information....and I can pick their brains about their cities of residence. I think knowing about local places from a local is much better than depending on a guidebook. 

[Quincy]

Hi , that sounds lovely! I love Barcelona and the food is amazing too :-). Aw, thank you so much for the offer! I'll be travelling to San Fransisco in August with some family members but we've already booked everything all our accommodation!

A picture I took of the Sagrada Familia in 2018