New to the Community Center? Introduce yourself here (Updated)

Lizzie
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

New to the Community Center? Introduce yourself here (Updated)

Hello everyone,

 

A warm welcome to the Community Center. 

 

This discussion is for introducing yourself to your fellow Airbnb Community members, as well as welcoming and saying hello to newcomers in return. Thanks to all of you who have already introduced yourself and contributed in our previous thread, here.  

 

I'm Lizzie and I am the Community Manager here, along with my teammate @Quincy. I have been managing the Airbnb Community Center since it officially opened in November 2015. It is fantastic to speak with amazing community members here. 

 

To kickstart this topic, I would like to share a few things about myself:

 

  1. I love to travel, hot or cold it doesn't matter - I'm ready with my sun lotion or a raincoat! 
  2. I play several instruments, but my main one is the flute. I always enjoy a good conversation about music. 
  3. Lastly, over the past year I have become very interested in all things eco/sustainablilty related.

 

How about you? Any interesting facts or hobbies?

 

I'm looking forward to hearing from you. 

 

Lizzie


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Thank you for the last 7 years, find out more in my Personal Update.


Looking to contact our Support Team, for details...take a look at the Community Help Guides.

456 Replies 456

@Harish15 How are things going? I have some friends in Chennai. Ganesh Kumar is a great kanjira player there. Good luck to you. 

Hello Everyone,
My name is Stephanie and I became a host at the end of 2020.  Yes, it sounded like a crazy endeavor to me during a pandemic but my life changed drastically when my husband passed away.  I felt this would be an adventure and what better way to share a bit of history and sustain myself in the process.

 

My Airbnb property is an amazing historic Victorian house named "The Legacy House"  built in 1898. The house is of rich historical significance and shares that in common with the City of Springfield, Massachusetts.  I live in the house and I am a hostess for my guests.  I love meeting and interacting with people although the guest quarters are sectioned off for privacy.


I have a complicated and busy life. I love nature and the outdoors. Eating well is a priority.

I am a teacher of spiritual evolution and guiding others to live their best life.

 

I support sustainability, however, I am limited on what I can implement because of regulations by the Historic Society here in Springfield.  No solar panels are allowed on historic homes. Fortunately, the water here is good.  I will be looking at other ways to join in with the worldwide endeavor to be more mindful around this effort.

I have to say I feel a bit overwhelmed with all of the information and business going on in the community platform and don't know which way to turn.

One of my biggest concerns as a host living in the property is my safety. Although I know Airbnb does its part on this topic if anyone has advice on a vetting process it would be welcome. 

I have had one guest and it was a great experience.

I am looking forward to people starting to travel again and hosting.
I am happy to be part of this community and look forward to contributing as I get my feet wet.

Best wishes and success to all!

Stephanie

@Stephanie1830 go with your gut when it comes to booking guests. And don't be shy to ask them questions about purpose, daily schedule etc. so you can best create a good experience for all. And if you haven't yet you may want to utilize smart security features through Alexa, Google or even your cable service. All the best. 

Thank you!  Valuable inofrmation.

 

Stephanie

@Stephanie1830  as Bharati-Carlo0 says go with your gut feeling for safety. I have now started asking who there guests names are; and if children what are their ages for registration. This provides extra information for me and when they say there expected time is. (which is often wrong) I now ask where are they travelling from and I do this one or two days before the booked date.

This information has been helpful as I can leave items (games toys) suitable for their age. No one has denied me yet of this information.

I  think my next step is to ask for a current photo of the person booking in, instead of a flower or a dog. My rationale is so that I know who I  am expecting on my doorstep as I find this a bit disconcerting am I expected to bark at them for a welcome if there picture is a dog. (my sense of humour).

Composting is a good way of sustainable living in a small way without too much effort. You can put your kitchen green waste to good use by digging it straight into the garden. 

Yes, there is a lot of information to take in on Airbnb. I just read the information that is sent to me in news updates. Also type in topics which I have questions about. Look up other peoples conversations that might have an interest. My advise is take the good bits out let the negative bits go past. As, I want to keep up with the positive outcomes that are offered by many hosts from around the world to make my world better and safer.

Take care, enjoy the hosting world, hope you have many great guests that we have had from within Australia with the covid restrictions.

Thank you so much. I value and appreciate your input.
Best wishes-Stephanie

Stephanie

Hey Y'all,

 

My name is Jackie, I live in Show Low, Arizona.  I am introducing myself here to offer my cleaning services.  If you are seeking an honest, dependable cleaner, who will make your home sparkle and shine, keep me in mind.

 

Look forward to hearing from you,

Jackie

Jackie

Hello Everyone. I am Sumana from Bhubaneswar ,Odisha ,India Hosting for the first time . I am really thankful to the platform airbnb has created for doing  these amazing things . And I got my payout so quickly. Looking forward to hosting more 

Greg122
Level 2
Brisbane, Australia

Hi Lizzie,

I am a Super Host in Brisbane, Australia. Over the years we have put in a significant investment in both time and money to reduce the ecological footprint of our Air BnB and also our own home. I am very keen to see Air BnB assist in matching up hosts and potential guests who want to minimise their environmental impact. I envisage this as being a relatively simple exercise of setting up an option when a guest searches for accommodation they tick a "Green Host" box they are directed to hosts that match that criteria.

As an example of the types of facilities the "Green Host" might provide, I suggest;

# Solar power
#Compost bins
#Recycling
#Supplying paper products made from recycled paper. eg toilet paper and paper towels
#Environmentally friendly cleaning products/low allergy
#Energy saving lighting
#Grey water systems
#Water saving devices
#Access to push bikes
#Cloths lines rather than dryers
#Purchasing carbon offsets for power used
#Ensuring food left by guests is put to use rather than being thrown out.

Air BnB is in a powerful position to have a positive environmental impact. I'm also confident there are many hosts already working on these issues and guests wanting to minimise their environmental impact. This is demonstrated to me by the many guests that have thanked me for my efforts in this area.

The other benefit of adopting a "Green Host" search criteria would be that guests and hosts can educate one another on possible improvements/innovations and techniques.

Can you please advise me if Air BnB has something currently in process to achieve this aim or if not can you please let me know the best way of achieving this outcome?

Many thanks in advance,

Regards,

Greg Steel.

 

 

 

 

 

Barbara2384
Level 2
Chestertown, MD

Hello Lizzie, and everyone.  I have hosted my first two guests and so far, this is just the gig for me.  I live in an old farm house on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and I want to stay here, so Airbnb dovetails beautifully into my life.  I am a singer/songwriter, an artist, and a writer.  All of which really just adds up to one thing - I am a creative. I like that term because it does not really limit me to being anything.  Airbnb is actually another creative outlet, and I appreciate it for that aspect.

 

At the risk of sounding like I am filling out a dating profile, I like to travel, I have both dogs and cats, and I own a bar on the Jersey shore.  My husband passed away recently, so I am spinning as many plates as I can get into the air quite on purpose.

 

I do have a couple of questions.  I went into this thing with one bedroom a full bath and a library available to guests.  I have now completed two more rooms and have a pull out sofa in the library where an additional two people can sleep.  So I have gone from a capacity of 2 to one of 8 persons.  I am just not sure how to get this across on the listing so that folks will know that if they are on the third floor,  there is a half bath there, but they will need to shower on the second floor.  Those two rooms will also share the half bath.  If you are on the first floor in the library, you will likewise share the shower on the second floor, but you will also share the bathroom more generally.  Trying to convey all of this from the drop down menus is awkward and I'm not sure that prospective guests will get the gist of my meaning.  Any guidance here?

 

I'm looking forward to reading about y'all.  Stay safe!

Francine207
Level 2
Sudbury, Canada

Hi Quincy and Lizzie. I'm new to the conversation but have been a host for a couple of years now. Lately, I've had more difficult guests. I'm wondering if it's worth continuing hosting. I have raised my prices. I'd rather have my place empty than having difficult guests.

 

I've never stayed at an airbnb but I would like to try. I love to travel. I did the Camino from France and across Spain. I met great people and we are still in touch. 

I live on Northern Ontario, Canada

Heather1204
Level 2
St Albans, United Kingdom

Hi everyone, I'm Heather from St. Albans, UK.  I'm a commercial artist and ex Human Resources Director, mum of 3.  I host our Victorian cottage in Suffolk which we bought in 2019 and totally renovated.  From the moment we went live it was a hit, I think because we go to great lengths to make guests feel comfortable and special.   I'll admit I had major problems early on when I started, and used automatic booking, which was a huge mistake and I had to cancel 3 bookings immediately (for which I paid dearly). I'm now very experienced and know what I'm doing, so if anyone wants help, give me a shout!

 

It's not been easy though, especially in this past year, and like most of you, I've had a lot of frustrations with the absolutely appalling Airbnb customer care.  Last year was a nightmare as not one of the customer care people understood anything about the (admittedly fast changing) rules in the UK, and in many cases, didn't even speak English very well, which was a big problem for me.   I've had to fight my corner especially when one of their "trainees" misguidedly gave a full refund to a guest, totally in the wrong. I got my money back, thankfully, and had an apology from Airbnb and the trainee was sacked as it cost Airbnb dearly as they'd already given the guest her money back.  Those are my issues with Airbnb, whilst I love the fact that it's successful, I wish wish wish they had a proper customer service department where you could speak (quickly!) to people from your own country who understand  your language and the varying and fast changing local pandemic rules.  Anyone else have this problem?  

Achille30
Level 2
United States

Hello,

 

I am a returning newcomer who took a temporary break from hosting on Airbnb. Traveling, cooking/eating, playing/watching sports are my ideas of a good time. I enjoy creating lasting memories for my guests and am excited to do that again.

 

I am interested in meeting other hosts to exchange general tips and ideas.

 

Cheers!

Zada6
Level 2
Swat, Pakistan

I am Naik from Pakistan i kove to travel

and host travelers

 live in swat Mingora 

i am new here 

hosted my first airbnb guest las week 

 

hope for all members kond co operation 

 

wesh you all the best 

 

Welcome to the Airbnb family Naik from Pakistan.  Glad to have you here!